Andy's Blog

I have wrestled with a question for years; probably since I was at least 8. It's an odd question, especially for an 8 year old. Ready?

Is death the only thing that makes life enjoyable?

As years past, and my belief in Christ grew, I have later rethought the following question this way: is eternal life really an eternal hell?

I very much enjoyed a short-lived show on Fox this past year called New Amsterdam. It was about a man (John Amsterdam) who had been alive since 1642, who couldn't age or die until he found his true love. Through out the centuries he married different women, held different jobs, but in the contemporary, he was a police investigator. Because of all this, the show had a weird modern crime fighting feel mixed with a quirky historical feel with a slight touch of a romantic comedy.

In the pilot, John asks the following question to his son (yes, his son is the older, half-black gentleman in the clip).

"To be human is to die. To die is what makes life worth living."

I remember being assigned a book to read in high school titled "Tuck Everlasting." I say be assigned because the only two things I remember about that book was: a.) not being able to participate in the Socratic Seminar because I was honest about my failure to read the book, and b.) the book was about people who found the secret to everlasting life and how they grew to resent it. I guess it was made into a movie in 2002 (which I was unaware of until writing this), and it's tagline sums it up: "If you could choose to live forever, would you?"

Seriously. I know I am like the worst minister ever because most of the modern presentation of the Gospel is built on the premise that all want to live forever. But that is not why I believe in the Gospel. Nor is it why I think you should believe in the Gospel. In fact, I often wonder if heaven is going to get boring after a while?

Think about it. If you never die, what motivates you? If you have unlimited amount of time to spend with your kids, do you still want to? If you don't have to eat to stay alive, do you still work? If you have just as much time to marry, or see the Pyramids, or watch the Cubs go the World Series today, as you did yesterday, why do any of those things matter?

The weird thing about it is that we don't really have a choice in this matter do we? We either are eternal souls, and as Colin Hay would say, "waiting for our real life to begin." Or, all there is to this life is the material, and when our 80 years or so are up, we're done. Not sure which is better, but I guess I shouldn't lie around and ponder for too long.

If you aren't a psychologist you can go ahead and stop reading this post. Alright, all psychologists now? Here's the question I pose on this proverbial, digital couch: why is it that I truly like Erik, but I can't stand JaSoN...

Ohh, you'd like a little bit of context.

Sure.

See, Erik is the creator of AllenHuntShowSucks.com. We sometimes exchange as much as 15-20 e-mails a week. He tells me when he goes on vacation. I tell him when I am sick. I generally care for him as a human being. He's an atheist. He pretty much hates everything I stand for. Our relationship reminds me of Professor X and Magneto in the movie X-Men. We are bitter sworn enemies, but we have a fondness and respect for one another that seems to transcend the enemy thing.

JaSoN on the other hand is an annoying blog commenter at TruthTalk Live (a Christian radio show, on Christian stations that Allen and I sometimes fill in on). JaSoN and I's relationship is strictly bound to the blog. He tells me I don't believe in Sola Scriptura. I tell him Sola Scripture isn't even in scripture, so we must rely on theological concepts like the Wesleyan Quadrilateral to pick up where scripture leaves us. I really could careless about him. He's a Christian. We probably basically agree on about 95% of the main issues related to our faith. But for the 5% we disagree on, I want to punch him in the face. Our relationship reminds me of Peter La Fleur and White Goodman in the movie Dodgeball. We are bitter, sworn "brothers", and thanks to atonement for sin, we will have to spend eternity with one another.

So Dr. Internet, do you have enough to figure out why I truly like my "enemy" but dislike my "brother"?

I know. I don't have an answer either. I have been puzzling about this for months now.

I guess if I had to pinpoint it, my real distaste for some other Christians probably stems from what I would call the "bastaderization" of the Gospel. We have reduced the Bible to be "the owner's manual of life" and it has all the answers. We come up with inconsistent theology, and we proof text certain scriptures to make our point more convincing.

But the way I see it, there are some questions the Bible doesn't answer (i.e. How do you make a plane fly? How do you start a heart after a heart attack? Why are some people always depressed?). And that is where we turn to science or medicine or psychology.

And whether preachers would like to admit it or not, there are gray issues in the Bible (i.e. Why does it seem perfectly acceptable for Solomon to sleep around, but I can't? Is is wrong to use English swear words? Is masturbation a sin? Is it ok to pass the homeless guy on the street and not help him out?). And that is where we turn to scripture, reason, experience, tradition, and prayer.

In the end, I guess it is that I seem to forget that I need to approach JaSoN with grace and patience and love, because I think it doesn't matter. Sure we disagree, but his opinion of me won't have any effect on his life or eternity. Where as, psychologically speaking, with Erik I seem to think the way I interact with him could have an eternal difference.

I should probably pray about that inconsistency of behavior.

Thanks Doc. This session has been great.

I would like to thank the American Family Association for reminding me why, as a Bible-believing, Evangelical Christian, I hate Christian political organizations. Why? It only took one look at their 2008 Official Voter Guide. I seriously laughed when I saw it.

