Church Relations
I know this will be a shock to some of you, but I don't have the best driving record. Outside of all the other tickets I get, I almost always get one when we go to Gin's parents. They live out in the Texas panhandle, and there is nothing out there. So I speed. Between Stratford, TX and Guymon, Ok I get pulled over without fail. This year was no different. Except the whole encounter was different.

I usually have a screw you, and just give me the damn ticket attitude with The Law. No weeping, crying and begging here. Just give me the ticket so I can get back to speeding. This usually does not go over well, because cops like you to fear them. My attitude has lead to all kinds of extra tickets, car searches, hand-cuffs and drunk driving tests. I was obviously innocent in all cases, because I had a grand ol' personnality the times I would of not been innocent.

So this weekend I get pulled over. I happened to wear a t-shirt that day with my college on it, and I don't often do this. When the highway patrol walks up he says, "Do you know how fast you were going?" (speed limit 65) I am sure they get their sob stories here, and I am so sorries. I just said, "73."
He said, "I clocked you at 75."
I said, "Well I had my cruise control set at 73." With obvious attitude.
Cop: Can you come back to my car please.
He never asked for insurance though, so I was wondering if I should bring it. I decided not to. In his car...
Cop: So you headed from CO.
Me: TX
Cop: You go to SNU.
I was thinking is there a sticker on the car. I don't think so. (I forgot about the shirt.)
Me: Yes
Cop: What church do you go to?
Me: Okc first Naz.
Cop: We go there when we are in town. Is S.G. still the pastor?
Me: Yes.
And after some catching up on were different staff had gone, and realizing we were both PK's, I got a warning. Not that I carried about the ticket or the money that much. 10 over does not go towards your ins. in OK, and it has been long enough that I could have gone to defensive driving school to get the ticket dropped.

The cop did tell me his family was moving back to the city in Dec., and they plan to attend my church. Makes me wonder if there is more to this whole thing than me getting out of a ticket.

I Finally Got Back To the Chimay Beers.

I tried the Chimay White Ale the other night. I am sorry, but save your money and drink a Bud Light. It tasted the same as any other light beer, horrible. I can't wait to try the Blue. I like the darker beers with some real flavor, and everyone seems to think that the Blue is their best one.

Also for any wine people Kendall Jackson has put out their on boxed wine now. It isn't bad. Wine seems to be in surplus these year. A few news stories have come out about wine companies selling their good wine under cheap labels, because of the surplus. So if you are a chance taker, buy some cheap '06's and see if you get a pleasent surprise. Thanks Ray for this tip.

Fundamentalism Vs. Jesus

The kaleo book club is reading Stealing Jesus by Bruce Bawer. I don't want to get into a book review, but I will give you a quick synopsis. Bawer states there has always been two churches, The Church of Law and The Church of Love. (Quick) I wanted to post a quote from his book by a man named Walter Rauschenbusch. This is Rauschenbusch's take on where The Church of Law has taken American Christianity.

Because the Kingdom of God has been dropped as the primary and comprehensive aim of Christianity, and personal salvation has been substituted for it, therefore men seek to save their own souls and are selfishly indifferent to the evangelization of the world.

Because the individualistic conception of personal salvation has pushed out of sight the collective idea of a Kingdom of God on earth, Christian men seek for the salvation of individuals and are comparatively indifferent to the spread of the spirit of Christ in the political, industrial, social, scientific and artistic life of humanity, and have left these as the undisturbed possession of the spirit of the world.

Because the Kingdom of God has been understood as a state to be inherited in a future life rather than as something to be realizied here and now, therefore Christians have been contented with a low plane of life here and have postponed holiness to the future.

Makes me wonder how far off track billygrahamianty has taken us. Not that altar experiences are not important, but how often we forget, or choose to ignore, Christ as teacher, rabbi, master and perfect example of the life we are called to follow him into. Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done on Earth.