Michael Vick and the Court of Public Opinion

Don’t you just get tired of the court of public opinion?  Everyone has an opinion on Michael Vick.  The latest to lobby in is President Obama.  Or how about this guy who thinks Vick should be executed?

There is definitely a double standard.  Depending on the issue of the day, you get a guy like Michael Vick who did 19 months in jail plus 2 months home confinement and literally was on the fringe of bankruptcy.  Then you have no one talking about people like Donte Stallworth who killed a human being because he was driving while intoxicated.  Stallworth got a whopping 30 days in jail.  No one talks about Stallworth, but everyone talks about Vick.  Or how about Ray Lewis who was present at the scene of a murder?  Or Pacman Jones who is now playing again? The point is not that people don’t deserve a second chance.  It is that the court of public opinion consistently has double standards.  

Remembering Bob Feller

Bob Feller, a Cleveland sports icon died this past week.  It is hard as an outsider to appreciate the influence Bob Feller had on the city of Cleveland.  He is the only Cleveland sports player to have a statue put up in his honor.  It is a statue of him as a young man throwing his nearly 100 mph fastball.  Bob Feller was loved and admired in so many ways.  He was admired as a man who gave up four years of a baseball career to serve in the military.  He was admired as a man who made the city of Cleveland his home and was a fixture representative of the Indians in the good times and the bad. 

Bob Feller went to every single Indians fantasy camp.  He readily posed with the campers.  He was never one of those guys who thought too much of himself.  When I attended 10 years ago, he regularly hung out with the guys.  One time I was sitting eating lunch by myself when he sat down across from me and entered into a conversation.  Two young kids sat down next to me and also engaged in the conversation.  Then one of the kids asked Bob “What are we going to do now Grandpa?”.  Feller pitched in every game the campers played against the Indians alumni.  They were careful to pitch him against the guys that couldn’t hit a line drive that might hurt an 80 year old man (so that did not include me). 

There aren’t too many these days like Bob Feller in the generation of athletes that are hung on themselves.  I wish there were more.

Is a Good Education a Lottery Win?

I watched recently the movie “The Lottery”.  It was about Harlem school children trying to get into the Harlem Success public charter school.  This school like most (not all) charter schools is dramatically outperforming their counterparts in the public schools.  I recently heard Ron Richard, President of the Cleveland Foundation talk about the sorry state of Cleveland schools.  The issue is not money, it is effectiveness.

The main problem – the teacher’s unions.  The unions goal is job security, even if it is at the expense of children’s education.  Our schools are woefully underperforming other countries.  Only 50% of kids in the inner city will graduate.  Of those the average kid is reading at an 8th grade level.  Only 20% are actually reading at their grade level.  The unions don’t care about your kids, they care about their jobs.  That is why unions are not about reform, but about politics.  New York City in the last two years has fired only 3 out of 55,000 tenured teachers.  It is nearly impossible to fire a poor performing teacher. 

It will take a grass roots effort to root out the unions and get accountability in the public schools.  The logical path is to offer alternatives whether publicly or privately funded.  Harlem Success takes the same public funds and turns out a good product.  It is the fact that the teachers are held accountable and the teachers themselves are not hamstrung by an ineffective system.  

10 Things I Hate About the NBA

Boy, it was really hard to watch last Thursday’s return to Cleveland by Lebron.  It was not a hard prediction, but I did project in my previous blog that the fans would make Lebron feel the “heat”.  They did that and it probably stung for about a quarter before Miami dominated the “contest” and made it a non-event.  Lebron had perhaps his best game of the season.  In watching the game, it reminded me of everything I absolutely detest about the NBA.  Here they are in no particular order:

1. Too many teams make the playoffs.  Why play 82 games during the regular season?
2. Games are hideously expensive.  To sit in the nosebleed section costs at least $50. 
3. Related to #2 – players make way too much money.
4. Too much stupid stuff on the sidelines, before and during the game. 
5. Players falling in love with 3 point shot.
6. Celebration of the individual and not the team.
7. Players from opposite teams are too cozy.  What happened to the competitive fire
8. Too many foul shots and some really ugly foul shooting (Shaq, Ben Wallace, Dwight Howard).  How could an NBA player shoot 50% from the foul line?
9. The really dumb rule which allows you to call time out while falling down. 
10. Too many games decided in 4th quarter.  A foul call here or there changes too many games.

Government Pay Again in Bubbleland

I continue to be amazed at the continuing “bubble” our government leaders live in.  Obama made a big deal on how he was freezing government salaries.  He was saving 5 billion dollars he says?  Hello?  Last I checked you only save money when you cut.  Kind of like going on a Christmas spending spree and saying that you saved money because you bought at sales prices. 

You see in the real world, when you are underwater, you cut costs.  But not in Bubbleland.  I reported in an earlier blog that government salaries are quite out of whack from what private sector is.  As long as there is a vested interest to protect and not to take serious the crippling budget deficit, then no meaningful progress will be made.  How about an across the board cut of 30% starting with your salary?  That is what we have had to do in tough times in our company.

Lebron Back in Town

Tomorrow is the big day.  Lebron is back in town as the Miami Heat visit the Cleveland Cavaliers.  Lost in the shuffle is the fact that Zydrunas Ilgauskas (or “Z”) will also be back in town as he also defected to Miami.  Lebron says this year is not as fun.  Apparently it is because he now has a coach that won’t let him walk all over him.  Now we have “bumpgate” because supposedly Lebron bumped into the Miami coach intentionally at a timeout.  Miami Heat are quickly becoming the soap opera of professional basketball.   I really believe he now thinks he made a mistake. 

Here is my prediction tomorrow.  First the easy part.  Big Z will be cheered, perhaps even a standing ovation.  He left under the right circumstances and in the right way.  He conducted himself with class and professionalism.  He is one of us.

I am fearful that something ugly will happen with Lebron.  There is a lot of pent up hostility towards that young man.  Booing is the least of what could occur.  Throwing things could happen.  Hopefully not.  I hope Lebron doesn’t do the rosin powder thing.  Again it will be an “in your face” thing that will probably set a very bad tone. 

Cleveland is a very proud town.  Lebron didn’t just reject Cleveland; he threw it back in our faces.  We are not much bigger than a small town – no, we are a small town.  We take it personally, like family.  Sure we got over it because this town has a lot more to offer than just a narcissistic misguided young man.  But we don’t like to be embarrassed.  For that reason, he will get the full brunt of it. 

Kim Jong-il Gone Too Far (Again)

How sad that an entire country falls under the delusionary grandeur of one man.  We have seen it time and time again in history.  I am convinced that Kim Jong-il acts solely to get attention and in the process starves a country and keeps it under his impenetrable thumb.  As long as he controls the military and the outside information coming in, he has a dictatorship or even a mini-theocracy. 

This latest I believe is occurring to show that his son is indeed in power.  Under pressure he will back down only to rear his ugly head again and again.  We and other countries let him continue to starve his people.  The pressure has to come from China and Russia who have let the stance be to let boys be boys.  This guy needs to be taken out so that North Korea can join the rest of the civilized world.  If the U.S. attempts to shape this, we are in for yet a third conflict. 

Shrinking the Deficit is not Popular

The Deficit Commission came out this past week and stated that we may have to raise the retirement age in order to shrink the deficit.  The polls said people felt very uncomfortable with this reality. 

What we are going to find with the deficit is we cannot kick the ball down the field any more.  Some of our leaders are going to have to take a stand.  Putting a band-aid on a severed artery won’t cut it.  We will have to make radical changes.  This will affect everyone.  But they must be done.  How about starting with a massive pay cut across the board from all in government? 

President Obama wants to give the 2.1 million federal workers a pay raise! That's rich in more ways than one. Here's a look at some of the nitty-gritty details.
Government workers with 15 to 24 years experience have enjoyed a 25% increase in pay since 2005 versus inflation up 9% during the same period.
Civilians in the government making $170,000 stood at 9 in 2005, 214 when Barack Obama entered office, and hit 994 this June.  Check these numbers out.

What does a business do when they experience a downturn in revenues?  First they cut out internal costs that are unnecessary followed by pay cuts.  We need a massive pay cut in government followed by a significant pay cut (try 30% or more).  The problem is there is not incentive in government to shrink unless we as constituents force the issue. 

Secondarily the harder issues of entitlements such as Social Security must be addressed.  