First off. It should be stated a 501(c)3 organization is not allowed to endorse a political candidate. The way around it is to release a voter guide about the "issues" and assume that those who align with your organization will align with the person with the most yes-es. You know the people at AFA wish Huckabee's name started with an "F" just so they could have put him in front of Guiliani (although then they probably wouldn't support him because his name would be a swear word and we all know the Bible talks A LOT about swearing {sarcasm} ).

So what did I do? The only responsible Christian thing to do: I created my own version of an official AFA (only this time AFA = "Andy's Faith Awareness") 2008 Voter Guide to make fun of them. I included a Jesus column (as well as a column for me and the AFA as well). I added eight "faith based" issues the AFA should have mentioned. And I also assigned a numerical value to the AFA, Jesus, and Andy column on a scale of 1 to 10 on how important that would be to each "candidate". Take a look.

Click for a larger version (Or Download the PDF to print out and give to friends ;) )

Now admittedly, I do not get to speak for Jesus. I will acknowledge this. I wish the AFA would. But given my extensive reading of scripture, the above 1-10 scale resembles how I interpret a modern-day Jesus would rank the political issues. Please also note, that I do not always "agree" with Jesus. Why? It isn't because I am right and Jesus is wrong; but because I at least have the integrity to recognize that what I think about our current American socio/political culture is potentially wrong.

What I would rather point out is the difference between AFA and Jesus. I hate to break it to you, but Jesus could careless about gun laws and taxes. Remember his answer about paying taxes to Caesar? The ambivalence was astonishing. Don't get me wrong, I want small government. I want low taxes. But to say that low taxes is a "faith" issue is irresponsible at best.

But now lets look at what Jesus did talk about more than just about any other topic: taking care of the poor? Ohh but wait, it isn't on the list. Ohh so gun laws and taxes make the list, but taking care of the poor somehow is not a family value?

Let's talk about pro-life. Sure we all know Jesus is against abortions, but what about the death penalty? What about health care? I hate to break it to you, but being pro-life is more than being anti-abortion.

But then I get the predictable response from my friend when I object and she states:

Are you going to mention in your blog that it is the church’s responsibility to take care of the poor (not the government)?

Now I don't blame her for this comment. Why? Because it is quite the popular assumption within the faith community. But I have to call BS. That mindset is fine, but you don't get your cake and eat it too. If you are going to scream at the top of your lungs for traditional marriage and abortion, then you have stated that your intentions are to yield the "churches" role, at least in part, to the government. If you want to lobby the government for pro-life laws, then you better be willing to lobby the government for poverty laws as well.

So why does this matter? Well you will notice that I put "?" marks under the candidates column for the issues I created. When I originally went to do this I was going to include where I thought the candidates stood on these issue. But then I realized that was the wrong approach. The AFA (and other's like it) have a lot of authority in a very powerful constituency. Millions of people look to them for political guidance. But if they turn non-faith issues into faith issues (i.e. gun laws), and forget to mention issues that are faith issues (i.e. poverty laws), then they are doing a huge disservice to the American political arena, and more importantly the body of Christ.

As a Christian political group, we must recognize that we are following Ann Coulter and Sean Hannity and Rush Limbaugh and Karl Rove and Fox News closer than we are following Jesus - and that is a horrendous offense. As Barack Obama said at a recent Sojourners event in Atlanta, GA, "before we get carried away, let's read our Bibles now. Folks haven't been reading their Bibles."

I will close with this. Before I get labeled a helpless liberal, I want to state sincerely I have not decided who I am voting for. The way I look at it, I am either voting for Huckabee or Obama. The point is, I would vote for each of them because of what my faith tells me is important. Neither Huckabee or Obama or Guiliani or Edwards are Jesus Christ. Neither one of them is right on every issue. The AFA can continue to follow Coulter and Hannity and Limbaugh and Rove, but for me, I will follow Christ.

Today was AWESOME!!! I can't state that any better. Today was probably one of the top 5 experiences I have had in my life. Why? Because I think I killed a bunch of Navy Sailors!

Allen and I left the office this morning at 7:30 am and headed to Dobbins Air Force Base in Marietta, GA. We met up with a friend of the show (callsign Toolrod), and he took us onto the base. It reminded me of driving around Kadena Air Force Base in Okinawa, Japan. But this had a twist Kadena did not have: today I was going to the Navy's F-18 flight simulator!

Most of you know my love of aviation. Some of you know that for a six month period of my life I aspired to be a professional pilot until (and I don't claim this very often) God spoke to me (not audibly) and told me that wasn't the plan He had for me. Very few of you know that during that six month time period I actually visited the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, CO as I was very seriously considering entering it, as I aspired to pilot the F-16.

I knew today was going to be amazing. I found the F-18 astonishingly easy to fly. It accelerated like a fighter jet should. Rolls and climbs were remarkably smooth and quick. At one point I was climbing at a rate of 24,000 feet/min (your average airline flight shouldn't usually exceed 3,000 feet/min). The only real problem I had for the day was I couldn't figure out how to trim the aircraft very well, which meant I had a hard time keeping the aircraft at a constant altitude with no change. This surprised me because when I flew a Cessna I remember being surprised how easy it was to control the trim.

I had two highlights of the day:

1.) I pulled a 4G Inside Loop that started at 5000 ft, climbed to (if I were to guess) 12,000 ft, and then (and I kid you not) returned to exactly 5000 ft. I can't explain the rush when doing that and then looking at the altimeter and see it read exactly where I started (all while flying 600-700 MPH).

