This week marked two things I can't believe are here already.

It seems like only yesterday tiny Jadyn was asleep on my chest 9 days after being born (lower left hand photo above). We spent her 1st birthday at the Lake (photo 2). Her 2nd birthday was more low key and spent it at the house (photo 3). I didn't make it for her 3rd birthday due to Asher's premature delivery in Hilton Head (picture 4) and the craziness that ensued in June and July. And I didn't make it today because of our M-F launch.

I was however very humored to see the following Facebook Status update from Andrea this morning.

ANDREA: it's your birthday sweetie!
JADE: it is?
ANDREA: yes, you are four now
JADE: I don't want to be four, I want to be three

Typical woman always lying about her age and wishing she were younger :)

As much as I love Jadyn and as important as she is in my life, her turning 4 wasn't the biggest thing that happened this week.

At 9:00:00 PM on Monday we launched our Monday-Friday presence into the talk radio universe. If I can't believe Jadyn is turning 4 because time has flown by, the M-F radio presence is the exact opposite. I can't believe this is finally here because sometimes it felt like it was never going to happen.

But ohh has it happened. The week has been incredibly busy and I am still trying to find my routine (and get the new website done). For the most part there have been few errors - actually surprisingly few to be honest. And I think once things settle down, this is going to be a lot of fun.

Opening night was a blast. We opened for sure with Charlottsville, VA, Saginaw, MI, and Warner Robbins, GA. The remaining of our 30 launch affiliates will come online within the next week or so.

Afterwards we (myself, Allen, Anita, and Phil) went out (at 12:15 am) and celebrated at Taco Mac. Got some drinks. Had some queso dip. And even though there were times I never thought that day would come, it finally did, and it was great!

Check out the photos from the first night and leave some comments if you'd like. Be sure to invite Allen and I to be your friends on Facebook as well. We'll be using that a lot more in the coming months.

This past Friday I went to an Atlanta Braves game with the infamous AllenHuntShow.com commenter LC. If you don't know who LC is, you need to be reading the blog more often. He's pretty much second only to Erik (warning: NSFW) in his "nemesising" (on a side note Erik was invited as well, but couldn't make it last minute).

We all know that I love Erik since I have blogged about that. But I too, legitimately love having LC around. He's a staunch atheist/agnostic, and doesn't agree with much of what Allen or I have to say. But he is more than welcome here and I have very much loved the friendship that has developed because of the show.

More on that in a second.

I was reading Fort Wayne Observed the other day and came across a blog post on Barney Frank calling out Mark Souder for his anti-drug stance. The interview of Barney by Esquire included the following statements:

ESQUIRE: ...who's against it?

BARNEY FRANK: Well, Mark Souder from Indiana, who's very much a proponent of the drug war.

ESQUIRE: When you talk to Souder about it, what does he say?

BARNEY FRANK: You don't waste your time on people with whom you completely disagree.

In full disclosure, 1.) Mark Souder went to my church in Fort Wayne, IN and 2.) I can't wait for the day to beat Mark in an election for Indiana's 3rd Congressional District (I'll save why for a blog on another day).

But I digress.

Now the irony is that for the first time ever, I think I actually agree with Barney Frank if you read the entire interview. But what Barney and Mark equally don't understand is that using the excuse "you don't waste your time on people who you completley disagree [with]" is what is wrong with American politics, and frankly, what is wrong with American culture altogether.

Not only this past week did I go to a baseball game with LC, but my Porn Producer buddy Mike South sent Allen and I an interview with Scott Janke. Highlighting another relationship where I have serious disagreement on certain topics, but one where we have kept the lines of communication open because of mutual respect and a higher pursuit of truth. Just like LC. Just like Erik.

Surrounding your life with people who you only agree with leaves one with an incredibly myopic view of the world that is worse than just ignorant, it is damaging. Especially in leadership positions.

I would highly encourage Mark and Barney to follow the example of LC and I: go to a Nationals game, have a beer, and treat each other like human beings.

Who knows what kind of country this could be if our politicians - and each other - lived that way on a regular basis.

Much like my post on the Virginia Tech Shooting two years ago, the Iran conflict was too raw and emotional to say what needed to be said until now.

Now that things have subsided a bit, I feel more comfortable saying what I have thought all along: Barack Obama handled the Iran Election Conflict amazingly well. Historians will look back at that and say one of the most genius things America ever did in handling Iran was to not do a single thing during the election conflict.

