I’m taking a much-needed vacation! There will be no Crossword article today and the next Crossword article will be posted on July 20th.
As I continue to split the two sites, I’ll be converting mikesoh.com to using WordPress. I’ve found Geeklog (my current blog software) to be a bit cumbersome as I’ve upgraded and personalized each page.
I’m hoping by the end of this month, mikesoh.com will hold political articles and linuslive.com will hold my personal blog.
Please stay tune
I have successfully migrated/mirrored mikesoh.com to linuslive.com!
In the next few weeks, the two sites will look exactly similar…with the exception of the site name of course. The articles will even be the same. But I’m hoping by the end of July, the seperation will be complete and mikesoh.com will host my political and editorial blogs.
So why did I decided to seperate the two? I didn’t want to confuse the message of Christ.
Many people in fact read my blog (even though they don’t leave comments, HINT HINT). As I’ve gotten more active politically, I’m finding it important to seperate my political articles from my spiritual articles because they both have unique tones and focuses. This is not to suggest that my political views aren’t shaped by my beliefs. On the contrary, I have my political views BECAUSE of my beliefs.
The focus of linuslive.com is to be more personal and reflective, verses challenging and confronting. I felt that those voices are best heard under different venues.
Take the time now to update your bookmarks. If you enjoy reading my personal thoughts and my bi-weekly Christian essays (crosswords), please bookmark linuslive.com. If you want to read my political editorials and essays, continue to visit mikesoh.com. Or, if you want both, visit both!
I have decided, after much thought and contemplation, to purchase an iPhone. This is a big deal for me because I am not a fan of AT&T. Let me give you a brief history:
My first cell phone was with AT&T. I got it primarily because a few members of my family had it. This was back in 1999-ish. I had a Nokia phone. No camera, very simple to use. It was awesome! The big thing I liked about it was how it searched for contacts. Without going into technobable, you could type "ic" and get "Michael", "Jessica", or "Maverick". I can do that with my LG enV. Implementing this would be as easy as changing the regular expression. But I digress.
Despite these awesome features, my service with AT&T was sub-par. I had issues with my phone and the service. I got hit with hidden fees, overage charges, and a list of other problems. And anytime I called AT&T to get these things fixed, it always proved to be difficult. I would get the run-around several times and basically left me bitter.
I was more than glad to pay my early termination fee to port my number to Verizon. I did this the very day the law went into effect. Ever since I’ve been with Verizon, I have never had any issue that Verizon couldn’t solve. With the exception of three calls, every problem I address with Verizon was handled with one phone call. The three other calls were due my own negligence and misunderstanding. Even then, the representatives were incredibly understanding.
So why move to AT&T if I like Verizon so much? One word: stupidity.
Apple went to Verizon first because they new that Verizon had the biggest and most reliable network. Verizon also had the most customers. When talks dissolved, Apple went courting for another cell service provider. AT&T was next on their list.
Verizon’s response to their customers: "We just couldn’t reach a deal that was mutually beneficial." Translation: Apple wanted too much money.
AT&T, on the other hand, GLADLY welcomed Apple and pretty much gave them everything they wanted. And now, AT&T has taking a huge collection of Verizon customers with them. Verizon, you lost out on a great thing.
Technologically, Verizon has got some piss-poor phones. All of their phones (with the exception of Blackberrys or Smartphones) all run the same interface. This is great so you don’t have to re-learn each phone. But it does take away from the unique features each phone had. Verizon is also the only company that cripples the Bluetooth interface so that you have to purchase applications from Verizon. You can use a headset, but you cannot send and receive data via Bluetooth.
I’ve been a Verizon customer for over 5 years and I’m sad to be closing my wireless relationship with them. I still have FiOS and don’t plan on getting rid of that anytime soon.
One of the things I find curious about our society is how exclusive we’ve become. I don’t think it’s intentional; but nonetheless, very little is being done about it. I think a part of that problem is that people do not notice how exclusive we really are.
Here’s an easy test to see if you are one of these people:
And now the final test: Where do you find yourself making new friends?
Now before you make any wild assumptions, many people fall victim to this. I know I do. The majority of my friends are people with whom I go to church. A small handful of them are people I work with. But my closest friends are those who believe the same things I do and have fun in similar ways that I do.
Most of them are Christians, republicans, and are on facebook.
The question I find asking myself is why everyone does this. Despite what people might think or say they behave, everyone chooses their friends and many of them are people with whom we have things in common. It is rare that we have friends that are completely different. In fact, this is something that we will notice! If we have a friend that is friends with someone else who is completely different, we will ask, “Wow! What do you guys have in common?!”