Baseball – The Florida Edition

Debsue wrote a blog post on our annual trek to Florida to play baseball.  You can find it here.  I am going to take the approach to fill you in on the little things that happen in Florida. 

This is my ninth year playing in the Roy Hobbs tournament.  It runs for four weeks total for different age groups.  I play in the 47 and over Masters division.  I have in the past also played in the 38 and over.  At age 50 it is getting harder and harder to keep up with the younger guys. 

You play four games against selected competition based on your teams past track record.  Based on those results you get put in a bracket.  Some teams seem to sandbag to get into a lower bracket that they then can win.  Once you are in the bracket and you start tournament play, it is single elimination.  So you play at least six games. 

Our team, the Mudhens are maddeningly inconsistent.  We won the championship this year because we got hot at the right time.  But this week in Florida, we were lousy, all of us, and, in particular me.  I went 1 for 13 and hit one ball out of the infield.  Baseball is a timing sport and I can be really hot or really cold.  And I was just a little off and hit lousy.  Then there was my pitching which is was also awful.  Had my usual good stuff but many, many walks.  That is why I don’t pitch too much anymore.  I threw 13 innings and probably had 16 walks.  We were put into the lowest bracket this year because of our play and lost in the first round to a winless team.  At 50, the difference between good and bad can be slim. 

However, the real goal is to get threw the week healthy and not too sore.  A number of years ago, I caught a bad hop ground ball that sliced part of my ear requiring 17 stitches.  This year, it was just the usual aches and pains that come from playing every day.  Some guys play two weeks – now that would be hard.

The last two years, Debsue went with me.  I position it as an orgy of baseball (since Debsue loves baseball that is good) and a chance to go on lots of dates with her hubby.  We get some time to do other stuff and we went to Sanibel Island and also took part of a day and took a nice long walk.  I also do some work during my free time.

So all in all despite the disappointing play and result, it does not get much better to be out in 80 degree weather playing a little boys game.  

Dad Turns Eighty

My father turned eighty years old today.  Hard to believe.  I think of my Dad as never changing.  There are so many things about my father that I appreciate, but here is a smattering:

1. His commitment to his kids.  My father supported me and encouraged me throughout my life and still does. 
2. His sense of humor – while some of the jokes and statements gets very repetitive over time, he is always full of life.
3. His wicked memory – his mind is sharp as a tact.  He can remember things in my life that I can’t remember.  Sometimes they get embellished over time, but at least they are somewhat factual.  He competes on Jeopardy and can give Debsue a run for her money in knowledge of useless facts.
4. His active life – he is still plays tennis, golf, bridge.  He has always been active.  It was really tough to see him a few years ago on the sidelines with a torn Achilles tendon.  But he came back in record time and has been back on the courts.  He reminds me that he keeps moving up the rankings in tennis and I remind him back that the older he gets the more he will by attrition move up the rankings. 
5. His eccentricity – my father is quite different in a fun sort of way.  If you talked to my dad, you would never know that he has a Phd, law degree, and masters degree.  Not that you wouldn’t think he is smart, but he comes across as quirky fun, not snobbish. 

While we are far apart, I never feel completely apart from my father.  I know he is there for me.  I love you Dad!!

The Overflow Life

My blog tends to have a mish-mash of topics ranging from spiritual to political to sports to business.  God has been weighing on my mind lately that this may appear that all of these topics are of equal importance to me.  They aren’t.  While I definitely have viewpoints and I love to put them down, they simply are not of the same plane as my living out my daily life under the providence and care of the living God. 

Consequently, I have decided to keep two blogs.  The Spoorts Page will continue with a focus on the mish-mash of subjects.  The Overflow Life is my new blog and it is a living journal of what God is teaching me from his word.  I call it “The Overflow Life” because that is clearly to me the secret to the Christian life.  It simply means what Jesus says that he is living water that springs forth to eternal life.  The picture is of the fullness of God that emanates from living out a life that stems from his grace.  I can’t guarantee creativity or any unique insights, but I do pledge to share what God is teaching me in my daily walk and meditation from his word. 

Look for more from Spoorts Page.  I can’t resist sharing here what is purely my opinion; right, wrong or indifferent. 

Wired to Protect

I have blogged in the past how our dog Max loves to go out with us to get the mail, paper, or take out the garbage.  See this blog post.  For a long time, I could not figure out why Max got so excited about going out to the paper, mail, etc.  After all, he could not go down with me to the mailbox because of his electric fence.  It made no sense – not that I spend my life analyzing a dog’s behavior.  But most dogs are driven by something – they are not complex beings.  Food, play, sleep, pee, poop, attack, defend, etc. 

But I observed Max’s behavior when we went out.  First thing he does is look left to see if there is anything in the woods to the left of our house.  If there is, he would run frantically and bark at whatever he perceived it to be.  Then he would look right.  Then he would really go nuts if there was a car going by our our neighbor was in his yard.  He also would constantly look back and forth even when I was making eye contact with him coming back up the driveway.  So it finally dawned on me – Max thinks he is protecting me and he is wired to protect.  Protection of us is in his DNA.  It all now made perfect sense. 

What a picture of our heavenly Father who seeks to nurture and protect those that are His.  Except the battlefield we are talking about are spiritual and the forces of darkness are far more threatening.  But as I look at Max, I am reminded that we have a Father who constantly watches over us now and forevermore.  He has our back!

Arrogance – Why the Republicans Won

The number one reason cited was the economy.  I don’t think so – I think there is a definite crisis in confidence in our leadership that stems from our President and our government leaders.  Is it just me or is there an air of complete arrogance coming from the White House?  It is not just Obama, it is Pelosi, Reid, and multiple others across the aisles.  The arrogance is subtle - “I know it all and you need to trust my judgment”.  The arrogance is overt reflected in passage of health care reform with no bi-partisan support.  It is reflected in the supposed tough talk and knee-jerk reactions from the Gulf Oil crisis.  It is overall just a feeling of an attitude. 

I liked Obama when he was running (never liked Pelosi).  I thought he was a consensus builder, a naturally gifted leader.  I voted for McCain, but I definitely thought twice about it.   

It is really scary when someone who has zero experience thinks he knows everything.  Obama effuses arrogance.  Natural leaders are self-deprecating, seek counsel, are bridge-builders.  Obama has turned out to be none of these.  It is further reflected in his actions.  It is reflected in the attitude that government knows best and we need a nanny state to take us forward.  It is reflected in a lack of confidence in the ability of America to rise up and solve its own problems.  I hope Obama takes a lesson and actually changes.  However, unlike Clinton who I believe truly had a desire to please and the smarts to change, Obama I think is too full of himself to change.  I hope I am wrong. 

The public did what is great in this country – it exercised its democratic right. 

A Tale of Two States

California has always been regarded as one of the worst states to do business in.  Excess regulations, high taxes, and just a bad business climate.  I have been operating in California for many years now in multiple companies.  If I could at all avoid operating in California, I would. 

California has developed a web of regulations that raise labor costs, spurs litigation, and ties up expansion.  California in a poll by Chief Executive magazine ranked dead last for the past five years.  As one CEO put it, California is “just adversarial”.  It is not coincidence that California payrolls remain more than 1.46 million jobs below the pre-recession levels.  This represents one-fifth of the job deficit in the entire country for a state that is one-eight of the population.  It is the atitude reflected by the city manager of Brisbane who charges $13,510 for a permit to install a 131-kilowatt system and says he is “trying to promote the most solar we can.”

Texas on the other hand has rebounded to pre-recession levels for jobs.  It is no coincidence then that Texas is the top ranked state to do business in ranked by Chief Executive magazine.  Texas has no state income tax and a much better business climate. 

France – Where We Are Headed

France recently raised the retirement age for public benefits from 60-62.  Everyone is up in arms.  France has had miserly job growth for years now in the private sector.  Unemployment has mostly been in the 10% range. 

Does anyone see that is where we are headed in the US?    Government stimulating itself with wasteful spending and getting in the way of private sector growth. 

Unintended Consequences of Health Care Reform

Health Care reform has already had significant consequences and clearly the worst is yet to come.  First it started with premiums on many health plans going up in the 16-20% range because of the downstream costs associated with many of the provisions of health care.  Then there was the stupidity of the component of the reform where a minimum of 80% of premiums must be spent on health care coverage.  In what market and industry does government dictate what margins must be made in a free market?  The consequences of this was McDonalds threatening to drop their coverage on their “mini-med” plans.  Our benevolent government responded with a waiver.  There is already a lot of haggling over what constitutes “health care coverage”.