But first a Scrubs episode to highlight why:


I am going to be obnoxious and pull the "I've been the Middle East card, and I am guessing none of the rest of you have" to say that what most Americans fail to understand about our "presence" in the Middle East is how those who we are "fighting against" wield our disdain for them against us.

Like Scrubs - it doesn't matter what we say, it gets turned around and presented as propaganda against our case. This isn't just true in Iran and Scrubs episodes but in my own life as well.

At my previous job I had two older gentlemen who, well, let's just say didn't appreciate anything I had to say or thought. They made life incredibly difficult for me. But what was worse was that they made progress for the church impossible.

What I learned - but unfortunately didn't practice as well as Obama - is that even if I had the greatest idea, even if I was right, the best thing I could do was not get involved. Would I encourage other more "neutral" parties to discuss and attempt to influence these two gentleman's perspective: absolutely. Should I have actively continued to jump into a fight I knew I couldn't win and ultimately made things worse: no way.

Most of our problems in the Middle East are in large part due to our involvement in things we feel obliged to jump into, when in fact it only makes the situation worse. Then when we actually have an opportunity to do something good about it, we back out. Thus leaving the average Middle Easterner frustrated and angry with us.

The movie Charlie Wilson's War (although about Afghanistan and not Iran) is a phenomenal example of this.

As usual, I was extremely proud of Senator Richard Lugar. It is because of his bi-partisianship, non-grand standing, non-crowd pleasing, straightforward and educated approach to politics is the reason he is the only member of Congress that shouldn't be voted out.

Unlike everyone else - especially Republicans - clamoring at Obama's perceived weakness regarding Iran, Lugar came out and said what needed to be said: America needed to stay the hell out of the Iranian conflict.


Iran and the Middle East is about a generation away from true reform. I have seen it with my own eyes. And the last thing America needs to do is intervene and jack that up. Patience is a virtue, and American needs to practice it.

This morning was one of those rare times in life where I got 5 hours of sleep and it seemed to be enough. Mixed with a mind that was racing at a million miles an hour, I decided to not fight it and just get up.

Due to my roommate's pretentiousness towards movies, my intake of movies has dropped significantly in the past year. Even Blockbuster tried to lure me back upon my last visit - since it had been so long - in hopes of bringing me back to our once happy and consistent relationship.

So with some extra hours on a lazy Saturday morning I popped in Seven Pounds thinking maybe I'd fall back asleep if it got boring. It turned out to be one of the deepest movies I have seen in a long time.

As I lay in my bedroom early this morning, amidst a sunrise I rarely get to be apart of, and a stillness I never experience in my home, I was brought to literal tears as I watched a man so deep stricken with a loss in his life attempt to make amends by lovingly sacrifice to those in need.

And while I guessed the ending from about 10 minutes into the movie, this did not detract in the least from its power.

I found myself gearing up for a powerful and emotional end, but it was the scene with a gift of new life for battered woman and her kids that best exemplifies the heart behind the grace and love in this movie. And as powerful as the final moments of this movie turned out to be, it was this scene that caught me off guard.



"All I ask is that you honor my wishes and of course live life abundantly."

Sound at all familiar?

Is that not the reason Jesus himself said he came to this earth?

Is that not the power of the gospel? That it not only has the profound ability to changes one's life, but that life that is changed yields one that isn't easy, or effortless, or without pain: but that is abundant and full.

I preached a mini-sermon series back in 2003 where I talked about the "Great Contradiction" between denying oneself and living life to the fullest.

Yet I wish I had this clip back then because I think it communicates not just the grace of God - which has become almost cliché in most sermons - but probably more importantly the heart behind the grace.

As Will Smith narrates, "...if you are wondering why you? Please stop." I find myself believing that it is that picture into the heart of God that best enables one to live an abundant life.

This is quite possibly the most controversial blog I have ever written - even more than the Anything For Love post of 2007.

Dr. George Tiller was the late-term abortion doctor who was gunned down while serving in his Lutheran church this past Sunday. And while i freely acknowledge I do not know this man's heart, and judgment is only for God, I am going to go out on a limb and say that we will see Dr. George Tiller again in heaven.

From the start I should say that I am pro-life - although from posts like mine back in October - it is probably obvious that I am not "super pro-life." I do believe that abortion is wrong, I just fail to see it anymore wrong than anything else and therefore I refuse to make it a wedge issue.

