Imparted Righteousness

Prayers Requested

2008-06-12T09:15:00.000-07:00

I haven't posted in a while because I've been in a bit of rough spot lately; my fiancée Kristen had a total colectomy (removal of the colon) last week because her Ulcerative Colitis had spread through the entire large intestine and the disease continued to be completely out of control. She did fairly well with the surgery; she'll have an ileostomy bag for a few months while her surrogate bowel (called a j-pouch) is healing. Unfortunately, today she was readmitted because of what her doctors believe is a bowel obstruction. It's treatable and not uncommon for her surgery, but it is still painful and difficult her her. I also had back surgery yesterday which went well, but makes it impossible for me to drive up to Syracuse to be with her. Her parents are taking good care of her and her prognosis is very favorable, but as she continues in the healing process, we will definitely need the healing, guidance, strength, and hope of Go

Annual Conference Reflections and Other Stuff

2008-05-31T18:56:00.000-07:00

My posting has been light because my life has been very busy. I am having back surgery a week from Monday, and my fiancee Kristen is having her large intestine removed Tuesday in order to treat her ulcerative colitis. This will definitely be a challenging summer for me, as I am also working full time (though taking a week off to heal from surgery). I am also working through the Candidacy Guidebook and working to raise the necessary support to pay for psychological evaluations and background checks.

However, I did have the joy of attending part of Annual Conference as an equalization member. I had to leave early because of pain issues I was having with my back, but I was very blessed for the time I had. My bishop is retiring and much of the conference focused on her life and ministry. Ordination was rewarding and powerful as always. We had a fairly large class of ordinands, including one full connection deacon. Especially as I consider my call to ministry, ordination is a very meaningful service to me, especially when the newly ordained elders and deacons served us communion. The clergy procession is one of the most beautiful parts of the service that reminds of the rich traditions and high standards that we have set for our clergy. It is services like that which richen my appreciation for traditional worship. Though I am young, and many of my peers prefer contemporary worship, and I did at one point, I have begun to prefer the rich theological depths of hymns, the powerful words of our liturgies, and the litanies and creeds.

Because of this, I'm reminded that even within the groups we like to group people in, youth, young adult, clergy, laity, gay straight, black, white, older adult, disabled, conservative, evangelical, liberal, progressive, there is much diversity. Labels such as this make it easy for us to stereotype and to create nice groups. It can give us comfort to know that we've got a group figured out. But the labels only limit us. They make us stop seeing the person and start defining them by the groups that they are in. Although I understand why the church does this, I was a bit saddened by the requirements that the jurisdictional pool require people of certain groups, labels to be in the pool: African American, Native American, Disabled, Youth, Young Adult, and others. This makes us limit ourselves and makes it seem as though someone is only being considered because they are in that category. It cheapens the person and to me, it seems to only serves to accentuate stereotypes and lead us to continue to see people as different from us when we should rejoice in that they are part of the human race. They are part of the United Methodist belief system. They are members of our churches and conferences.

I rejoice in our diversity and I believe we should celebrate each other not by what group they belong to, but by the fact that they are a child of God. She or he is our brother or sister. Yes, vital and necessary ministries do help support specific ethnic groups, age groups, and persons with disabilities. But we must not focus on the fact that someone belongs to a group. We must focus on the fact that God pours out God's love upon them and that God loves them unconditionally, and has made them a child of God, just as he has made us children of God. There is but one body, one spirit, one human race.

My Theological Worldview

2008-04-16T12:24:00.000-07:00

I took the Theological Worldview Test. Here's what I got:

82% Evangelical Holiness/Wesleyan
75% Emergent/Postmodern
54% Charismatic/Pentecostal
54% Neo orthodox
43% Reformed Evangelical
39% Roman Catholic
39% Classical Liberal
36% Fundamentalist
29% Modern Liberal

I'm a lot more Emergent than I would have guessed.

I have a Mentor

2008-04-11T13:23:00.001-07:00

I've finally been assigned to a mentor. Just five months after finishing the MIP, I got the e-mail from my dCOM chair that I have been assigned a clergy mentor and I registered to the online system on GBHEM, though I'm still waiting for the electronic signature from mentor and my DS. I hope that won't take too long.

I'm concerned a bit by the slow pace that I got assigned a mentor. There's also a bit of a communication problem where I had trouble getting e-mail responses from my DS and the dCOM. The church constantly says they desire young clergy, and I am incredibly excited about the prospect of going into the ministry. I want to begin the candidacy process. I want to go to licensed local pastor school before seminary, but my annual conference requires me to be a certified candidate before I can do so. When the communication and assignment of mentor takes so long, I fear I won't be at that stage before that time. I hope having a mentor will let me be a little more connected to the system.