According to a report released by Senators Coburn and Barrasso, millions will face losing the plans they now enjoy “as employers either drop coverage or purchase more expensive, government-dictated health insurance.”  

Every time government gets involved like this, there are unintended consequences.  That is precisely what will happen and has happened with health care reform. 

Capitalism At It’s Best

With all of the feel-good of the miner rescue, some have particularly noted that it is a wonderful testimonial of capitalism.  The president of Chile solicited the best of innovation to get these miners rescued.  Consider this:

1. The drill bit manufactured by the small company in Pennsylvania.  It is the only drill bit that could have been used. 
2. High strength cable from Germany.
3. Fiber-optics communications system from Japan.
4. Start-up in Pennsylvania that manufactured the socks that prevented bacteria build up.

Note no communistic countries represented.  China had no representation.  Not because they didn’t want to, but because they had no capability.  Had this happened in Venezuela, we would have had a lot of dead miners. 

Little Church in the Vale Remembered

Debsue and I attended today the 75th anniversary of Little Church in the Vale (LCITV).  LCITV was the first church I attended as a member after I accepted Christ my senior year of college in 1981.  LCITV was also special because Dean Brdlik was the pastor and his wife Jane introduced me to Debsue.  We attended LCITV as a couple from 1985 to 1994.   

When I first went there as a single male, I was the only one under 30 and I don’t think I ever ate a Sunday meal at home by myself for at least a year.  They embraced me and made me feel so welcome.  I was discipled by the mature men in the church such as Dean, but also Bill Banfield, Bill and Bob Bennett, and others.  Dean was a much more detailed pastor back then and my first year there, we spent a whole year in Romans 1. 

Bill and Bob Bennett have both passed away into the presence of the Lord, but Bill Banfield was there and while a little older and a little more frail, still led singing with the typical Banfield gusto.  Mary Beth Bennett, Bill’s wife also passed away into the presence of the Lord just yesterday. 

While it has been 16 years since we had last been at LCITV, it was so neat to see those that we were so close to.  Our leaving LCITV in 1994 wasn’t the best of situations especially since I was then an elder at the time.  However, time and the bond of Christ healed whatever wounds might have been there.  We hugged as our hearts were knit together.  As we age and our friends move on ahead of us into the presence of the King, I am so glad that we will all be reunited with Christ for all eterninty. 

Do You See Yourself as Unreliable?

“I believed therefore I said, I am greatly afflicted.”  And in my dismay I said, “All men are liars.” 
Psalm 116:10-11

All men are unreliable.  Anyone who denies this is simply denying the truth.  The Psalmist sees his own unreliability.  There are multiple ways one can respond to this realization.  One, they can deny it and not take responsibility.  I just saw an Eminem interview where when questioned about his lyrics and his responsibility as a role model, he shifted responsibility for his conduct to parents.  Second, they can just make excuses and say, “well that is just the way I am”.  Third is to acknowledge responsibility, but shift the burden for change to the Lord.  I fully subscribe to the overflow principle.  I am so sold out to relationship with the living Lord because I have seen how that relationship first changes everything else (not that I live it completely out yet, but I realize the truth of it).  I know that God is in the presence of changing things in my life that I know without a shadow of a doubt that I am powerless to change.  If I had gritted my teeth and tried to change myself, it will not change.  Verse 12 of this same Psalm says “How can I repay the Lord for all his goodness to me?”  The key to reliability is relationship. 

Bungee Jumping with God

The steps of a man are established by the Lord, and he delights in his way; when he falls, he shall not be hurled headlong, because the Lord is the one who holds his head.  Psalm 37:23-24

I have never been bungee jumping in my life.  Never had much desire to although I have been told the rush is something.  Our daughter Meghan went bungee jumping over Lake Victoria when she did her overseas studies in Uganda.  The premise of bungee jumping as you know is to free fall down relying on the fact that the rope is a) strong enough to snap you back before you hit the ground and b) shorter in length than the jumping distance.  Both of those facts have to be in place.  It is not an “or” condition.  It seems to me you are putting a lot of trust in these conditions.  Oh to be young.

God establishes our steps.  He delights in them.  He calls us out to obedience and shows us the way one little bit at a time.  He never shows us too much of the future or it would freak us out.  He shows us just enough to gain dependence and trust on him.  When we are content, when we are self-reliant, we can expect a believer to be “snapped back” to where God wants us. 

However, the believer is not hurled headlong into oblivion.  That is what the psalm says.  Just as we can’t go off our own way, when we fall (and note it is when because we all fall), we won’t go careening out of control.  We have a God who holds our head, who keeps us in his sight.  He gently disciplines us, nurtures us back to trust in him.  Note the Lord holds our head because that would be the first thing to get smashed when we are hurled headlong in our bungee jumping of life.  I have felt out of control many times in my life careening aimlessly only to have a loving God discipline me back to a relationship.  So as I bungee jump through life, he is there to keep me from smashing my head into the ground below. 

California Budgets

The California lawmakers is three months late in passing a budget (after giving six months to pass) which now again may result in I.O.U.’s.  But don’t fret, they were busy.

1. They passed a law prohibiting filming cows in New Zealand.  Required five committee votes and eight legislative analyses. 
2. Voted to form a lobster commission.
3. Created motorcycle awareness month.
4. Created cuss-free week.
5. Wanted to change the state rock.
6. Voted April financial aid and literacy month.

Keep What You Earn

In all this debate about whether the extend the Bush tax cuts past this year, I am hearing something over and over again that makes me cringe.  It goes something like this.  “How can it be fair that a person that makes a million dollars would make an extra $100,000 if we keep the tax cuts.  How is that fair?”  Maybe because the person that makes a million dollars earned that million dollars and it is his money to keep.  This goes to the idea that it is the governments job to somehow reallocate income.  It is also very ignorant of the fact that the man who keeps that money is a better steward of those funds in terms of economic impact than our government.  How many entitlement programs are there that are well run?  They are all fraught with bureaucracy.  Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, are all disasters.    

Can Stimulus Destroy Markets?

When I was Vice President of Sales in a public company, the vast majority of our sales was in the final week of the quarter.  This was because of the rush to get contracts into our fiscal quarter so we could report it in our quarterly results.  Prospects knew exactly how to play the game.  The longer they waited, the more discounts or other perks they could earn.  There were many cases where we would practically give the sale to get it into the quarter.  If we had waited just a few more days, we would have sold it at full price.  The artificiality of the system destroyed the natural ebb and flow of buying and selling.

That is exactly what the artificial stimulus of the Obama administration did to the markets.  Cash for Clunkers, Cash for Caulkers, Homebuyer Tax Credit, even extending unemployment tax benefits all completely mess up market timing.  You get short term spikes that do very little to actually improve economic behavior.  Look at the Homebuyer Tax Credit – do you really think that people actually bought a home because of this credit?  It may have moved timing up, but simply used taxpayer money to mess up market timing.  Every time government interferes with private sector in this way, it does little positive and can actually do a lot of harm. 

This administration understands very little about how free enterprise actually works.  Could it be because there is not a single representative from the private sector in the Cabinet?  We have barely scratched the surface of what harm they can do without that experience. 

The God Who Stoops

Debsue and I have been blessed with three little, precious girls.  They are not so little any more as they are 23, 22, and 19.  We even have married off one of them.  One of the memories I have is stooping down and looking them in the eye.  There are memories of then raising them up to my level and giving them big hugs and kisses.  If you are a father, you have that mental picture of your kids that never go away. 

The Psalmist in Psalm 113:5-6 describes the Lord as the “one enthroned on high who stoops down to look on the heavens and the earth”.  The Lord brings himself down to our level in so many ways.  Jesus, Paul said did regard equality with God to be grasped but emptied himself taking on the form of a bond servant.  Jesus embodied a servant by removing his outer garment and washing the disciples feet.  The reason for the stooping is relationship with us.  Sometimes stooping is done to condescend.  This looks like “hey I’m a big shot, but I will bring myself down to your level”.  The Lord Jesus actually became a slave, died a slaves death, experienced what we experienced to “stoop” to our level.  This is hardly condescending.  This is grace. 