Most of my personal theology stems from the statement: "In the essentials unity, in the non-essentials liberty, and in all things charity."

It is this theological principle that helps me appreciate the theology from Catholics to Baptists and the super-crazy Greek Orthodox. It is why I don't get bogged down in the pros and cons of Calvinist vs. Wesleyan theology. Do I have stark disagreements with all of these, sure. But I realize in the end we all accept that Jesus is God, none of our theology is perfect, and therefore we are all unified in salvation through Christ alone.

But the question that arises is: is abortion a theological essential to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Is it so heinous and irredeemable that an abortion doctor, who on at the surface seems to believe that Jesus was the Son of God and trusts in him for his salvation, cannot be forgiven?

Now I know just becuase you go to church hardly makes you a Christian - especially in Kansas. But this man was an unapologetic abortion doctor. If there is anyone in our society that wouldn't feel the social pressure to go to church, don't you think it would be him? So I am going to proceed with the assumption that he attended and served in church for the right reasons.



He clearly didn't see abortion to be wrong.

Do I disagree with him. Yes.

Is abortion such a cut and dry issue in the Bible that I believe it to be "an essential" of Christian theology. No.

There is a lot of sin in my life that I know about. I am not proud of it, but I humbly admit that I am not perfect. What's more is that there is probably even more sin in my life that I do not know about. I go on doing what I do, thinking I am right and correct, but in actuality I am not. Do I understand myself to be any less forgiven or redeemed because of this known and unknown sin? No.

What does Jesus say really saves us? I know sin in my life continually gets brought to the surface every day I am alive. I see no evidence that Paul or David or Peter or anyone went on to live a sinless life. So if we are saved only by the grace through our faith in Jesus Christ, why would it be hard to believe Dr. George Tiller - while probably erroneous in some of his theology and practice - would be unsaved?

So while I do not know the heart of George Tiller, if I were a betting man, I am going to bet that I'll see him again in heaven.

I had a wonderful weekend. Went to the Alliance Theatre, a Thrasher's game, and a Braves season ticket holder event. But then Saturday night's show came along...

If you listened and followed my Twitter you'll know that I got pretty frustrated with Allen during the Bobby Knight and Obama & Iran hours.

I will write later this week on why Allen is fundamentally wrong on those two issues in a blog where I won't be constantly interrupted. But first I must clear the air about one of my largest frustrations since starting this show almost 4 years ago: assumptions.

Allen let me talk during the Iran hour (not the Bobby Knight hour) and the following "conversation" took place. If you don't have time to listen, it can be summarized in that Andy thinks Obama would be right to go over and talk with Iran and Allen is wrong.



But after this conversation we got an email from a listener who agreed with Allen. No biggie. I know I am not in the majority on this one. But he made two assumptions that just ate at me over the next couple of days.

He (Andy) sounds very much like so many people, who went through school in the past twenty years and were influenced by liberal professors that are undermining support for Israel.

Your producer also sounds the naïve person, who would have to go to Gaza and be beheaded before he would get it.

Let's examine these two statements.

First, the liberal professors I was obviously educated under. I'd like for you to meet Mr. Oded Yinon. Oded was my Introduction to the Modern Middle East Professor while studying in Israel/Palestine. Oded's father was one of the founders of the Mossad (the Israeli CIA). Oded is easily one of the most intimidating people I have ever met as I am pretty sure he could kill me before I even knew it (this still didn't prevent me from arguing with him).

Oded once made a comment in class that, "these vermin [Palestinians] will never compromise." A statement I vehemently disagree with, but not exactly your typical "liberal professor" viewpoint now is it.

Second, I am obviously a naïve person who needs to go to Gaza and get blown up. This of course will change my mind.

The date was September 9, 2003. I was lying in my bed at 11:20 pm and I will never forget the dull thud and the ensuing police sirens. I didn't need to, but I walked out of my room onto the roof of my building and watched as police cars raced to the Café Hillel suicide bombing.

This bombing took place less than a mile from my bed. It was a cafe I had eaten at earlier in the week. And I lived in Israel/Palestine at the height of the suicide bombings of the Intifada II (the height being 2002-2003 where 362 people died).

So don't you dare call me naïve and excuse my insight to be out of ignorance or blindly following liberal professors.

Your assumptions aren't just wrong about me, but like most people, your assumptions are what make you wrong about most of the beliefs that you hold regarding issues you know only what FoxNews or MSNBC tells you.