When friendships start, we don’t want to be “too different” because we don’t want to stick out like a sore thumb. We fear being ostracized because we grew up poor or because we don’t have the iPhone. So we live on both sides of this fence.
I don’t know if it bothers you but I’m bothered by the fact that I’m so judgmental with people I just met. If someone doesn’t believe what I do, I have instant dislike of them. The likelihood of me being friends with them is so infinitesimal that I immediately dismiss it and don’t even think I could benefit.
Jesus was not like this. In fact, he frequently and consistently talked with people who we would never want to even be associated with. Jesus talking and having dinner with tax collectors and prostitutes is equivalent with Rosie O’Donnell having a romantic candle-lit dinner with James Dobson (President of the conservative group Christian ministry Focus on the Family). If that image strikes you as odd, you can understand the confusion that this would have caused with others.
The sad reality of this is that the selection of friends is no different in the Christian world as it is for anyone else. I would expect that the one place that things would be different would be Christendom. While the ratio isn’t as bad, it’s still abysmal. Many of my friends’ friends are similar. The only differences tend to be jobs, socio-economic status, and race.
I think the reason is because we all want to be comfortable. I know I would rather be with people who understand me, my politics, and my beliefs, than with someone who constantly disagrees with me. That someone may be a perfectly nice person but I probably wouldn’t want to spend a lot of my time.
I often wonder if I would say the same thing about God. If I think about it, the differences between me and God are vast! We have absolutely nothing in common. But something is to be said for him to be willing to put that all aside and still want to get to know my quirks and insecurities.
Honestly, I can’t think of the last time I did this. And perhaps that the hardest lesson that I as a Christian have to face. Am I willing to let everything fade and simply focus on the person? Instead of being afraid of talking with the indigent, would I be willing to open myself up to them?
But what makes this so hard? Perhaps something gets lost in the translation…
September 11, 2001 is a day that people will remember for ages. The day evokes the same emotions of Pearl Harbor. The United States was attacked suddenly. Suddenly, we realized that we aren’t protected as much as we thought.
Just after a year later, two men trekked around the Washington Metro area sniping random people. They killed ten people. During the shootings, there was mass hysteria. People refused to get out of their houses for fear that the two could strike at any moment. They were shooting people in common areas, like gas stations and outside grocery stores. No one was safe.
In 2005, a 16 year old student went to his high school with a handgun and a shotgun and killed 9 students before killing himself. It is the worst high school shooting since Columbine.
In 2006, in an area known for their peace and non-violent beliefs, a 32 year old man made his way to an Amish school in Pennsylvania and killed five girls, ages ranging from 6-13, before killing himself.
In 2007, Virginia Tech would become the campus with the largest school shooting, killing 31 students, staff, and faculty before the shooter took his own life.
How can we say that prayer works when the world continues to have these problems? Why would anyone bother to pray to a God who doesn’t seem to care?
If God can’t handle the big stuff, why should I trust him with my stuff?
There is no answer that I can give you that would satisfy these questions. In fact, no matter what anyone tells you, no one has the answer to these questions. Even the Bible is oddly silent about why God allows the innocent to suffer. The difficult reality with these questions, however, is that it still leaves us with a choice: do we continue to follow God or do we believe that God does care?
One of the realizations I’ve had is that no matter what question you have about God, no matter how troubled your faith, you still end up at this same juncture: do you choose to follow God or do you choose not to? Every situation, every question, every lesson and every moment we are faced with this question.
So why do we choose to pray? Isn’t true that God knows everything? Why, then, is it necessary to pray to him? Even if I pray it, it doesn’t guarantee that God will answer my prayer. And even if he does, it doesn’t mean I’ll like it.
I think pain is God’s way of telling us he exists. If you think about it, it really makes a lot of sense. One of the greatest questions that have been asked after all tragic events is, "Where was God? Why did he allow it to happen?" And I think it’s because of this that he allows events like 9/11, mortgage crisis, and child abuse happen. That answer sounds trite. Let me try again.
When events happen that are beyond our understanding, one is only left asking if there is a larger power. C.S. Lewis said that it is our idea of justice that screams of a higher being. The very fact that we have a notion of what is fair and what is not fair must lead to the conclusion that a savor is needed. So why pray?
Perhaps we should pray because we’re supposed to. Or perhaps if everyone prayed, things like Katrina wouldn’t happen. I think these answers are too legalistic.