The Ig Nobels

You may have heard of the Ig Nobel prize handed out by the Annals of Improbable Research.  Here are some of the winners:

• Next time you crush your thumb with a hammer and you're in extreme pain, go ahead, let fly with every filthy obscenity you know. It really does help according to Richard Stephens and his students.
• Scientists developed a way to collect whale snot using a remote-control helicopter.
• Doctors from New Zealand found that wearing socks on the outside of your shoes reduces the chances of slipping on ice
• Researchers from China and the U.K. examined the sex life of fruit bats.

The theme this year was bacteria. There was the world premiere of "The Bacterial Opera," about bacteria that live on a woman's front tooth, and door prizes for all 1,200 attendees: bacteria (it was on the tickets).

The Beauty of Baseball

This past week, I watched the Ken Burns follow-up series on baseball called the “10th Inning”.  While the series covered things like the steroid scandal that cast a pall over the game, there is still so much beauty to the game of baseball.  As most people who know me know, I love playing baseball.  I re-started my baseball “career” at age 40 when Debsue sent me to Indians fantasy camp.  I always pinch myself that I can play this little boys game now at age 50. 

Baseball to people who have not really played it can be boring.  It appears to be a two person game as you have a pitcher and a batter.  However, you have so many unique attributes to baseball.  For example:

• The only team sport with no clock.  Any team can at any time come back.  Several years back, our team blew a 15-1 lead.  It can happen.
• The only team sport in which the defense always has the ball. 
• The only team sport where it doesn’t matter where the ball is, it is the man who scores.
• The sport is truly a team sport because at best a man can only come to bat once every nine at bats.  A game can rest on a middle infielder who is batting ".205. 
• It reminds you of life because if you fail 7 times out of 10, you are a .300 hitter and it you do that for 20 years, you are going to the Hall of Fame.
• The field has perfect symmetry with green grass shaped like a diamond rather than a rectangle. 
• Anything can happen at any time.  Crazy plays – in the playoffs we won a game because the second baseman dropped an easy pop fly allowing our leadoff hitter to score capping a come from behind rally. 
• I think one of the hardest things to do in sports is hit a 90 mile an hour fastball and have the .2 second reaction.  Of, in our league, it is a 70 mile an hour fastball, but it is still hard. 

This blog is dedicated to the Kent Mudhens, the team I play for that is the champions of the Masters division of the Roy Hobbs Adult Baseball League. 

Check out Debsue’s blog of the championship game.

Rick Sanchez and More Political Correctness

Rick Sanchez was recently canned from CNN for making “bigoted comments” about Jews not being an “oppressed minority”.  It is with great interest that I read this because Rick Sanchez is a friend of our family and in particular my mother and my stepfather who is Peruvian.  When they lived in New Jersey and Sanchez was on MSNBC, they became friends.  I got to spend a day with Rick and his wife and his kids at my sisters getaway place.  He is a good man-one that I doubt has any kind of vengeful attitude.  He was simply making a point and rendering an opinion.  We pride ourselves on free speech in this country, yet only when it comes to things that are politically correct.  You can selectively bash people but only if it is Christians.  Maybe CNN was worried about fallout – who knows. 

I am confident Rick Sanchez will end up somewhere because he is a good reporter.  But let’s let people say what is on their mind without constantly worrying about whether it offends someone.

Do Relationships Matter?

I watched the movie this evening Up in the Air.  The lead character in the movie played by George Clooney racks up 10 million frequent flyer miles and is gone over 330 nights a year going around firing people as part of an outsourcing firm.  He is actually very happy with his life and he actually conducts seminars on living the “baggage free” life.  However, he finally towards the end of the movie realizes the value of relationships but it is too late and the movie ends with him going back into his routine of living on the road. 

Human beings were made for relationship.  The first is a vertical relationship with the living God which is only made possible through Christ’s sacrifice.  This relationship is one that is so intimate that he is our “Abba Father” or Daddy.  The fact that the living God desires a relationship with us is just too great to get our arms around.  But He does.  The best way to know God is to memorize His word.  I have made a commitment especially this year to memorize scripture daily.  A goal is a verse a day.  This is not legalism – I find that the more scripture I memorize, the more intimate the relationship.  Scripture becomes applied and personalized.  And since scripture is “God breathed”, God breathes new life into us. 

When the relationship with God is real, it overflows into our relationships with each other.  These relationships are also vital.  I find when my relationship with God is right, my relationship with other human beings usually is right.  And the opposite holds true as well.  I call this living out of “overflow”.  Jesus said that the he will become “rivers of living water flowing from his innermost being” (John 7:38).  Did you ever have joy so unspeakable that you can’t explain it, even when circumstances are not so hot?  So is a right relationship with the living God and with people.  Note they can’t exist without each other.  We can’t have a problem with others and expect our relationship with God to be right.  We must make that right first.  Jesus said go first and be reconciled with your brother. 

Thank you Lord that you created us for relationship!

Praise Regardless of the Circumstances

They sowed fields and planted vineyards that yielded a fruitful harvest; he blessed them and their numbers greatly increased, and he did not let their herds diminish.  Then their numbers decreased, and they were humbled by oppression, calamity and sorrow (Psalm 107:37-39).

There is no cause-effect relationship between worldly prosperity and obedience.  God sometimes uses the obedience of his people to further his purposes, but that is simply because he knows who can handle the gifts and who has opportunity to use the gifts God gives him.  Look at the Bible heroes – for every Abraham, there is a Jeremiah.  For every Daniel, a John the Baptist.  For every Laodicea, a Smyrna.  The “name it claim its” are way off base (are you listening Joel Osteen and Robert Schuller?).  What would happen if God blessed materially every Christian.  We would call it America of five years ago.  That is why we are the Laodicean church – neither hot nor cold and the Lord spews us out of his mouth.  I am convinced the days of largess prosperity in America are mostly over. 

God chooses the withdrawal of material blessings sometimes to bring his children closer to himself.  Psalm 107 and others indicate the righteous suffer calamity as much as the pagans.  We can’t take it with us anyway.  I am incredibly thankful for God’s blessings that come regardless of what is happening with my checkbook.  When we have a lot, I pray we can give a lot.  When we have a little, I pray we can still serve a lot.  Either way, I pray we can be content a lot (Phil 4:12)

Bizarre Fines

From Wall Street Journal this morning:

1. Man fined in the UK for blowing his nose while stopped in a traffic jam.
2. Company fined for employing illegal workers.  Then on followup fined again five years later.  Why is that so bizarre – he was building the border fence.
3. Man fined for carrying a barbeque on his motorcycle and he had the grille wrapped to his face.  Good news – he was wearing a helmet.

The Mascot Controversy

In the battle of Ohio (Ohio University vs. Ohio State University), the mascot Rufus for Ohio University decides to take out Brutus, the Ohio State mascot not once but twice.  Apparently, he tried out for the position with the sole objective of tackling Brutus in this game.  What is even more interesting is that he did not even go to Ohio U any more.

Since Ohio U. lost the game badly 43-7, the best quote came from the coach.  He said “we tackled the wrong guy – we were supposed to tackle the guy with the ball.”

Foot of Pride

Do you realize that pride is the root of most sin?  It is where wars come from.  That is why pride is at the top of most lists of sin in the Bible.  God hates pride.  It is the opposite of humility and Jesus was the ultimate example of humility.  It struck me that in Mark 9:31 Jesus tells the disciples he is going to be betrayed into the hands of men and they will kill him and after three days he will rise again.  Fast forward only three verses to 9:34 where Jesus tells us they were arguing on the road to Capernaum who was the greatest.  These guys were with Jesus day in and day out and yet there is still the pride issue.   If they wrestle with that, what chance do I have?

Let not the foot of pride come upon me, And let not the hand of the wicked drive me away. Psalm 36:11

Pride is described as a foot that comes upon me.  It is an internally bred sin, one that no one does to me.  It is contrasted with the external sin which is the hand of the wicked which drives me away.  Pride is the proverbial “kick in the teeth”.  Isn’t that what pride always is?  “Whoever thinks he stands take heed lest he falls” in 1 Cor 10:12.  Whenever I exalt myself, I am sure to fall.  I can’t talk myself out of my pride issue.  There is no natural way to fight pride. 