We try and label people based on our perception of them and in doing so we ignore the value their perspective might bring to the discussion. It's a problem we have in our relationships, in our politics, and in our companies. Assumptions do far more than make an ass out of you and me, they destroy cultures.

I was the Editor-in-Chief of my high school yearbook. I know, über-nerdy right? I wasn't very good at it to be honest. The yearbook was a finalist for a prestigous national award, so it was designed well and the final product was nice (and late), but my overall ability to lead the staff was an utter failure. I made many, many mistakes.

But one thing we were good at: debating. Didn't matter the topic. I had a staff full of women - including one exgirlfriend and a few other very close friends of another exgirlfriend - and one very quiet man. Needless to say, many times it was me versus them all (with the man abstaining).

As Christmas approached, one day the topic of Santa Claus came up. I made the statement that I was not going to tell my kids there was a Santa Claus.

Ohhh....my....gosh! You would have thought I said I will let my kids spend the night with Michael Jackson and Christopher Walken.

I got accused of not fostering a creative environment for my kids.

I got accused of ruining Christmas for all my friends kids.

I got accused of not letting my kids enjoy being kids.

I know how the pictured Santa felt a bit.

But no, just a simple desire not to ever set a precedent of lying to my kids was my motive.

Now I will freely admit that this was right at the height of my extreme "conservative" stage - one many of my current friends won't believe I ever went through. But even with the loosening of my perspective on many things, I still feel I won't tell them there is a Santa.

I think there is already so much pressure from culture to redefine what Christmas is all about. It becomes about the presents, or about family, or about giving, or about joyfulness. And while none of those are per se bad, it isn't really what the season is about at its core.

But it goes beyond this. I know one of my greatest strengths, but also greatest weakness, is that I try to live be a mantra of honesty above all. And while that sometimes means I am not as compassionate and caring as I should be, I do believe that you can rarely go wrong with telling the truth.

I think this becomes all the more important with children. There is already such an innate skepticism with kids as they grow up towards their parents. Why feed into that? Not just with Santa, but in all areas of life.

Apparently I am not the only one. Carl Honoré wrote an article titled "Well, Virginia, It's a Longer Story..." about the "Great-Santa Debate" in a recent article in the Washington Post. But then of course, you have all those wonderful Macy's commercials with the comforting confirmation of Santa's existence from the likes of Martha Stewart and Donald Trump.

So what do you think? How were you raised? How are you raising (or planning on raising) your kids?

The largest hurdle I have in believing that there is a God is the existence of evil. I know this doesn't make me unique, or profound.

I was watching Dirty Sexy Money earlier this week and resonated so strongly with the following clip. Brian is the religious one - but by no means the Saint - in the family. As the show develops, one realizes he really is the metaphorical example of all of us struggling with good and evil.



I love the honesty. The rawness. The emotion. It reminds me of when Jeremiah laments in the Bible by saying, "You deceived me, LORD, and I was deceived. You seized me and prevailed..." As an Old Testament professor once said, deceived is a "soft translation." Deceived, should be raped. But you never hear that story in Sunday school.

I once preached a sermon in Indiana where I read the passage where Jesus said that "his burden is easy and his yoke is light." I followed up by saying, "yeah right!" Had I been bolder I think the better phrase would have been, bullshit.

There is nothing about this world that seams easy - and I say that having lived on both sides of the faith continuum. Why is there so much pain if an Omnibenevolent Being is behind it?

Here's the truth, I don't know.

As much as I love Robert Frost's poem, I think there are really three roads that can be taken in life.

There are those who take the road of naiveté. They say things like, "all works out for the good in the end" or "evil is just a byproduct of a fallen and imperfect world." Meanwhile ignoring the true sense of injustice in the world. Not recognizing that there is legitimate, undeserved suffering in the world.

There still others that say fuck it. They take the road of bitterness. There can't be a God. They don't understand evil, it makes no sense, therefore the only logical conclusion is there is no intelligence or compassion behind this world. Meanwhile ignoring the good that some how comes from nowhere, and the beauty all around us, and all the benevolence that can be generated by them.

And then there is the third road. This road gets traveled the least. It is a road that freely admits they don't have any answers on this one - but wish they did. It is a road that doesn't offer up cheesy clichés in the face of injustice or sorrow, but will cry with you when it happens. It is a road that doesn't become bitter at the evils society face, but recognizes there is work to be done to help overcome them. It is a road that humbles, but also empowers one to do something about it - even if little impact can be made - which is tough to accept.