2.) I almost landed on an aircraft carrier. I had a little bit of a hard time figuring out the Instrument Landing System (I am used to the way it looks on commercial aircraft), but I got lined up perfectly with the carrier on the first try. The only problem was, I was a little low and didn't realize it until too late and crashed right at the back of the carrier. I certainly would have killed myself and a whole bunch of Navy Soldiers on the boat. But I was freaking close I tell you!

Now if someone out there from Delta can get me a couple hours in the Boeing 777-200 simulator at Hartsfield, I think I could die a happy man.

But what is the point of all this? Well lets be honest, I mainly just wanted to report on the cool thing I got to do. But it also got me thinking about interests and hobbies in our lives. I can't explain why I like aviation the way I do. I spend way too many hours a airliners.net and flying my computer game simulator at home. But this I do know. When I was in high school, I used to question why I spent so much time dinking around on the computer and with technology. I had no idea how God was going to use that. God creates passions in our lives for a purpose. So with aviation, I have stopped questioning why I spend so much time learning about it, and I just hope and trust that I will get as much out of it as I have with technology.

I am in Fort Wayne right now. One of my favorite things about going home is to catch up with friends I talk with occasionally on the phone, but see rarely. Lissa, myself, and another friend named Laura were set to meet at Buffalo Wild Wings. It turned out about half my graduating high school class showed up. But when Lissa walked in, all other conversation in my book ceased and the fun was about to start.

So you might be asking yourself, why is this girl so important? Do you have like a major thing for her? Not exactly. On paper, Lissa and I should be enemies. In our "Fox News" world, we should not be friends. We should have a TV show where we fight to the bitter death over just about any topic, accusing the other person of being anti-American and a horrible person¹. But there are few people I look forward to hanging out with more than Lissa. The night always seems to end too early.

Lissa is agnostic, liberal², cute, and smart. I am a Christian, conservative², ugly, and not-too-bright. But what I love about our relationship is that we have always had great respect for each other, and we have, with out actively trying, always abided by the rules of an article I came across on Cracked last week titled 10 Things Christians and Atheists Can (And Must) Agree On. The basic gist of the article are these 10 points:

1. You Can Do Terrible Things in the Name of Either One
2. Both Sides Really Do Believe What They're Saying
3. In Everyday Life, You're Not That Different
4. There Are Good People on Both Sides
5. Your Point of View is Legitimately Offensive to Them
6. We Tend to Exaggerate About the Other Guy
7. We Tend to Exaggerate About Ourselves, Too
8. Focusing on Negative Examples Makes You Stupid
9. Both Sides Have Brought Good to the Table
10. You'll Never Harass the Other Side Out of Existence

I think all of these points are right on. The only exception being #3, and while I think it is true in reality, it is a sad thing about modern Christianity. I mean, take a couple of different social choices away, the fact I abandoned any desire to go to Law School, and our Sunday morning activities, and Lissa and I live pretty much the same life.

But think about how great this world would be if we approached all people we disagreed with using the above guidelines. Think how politics would look. Think how families would look. Think how relationships would be different. Think how more civilized this world would be. Think how much fun life would be. And both sides are just as guilty of continuing the hatred of the other.

This Christmas I received a present³ from Erik (creator of allenhuntshowsucks.com). I even opened it with my family around the tree with all my other presents (we joked about the fact it might have anthrax). But I sincerely enjoy Erik as a person. We don't agree on religion. But we have respect for one another, and our e-mails back and forth are a lot of fun.

My hope (which they know) is for Lissa and Erik to one day realize the fullness (I didn't say easy) of life found in a relationship with Jesus. But until then, I am thoroughly enjoying the fun times and journey together.

Last night Allen posed the question, "who would Jesus vote for?" Like only the Allen Hunt Show can, we received responses from across the political spectrum. At one point, I got on the air and said that if elections were held today I would probably vote for Huckabee (if he were in it) or Obama (probably who I am going to vote for).

I like Huckabee. He gets a bad wrap because of his stance on science (which I disagree with) and comments about people with AIDS made back in the 80s (who wasn't ignorant about AIDS in the 80s...sheesh, forgive the dude). But in all seriousness, I think Huckabee is incredibly compassionate to the poor and recognizes that being Pro-Life is more than just being Anti-Abortion. It means taking care of the poor and having a social responsibility.

But that really isn't the point of this entry. I came across CNN's "Millionaires-In-Chief" article this morning and I think I have a modified response, but the same conclusion. If Huckabee isn't in the picture, I am voting for Obama.

Here's the thrust of the information:

A couple of things stand out to me big time.

1.) Fred Thompson (and Ron Paul) are the ones who are held by the true "Fiscal conservatives" as "their guy." But Fred's info here is alarming. He is the only one who's net worth is less than that of his 2006 income. How is he going to be a federally fiscal conservative if he is personally fiscally inept.

2.) Mitt Romney seems to have more money than god (good thing since he is Mormon who believe they will one day become a god). The other interesting thing about the article is that until he ran for President, he owned stocks in casinos (real family friendly) and companies doing business with Iran (real "pro-American" there).