I think we pray because, well, quite simply, we need someone to talk to. If you go outside the notion that God is this unapproachable king, ruler of the universe that doesn’t want anything to do with his subjects, you realize that he is a person. A person who wants to love and a person who wants to know you. You can’t expect to be friends with your wife or husband if you don’t communicate, even if you know each other to the point that you already know what they are thinking. But sometimes that’s the point, isn’t it? What shows greater intimacy than knowing what your spouse is thinking in a moment? What shows more that they care?
The years are filled with destruction. It’s easy to get lost in the carnage and ask why. Perhaps the answer doesn’t lie in the event; perhaps the answer lies in our relationship with God. If we’d only know him the same way he knows us, we probably would never have to ask.
Ross McGinnis graduated high school in 2005. This Knox, Pennsylvania teenager enlisted in the Army, just before turning 18. He wanted to serve his country and be sent to an unpopular war. During his tour in Iraq, he would be involved in an intense firefight just months out of basic training. Two years later, he would give his lives not for his country but for his friends and fellow soldiers.
The story unfolds on a routine patrol in Baghdad. Himself along with four other soldiers were in a humvee when a grenade was thrown from a building. Since Ross was on the rooftop machine gun, he was the only one to see it.
"GRENADE!!", he yelled. As his fellow soldiers looked frantically for it, Ross got out of the gun turret and jumped down into the humvee. He pressed his back against where the grenade landed. His entire body absorbed the blast, saving the rest of his squad.
When Ross woke up that morning, he did not plan to sacrifice his life. When he joined the Army, he he knew he would get into dangerous battles; but he never imagined himself actually dying.
Ross, like every other person, lived his life day by day, moment by moment.
His choice of self-sacrifice doesn’t make much sense. Our instincts are to flee or fight danger. In the animal kingdom, rarely does one see a creature give it’s life for the betterment of another. What Ross did was make a choice to give his life, to end his life, so that others may live.
Why do stories like these inspire us with hope? What is it about these stories that humble us? Do you wonder if you would have made the same choice? Do you put yourself in the same situation and go over the decision in your head?
The reality is the decision to give your life for something else is not planned nor is it calculated. It is a split-second decision. Ross didn’t learn it at basic training nor was he taught that in school. I suspect that within that iota of a second, he recalled the sacrifice of others in his life. I like to imagine that he realized that his choice was not about living or dying; it was about saving. He knew someone was going to die. He choice that person to be himself.
Why are stories like these rare? Outside of these stories, the only self-sacrificing we see are in movies.
I would like to think I would have made the choice to sacrifice myself to save others. I like to think that I could demonstrate what God has done for me and be willing to do it for others. But the fact is that I should do this now: be willing to risk my life for others. I don’t mean go into burning buildings. No, I mean more willing to do something outside myself. The truth is that I don’t want to.
We’d all like to be like Ross. The truth is we’re faced with similar choices every day. What choice do you make?
This is the first post in a new series. I’ve been smoking cigars now for about two years. I’ve grown to like certian ones and not like others. At one point, someone had mentioned to me that it might be a good idea to start writing about my cigar experiences. I offer these posts as a reflection on the cigars I try out. A good cigar is like a good wine; they can be judged by aroma, taste, pallet, body, and other charactoristics. Cigar topic image provided by foll_cedric. Source Image is licensed under Creative Commons.
The image on the left is not the picture of the actual cigar. I will start taking pictures of the actual cigars in the future. The cigar I smoked was a maduro and slightly longer. The cigar had a nice smell. The wrapper was slightly flaked but the filler was firm.
Upon closer inspection, the filler looked like chopped tobacco. This is important to note since it had a major effect on the draw as well as taste. The ash produced was a dark gray, not white. The smoke was also a dirty white verses a nice white. This indicates the quality of the tobacco used.
The Montesino had a medium body. It had a bit of a tang on the drag, but had a tart after-taste. Initially, it was refreshing; however, by the 3-4th drag, the after-taste lingered a bit too long and affected the taste of the cigar.
Overall, the cigar was not what I had expected to be. The filler was a disappointment and I would have hoped for a better quality. The cigar is hand-made in the Dominican Republic and costs about $8.00. I would not purchase this cigar in the future.
Recently, the Board of Education in Florida voted to allow alternative theories to evolution. Some have argued that these theories are no more than religion dressed up as science. “It opens the door to teaching theories of creationism and intelligent design in public schools. The critics say those theories belong in church and at home.”
