Looking back over the archives, it's easy to see the exact moment when I stopped caring. Let's see if we can't fix that.

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This is Jeff .

Because Paul is So, So Wrong.  

It would seem my friend Paul does not like Radiohead.  This has severely tested the limits of our friendship.  I think his exact phrase was, "Radiohead sucks."  

For the purposes of proving my point I am going to offer a list of Radiohead videos in attempt to persuade him.  So thus for my enjoyment, his education, and your edification, here are some choice Radiohead songs:

And since he had never heard Sigur Ros (and we could all use a little more Sigur Ros in our life) here are a couple from them:

Thanks for reading.

This is Jeff .

So my intention has been to begin posting a series of thoughts on life and death.  I have been typing out notes but they are still too jumbled for even a basic blog post.  I keep coming back to a larger problem when looking at the biblical foundations of these issues.  It has partly to do with actual events in Scripture and partly to do with the hermeneutics of those who read it today.  

There is a great number of situations in the Bible where God either takes someone's life himself or ordains someone else to do it.  This poses a few problems in the text.  The primary problem being trying to rectify what God has ordained in the past with his views on the taking of human life.  Many would argue that God is the creator and ruler of the world and that he has the right to do whatever he will with his people, even taking their lives.  In some ways, it makes sense.  After all, doesn't God, in a sense, "take" the lives of everyone who dies?  How is it any different for someone to die of cancer than for him to open up the earth and swallow someone whole?  

On the other hand it can be difficult to reconcile God "not wishing for any man to perish" with God taking people's lives.  But I will be looking at each situation to view the justification of each death instead of trying to formulate some overarching generic reason.  

Things get really murky, clouded, and flat out wrong when one sees God commanding Joshua to kill the Canaanites and thinking that God will ordain something similar in this day and age.  It was the same flawed thinking that inspired the Crusades and that makes someone bomb an abortion clinic today.  God will not tell you to kill anyone today.  

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This is Jeff .

This is a repost from almost a year ago (March 11, 2008)  

My intention is to start writing out some additional ideas about this to spark ideas and discussion.  Of particular note in this is the section about the cost of executing a prisoner versus keeping them in prison for life.  A recent study shows that it is, in fact, cheaper to keep someone in prison for life than to execute them, when you factor in the cost of legal fees and appeals.  So here is the old post with more thoughts moving forward soon.  

Some Loose Thoughts on the Idea of Being "Pro-Life"

How much is a human life worth?

The initial response is that a human life is priceless and is worth the utmost value.  We talk a lot about our health, well-being and the rights of the unborn.  Pro-life is the buzzword of choice among those who are against abortion.  But what does it mean to really be pro-life?  Is there a price we can put on the life of an individual? 

In a word, yes.

According to the website www.justforeignpolicy.org there have been an estimated 1,182,393 deaths attributed to the Iraq war.  Though the number may be higher or lower, there needs to be some thought about this. http://usgovinfo.about.com/library/weekly/aairaqwarcost.htm shows the cost of the Iraq War to be at least $9 billion a month.  Since we are at the roughly 5 year anniversary of the Shock and Awe campaign, we can estimate that at least $540 billion have been spent.  Doing a quick division problem shows that each life lost is worth at least $456, 700. 

In the State of Texas, the preferred method of execution for death row inmates is lethal injection.  It costs $86.08 for the drugs to execute a convict (http://www.tdcj.state.tx.us/stat/drowfacts.htm).  It would seem that their lives are not worth quite as much.  But if you consider how much it costs to house each inmate up until the point of execution, then the value jumps up. 

The point is this: we claim to put a high value on life.  But our actions and attitudes constantly degrade others and devalue human life. Regardless of your political or religious views, there is at least one segment of the population that you do not give proper value to. Whether it is aborted babies, Iraqi citizens, child molesters, the disabled, or others we all have a group that we place in a lower caste.  And if you think otherwise, you are a hypocrite and a liar. Good luck with that. 

What I am offering is nothing really new.  But it is very uncomfortable.  Do you have the audacity to care for everyone and defend the rights of every life everywhere?  If you are pro-choice, do you really have the guts to consider the reality of abortion and the painful aftermath?  It is not a simple choice when another life is in your hands.  There are deep-seeded consequences for what you choose to do with that child.  If you are pro-life, do you have the stomach to face an unwanted baby that is born living in a home potentially without love or living in abject poverty and sorrow?  If you want the babies to survive, then you have to be willing to help provide for them as a society.  Instead of throwing them in a dumpster before birth, we just throw them in to poverty and a life with a lack of education, support, or love.  Great trade! 

Life is more than the focus of arguments or debates.  Quit devaluing the lives of certain groups and the lives of those around you.  I myself believe that every soul will be held accountable for everything it did and did not do someday.  God help us all.

Thanks for reading.

This is Jeff .

I really enjoy it when my last two posts over the past year both apologize profusely for not posting more often.  That is Blog Sin #1.  I have committed that one enough.  I am ready to break Blog Commandment #2: talking about recent events in my life.  

Well, since last we spoke Alison and I have been together for 8 years, I am almost 29 years old, and Clark turns 5 in April.  Yikes.  I am still working at Texas Tech and have finished my Masters of Christian Ministry degree at Wayland Baptist.  There are a lot of things that I would write about and fret about back in the day that have all been resolved and life itself seems to be the same.  I know I have grown quite a bit.  One way in which I have grown over the past couple of years is in my faith.  In all honesty, Alison and I had been in a rut of religious service with little stability.  We hosted small groups for the Southcrest Baptist college ministry at our house in 2006-2007 and that is the last time we have done any measure of volunteer work with a church.  In fact, our choice of churches has been sporadic over this time as well.  

Spring 2007 - Southcrest Baptist Church

Summer 2007 - International Christian Fellowship

Fall 2007 - Bacon Heights Baptist Church

Winter 2007 - Lakeridge United Methodist Church

Spring 2008 - Redeemer Church

Fall 2008 - current - Westminster Presbyterian Church

It has taken us awhile but I think we have finally landed on a church home that can truly be home again.  Part of me thinks that this is something we have been missing ever since leaving FBC back in 2005.  Looking back, the decision to leave was a simple one.  But I think we have learned over time how rooted we were there and it has been difficult to adjust.  But adjust we have.  

There was a time over the past year or so when I didn't even pick up my Bible except to use it in one of my papers for school.  I had no daily time reading the word.  Our marriage was lacking because Alison and I were trying to do it all in our own power.  God has been working in us lately, though, and we are renewed in our love for each other and in our love for God.  A few months ago I began reading the Bible every day again.  

Lately I have been getting the itch to teach and write some more.  That's kinda funny, huh?  When I wasn't invested in learning, I stopped wanting to teach.  Anyway, I am going to end this bout of word vomit now; after all, there aren't too many people reading it.  I hope to do more but I am not making any promises.  

Thanks for reading.

This is Jeff .