3.) John-"I-am-taking-care-of-the-poor"-Edwards seems to have built a nice nest egg for himself there. Making money is not wrong. Hoarding money is. I'll respect his stance on the poor when his net worth is significantly less because he gave it away to help those who in poverty. Either that, or provide he IRS return showing that he gave ridiculous amounts of money away.

4.) Barack. Barack is quite poor - relatively speaking of course. Only person who didn't make over 1 million in 2006.

Now Barack's political poverty isn't why I would vote for him. Nor is it why I think Jesus would vote for him. But I think it shows why people want to vote for him. I said last night on air that voting for Barack was like voting for the "anti-Politics" vote. He's different. He gives politics and the Presidency a chance. I think most of us wanting to vote for Barack have no clue if he will actually be a good President. What we do feel like we know is that no other legitimate candidate will be. Thus the only shot we have at having a good President is by voting for Barack.

Does this mean Jesus would vote for Barack. No. I am sort of with Allen in believing that Jesus probably wouldn't vote. But it means that as a Bible-believing, somewhat-conservative, Christian, I am not counting the dude out just because he is pro-choice (even though I sort of want to just to stab that at Oprah).

Sidenote: I'll blog some other time why even though I am pro-life, I have no quarrel with voting for Barack (and you can thank Bush for this one).

On the show we have about 7 or 8 people I call "regulars." These are people who listen to just about every show and e-mail us all the time. Most are non-Christians and think our presence on the radio is pretty ridiculous (although a couple are ultra-conservatives and think our show is too liberal). Usually I love these people. Honestly, it is what makes my job so much fun. Their e-mails are usually very creative, hilarious, crude, and thought provoking. I love it. However, a couple of weeks ago, I got an e-mail from one of the regulars who took a fairly cheap shot at Allen after he shared something very personal over the air. I don't care what gets sent to me - it can be vulgar, crude, inappropriate, heretical - anything, but I don't respond to cheap shots.

But the cheap shot got me thinking. I think one of the most frustrating things about faith is what I am labeling its catch-22 syndrome. No matter what happens, faith can't win, and there is always an excuse not to have any.

Lets say I come to you and say, "Jesus is the most important thing in my life." And you say back, "well yeah, but what happened in life." And I say, "well my parents got divorced when I was 12." And then you say, "well there ya go. You need faith because of what happened to you in life." Fair assessment huh? I use faith as a crutch. I get it.

But then you go over to a friend of mine, and they say, "Jesus is the most important thing in their life." And you say, "well tell me about your life." And she says, "well I have had a pretty good life. My parents love each other. My parents love me. We haven't had a whole lot of adversity." And then you say, "well there you go, you have had an easy life. No wonder you believe in God, you have such a naive perspective of life."

Lets say your parents were Christian. Well then it's obvious why you are a Christian - you were raised to be. Lets say your parents weren't Christian. Well then that is obvious too - you are just rebelling against them but instead of smoking some pot and sleeping around, you found this imaginary being called "God."

This conversation could be repeated about a hundred different times with a hundred different circumstance and the conclusion is all the same: "you have faith because of something in your life, but frankly, I don't need faith because I haven't experienced what you have experienced."

But really that is just a scapegoat isn't it? The reason we don't have faith is because we don't want it. We don't want to be told we are not in control because we think we are. We don't want to be told that we are loved unconditionally because it seems illogical. We don't want to believe that God exists - so we come up with any and every reason He can't.

I never finished the book Catch-22 when it was assigned to me (actually I never started it), and I probably should. But I found this excerpt from Catch-22's wikipedia page ironic:

Within the book, "Catch-22" is a military rule, the self-contradictory circular logic of which, for example, prevents anyone from avoiding combat missions.

So whether we are using circular logic to avoid combat missions or accept faith at face value, it still doesn't change reality. And from my observation, it is a reality where faith makes all the difference.

This past weekend my Aunt and Uncle moved my cousin David back to University of Miami (the one in Florida). I was excited because I got to watch my cousin Nick - which is always a lot of fun.

On Saturday, Nick and I were hanging out with my girlfriend Molly and it came time to do the show. So we hopped in my Aunt/Uncle's extra car (a Jeep Wrangler), Molly stole my Cubs hat so her hair didn't go everywhere (which of course made her look even hotter than normal), and we hurried to the station before we got rained on. All and all, a great afternoon...then it got a little weird.

I pull up to the station and Allen is sitting outside in his truck - which is odd. He rolls down the window and informs me that Arum (the show before us) has John Mark Karr in the studio with him. If you don't remember, John Mark Karr is the guy who claimed to kill Jon Bennet Ramnsey and was escorted back from Thailand.

I have to say, I usually try and believe that all people can be loved and all people are not "weird" or "creepy." Why? Because all people make mistakes. All people make stupid decisions. All people are redeemable. Thus all people should be treated as such. But I have to say, John Mark Karr creeped me out. What a great show to bring my 14-year old cousin and my 21-year old girlfriend (who I make fun of all the time for looking 15-years old).

At one point, Molly had to go to the bathroom and asked if I would escort her - to which I didn't blink an eye. While I was standing outside the bathroom, John Mark Karr came down the hallway and entered the Men's bathroom. Right choice to escort: check.