How do we solve this problem?  Simple answer “others”.  It means putting others ahead of ourselves – seeking their interests.  When I especially am wrestling with a pride issue, the best answer is to find someone to serve.  It takes the attention off of myself and onto others where it belongs.  But it does not come naturally.  Naturally, I don’t want to serve others, I want to be served.  It can only come supernaturally.  But boy what a feeling when we put others first.  I think that is what Paul was referring to when he said that Jesus emptied himself and took the form of a servant (Phil 2:7).  Jesus could empty himself, we could not because our hearts desire is to be filled.  There is no greater feeling than to serve others – knocks the pride right out of us.  When I served at the City Mission years ago, there was no pride issue.  When we visited Africa, there was no pride issue.  How could there be? 

Is Your Conscience Your Guide?

I have been studying through the book of Acts.  I have twice noticed that Paul stated that his conscience is clear in 23:1 and 24:16 as he stands before the Sanhedrin and Governor Felix.  What is the purpose of our conscience?  Paul knew his conscience was clear because he was following completely the calling of the Lord Jesus Christ and he was completely free of guilt before man.  This is important because he was being accused of things that violated his status as a law keeping Jew.  Conscience was a matter of obedience.  I find my conscience is tied very tightly to my obedience.  My obedience likewise is tied to my commitment to live Christ through me.  I could never have a clear conscience through my own efforts.  It is only when I live from the overflow of Christ in my life that I have a clear conscience.  Romans 3:15 says our conscience alternately either “accuses us or defends us”.  What is the difference – on what we stand.  Do we stand on the rock of the gospel or do we stand on our own merits? 

Jones, the Quran, and the Gospel

Pastor Terry Jones has made significant press and generated significant controversy over his threat to burn the Quran.  His purpose is to highlight the danger of extreme radical Islam.  Many have contacted Pastor Jones and urged him not to do it as it puts lives in jeopardy in the mission in Afghanistan. 

I am going to take a different tact here.  It is not about the Quran, it is about the gospel.  I have listened to a number of interviews with Pastor Jones and I have not heard one mention of the gospel.  Pastor Jones only reference I heard was to do “something radical” like Abraham.  Does he really think that this will lead people to the kingdom of God?  If that is not the motive, what is?  

When the apostle Paul would go into a city marked by paganism, he would never lead in with what was wrong with the religion or the apostasy he was facing, but he would be diligent to preach the gospel.  You can’t eradicate a disease without prescribing the cure.  Now those who accepted the gospel were very quick to burn their own materials (e.g. Acts 19:19), but Paul never took it upon himself to attack the religion.  The gospel itself is transformational – it can do the job by itself to eradicate false religion.  On the contrary, Paul would use the false prophets, the magicians, and the poets of his day to point them to Jesus (Acts 17:16-17).  Jesus likewise even though he attacked the false religion of the Pharisees only did so in the context of their rejection of him and the gospel. 

Islam is a false religion.  The gospel is truth.   The gospel will offend – we know that, but it will also transform.  That is why it is not only called a stumbling stone but also cornerstone.  We need to preach the gospel first (I am speaking to myself).   Jesus is “way, the truth, and the life and no one comes to the father except through him”.  Let the gospel do the transforming.

Death of the Vacation Attraction

Heard a Wall Street Journal this morning discussion of museums that are on the block and closing.

Prehistoric Museum in Marblehead, OH

Prairie Dog Town in Oakley, KS which includes the six legged cow.

Deer Forest in Coloma, MI.

However specialty museums seem to be hanging in there.

National Mustard Museum in Middleton, WI.

Pencil Sharpener Museum in Carbon Hill, OH.

Salt and Pepper Shaker Museum in Gatlinburg, TN.

Jim Brown – An Angry Young Man

The big new controversy in Cleveland (we’ve now moved beyond Lebron James) is Jim Brown not participating in the Ring of Honor ceremony in a few weeks honoring the 16 members of the Hall of Fame that are Cleveland Browns.  It seems Mr. Brown was “disrespected” by new Browns President Mike Holmgren.  Mr. Brown wrote an open letter to Mr. Holmgren that was published in the Plain Dealer. 

I would hope that you would take the time to read my agreement with the Clevelend Browns. I had no contract, but I was asked to write a job description so that my duties would be clear.

That job description included two things that I think are important. As Executive Advisor to the owner, my job was to use my intelligence, and my logic to advise Mr. Lerner. The second most important thing to me was a clause in that agreement that stated that I answered to no one except Randy Lerner. These two thing were highly important to me because I truly believed, with my educational background, having been a Cleveland Brown for 9 yrs, and having a pretty good knowledge of football, that I could contribute in a valuable way to the organization.

When you called me for a meeting in your office, there was no conversation about that agreement, no conversation about my duties, no conversation about what I felt, no conversation about my relationship with the players, no conversation about my relationship with the coaches, no conversation about my relationship with the head coach, and no conversation about my community work. Ultimately there was no conversation about anything that I felt was related to my job.

Your ultimatum to me was that you would offer me the opportunity of being that of the greeter, that of a mascot, that of a person that would represent special events by his physical presence, and for those things, I would receive a salary of $100,000. All of those things that you offered me would be controlled by you.

All of us have probably experienced job controversy.  We get a new boss, we have job duties changed.  Mr. Brown obviously had no job description and nebulous duties.  Holmgren as the new President is trying to build order and organization.  Rarely do we go public with it.  But Mr. Brown goes well beyond that and plays the race card yet again.

I was able to study your press conference and found your statements to be consistent in the way that you value me, and I observed the comments of the key players that sat by your side, and here was the impression I got: Your most powerful statement about me was that, and I must laugh, one monkey don’t stop the show. The two players that were with you, one of them made the statement that he was overwhelmed to be honored, and the other started talking about a subject that was highly important, and that was the pension plan, and the improvement that he would hope would happen, but stated that he was there to discuss the Ring of Honor.

Holmgren of course never said “one monkey don’t stop the show”.  This is Brown injecting race into yet another argument.  Aren’t you tired of this act – of people interjecting race where it doesn’t belong?  If Mr. Brown doesn’t want to attend the Ring of Honor ceremony because of some beef with the Browns, that is his right.  Never mind that he would let down the fans or his fellow teammates.  But pllllllease don’t make it a race issue.  Mr. Brown concludes with two more racial related slams.

But in my conclusion, I’ve never danced in the end zone, I always gave the ball to the referee, so you should know I don’t dance. Also Mike, I don’t hang out on the Westside of town. I’m an Eastside guy. I play my golf at Highland Golf Course.

The implication here is that all the whites live on the west side of town and all the blacks live on the east side of town.  Highland Golf Course (a nice course) is owned by a minority and is heavily frequented by minorities.

I don’t have any trophies in my home on display. I don’t claim to be the best at anything, and I emphatically do not need validation from any man, so I will not participate in your Ring of Honor.
Mike, there’s only one thing that I control in life, and that’s being a man. So let me end with a little humor, because as you say, one monkey don’t stop the show, and as I say “Willie Lynch missed a few of us”, and there will be no Buck Dancing.

Enough said – the angry young black men of the 60’s and 70’s need to redirect some of that anger.  Mr. Brown (and Mr. Jesse Jackson, etc.) this is not a race issue.  If you want to be angry and feel disrespected and turn down your 100k job, then fine, but don’t bring race into it.

PacBiz Strategy #3 - Avoid Getting Hemmed In

PacBiz Strategy #3 – There is a spot on the board that unless you strategically attack it, you can easily get hemmed in and the enemies can block you in and kill you.  It is wise to attack and clear the Pac Dots when your enemies are retreating. 

Translation – Beware of areas you know nothing about.  Do your research and beware of things that appear to good to be true.  Attack new areas from a position of strength and know what you are doing.  Make sure you have a hedge position around your strategy.

No Labor Day

Today is Labor Day.  I understand the meaning of most holidays, but I really don’t understand Labor Day.  I had to look up in Wikipedia what really Labor Day is.

Labor Day is a United States federal holiday observed on the first Monday in September (September 6 in 2010).

The first Labor Day in the United States was celebrated on September 5, 1882 in New York City.[1] It became a federal holiday in 1894, when, following the deaths of a number of workers at the hands of the U.S. military and U.S. Marshals during the Pullman Strike, President Grover Cleveland put reconciliation with the labor movement as a top political priority. Fearing further conflict, legislation making Labor Day a national holiday was rushed through Congress unanimously and signed into law a mere six days after the end of the strike.[2] The September date was chosen as Cleveland was concerned that aligning an American labor holiday with existing international May Day celebrations would stir up negative emotions linked to the Haymarket Affair.[3] All 50 U.S. states have made Labor Day a state holiday.