Why Our Unity is Worth It

2008-04-03T15:27:00.000-07:00

I'm going to contradict a post I made a few weeks ago. I argued that our fighting over doctrinal issues has come to the point that our unity is becoming more of a hindrance than a strength. I now, after a lot of prayer and thought, want to argue that our unity in Christ is much more important than doctrinal issues.

"There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for you are all one in Christ Jesus." This familiar verse from Galatians reminds us that the divisions that caused so much strife during the early church could not divide the body of Christ. The idea that salvation came through the Jews was still a very prevalent one during the early church, and when Paul began preaching faith by salvation through Jesus Christ, it caused a lot of controversy. The Gentiles were now offered salvation through Jesus Christ. Many still believed that salvation came through the Hebrew people. This was an issue that struck the very core of Christianity. Paul boldly declared that there is unity in the body of Christ. No one is better than another; Christ makes us one with each other.

An issue like homosexuality doesn't come close to cutting into the core of what we believe as Christians. Although I believe homosexuality to be a sin, what someone believes about homosexuality is not nearly as important as what they believe about grace and salvation. As the body of Christ in the United Methodist Church, we need to learn how to approach each other with love and understanding. We will not come to a sanctimonious agreement where both sides of the debate will be satisfied. We will, however, still be one in Jesus Christ. We will still know that God has called us together as a church to do ministry in the world. We must focus our energies on spreading the Good News that He is risen and that He will come again. We must use our strength together to minister to the homeless, the sick, the imprisoned, the mentally disabled, the least, the last, and the lost. Our unity allows us to use our monetary strength and the strength of our many hands to be the hands and feet of Christ to the world. We could not do many of our powerful ministries like UMCOR or UMVIM as effectively if we were a further divided church.

The divisions within the church, even the existence of multiple denominations, is saddening. John Wesley set out to reform the Anglican church, not to start a new one. The church that grew from his preaching has split many times even in the few centuries it has been around, and we should not encourage further division within the body. Don't misunderstand me: doctrine is important and I believe that there are universal, unchanging truths about our God. But not everything is cut and dry. God is more concerned about how we are living out the Great Commission in the world than about our infighting over homosexuality and other comparatively smaller issues.

If we are to remain a church, we must end our focus on homosexuality. General Conference time should be limited so that we only spend a small percentage on sexuality issues. We must focus our energies on making the church better and more effective at making disciples in the world. We must be willing to learn from the churches in Africa that grow by leaps and bounds compared to the United States. We must be willing to change and allow the movement of the Spirit to change us and to change our church. We must try to understand why the United Methodist Church has such a high median age and why we are failing to attract young clergy. But we can do all of these best if we remain steadfast and committed to our covenant together to be a dynamic movement in the body of Christ. The bureaucracy of the UMC is nothing compared to the power that God has to change us, our church, and the world.

Update: edited for grammar.

Maundy Thursday and the duty of Constant Communion

2008-03-20T19:54:00.000-07:00

Tonight we celebrated our Lord's Last Supper before he would be betrayed and sent to die for us. We remember the powerful words that Jesus recounted, and he told us to "do this in remembrance of me."

As we celebrate his supper on this special night, I reflect on communion as a duty for Christians. I am saddened that in the United Methodist tradition, communion is often a monthly or even a quarterly event. This was originally out of necessity. As the Methodist movement was spreading across America, ordained elders were difficult to come by. They went around their circuits and celebrated communion with many different churches, while the weekly services were led by lay people. Now, though, most of our churches are served by persons who are authorized to serve communion. Yet, we still serve communion rarely.

Communion is a critical time for our worship. Our order of worship is prepared as a service of Word and Table, and a primary worship service without the time to come before God to receive his mercy by receiving the elements is missing a critical part. Christ has died for us and offers his body and blood for us a living sacrifice. We can remember quite powerfully the sacrifice that He made for us. With communion, we have an opportunity every week to come before God and recognize our sinfulness. We can recognize our unworthiness, and celebrate the fact that through Christ's blood we become worthy, and he invites us to his table.

We don't need to do the full liturgy every week. This could have the danger of the sacrament becoming simply a rote task. Instead, we can find other ways to recount Christ's last supper and discover other ways that God can speak to us through communion. Pastors can have an excellent opportunity to creatively communicate the message of Christ that he offers us through communion. We can also use it as a ministry opportunity; taking the communion elements to shut-ins on a weekly basis can be quite meaningful and powerful for both the giver and the shut-ins.