And while I know the one taken less, I freely admit I do not know which will make all the difference in the end. But I know which one I have chosen.

I once went to Juarez, Mexico with 40 other people to build 2 houses in about 25 hours. It was July and if memory serves me correct it was 195°. It was crazy and exhausting.

We had laid the foundation. Put up the studs and drywall. Spackled. Etc. All that was left was to lay the roof. All I had to do was bend the shingles over the roof and nail them to the side of the house. Simple right?

Well I think I am doing just a fabulous job and one of the adult leaders - who mind you built his own house with his bare hands - comes up and says, "you've been working hard, why don't you take a break."

I retreat off the ladder and grab a Sprite from the cooler. About five minutes later I look over and see the adult leader ripping out what I had just done!

That's right folks, I sucked so bad at handiwork that it wasn't good enough for an impoverished family who before we showed up didn't have a home. Pretty humbling, huh?

Now I don't blame this youth leader. He was right to do it. The worked suck - despite my hard efforts. The lesson was simple: I am not good at construction.

Fast-forward 10 years later.

I buy a house. And while I have to admit I was a little nervous about the financials (who isn't?), I was more nervous about the fact that I am not real handy around the home.

It's been great though. Since buying the house I have:

• Installed a bathroom faucet
• Installed fingerprint locks
• Installed garage shelves (no pics)
• Installed a kitchen faucet

But nothing like this. You may remember the horrendous day I had back in August.

$1,100 dollars later, I had a fixed air conditioner, a de-molded ceiling and wall, and a giant hole in my ceiling.

After getting sick of spending so much money I decided to try and patch the giant hole myself. So I went to Home Depot and bought what I thought I needed. And at last, the project is done. It looks good. Not great. But good.





Two conclusions came from the project: First, I hate popcorn ceiling now more than ever. I almost didn't buy the house because of it. It aesthetically looks awful. However, I hate it even more now as it is near impossible to spread to match the current ceiling - and was surprisingly the hardest part of this project.

But the more important lesson is how important it is to do things that help us overcome our insecurities. I freely admit I legitimately feel like less of a man because of my lack of handyman skills.

Maybe I shouldn't. And I am not saying all men need to be Mr. Fix-It. Nor should they feel insecure if they aren't. But I do. And it has been very affirming completing these projects.

We all think about our insecurities a lot - that's what makes them insecurities - but how much time do with think about what needs to be done to overcome them?

Niki (not real name): "I thought you said your cousin is a Christian? He's so fun."

Julia: "Yeah, being a Christian isn't his problem."

Niki: "Well what's his problem?"

Julia: "He blogs."

This was a conversation my cousin had with a friend of her's after I met up with them in East Atlanta after the show on Saturday.

I had no alcohol that night and my sister was still able to get me dancing up on a pool table with everyone else - something most of my friends find astonishing.

The night was a blast, but it was the above conversation that got me the most excited. So even though they make fun of my blogging, I decided to blog about it.

Earlier that week our show was rejected by a potential station in Mississippi because, as they put it, "our show is too risque for their market." Keep in mind, they aren't a Christian station - they are a mainstream, secular station. True, it is Mississippi, but still, a mainstream station rejecting a show about faith because they are too risque. Awe-some!

My response: "Can I quote that when developing our marketing campaigns."

Both of the above statements mean much to me because they reinforce that I am living the vision and purpose I set out to live - both professionally and personally.

As my cousin said later in the above conversation, "Andy is a real Christian - he isn't judgmental."

Now at this point you are thinking, wow this post is incredibly egocentric - which I do not deny.

But I have said over and over on this blog that the judgementalism and lack of grace usually exuded by Christians is a significant problem with their ability to relate to this world.

In our attempt to make the right choice, we end up treating people with disdain with a lack of compassion that is incredibly obvious and unsupportive to loving this world.

So on Saturday night, I didn't get drunk, but refused to judge those who did.

And on Saturday night, I didn't go home with anybody - even though I am pretty sure I could have (shut up Cassie) - but didn't look down on those who did.

I just had a great time with some fun people and I look forward to doing it again.

So while there are many, many ways I fall short of the standard I attempt to live up to (like being egocentric while blogging), I find the two conversations above to be encouraging.