Traditionally, Labor Day is celebrated by most Americans as the symbolic end of the summer. The holiday is often regarded as a day of rest and parties. Speeches or political demonstrations are more low-key than May 1 Labor Day celebrations in most countries, although events held by labor organizations often feature political themes and appearances by candidates for office, especially in election years. Forms of celebration include picnics, barbecues, fireworks displays, water sports, and public art events. Families with school-age children take it as the last chance to travel before the end of summer recess. Similarly, some teenagers and young adults view it as the last weekend for parties before returning to school, although school starting times now vary.

I appreciate having Labor Day to celebrate.  Our tradition has been to go to the Geauga County fair and look at the animals and indulge on onion rings, gyros and 4-H milkshakes.  It is the one time of the year that we purposely gorge ourselves on stuff that is hopelessly bad for us. 

In this country having a place to work is viewed as part of the fabric of the society.  We are a country that is used to going to work.  The industriousness of our labor is what built us into the economy we have.  That is why it is depressing to see an unemployment rate of 16%.  You saw that correct – if you actually counted people who are out of work and have given up, you would see that number, not 9.6%.  This recession has taken a toll on the psyche of the American worker.  At the rate we are going, it will be many years before we even get close to a historical unemployment rate of under 5%. 

Have you seen these signs?

I have ridden my bike past this one on the corner of  Mennonite and Page Roads many times and I have yet to see a single worker.  The Obama administration chose to devote billions of our taxpayer dollars to “generate or save jobs”.  The most recent rhetoric is no longer that the stimulus actually generated jobs, but saved jobs and the unemployment rate would have been far worse if they hadn’t.  This is because virtually every statistic shows that this taxpayer money was one of the grossest misuses of money ever.  Who are they kidding? If that money had been put to use in the private sector, it would have made a difference.  Now we are looking truly at a jobless recovery and our deficit is all the worse because of fiscally irresponsible and shortsighted decisions like this one. 

Our economy will recover I believe and our unemployment rate will get back to under 8%.  However the days of 5% unemployment are a thing of the past.  This country is in a hole financially, one that will be very hard to dig out of, particularly with entitlement programs like Social Security and Medicare looming large. 

This is still the greatest nation on earth.  It is our work ethic that got us here.  I pray we can return here.

Have another onion ring!

PacBiz Strategy – Watch the Greediness

In our new installment of the joint strategy of Pac-Man and business.  Remember there are many overlaps of life/business and Pac-Man.  Accordingly, we are calling these strategic rules PacBiz Strategy.  I am up to over 20 of these strategies and I will be posting blogs on this forever. By way of review:

Lesson #1 – On the first board, eat as many Pac-dots as possible before going after the power pellets.  The power pellets turn the bad enemies into edible creatures that you can devour for points.  Reason is that you have lots of time in this first board before the enemies get real close to you to pile up the points.

Translation – build infrastructure first.  Be careful that you don’t get over-anxious.  I find that my tendency is to do too much too fast.  Consequently we outgrow our infrastructure too fast and it puts the business at risk.  Generally we have more time than we think.  Usually there is not an immediate “enemy” and we have time to do things right.  As I have gotten older and the over-anxious mistakes pile up, I am becoming more cautious.

Lesson #2 – When devouring your Pac-enemies, it is so easy to be enticed as the points double with every enemy you eat.  200, then 400, then 800, then 1600.  You really pile up the points when you get those 1600.  Further if you get 1600 points, the enemies tend to bunch up and give you a good chance at getting another run of 1600 points.  However, if you really chase the enemy, he can turn back and get you in which case you have wasted your life chasing the stupid Pac-enemy.

Translation – don’t go overboard chasing the dream.  Take the points off of the board.  That is a decision we made in selling three businesses.  That is what gets people in gambling – they just can’t stop.  It is the excitement of the game.  On the rare times that I have played the slot machines, I always have a cap on winnings and a stop on losing.  Draw a mental image of your stop point.  Even if it means you are leaving a lot on the table.

Stay to the Right, Pass on the Left

You’re on a four lane road and there is one car on the right.  Can you stay in the left hand lane without passing?The answer generally speaking is no.  The vast majority of states have “Stay to the Right” laws.  Of course Ohio tends to be a little ambiguous, but the general law is there. 

It is one of my incredible pet peeves is when people are blocking the left lane.  I don’t know why it bothers me so much, but it does.  The amazing thing is that 80% of the time it is women.  This is just observation, not scientific evidence.  Lest you think I am a male chauvinist pig, my mental tallies as my wife will support are pretty accurate.  Men do other bad stuff on the road but women are the lollygaggers. 

The other night, I was driving home and I got behind a women who decided the left lane was her personal lane for nearly a mile.  I could not pass her because she was doing exactly the same speed as the car on the right.  I unfortunately have a habit of tale gaiting people like that.  The car on the right turned right at a light and the women on the left rolled down her window and asked me (actually she was pretty nice – I wouldn’t have been so nice) if I knew that she was driving the speed limit (it does not matter by law if you are doing the speed limit or not)  I asked her if she knew that she was breaking the law by camping in the left lane.  She said she didn’t know that was the law.  Now I felt bad because I was pretty snippy.  We do things in cars we wouldn’t ever do in person because we have anonymity in cars.  I wouldn’t push her the left if she was slow standing in a bank teller line. 

Anyway, the law is stay to the right and pass on the left.  You will then avoid the wrath of Spoorts.  I will try not to get so upset about it.   

The High Life God’s Way

If I could tell you that you could have life, joy, and pleasure, what image would you conjure up?  Would it be some image of party time?  You remember these Miller High Life commercials?  It suggests simple pleasures.

Psalm 16 – says the God will make known to me the path of life; in His presence, there is fullness of joy; in His right hand, there are pleasures forever. 

Meditate on that verse for a few moments.  God is giving you the High Life literally.  Next time you see the Miller High Life guy think of this verse. 

To illustrate the case in point, when are you at your times of most extreme joy?  For me, it is when things from a worldly perspective have gone south.  Joy is extreme in relationship with our Creator and relationship with people.  That joy is full.  The joy the world offers is temporal – it does not last.  It is inner joy – joy that comes from deep within like a “wellspring of life”. 

Pleasure likewise does not come from transient things, things that will fade away.  Pleasure comes from relationship.  it may be a seeing creation in all its fullness (which we see through relationship with the Creator) – a sunset, music, smell of blooming roses.  Maybe it is pleasure from friendships – a night out with close friends or seeing a daughter off to college.

Now that’s living the High Life!

Pac-Man and Business Strategy

A few months ago I downloaded the Ms. Pac-Man game for the iPhone at a whopping cost of .99.  I loved this game when I was a little younger.  It was definitely one of the few arcade games I played in my youth.  Now that I can play virtually all the time for free, I am finding I am spending a little too much time but I am absorbed with the “strategy” of getting to the next level.  As I thought more about it, there is a lot of concepts in playing Pac-Man that apply to business strategy.  I keep thinking of new ones and thought thus a series of blog posts is born.  However, you will have to wait until the next blog post to find them out. 

I have been an entrepreneur for the past 22 years.  I am onto my fourth and fifth business.  I didn’t plan them in advance.  They just came my way.  The first three ended up very successfully, but not without great struggles.  The fourth one has struggled mightily and may not be salvageable. It is still in play.  The fifth one is just getting started, but it looks incredibly exciting.  No matter how many attempts I make to move into a different vocation, God keeps putting these businesses in my path.  Over the course of these many years, I have learned many lessons from the “school of hard knocks”.  As I play Pac-Man, I am finding many of these lessons I have also learned in business. 

Below is the Pac-Man board.  It changes as you progress further levels.  Let’s get into our lessons.

Lesson #1 – On the first board, eat as many Pac-dots as possible before going after the power pellets.  The power pellets turn the bad enemies into edible creatures that you can devour for points.  Reason is that you have lots of time in this first board before the enemies get real close to you to pile up the points.

Translation – build infrastructure first.  Be careful that you don’t get over-anxious.  I find that my tendency is to do too much too fast.  Consequently we outgrow our infrastructure too fast and it puts the business at risk.  Generally we have more time than we think.  Usually there is not an immediate “enemy” and we have time to do things right.  As I have gotten older and the over-anxious mistakes pile up, I am becoming more cautious. 