So what is my point? I am not really sure honestly. I don't even know if I have a point. But if I were to sum it up in classic Scrubs fashion, I would have to say that I wish it didn't creep me out. I really wish I could have blogged that it was an experience where I saw a real person that just needed to be loved and a little grace. But I didn't and I think I sort of resent myself for that. Don't get me wrong, there is no way I wouldn't have escorted Molly, or left Nick in the room with Karr by myself. But deep down, I wish I was different than Boortz and everyone else I heard talk about how creepy it was that he was in the same studio; but I am not. And there's the rub. What should be prayed for more: John Mark Karr and his "creepiness" or me and my lack of ability to love as Jesus would want me to.

I did something this week that I have only done three other times since graduating college: I took a full, 2-day weekend. I have worked 6-days a week 108 of my 111 weeks of employment (except vacation). I am not complaining about this. But this 4th 2-day weekend got me thinking about why I don't take more of them. And then that brought me to the realization that I think Jesus probably pissed off a lot of people sometimes. Why? Because he wasn't afraid of "wolf criers."

I have two people I work with that are awful wolf criers (you know, as in the boy who cried wolf). But instead of crying about a wolf, they come to me with projects that are usually last minute and always an emergency, with the tone that their department is more important than everything else going on (even though the "Worship" department is what is always tasked as what is most important). I'll spare the details. But sure enough, at the end of this week, I had another wolf-crying session from one of the two and it got me thinking about Jesus.

Jesus wasn't afraid of "wolf criers." I think a passage in Mark sums this up the best:

Mark 1:35-39 Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed. 36Simon and his companions went to look for him, 37and when they found him, they exclaimed: "Everyone is looking for you!" 38Jesus replied, "Let us go somewhere else—to the nearby villages—so I can preach there also. That is why I have come." 39So he traveled throughout Galilee, preaching in their synagogues and driving out demons.

Now a little context. Jesus had just got done healing many people in Capernaum. So, naturally, when people caught wind of this, everyone who was sick came to him. Pretty noble right? I mean, healing people is way more important than producing a video. Yet Jesus "figuratively" stares them in the face, in all their pain, and says, I have better things to do (including rest) and I am sorry, but I need to stick to that.

Jesus knew two things: 1.) what His mission was, and 2.) that He, being fully man, was limited by time and energy to meet the expectations of everyone. These are two things I am not sure I am good at. I do think I am better at #1 than I am at #2, but it doesn't matter if I know what my purpose is, yet fail to hold to it. I can't blame people for coming and asking. I can really only blame myself for being more concerned with what they think of me over what my purpose is.

Last night, I received a text at about 11:32 pm from my friend Erin who is an Anaheim Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim Angels Strike Force Girl. The text was informing me of the important news that they recently got to sing "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" at the most recent Angels game and it was on YouTube. For those who care, here is the video, she is the one second from the left.

Now, when I think of Erin I think of one thing: Christmas (and the time she shot somebody in the face with the t-shirt gun at the ballpark, but mainly Christmas). Why do you ask? Because she is the only person I know who has a countdown to Christmas and starts singing Christmas songs in August.

I moved on and decided to unpause my Comcast DVR to watch The Colbert Report and what do I see.....Stephen Colbert in a Christmas hat. I know, weird. I thought it was a rerun. But alas, it wasn't. His point: the day before was June 25th, or halfway to Christmas.

Between Erin & Stephen it got me thinking about Christmas. It actually got me thinking about two things about Christmas: 1.) how much I hate the Christmas season, and 2.) how Jesus was actually probably born in June or July (due to the fact shepherds were out in the field which would fit more in the summer months not winter).

Andy, aren't you a Christian, how can you say you don't like Christmas? I have many reasons really. I think about the materialism associated with Christmas, and Jesus' anti-materialism message, and have to chuckle, if not cry a bit, thinking about the irony.

I also think about how what a facade Christmas has become. Think about it, people who never attend church, who don't really align themselves with Christian beliefs, always seem to "have" to make it to Church on Christmas? And as ministers, we cater to the seemingly American-ingrained nostalgia associated with Christmas and we wouldn't dream of not signing carolls, putting up trees and lights, etc... I always wondered why churches didn't approach Christmas like they do, well, June. Why doesn't Christmas look like this past Sunday?

My mother became a Christian my senior year of high school. I remember having a conversation with her later on that year and she was telling me one of the things she never realized is that Church wasn't like Christmas every Sunday (and that all the Bible wasn't just like Psalms). This had a profound impact on me as I started to wonder how many people think all there is to Christianity is signing Christmas Carols, worshiping a baby, and something about myrrh (what the heck is that anyways).

True Christianity doesn't get displayed at Christmas time. True Christianity is what happens in October, March, and yes, even June.

Well I know somewhere in the O.C., Erin is appalled at me. But at least in about a month it will be Christmas season for her. Which now that I think about it, she spends 5 months of her spiritual journey focusing on Christmas, so I don't really have a problem with her - its all the rest of us ;)

P.S. They sing "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" wrong. It is "root, root, root for the Cubbies." The only way to sing that song.

I was at Hand in Hand the other night (a bar in the Highlands) and amidst the conversation, Oasis's Wonderwall began to play and it took me back. Wonderwall always reminds me of one thing: doing pot.

See that's what songs do to me, they make me remember stuff.

