Tears In Rain

I guess I'm going to be 'That Guy'

2011-07-24T04:34:45Z

Amy Winehouse is dead. I’m sure I’ve heard her music, since everyone else claims she was an amazing talent, and thus must have been all over the radio, etc. I’m pretty sure I cannot name any of her songs without Google or iTunes, although I will admit I’m not a fan of most popular music these days.

The accounts I’ve seen say she died at the age of 27, of a drug overdose. Her attitude towards getting clean seemed to be summed up in a song where she says over and over that she won’t go to rehab, No, no, no.

Here’s a question: If you die of a drug overdose, without making a serious effort to get clean, is it suicide?

Here’s another question: If someone you love dies of a drug overdose, and you didn’t do everything you could to get them clean, and help them stay that way, is it assisted suicide?

I’m sorry if this seems a little harsh, but it’s not a tragedy. A tragedy is the death of the little Anthony girl. A tragedy is the death of someone killed by a drunk driver. It’s not the death of a wealthy pop star by her own hand.

Here’s my last question: Did she know Jesus Christ as her Lord and Saviour? Was there anyone in her life who witnessed to her the power of a loving God, who wanted an eternal relationship with her?

I guess that’s the ultimate tragedy, if the answers to these last questions are “No”.

Humility and Hope

2011-04-01T20:58:22Z

Tomorrow, I go hat in hand to my Credit Union, asking them to pre-approve me for a mortgage. Lori and I found a house that we CAN afford on my income. Under ordinary circumstances, I would not be too concerned. But I have as bad a credit report as you can have, after filing Chapter 7 bankruptcy last year. This is as a result of my divorce, my long period of unemployment and crushing uninsured medical bills.

I KNOW this is the right place for us, and that we would have a great life there, with room for family and friends. But I also know that it’s a real long shot.

I’ll update after I find out the news.

A wiseguy once said...

2011-03-21T13:15:11Z

“Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.”

Ashes, Ashes, We all fall down.

2011-03-09T15:33:02Z

Since I grew up Lutheran, I know lent very well. It was one of 2 seasons of the year when we went to church on Wednesday nights, as well as Sunday morning. I remember thinking it odd that my Baptist friends went to church on Wednesday all year long, but didn’t talk about Lent or Advent. Anyway, many of us know and observe Lent to varying degrees. It’s popular for people, even non-religious people to talk about ‘giving something up for Lent’. Whether they do or not, I think the point is lost if all you do or intend is to stop getting Starbucks in the morning.

Aslan is on the move

2011-01-28T08:22:08Z

In "The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe", C.S. Lewis tells of a land where it is "Always Winter, but never Christmas". This land, Narnia, is ruled by a witch who lives in fear of the fulfillment of a prophecy. As the story unfolds and the prophecy draws nearer to fulfillment, the inhabitants of Narnia, the talking animals, whisper that Aslan is on the move.

Friendly Fire/Shoot the Wounded

2010-10-11T15:52:42Z

Christians seem to be really good at 2 things. First, we are really good at finding the slightest differences between us and other Christians, and using these differences to justify attacking each other. Second, we walk through life encountering the wounded of this world and more often than not, we shoot them rather than offer help.

Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi

2010-04-02T12:59:12Z

It’s pretty common at this time of year to contemplate the crucifixion, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ in terms like “The Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.” While this is true and that was His mission, set for Him before time began, it really doesn’t mean anything to me. The fact is, I can’t begin to understand what the sins of the world means. I know what sins are, and it doesn’t take a Biblical scholar to know that the world is utterly depraved, and has been since Adam let his wife get tempted, instead of standing in the gap for her. But the scale is too big to get my head around. One death is sad, a whole family dying is a tragedy, but 100 million deaths is just a statistic. (That’s the estimated total lives lost in World War II, civilian and military, all countries)

Million Meals for Haiti

2010-03-11T05:59:05Z

Genesis took their turn at packing meals for Haiti this week. This was shot at the end of the night at Heartland. It was a very long day for Aaron, who was a table leader for Auburn's turn at packing meals.

Genesis Packing Meals I'm proud of Aaron, and glad to see Kyle having a good time.

Entitlement and Free Web Services

2009-10-26T03:31:29Z

A screed in which the author expresses an opinion regarding the people who feel that changes made to Facebook are the equivalent of Mark Zuckerberg killing puppies in their front room, and Twitter service outages are the same as a failed bypass surgery.

St. Paul Lutheran School 8th Grade Trip 2007

2009-09-24T01:14:04Z

I put this slideshow together from the pictures Aaron and I took during our trip to the Windy City. It rained, but everyone had a lot of fun.

Slideshow Movie