Things to Rent

From the WSJ this morning.

In China, they must be hard up because you can rent a bridesmaid.  Their business has been so good, they are rapidly expanding. 

Forget the normal bachelor party bad stuff and rent a theater that you can play XBox 360 on the big screen and of course all of the fantastic sound system.

And last but not least, how about renting paparazzi for the day so you can feel like a celebrity. 

Growing in Holiness, Incarcerated in Flesh

In the movie Benjamin Button, the main character is mentally immature, but starts out in an old person’s body.  As he matures mentally, his physical body becomes younger and younger to a point where he is an old man mentally in a very young persons body. 

The Christian is the opposite.  The body of the Christian is decaying, but the spiritual man is being “renewed day by day”.  The body for all of us breaks down over time.  Some of us are able to slow the decay, others of us experience a rapid decay through circumstances or out of neglect.  But nobody can stop the decay ultimately despite all best of intentions.  The death rate is 100%.  The inner man became a new creation in Christ (2 Cor 5:17) yet is still imprisoned in the old body. 

But my inner man is a different story.  The inner man can actually grow – grow in holiness.  I can become more spiritually mature even as my body degenerates (Eph 3:16).  For every verse that we are told to take care of our body for it is the temple of the Holy Spirit, there are 10 verses describing our growth in the inner man.  It is a battle!  My decaying flesh wages war against the new person inside of me.  My desire for holiness constantly facing the forces of decay generating from my body of sin.  Paul describes this battle in Romans 7:21-25.  He says “wretched man that I am – who will rescue me from this body of flesh?”  What is my desire?  Where am I spending my time?  How well do I know Him who saved me?

In the glorious resurrection body, the inner man meets up with a perfect body and that becomes our body for eternity.  I can’t wait for that body.  Each ache is a painful, a reminder of my bodily atrophy.  There is a reason the Scripture says that “all creation groans awaiting redemption”.   In the meantime, I seek perfect holiness which is only possible through the transformation from within.   Thanks be to God who makes such holiness possible!

Biking Surprises

I love biking.  I have stated that in this blog before like this one. This summer, my trips have gotten longer and longer.  My Saturday rides are approaching 35-40 miles.  I am building up to a 50 mile ride.  A few weeks ago, I did 38 miles in high heat and humidity and I was totally shot for a week. 

One of the things I really love about biking is seeing things that you don’t expect.  Unlike running, going off for a “trip” takes you to areas you have never been before.  A few weeks ago, I discovered Lake Rockwell, a very large reservoir in Portage County, the same country we live in.  It is probably several miles long and a road runs along it.  I stop at a particular spot and just sit by the lake.  There are no houses that I can see for several miles.  All you can hear are the fish on the lake.  Very peaceful.

I have another ride that takes me to Punderson Lake Park.  Along the way, I was shocked to see of all things… a castle. 

Yes, you said that right, a castle.  It is even identified as a castle.  Note the following sign.

It is protected by Ohio Castle Law 184.  At first I thought that somehow was a real law except if you read closely it says, violators will be shot.

At Punderson is a beautiful state park.  There is a small lake and beach.  I watched a family on a couple of row boats and kayaks.  I came to find out this is a multi-generational outing sponsored by Grandpa.  They even had the dog with them.

We have had such a great summer thus far and it is winding down.  I have put close to 1000 miles on my bike this summer.  I take it out every opportunity I get.  There is so much more to explore and see.

Taxed to Death

I was booking my rental car for an upcoming trip.  I am a Avis Wizard member so I always look at Avis first, but then I dutifully shop around.   I was pleased to see that Avis had a $301 weekly charge for a compact car.  This was about $100 cheaper than what I saw outside of Avis.  So I booked it and Avis tells me it will be $387.48.  Huh!  What’s up?  Did I miss something?  So I look at the bill.

$.50 per day Energy Recovery Fee
$2.00 per day Florida Surcharge
$.02 per day Waste Tire/Battery Fee
$.78 per day Vehicle License Fee
$1.00 per day Customer Facility Charge
11.11% Concession Recovery Fee
6.0% Sales Tax

So $86.48 went to taxes and fees or 28.7% of my charge.  And we are going to a VAT tax like Canada to cover all of this drunken sailor spending?  The problem with these fees and taxes is they never go down, they only go up, and up, and up. 

Max the Dog and Remorse vs. Repentance

This is not a post about Max the dog.  I have written plenty of posts before about Max, our wonder dog.  This is a post on the difference between remorse and repentance illustrated through Max.  Hang in there with me.

To Max, we are his god.  One, he greatly desires a relationship with us.  He lives for our approval and generally will follow us in obedience.  We are a poor excuse for the god that Max follows.  We will discipline Max out of anger.  We will try to wrestle his blue toy away from him.  When throwing the stick, we will fake him out on the throw.  Nevertheless, to Max we can do no wrong and we are his god.

Max gets in trouble with chewing things off of the counter.  Most times, he will chew them when we are not around and he knows it.  He just can’t help himself – if it is there, he will get it and chew it.  Certain things he leaves alone such as fruits and vegetables.  He is a meat and potatoes dog.  So these are not a temptation for him and we as gods can leave them on the counter.  No matter how many times we come home and beat the tar out of him for chewing something off of the counter, he still does it every time if we leave the tempting thing on the counter.  Max means well, but he can’t help himself.  After all, he is a dog.  He is remorseful meaning he feels bad because he has offended his god and he knows he will be punished.  But he is not repentant meaning that he has the capability and the power to change his behavior.  He lacks what we humans have which is the ability to repent if we have supernatural power within us.

Judas was remorseful.  He felt bad for betraying Christ, but he was not repentant.  Peter was repentant and became a driving force for advancing the gospel.  Repentance means I do a 180 degree shift and have the potential to change if I have the Holy Spirit living inside of me.  Further, repentance means I genuinely desire a change to please the God who saves me.  My ability to change is not enough on its own.  I cannot change sinful behavior on my own.  It requires a supernatural change within me.  But God in His desire for a relationship with me gives me that ability to change.  2 Corinthians 7:10 states it succinctly - “Godly sorrow produces repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow produces death (DQ – remorse)”.

So when I see Max the dog, I see myself in my unregenerate condition.  But thankfully we have a master God who regenerates us and actually provides the means for true repentance.

Getting Close to the Athletes

I have attended pro baseball, football, basketball, and soccer games.  However, there is nothing to compare to attending a golf tournament.  This is one of the rare events where you can actually get close up to the athlete.  We are talking like a few feet.  You can hear them chatting with their caddy and you can see the clear sound of club hitting ball.  You can go pretty much wherever you want to go.  It is an all volunteer help at the course too so you feel less threatened.  Two years ago, I followed Phil Mickelson and it was only a handful of us back then.  I also followed Sergio Garcia and helped him find his ball which was actually lost in the rough under the trees. 

I followed Phil Mickelson again this year and he had a little more of a crowd following.  Like two years ago, we also followed Tiger Woods.  That requires strategy because he has three times or more the following anyone else has.  However, we went to the first day of the tournament so we were able to get real close.  It is apparent to me and others that Tiger simply isn’t there.  He looks like he just isn’t into it.  No smile, but yet no eye of the tiger either (no pun intended).  There are guys like Mickelson who while serious have a good time out there.  And believe me Mickelson was all over the place like Tiger.  Someone commented they always wanted to play like Tiger and now they are.  I digressed. 

Attending a golf tournament requires a viewing strategy unlike other events.  Some people camp out at one spot and stay there whether at the stands behind some of the greens or on a chair alongside the course.  Advantage there is you can see multiple players and you don’t have to get sweaty walking around.  Disadvantage is you see one type of shot.  We prefer to walk around with a given player pair.  So we did that with Mickeson-Mcilroy and Woods-Westwood for 9 holes each.  You see the good and the bad.  We saw Mickelson hit a bad shot but then save it by holing out from off the green.  We saw Anthony Kim hit a log wedge between two branches.  We saw a guy get pegged with an errant shot by Westwood.  You see a little bit of everything. 

I thank Charles Schwab for the tickets.  It was another memorable experience. 

Which Page is It?