Confessions of a Broken Heart will always remind me of driving on the Great Ocean Road from Melbourne, Australia. Runaway Train will always remind me of my paper route in 4th grade. The Difference will always remind me of traveling by bus through the French countryside with 40 8th graders. Comfortable will always remind me of Laura. I Believe by Blessed Union of Souls will always remind of of riding the bus through Inverness Lakes in middle school. Clumsy by Chris Rice will always remind me of Nate and I walking into Bob's apartment in the Willows. American Dream will always remind me of Jerusalem, Israel. Strawberry Wine will always remind me of sitting on the bus on the way to Mexico thinking of Emily. Gold Digger will always remind me of baby Jadyn. Jesus Take the Wheel will always remind me of Rachel and her hate for Carrie Underwood. Hanging by the Moment will always remind me of driving down I-75 with CJ on the way to Hilton Head. Come What May will always remind me of driving up to Big Bear with Cheria in Daren's suburban. Freshman will always remind me of driving down Aboite Rd. Emotionless will always remind me of my roommate Taylor and I talking about my relationship with my father. And that my friends, is just a quick cursory look at my Top Rated Songs in random order in iTunes.

Weirdly enough, Wonderwall was the "song of the Borgmann/Borne/Hoffman ski trip" in 8th grade where I first encountered pot, and to my credit I turned it down on my first offer. It wasn't until spring break later on that year that I did pot (which reminds me of You Oughta Know by Alanis Morissette). But You Oughta Know didn't come on this night at Hand in Hand. Wonderwall did. But thinking of my stint with pot at 14 years old got me to think about life change - as 8th grade was also the year I encountered God.

I think one of the most frustrating things about being a minister is that you are making your entire life about "life change" but you rarely get to see life change. I used to want to be a doctor, and I think to myself, that would have been easier to some degree. I would make my life about saving people's physical life, sometimes I would fail, but when I would succeed, I would know it. But in being a minister I rarely get to see what I succeed or fail with, and that is really discouraging - no matter how "successful" & "talented" people tell me I am.

So what do I do? I think about what I am grateful for. I am grateful for people like Nate Hasty, Bob Caley, and Pat Rowland. I want them to know that because of them, my life was changed. Because of them, I didn't follow the drug path in high school. Because of them, I turned from my selfish ways (well, I am trying to). Because of them, I made a purpose out of my life to follow God and hopefully instill life change in others. I just hope my life will be an oasis of life change like these great men and not a mirage.

Last week marked the launch of (to my understanding) the first "anti-Allen Hunt Show Website" (aka AllenHuntShowSucks.com). Some might be worried. Some might be offended (can you imagine creating a "Your-Pastors-Name-Sucks.com"). But not me, I love it!

The guy who put this site together is named Erik, and he lives in Athens (for those of you outside of Georgia, Athens is like Bloomington, IN or well I don't have a good California reference for it). He first contacted us with the email address allenhuntsucks@"a-certain-domain-that-I-won't-mention".com - Since then, I have probably shared about 30 or so e-mails with the guy, and I even gave his name to a reporter who asked me if we have had any critics. He is quoted alongside myself and Allen in an upcoming article to (hopefully) be published in Talkers Magazine. He is to some sorts a nemesis. But he's not a nemesis like that bratty girl in high school was because she stole your boyfriend. No, this nemesis is more like Dr Xavier and Magneto in X-Men (yeah I know I am a nerd). It's a nemesis I at least respect. A nemesis I enjoy conversation with. A nemesis that I think in the end could have big impact on both of our lives. So again, I love this stuff.

Why? A few reasons. First, as always, I like to assume faith doesn't exist (which it does). But even with out a faith perspective this is great because it is great press. Someone once said there is no such thing as bad press. And the more I work in the media, the more I think that is true.

Second, I love the fact that Erik hates our show, yet he listens all the time. I know he listens because he e-mails me all the time to tell me what we are doing wrong. There is something amusing to me about a guy who hates us, yet is either a.) entertained enough to listen, b.) intellectually stimulated enough to listen, c.) both, or d.) bored enough to make it his life goal to dispute us.

Third, and this is where faith comes back in, I think it is sad that Christians usually disengage from those they disagree with (when was the last time you saw Pat Robertson engage in a meaningful conversation with Planned Parenthood, or Jerry Falwell engage in a conversation with Nancy Pelosi). How truly sad. What message does that send. It basically says that as Christians, we claim to believe in "the Truth," but we are so insecure about it we won't engage with anyone who might point out "it is a lie."

My fourth reason is that people like Erik are exactly the type of people we want listening. We are not James Dobson. We do not have a radio show simply so we can pow-wow together as Christians and talk about how great we are and how politically powerful we must be in order to keep marriage intact and baby's popping out. Life change does not come from arguing. It comes from respect. It comes from honor. It comes from discussion. And it comes from the Holy Spirit. None of which are a simple, 10-minute, do you want to accept Jesus as your personal Savior type of interaction. Patience is key. And even if Erik "never comes around," the discussion will be a lot of fun, and there is no way that sucks at all.

