Now I don't want to get off on a rant here...

BWI Baseball Club?

The Baltimore/Washington Baseball Club has been officially formed, I think?

[The Baltimore Orioles and Washington Nationals] have agreed to form a joint venture designed to insure that fans throughout the Orioles' and Nationals' home television territory can continue their allegiance to the American League club, while also giving them a team to root for in the National League. The joint venture, backed by MLB, will guarantee the Nationals a fair market value for the club's broadcasting rights, as well as normal protections concerning the quality and frequency of telecasts.

Baseball Commissioner Allan H. (Bud) Selig said, "I also want to commend my friend, Peter Angelos. He was relentless in his desire to preserve and protect the Baltimore Orioles franchise now, and for future generations. His concerns, which he expressed often and well, were not about himself or his ownership interest, but rather to establish a means by which to ensure the future viability of the Orioles franchise. I don't know many other people who would have fought so vigorously for such purposes."

I'm not sure what this joint effort is going to look like, but I sure am curious. Thank you, Pete for looking out for us here in Bawlmer. Now put BALTIMORE back on the uniforms!

The case that shall not be named

Today, I turned off talk radio and switched over to music. I have had my fill of the play by play media treatment. Now I don’t want to get off on a rant here…so I won’t. It’s not that I don’t have thoughts about it. I’m just full.

I understand the importance of the conversation that is taking place. I just don’t understand why this is the ONLY conversation taking place.

Permanent Vegetative State
Rev. Larry Wanaselja

…Everyone has taken sides, the nation is once again divided.

[Her] plight highlights the fundamental divide in our nation. There are those who want to return this land to a culture that promotes life, but over the years there has grown an increasing vocal element which encourages a culture of death. Abortion, euthanasia, doctor assisted suicide, and such, all have led to a culture of death, which in reality is nothing more than a culture of arrogance, a culture where certain vocal elites now clamor for the right of individuals to decide who shall live or die. [She] is just the most recent pawn in this dark culture…

…What [she] needs is such a God to care for her in her vegetative state. But that's why He's left us here, to fulfill His will by bringing life and light to death and darkness.

Which is what preachers have been trying to do from the beginning, but clearly, at least in America, without much success. Had we been successful this current discussion would not even be taking place. [Her] husband would still be faithful to her as his wife and he would certainly not be choosing a path of starvation. Why is it that preachers have been so ineffective? Could it be that many in our congregations are in a permanent vegetative state? We see them sitting there upright in the pews; they return our gaze; they twitch and grin; but what's being said goes in one ear and out the other, "wakefulness without awareness.” It's not all the preacher's fault you know; listeners have to be more than vegetables.

By His Grace there will be a resolution soon. Of course that’s just my opinion. I could be wrong.

A Truman Show Moment

Anyone who has seen this movie, I’m willing to bet, whether they will admit it or not has had a Truman Show moment before. This morning as I was driving to work I had one these moments when my radio momentarily seemed to catch a conversation that sounded like two people on walkie-talkies.

I suppose that some have these moments because they feel like they aren’t in control of their lives or people are hiding things from them. This maybe why for a moment at least I began to think about the trips I have taken in my life and wondered if I was really in Aruba or not. Did they just show a video on the screen for windows on the most elaborate ride ever?

The main reason though for that feeling this morning was simply because life seemed too good to be true. Despite my basement flooding last week and my wife getting sick Sunday night and us not getting any sleep, so I stayed home from work yesterday to take care of her. Despite the traffic this morning that would ordinarily send me into fits of rage because people just don’t know how to drive.

I was struck by happiness and the joy that comes with being me. The joy in having a personal relationship with my Lord and definitely feeling His presence this Easter season. The joy in being with my wife through every situation and growing together. This was my Truman Show moment and I’m happy to say that life is good and that is true!

(Customer Service)

The sign reads in large letters “EXCHANGES and RETURNS =>” across the top, with tiny letters and in parenthesis on the bottom “(Customer Service)”; this about sums it all up for me. If it’s a service to the customers, which is fairly important for a store that sells things to service customers and your department to handle any issues is parenthetical at best in dealing with these issues. Then I suppose you shouldn’t expect much.

