Change Part One

I'm thinking about change these days. Partly because I just watched change "hit the fan." It is always ugly when things go sideways. People get hurt. And it seems like change is one of the surest ways to hurt people. I have to say somewhat selfishly (my fallen nature) that I am glad that it was not my fan that just got hit. But, it still hurts to watch friends struggle.

I am reading Seth Godin's book, Tribes and while the book is about leadership and human tribalism, its undercurrent is that our world is constantly changing and it needs people to lead that change. He says, "People want connection and growth and something new. They want change." (p.2) I don't disagree with Godin its just if people want change so badly, why do we have dozens of books and experts and seminars on managing change and dealing with the aftermath of change. The paradox is that while we seem to resist change, we have created a society that is caught in a vortex of constant and rapid change.

We all want change and we all do change and we all benefit from change, while at the same time we all resist change. I tried to brainstorm why and the following is a list of words that came to my mind about change:

Pro Change - better, lust, necessity, excitement, pride, different, image, boredom, improvement

Pro Status Quo - connection, control, memory, continuity, comfort, stability, constant, known

There is nothing inherently wrong, immoral or unethical with wanting or not wanting change. Change and Status Quo are morally neutral. Sometimes change is forced upon us. Sometimes change just feels good. Sometimes it nice to go back to the old neighbourhood . Sometimes its nice to sing an old song.

And maybe its not about change at all. After all Solomon wrote, "What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun." (Ecclesiastes 1:9 - NIV)

Furry - The Haters

I am going to let my furry reign here for a moment. I was looking up an article by John Piper on why he was using social media to share the gospel. I was doing this because I just launched myself on Twitter and I was going to post this on my Facebook page. (As a aside, I am using social media, but not necessarily as a platform to convert the world - after all 90% of the people who read my few posts have already made a commitment to Christ, so they don't need converting, nor do they need my frail insights into the nature of God.)

Well what shock! When I started looking up the Google hits on John Piper I discovered that there are a lot of "Christian" haters on the web. These are people who claim to be Christian, but they have a deep need to attack others as non-Christian, because they view their doctrine as heretical. By the time I was finished following all of the links I realized that there are no prominent pastors or Christian leaders who are not condemned by those who believe that they alone have accurate doctrine and correct belief. I could not believe the arrogance of these people. I find it hard to understand that anyone can actually believe that they alone have it all correct and that they alone have they the authority and right to virulently attack others with whom they disagree. I'm going to have a tough enough time on judgement day, without that on my head. I can just hear God saying, "Who gave you the right to touch my anointed ones?"

What I found even more disturbing was that these attacks were all about doctrine and correct belief, but in all of the arguments I never saw Jesus lifted up. It seemed like all of this Christian infighting was about everything but Christ. Its as if Christ is a no longer central to our message. Its as if correct doctrine leads to salvation. Is as if what we believe is more important than in whom we believe.

The sad thing is that all this infighting is there for the world to see. No wonder the Gospel is a tough sell in this world. Who would want to fellowship with a bunch of nasty haters. Jesus said that the world would know we are His disciples by our love for one another. I think that love is a little hard to find amongst those who choose to hate. Of course the haters argument is that the people they are attacking really aren't true Christians. Which begs the question, "Who are true Christians and who makes that distinction?" I always figured that was God's job, but apparently not. It would seem that the haters have taken over that role and God help us all because I think that we will all be condemned.

Been A Long Time

It has been a long time since I have anything to write.

I Am Famous - Almost!

I played at an open mic, at a motorcycle rally a few weeks ago and someone from my chapter recorded and posted it on YouTube. I had no idea they were going to do that, so it was quite a surprise when they emailed me to let me know.

So far the video has been viewed 84 times! It is stalled right now, but I am sure that at any moment it will go viral and the calls with record contracts will come pouring in, or not.

I am thinking that it will be wise to hang on to this moment for as long as possible since I think that this is probably my "15 minutes of fame," or more precisely 4 minutes and 56 seconds.

Anyway you can view it at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZsX8vSIzcEc

Kevin.

Father's Day

In keeping with my tradition of blogging about once every other month, I thought it would be appropriate to blog on Father's Day. Actually, my youngest daughter told me to. She also told me that I need to say something about having wonderful, brilliant amazing children. So, I would like to say that, "I have wonderful, brilliant amazing children." Now she just said that I need to put some enthusiasm into it so - !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! - there!

Actually, I do have three very special girls, whom I love dearly.

I was thinking about being a father today. I think most of us who are parents are at times racked with guilt and feelings of inadequacy. We try, but we wonder if we have suceeded, or just messed up a perfectly good lives. I suppose that the best we can do, is the best that we can do. I was thinking of my own dad this morning and the most important thing that he gave me was love. I knew, that I knew, that I knew that I was loved and that was all that mattered. That and the first guitar he bought me! I'm not even sure he realized that his love was so evidenced and felt. Saying, "I love you," was not a part of his vocabulary. His generation just didn't go there. But, I knew it and it gave me all the confidence that I needed to step out into this world.

My hope is that my girls know that they are loved. And while I haven't bought any of them a guitar, I hope they feel that they have been given much. Anyway, happy Father's Day to all you dads.

Up To My Neck

I am up to my neck in work. In fact I don't have near enough time to complete what needs to get done today. That's why I am blogging. I need to escape the pressure.

Now, I know this doesn't make sense. As soon as I post this I will be going back to my mega to-do list, only with even less time to accomplish all that needs to be done.

So, why am I doing this if I know that the 'escape' is only temporary and will only compound the problem. Well, because. After all this is the human plight. We stall. We drag our feet. We put off until tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow. I could claim that I work better under pressure and with a tight deadline, but that would be a lie. I work much better when I have time to mull things over and try several different approaches.

Quite frankly, I just want to escape. I am tired of thinking about the things I have to think about and instead I want to do the things that I want to do. Is this immature - probably. Is this unproductive - definitely. Is this a waste of time - sure, unless of course somebody actually reads this and gets something out of it.

Sometimes we have to put down the "have tos" and do the "want tos." I don't want to go to my grave with a massive to-do list of things that I accomplished that were all "have tos." I like to think that I had a little bit of fun on this journey. I know that "have tos" can be fun, but right now they are not.

So, this is it. I can't spend any more time writing this blog. In fact I don't even have time to proof it, so you will have to live with the bad grammar, punctuation and spellin'.

Hi My Only Two Followers

Hi,

I thought I should post something for you - my two only followers. I know it has been a long time since I posted anything.

How are you? I am fine.

Orange is like blue, only different.

Square triangles are not.

Three times is one more than two and one less than four, unless times two.

Where you are I am not, except when you are.

Random information is not random only unexpected.

Time is only relative to itself.

Nonsensical discussions are profoundly deep.


Dad.