When I was in 8th grade, I was 14. When I was 14, I ran a 5:20 mile. Then I became a Christian, and for some reason had no desire to do sports (don't read too much into that, it had nothing to do with any crazy idea that "sports are wrong"). I have probably run three miles since 8th grade. One in gym in 9th grade, one in gym in 12th grade, and one in Racquetball my freshman year of college.

About a month ago, I found out I was going to Nepal (this ended up falling through and I am going to Nigeria instead). Nepal is where Mt. Everest is. Needless to say, it is hilly. In addition to that, I was going to have to lug camera equipment all through out the Nepalis mountains. So I decided I should go running.

Well I found out I was going to Nigeria and put those plans on hold. But then today I saw my friend Lissa's MySpace page where she said she is working on a running 1.5 miles under 14:30. I thought this was particularly lame, so I commented on it. Then I was inspired to go run my own mile.

Well I made it .6 miles and it took me 5:36. Sheesh! I am exactly 60% the health I was when I was in 8th grade. And when you figure I used to be able to run 5 miles with out walking (or giving up), you could assume that I am actually 12% the health I was (let's split the difference and call it 36%).

I think our spiritual lives are like this as well sometimes. I am ashamed to say that while I was in my running peak in middle school, I was probably at my spiritual peak in high school. I was all the more convicted about that two weeks ago when I did a video interview of Lauren Finlay. I used to have such a fervor for God. I used to do devotions everyday. I used to pray for myself, my friends, and my family constantly. I used to worship at all hours of the day. It is not to say that I never do this stuff anymore, I do; but not like I used to.

Whether it is our physical lives or our spiritual lives, being in shape is important, and it isn't something that just comes from sitting around doing nothing. Today was a day I had to apologize to Lissa for making fun of her, and apologize to God for my own ineptitude.

I had quite the lesson in turning the other cheek the other day. We are trying to hire my replacement here at Mount Pisgah. This means that I am doing my first *real* job interview from this side of the interview. We had a candidate (who will stay unnamed) who I decided was not the right fit.

What follows is a response I got back from him after we told him we were no longer interested. And yes, I got this e-mail at 2:30 am on a Wednesday morning, after working a 15-hour day on Sunday, a 12-hour day on Monday, and an 18-hour day on Tuesday! I will warn you, its long. If you are busy, you might want to skip this post.

His first e-mail

Well, Shucks,

I appreciate the chance .
...... Oh! wait you never gave me one!

Well at least i didn't waste my time.
.... Oh wait you did waste two weeks of my time giving me the run around

It seems like you had something going under the table from the start. If [another candidate] was qualified to do this job than I'm a least as good if not better. When we first sat down you made it sound like I was hired. Then I start working with Andy who can't keep up with a phone number and he grinds the whole thing to a halt. I'm not sure what you could have learned about my abilities by now. Andy can barely stop talking about himself for long enough for me to get a word in. It's not like what he does is that great. There's a vidcast tutorial on Final Cut Pro I down-loaded thats produced by a 12 year old. You guy's are going to need a bigger church soon or Andy's head will be too big to fit in it.

I know I'm burning a bridge with this angry rant but right now my wife is crying holding my baby wondering how we're going to pay rent, car payment, the gas bill. I've never come this close do doing something I was so perfect for to have it ripped away so callously. This is just a lesson for the both of you. Please think twice before you dangle some bit of hope in front of someone you consider unworthy. People out here in the real world have hard lives and big responsibilities. You shouldn't thoughtlessly kick someone around for a few weeks because your too cowardly to say what you really think.

Here's an excerpt from Andy's blog about how much money he makes. This was really nice to read after getting your email!

I start to reflect on the topics of most of my conversations with other 20-somethings. I find increasingly that my conversations are on the topic of money, especially regarding the long-term. From the ever so classic, should I buy a place conversation, to 401(k)s, to having my salary deposited directly into a savings account vs. a checking account because I only pay three bills all month (rent, credit card, and tithe) and I could probably make some money on the $2,800 after taxes every month sitting in a 5.05% interest account while I wait to pay my bills. And I think to myself, man the 20s are one sexy time to be alive ;)

Here's me my wife and [son]. We know what working hard and doing the best we can is all about. [Insert picture of him, with his wife and child]

My Response:

I am very sorry you feel this way. Ultimately what it came down to is that I just felt you weren’t qualified to do the job after our conversation on Sunday afternoon. When I asked you what video editing programs you have worked with, you couldn’t produce a name and you said you mainly use “free programs.” I am not trying to sound harsh, but I have worked with a lot of video producers and I have never heard of anyone using a free program. In addition to that, I asked you for examples of your video editing work and you couldn’t produce anything for me. When I applied for my job at Mount Pisgah, I submitted a DVD with 3-hours of work on it, which had over 45 videos.

As far as your personal comments about me, I am going to elect not to respond. With the exception of one: regards to me talking too much, again I am sorry it appeared that way. I will say this, and I hope you read this as helpful as you pursue other job ventures in the future, and you don’t read this as me trying to bash or retaliate as that is not my intention. But one of the other observations I made was that you don’t listen. I really felt I didn’t talk nearly as much as I usually do, and I would try to explain something about how we do something, and before I would finish you would interrupt me. When interviewing for a job in the future, I would highly suggest against doing this.