Recent headlines:

Twitter trouble: McDonald’s crude tweet leads to lecture

Edwards: Cleveland is Dullsville

Lawson at practice after jail

XX girlfriend calls local reaction unfair

All of these on the same section.  It was the Cleveland sports page on Tuesday, August 10, 2010.  What is wrong with this picture?  Sometimes reading the sports page is like reading the a) police blotter, or b) the business section, or c) the comics. 

When You’ve Had Enough

By now you’ve probably all heard about Steven Slater the flight attendant for Jet Blue that “lost it” after a rude passenger refused to sit down as the plane was still moving towards the gate, cursed Slater out and then hit him with the suitcase.  This caused a Slater meltdown.

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Apparently we all can identify with this guy as we have all thought about just chucking it like he has and giving up on 28 years of a career.  So Mr. Slater has achieved something like folk-hero status. 

While I empathize with Mr. Slater’s encounter with the rude passenger, it is not an excuse for that behavior which reflected poorly on himself and Jet Blue and could have put maintenance personnel at risk.  The Proverbs constantly give the direction to hold our tongue and that it is a sign of maturity.  From a business sense, it is a sign of professionalism.  There are so many times I wanted to punch the lights out of customers, employees, board members, etc. but didn’t.  I thought it, but didn’t.  Why can’t we honor people that hold up to true professionalism and dignity and not those that seem to flip the bird at society?    Unfortunately, I think others are now going to follow this guys pattern and unlike Mr. Slater, they will not find folk-hero status but the unemployment line and a bad record to boot.  

My Office at Panera

I have had a number of business meetings at Panera.  When I meet at Panera, I notice that there are a lot of business meetings going on.  In fact, I have noticed the same people can be there multiple times.  I have speculated that Panera bread is the office for a lot of people.  Panera has long had a policy of free Internet and I think that enters into it.  Starbucks used to charge for Internet, but now they give it away as does McDonalds.  I have seen people who get a cup of coffee and then spend hours using the Internet at Panera.  I noticed most recently that Panera has instituted a policy where you are limited to a half hour during peak times.  This is to avoid situations where at lunch you can’t find a table because free-loaders like this are monopolizing the tables.  If you are Panera, you can gently encourage, but then do you really need a big guy to act as a bouncer and forcibly evict these free-loaders?  After all, Panera does not make money on these people.  They don’t trusting that most people recognize that Panera is not the library. 

Thoughts From Hebrews 12:1 – Fixing Our Eyes on Jesus

In the last of the reflections on Hebrews 12:1, we learn that Jesus is the focus of our eyes.  He is our sole purpose for the race.  Without Jesus there would be no race worth running.  In the process of running, there has to be a goal.  Runners running the race dream of the finish line and crossing the tape first and finishing the race triumphantly.  Our race is based on vision that is up rather than vision that is out. 

The writer to the Hebrews further defines Jesus as an example we can look to.  Jesus authored (literally pioneered) faith and He perfected it.   Without Jesus, there is no faith.  Even our faith is inspired by God. 
The faith is illustrated in its graphic entirety.  It was for the joy set before Him, our rescue.  If there was but one of us, He would have pursued us.  He endured the cross, despising its shame. 

What greater endurance could we have as a model than the God-man enduring a Roman cross and human punishment accompanied by divine punishment?  My God, My God, why have you forsaken me was His cry.  He rose in triumph and is now sitting at the right hand of the Father.  Jesus crossed the finish line and we can too. 

The Death of the Small Market Sports Team

The haves and the have nots.  That is the world of professional sports.  I live in a small market sports city, Cleveland, OH.  You know we have had our share of heartache.  I have written in previous blogs about my shriveled Cleveland sports heart.  However this post is not unique to Cleveland but the whole balance of competitiveness. 

Cities like Cleveland, Milwaukee, Pittsburgh in sports like baseball and basketball have the odds definitely stacked against them even with the “luxury tax” and the “salary cap”.  New York has multiple individual players that make more than the entire Cleveland baseball team.  So every few years the team is forced to unload and reload. 

Think about it that Cleveland has had two recent Cy Young award winners in CC Sabbathia and Cliff Lee.  Had they had any reasonable chance of signing them, they would not have traded them.  I am drooling thinking of what having those two would have meant to our team.  Most recently, the Indians went on a trading binge dumping 5 of their veteran players to contenders.  So we now have a minor league team playing in a major league ballpark and charging major league prices.  Well if I am going to watch a minor league team, I will go up the road to Eastlake or Akron and watch one for far less money.  I think baseball in particular is in for a really rough patch when it becomes the big cities and the rest of the teams are there for batting practice.  

At least with football you get to see guys hitting each other at high speed.  Browns training camp started this week.  Oh, I digress.

Blue Screen of Death

I am writing to you now after much difficulties getting back up and running.  A few weeks ago, I started having some issues with my hard drive.  I would get a cryptic error message of Raid(0) in my system tray followed by sporadic Blue Screens of Death.  That is not a good combination, I assure you. When I looked it up on the web, it gave an ominous tone that the drive was failing.  You can play Russian Roulette daily and see what happens or you can take the steps to try to move on.  

Fortunately, I had both a backpack drive and also had subscribed to Carbonite backup so I knew I had backup.  However, neither one backed up my programs, only my data.  Further, I had nothing that backed up my operating system.  Sony in its infinite wisdom decided not to ship recovery disks.  The web site gave very little instruction on how to actually create recovery disks.  So I had two wonderful experiences with Sony (lol).  One was I called customer service and asked to order recovery CD’s.  After giving both my product ID and my serial number, the customer service agent said that she still could not get a part number and I would have to ask a manager override the next business day.  I then tried the chat window in customer support.  They give you 15 minutes “free” (I am out of warranty) before charging you to help.  After farting around for 20 minutes (you know chat sessions – they spend 20 minutes just messing around), she sends me a link that allows me to create recovery CD’s.  Problem was it did not match what was showing on my computer.  However, she did offer to help me FOR FREE if I would sign up for an annual support plan.  I was somewhat curt and told her that I have no desire to compensate Sony for having me backup my own operating system.  So I looked through all of the nice Sony videos and there was a link buried in one of them with how to create recovery CD’s.  I’m in business and was able to create recovery CD’s. 
The next day, I stop at the Geek squad and have them swap out drives.  After mentioning my wonderful experience with Sony they parenthetically commented “Sony does stuff like that”.  I should also mention that to swap the drives according to Sony’ web site would have cost me $680.  I bought two drives for $200 as my notebook actually has two drive bays.  Geek squad was wonderful.  There is actually good customer service in this world if you look hard enough. 

So eagerly with anticipation I go back to my office and try to recover from my CD’s.  NO GO!  Sony keeps thinking I am recovering onto the original hard drive.  Do they not think that hard drives fail.  Well to make a very long story short, I installed a fresh copy of Windows 7 rather than trying to upgrade.  This set me back $80 more than if I had bought the upgrade version, but at least I have the peace of mind that I actually own the operating system and not some cryptic recovery process. 

My report card -
Sony – F
Circuit City/Best Buy - B+
Spoorts – C- for stupidity, but A+ for diligence.

But I am up and running after spending all day Saturday reloading programs.  I would like to add another blog post on actually the good process of weeding out all of your junk you accumulate on your computer over time but enough for now.

Thoughts from Hebrews 12:1 – The Race Objective

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin which so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.  Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith.

We are not just in any race.  We are in a race that is waged daily over men’s souls.  I regularly have to remind myself of that fact.  I would very nicely want to get into the routine of life without recognizing that there are only two things that matter – people and the word of God.  We had some longtime dear friends over Friday that we had not seen in a while until a recent wedding.  As I have gotten older the importance of gaining friendships is so much more important than it ever has been.  Today after our baseball game, I hung around with our team.  They have a post-game social event after every game and I usually skip out.  I am very comfortable competing between the “white lines” but it is work for me to actually be social.  However, since I know many of them may not know the Lord, it has become increasingly important for me to get to know them outside the “white lines”.  Given up to my carnal self, I would avoid all human contact and live on an island somewhere. 

So this race is not just any race.  It is defined by the Great Commission to make disciples of all nations.   Our role in that Great Commission is unique to us.  God uses all sorts of divine appointments to give us a “custom race”.  I pray that I can run in such a way as to win the prize as Paul states.  It is interesting that Jesus marks the race, but He also gives us the means to win the race.  The stamina and strength are only truly possible with His life through me.