Through the debate of creationism, critics have “discovered” a noodly god known only as the “Flying Spaghetti Monster™.” Bobby Henderson, a critic of intelligent design, created a fake religion to show just how foolish he thought creationism is.
The reality is that he is right.
Most evangelical Christians have argued that the statistical probability for life to evolve is so astronomical, that creation screams of an intelligent maker.
The reality is that they are right, too.
So where does this leave us? The same place we started.
Below the choppy waters of the debate, beneath the mine-filled battlefield, lies a deeper reality that critics on both sides refuse to address. It’s a reality that must be understood and taken into consideration when debating sciences verses religion. The odd thing is that both sides assume and make misinformed judgments based on their vague understanding of this reality, but few venture there.
That reality comes down to this question: What if they are right?
Take those that are on the side of intelligent design and creationism. They wholeheartedly debate with fervor that this world, this universe, was created by a being of compassion. It was created for a purpose. That purpose is up for much debate but let’s assume this notion for a moment and continue with this thought experiment.
Now let’s assume that the evolutionists are right. What would happen to their beliefs? Would they doubt? Was Jesus just a man? Does God really exist or is he a product of man?
Now, move over to the other side. Evolutionists debate that changes over long periods of time contribute to what we see in the world today. Every plant, animal, fungus, virus, and bacteria originated from a single organism. What that organism was is still up for much debate but let’s assume this notion for a moment.
Now assume that the creationists are right. Does God exist? Is there an eternal plan that I am a part of? If God does exist, do I have to know him?
These questions speak to something very deep in our hearts. All of us, even the scientists, put their faith in a belief. (Evolutionists, stay with me for a minute!) At the end of the day, we don’t know what happened when the universe was formed. We have made very educated guesses. For example, it is pretty much accepted that there was a big bang. What that big bang created or caused it to explode is up for much debate. But at the end, no one knows for an absolute certainty.
Allow me to take this a step further. At the end of the day, does this question of creationism verses evolution really matter? I would submit that it doesn’t.
One of the things that I’ve come to understand is that the questions we ask are rarely the questions we really want to ask. Confused? Let me explain: The question here is not about creation verses evolution. The question is not about religion verses science. The question is not even about education and the scientific method. The question pierces much deeper that this. The real question is about free will.
Every person struggles with the notion and idea of freedom. We want to be free. Many of us believe we are free. See, if a god doesn’t exist, then it doesn’t matter what we do. There would be no standards, except for the ones we agree to, and we would simply live life until we expire.
But if a god does exist, all of the sudden, the question of morality, right and wrong, sin, and, more importantly, free will comes into question. Do we really have control over our lives? If so, how much? Are the choices I make really mine or are they influenced?
Can science and religion co-exist? Does it matter?
All of us must decide what we believe. Can we be a product of accidents of coincidences or could there be a purpose?
So what is my answer? The honest truth is, “I don’t know. I don’t need to know.” I already made the decision that questions like creation and evolution are way beyond my understanding. What I’ve come to know is God. What I believe is that I am sinful. I do bad stuff all the time. Sometimes, I don’t like to talk to my parents because I just want to play video games. Sometimes, I look a little too long at a woman’s cleavage. Sometimes, I want to invest in companies that exploit children just so I can make more money. What I believe is that Jesus Christ, the son of God, came to earth to be like me. He played by his own rules and took the form of a man. Then, out of his own free will, Jesus died on the cross a sinless man to become sin and to free me from the bondage of lust, greed, and selfishness.
To some Christians, they want to understand creation. I’m not one of them. Just like understanding how my car works wouldn’t help he to drive better, understanding the “science” of creation wouldn’t help me understand God. I hang my hat on what God has done for me in my life. That’s it.
And to me, that’s all that matters.
Now that I have a land-line, I have been getting at least 8 calls a day from telemarketers. That’s right…8.
I’m assuming I’ve gotten a recycled number because I have not given this number out to anyone. The line was installed for one reason: allow me to work from home.
You see, working for the Air Force, I need to be able to forward calls from my office to my home phone. This is so if anyone needs to get a hold of me, they can call my work number and get forwarded. There is no reason for me to give out this number since.
I have decided to call Verizon and have them assign me a new number. In the mean time, I think I’ll have some fun. This is a great telemarketer prank that I highly recommend.
Tom Mabe, a comedian, is notoriously known for his hatred of telemarketers. In this call, he tells the telemarketer that he has called a crime scene and he is a murder suspect. Note that the recording is on YouTube and is quite colorful. Possibly NSFW. Definitely not for the kids.