Again, I hope you read this as helpful constructive criticism, and not a retaliatory bash. In the end, employers don’t have a responsibility to hire anybody they don’t seem fit, and being in talks about a job, does not constitute dangling a job in front of someone. We never promised [an other candidate] a job either, so a comparison to him, really isn’t appropriate in this situation.

I know this probably won’t seem like much, but I will continue to pray for you and your family. I am sorry this venture didn’t work out and I truly hope you find the right job for your skill set.

His Response Back:

What I meant by free was pirated. The work I did was on a PC at least 4 years ago for a less that forthright company which I left for reasons related to that. I've since upgraded the computer. I said i did flash animation and not video. You guys never gave me an idea of what you we looking for. Were you looking for a new Videographer? Or an all-around tech person. I learned to use final cut pro in a couple of hours with free tutorials and would have produced a fine video in no time had I been given the opportunity.

Also, It always seems like people are interrupting when you talk non-stop. Mostly I was trying to get answers - what is it you really need! What projects do you have on the horizon? What's the division of Labor. Since you would barely speak to me on your own I felt it necessary to try to become involved in a conversation.

Next I don't need career advice from a 24 year old. I was working and paying bills when you were living with Mom and Dad and playing video games or what ever. I've started small companies, worked for a corporation with 28,000 employees, produced an entire product catalog, and made countless sales calls. Not that it matters, but I can also play guitar better than you could dream of and was already working on an original score for my video. You new I didn't have video experience from the get go. I told you I had done wed design, music production, power point, photoshop, and flash. If the video part was so crucial why didn't you just say that the first day. When I said I hadn't done video you even said you were willing to train!

My beef is not with the job requirements but with your lack of communication. Why string me along if you're not interested? If i hadn't pushed you you might have drug this out for a month. Oh and I saw your videos on your web page , Big woop! I hope you stay close to the Church because the real world would eat you alive.

Good Luck, [Man’s Name]

P.S. I'm not interested in your reply

Yeah! Good stuff. That's always a pick-me-up right before bed after working 45 hours in 3 days! Anyways, now I am not going to go into all the erroneous claims he made in both his e-mails. If you don't believe that there are erroneous claims, it is alright, it isn't necessary for my observations that follow.

The point is that I obviously feel they were many erroneous claims, of which my gut reaction is to respond to every one of them. And frankly, it took every piece of strength I had not to respond and tell him exactly what I felt. But Jesus tells us to turn the other cheek and for once I listened:

Matthew 5:38-40
You have heard that it was said, 'Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.' 39But I tell you, Do not resist an evil person. If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. 40And if someone wants to sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well.

Now I am not writing about this because I am particularly good at this. In fact, I am usually awful at this (just ask anyone I work with or just about anyone who I have a conflict with). At one point, I even prayerfully considered sending him and his wife some money anonymously (I decided not to, which was probably a mistake). And for this one success of turning the other cheek, I can probably count 1000 times when I have failed. But Jesus still tells us we should, and I think He's right. It's a hard lesson to grasp, but it is a good lesson to master (if you can).

(P.S. It should be noted that I am about 98% sure this young man has stopped reading my blog as his IP address has not recently been logged, and this happened a little while ago. So please do not think this is a passive aggressive attempt to "send a message" to him)

"What are you going to talk about, 'umm...what's your favorite position?'" That was the question posed by my associate Mickey when I told him I was going to have lunch on Thursday with a porn producer here in Atlanta.

Needless to say it was quite an interesting lunch, and it is one of the things I love most about my job: I can actually find people outside of the church. Now Matt (not the name of the guy, but if you listen to the show often you should know who I am talking about) is a good guy, despite his obvious - in my opinion - immoral job choice. And before you wonder, yes, he knows that I think his job choice is immoral.

But I have long abandoned the days where one's life choice makes you any worse of a person than anybody else. Now, one could say that, "Andy, so are you saying that we all are 'good' people and therefore in God's good favor regardless of our life decisions." Not at all. Ultimately, in the end, I still have to believe that the only saving grace for any of us is a relationship with Jesus Christ - and therefore the lack of relationship with Jesus Christ is ultimately humanity's downfall.

BUT, with all that said, that doesn't mean we can't get along, it doesn't mean we can't learn from each other, and it certainly doesn't mean that as Christians, we shouldn't engage in thorough, purpose-filled conversation with people we don't necessarily see things eye to eye.

In a short, hour conversation at an Applebee's in Tucker, GA, I learned a lot, and I enjoyed a new friendship. I don't think this is where Matt and I's relationship will end, and I am pretty sure we both can learn a lot from each other.

This I feel is one of the hardest things to convince both Christians and non-Christians alike. Get out of your comfort zone. If you are a conservative individual, how often do you converse with someone who is liberal - and vice versa. If you are a "traditionally moral individual," how often do you talk with someone in the sex industry, or a homosexual. If you are a Christian, how often do you converse with a Muslim, or an atheist.

The shocking point about Jesus is that he spent more time with prostitutes, than religious folks. We forget that a lot in the church. It all becomes about our click, our group, our fellowship. So to answer the question, my favorite position is one where I am always learning from others - especially those who don't think like me - that is a great position to be in (although I don't know for sure, but I think the butterfly position looks pretty fun as well ;-) ).

P.S. I promise I won't do anything on porn for a while given the past week of porn entries.