I have been fairly unimpressed as of lately with several companies (Customer Service) skills. We have been rather unsuccessful at achieving a balanced exchange with these companies. By balanced exchange, I mean where customer A sees something of value at store B and exchanges the hard earned income of customer A in an amount that is equal to the value of the widget assigned by store B where both are satisfied.

Three stores have led me to wonder if everyone has a (Customer Service) sign like this. One has the same name as a popular movie theatre, but sells hardware like Home Depot and not entertainment like the popular movie theatre. The next one is a trader of records and tapes. Finally we have a store that exports furniture from Sweden.

A door was ordered from the movie theatre named place in November. Several (Customer Service) mistakes later and here we are almost the end of March and there is still no new door on the house. The traders actually were quite pleasant to deal with, unfortunately this time store B was me and customer A was them. Since they don’t say they trade CD’s in the name of the store, I should have known I was not going to get the value I felt was equal to the CD’s I was selling to them.

Finally, I have figured out why the US exports outnumber the US imports. Companies that export furniture from Sweden to the US have zero control over their inventory, so they never know what piece of furniture is where or even how many they actually have. You will have to discuss this with 5 different employees to determine that though. They can give you a price on their website, which the store does not have to honor. When you ask to speak with a manager about this, he won’t actually speak to you. He will however stand over your shoulder and highlight the words on their website that gives them the legal right to not honor the price listed on their website and then stare at you blankly. The best part of that is you can't actually buy the item from their website. (Customer Service) is great.

The moral of this story is that I am now determined to become a carpenter or at the very least Macgyver. Do you think Macgyver ever had to deal with these types of (Customer Service) issues?! NO WAY!!!! He would just make a door out of his old and used CD’s, fused together by one stick of gum and of course a magnesium torch he made by breaking his bike. Then he would have flown to Sweden himself and smuggled the furniture back piece by piece in film canisters, along with the grandfather of that poor girl he met at the docks yesterday.

Macgyver is the bomb! Lowe's, Record & Tape Traders & Ikea are not!

Three Finger Salute

Last Friday’s drive home from work, as most Friday’s go, reminded me of September 11th. In a post last year, Did You Forget?, I wrote about my outrage for these American Apologetics who like to justify the world’s hatred of the United States. Fortunately their numbers have dwindled as time goes on and especially after their defeat in this past election, as the leader of the free world was re-elected to continue to guide us in the march toward freedom from terror.

This past Friday was a nice day and I had my windows down and my sun roof open enjoying the air. As I drove by that corner and saw the same poor soul with his hood pulled down tight over his head, sunglasses on and his orange sign covering the rest of face (concerned about revealing his identity?); his sign reads, “DID LIES TAKE US TO WAR?” I raised my hand out of my sun roof and waiving three fingers in the air for him to see; showed him that lies had nothing to do with the war.

As President Bush said in his inaugural address on January 20th, 2005, “When the Declaration of Independence was first read in public and the Liberty Bell was sounded in celebration, a witness said, "It rang as if it meant something.” In our time it means something still. America, in this young century, proclaims liberty throughout all the world, and to all the inhabitants thereof. Renewed in our strength - tested, but not weary - we are ready for the greatest achievements in the history of freedom.”

This proclamation, the ringing of that bell is what took us to war. Perhaps someday this hooded man will hear the meaning of the bell that rang out over two centuries ago.

Relay For Life

A friend is looking for sponsors in her participation in the Relay For Life @ Salisbury University. Proceeds from Relay For Life benefit the American Cancer Society’s programs of research, education, patient services and advocacy.

If anyone has a heart for this organization please think about helping out.

Happy St. Patty's Day

I'll have to score me a Guinness with Meat & Spuds before the day is through!

It Ain’t the Oscars, but…

Each year there are award shows galore as Hollywood and the like pat themselves on the back for being entertaining or ground breaking or whatever else they treasure. This is what we see on TV and in the media, but each year churches across the country choose leaders for their congregation as well.

These are the people that are part of President Bush’s “Armies of Compassion”. They guide, lead and shepherd their congregations in, hopefully, godly directions. As members of society and sphere of genuine positive influence, these people dig deeper into the lives of their brothers and sisters in Christ than anyone in Hollywood could. Not only do they have the opportunity to influence their congregations, but also the community around them. It ain’t the Oscars, but it is even more important.

I have been asked to serve on the Nominating Committee at my church, which means I will have a say in who our church raises up to guide, lead and shepherd our congregation. As with everything in my spiritual life, I labor over these decisions because I take them very seriously. There is nothing more foundational to who I am, than my walk with Christ.

The two areas of greatest concern for me in this process are understanding Freemasonry and the role of Women in ministry. My concern comes from wanting to have leaders in our church who’s foundation is in Christ and not an ancient fraternity and whether or not it is biblical to have women in these particular positions of leadership. This last point should not be confused with women not being involved in church leadership at all, as they do play a vital role in the body of believers. But should they hold out these particular offices; Elder, Deacon and Trustee?

So here is my elaborate way of bookmarking two books that I would like to read to help me further understand these issues:

Who's Afraid of Freemasons? Alexander Piatigorsky In the eighteenth century, Freemasonry was seen to be a force of enlightenment, yet it has come to be regarded as a sinister influence in public life. This definitive study reveals more about Masonry and the way it functions than any other work. Alexander Piatigorsky considers the institution from the points of view of both Masons and their critics. In the first section, he gives an outline of Masonic history, from the foundation of the Grand Lodge in London's Covent Garden in 1717, through the extraordinary role of Masonry in Enlightenment Europe and the American Revolution, to the present day. In the second part, he describes Freemasonry's rituals and symbolism, within which all Masonic religious ideas find their place. It is here that Piatigorsky's wide knowledge of the world's religions comes into its own.

Evangelical Feminism and Biblical Truth Wayne Grudem Egalitarians, or evangelical feminists, consider men's and women's roles in the home and church to be interchangeable. In this helpful book, Bible scholar Wayne Grudem considers over a hundred egalitarian arguments and finds them contrary to the Bible. According to Grudem, the Bible teaches that God values men and women equally. However, their roles in home and church are complementary to each other, not interchangeable. Arguing against both feminism on the left and male chauvinism on the right, his carefully researched handbook is a valuable resource defending the complementarian viewpoint.

Inflation Confabulation

I have been a baseball fan all my life and have been very spoiled by growing up in Baltimore and having “The Oriole Way” as a model of excellence. The Oriole Way has been marked by outstanding defense, tremendous pitching, clutch hitting and an incomparable work ethic. The teams of the past bore this out with 3 World Series Championship titles, 5 American League Championship titles, 2 American League Division Series titles and 8 American League Eastern Division titles. Unfortunately the fruits of this labor have not been evident since 1997 and the ultimate fruit since 1983.

So now we have this steroid controversy emerging as a potential blemish on the game, the likes of the recent failings of the NHL. We are hearing fist pounding for stronger testing, stronger enforcement, and stronger penalties. There is talk about amending, tossing out or asterisking the record books. There are washed up ballplayers admitting to taking substances to boost their bodies, but lacking anything remotely close to character. *Cough-JoseCanseco* And there are current players denying the use of substances, and lacking this same character. *Cough-BarryBonds*

What can MLB do to fix this mess? First they can establish leadership that has a vision for the future that is grounded in the history of the game with a close eye on the present. This is leadership that will be strong enough to act on the calls for stronger testing, enforcement and penalties that are desperately needed.

As for the record books there is very little that can be done or even should be done. Despite the use of illegal, performance enhancing substances (yes I know the google hits I’m going to take for that statement), baseball is a sport that requires a much more complex skill set than say football. It takes more than just strength to excel. No matter how big your muscles are you still need the hand-to-eye coordination to make contact with the ball; let alone making contact that will result in a homerun. Hitting a Major League fastball is one of the hardest tasks in any sport to accomplish.

It can not be determined by any objective standards then how to apply an asterisk or when to expunge a record from the books. The only place to go from here is forward. You clean up the game to ensure that this doesn’t happen again. Baseball fans are smart enough to realize that despite the single season homerun record is 73, that 61 is still a very significant number. It’s unfortunate the current holder of that record doesn’t amount to much in the shadow of the character of the man who held it for so long.

As I said, I have been spoiled here in Baltimore. Despite the shattering of a former record by one of our very own; the character of this Ironman runs just as deep as the Iron Horse.