When I enter the ministry, I hope to be able to serve communion on a weekly basis. Though I have some fear that some churches may not be completely open to a seemingly radical change, I hope to be able to answer God's call to do some radical changes. I hope to be able to offer Christ to my congregation through communion as often as I can.

iTunes U and Technology in the Church

2008-03-13T21:43:00.000-07:00

Apple has been promoting iTunes U, a section of iTunes where universities can post lectures, special presentations, etc. I've found MIT's offerings particularly useful, but what has been very interesting to me is noticing the number of seminaries and Christian schools that are offering classes or other content via iTunes U. Fuller, Duke, and Yale, all UM approved seminaries, all have offerings from the schools of theology. Of the 41 schools listed on iTunes U, 5 are distinctly Christian schools, with at least 2 more having divinity schools.

Is higher education maybe "getting it" a little more? I would love to be able to download lectures from my own school to be able to study from, and the fact that seminaries seem to be on top of this is encouraging. As a denomination, we need to embrace technology more. Church web sites, in general, are abysmal. Interactivity is something that is not just important for a web site's success, it's practically demanded. If users can't comment or interact with each other, the web sites "stickiness" tends to decrease immensely. If church web sites allowed members and guests to interact with each other, web sites could actually be a tool for more than just posting the calendar and the newsletter.

This doesn't even need to be restricted to large churches with big budgets and dedicated servers. Projects like the Web Empowered Church make this accessible to even small churches. They offer extensions for things like public (and private) journals, sermon management, prayer requests, and many more. I am a rabid web user and I am always demanding more information. When I come across a church web site that's outdated and with little to no real content, it's disheartening. I want to know about the ministries of the church. I want to know service times. I want to hear a sermon. I want to read the pastor's blog.

Podcasting (or netcasting as Leo Laporte would say) is also a tool that churches should be embracing. It gives them an opportunity to be able to reach a worldwide audience. Podcasts don't have to be restricted to sermons; they can be conversations, reflections, anything. If they become successful, pastors and church leaders could even do live shows and have people call in to share reflections on whatever comes up.

The rise of the web gives the church a powerful mission field that, if used correctly, could be part of the key to reaching young adults. The fact that seminaries are embracing things like iTunes U tells me that maybe they're starting to get it. Will it "trickle-down" to the pastors going into the churches and knowing how to use those key tools to reach out to other demographics? Perhaps seminaries should require technology courses for students that would help prepare them to be able to use the Web and technology to effectively minister to people. Of course, for someone like me who considers himself tech literate, courses like that sometimes end up being a waste of time. If done right, with a seminar-style teaching method and a focus on things like Web 2.0, podcasting, etc., rather than basic computer literacy like "how to use Microsoft Word", courses like that could be quite effective, even for someone like me.

Is Our Unity Worth It?

2008-02-18T18:12:00.000-08:00

John at Locusts and Honey has some thoughts about Dean Snyder and his plan to bless homosexual unions without quite blessing them, so as to be in accordance with Discipline. It's very hard for me to believe that this can be reconciled with a vow to uphold our doctrines and discipline taken at ordination. There have been talks that this is civil disobedience, but it's deliberately avoiding actually defying the Discipline. In any case, the United Methodist Church has continued to strengthen its stance against homosexual unions, adding language that says we want to define marriage as between man and woman recently. I don't think it will change this General Conference, but again the important issues of why the church is declining, why our median age is so high, why we aren't making disciples the way we should, and why Methodism isn't a movement anymore will all be drowned out by questions of sexuality.

I think it becomes hard for those who believe homosexuality is acceptable to remain true to their denomination when continually it tells them that they are wrong! Schism is not the end of the world. The Methodist movement has split over issues before and we can still work with each other. The World Methodist Council is a good example of how we maintain ecumenical relations with those in the Wesleyan tradition despite some theological differences. But our denomination grows weaker as we continue in-fighting. I think we are sacrificing some of our strength and ability to make disciples of Christ in favor of unity. I think this is a poor sacrifice to make. We don't have to break apart and never speak again; we can maintain strong relationships together and work together.

Our theological diversity is a strength, undoubtedly; but we might have to sacrifice some of it. We're still not all in agreement over everything; even if I agree with someone about homosexuality doesn't mean I agree with him or her about other important theological topics. We must all pray for guidance as we continue through this, but I doubt there's going to be a mass change in opinion that will make us all agree that homosexual is or is not a sin.

Young Adult and Youth Ministry

2008-02-07T11:25:00.002-08:00

I'm seeing a lot more articles and things about the denomination having special programs for youth and young adults. I'm glad to see this, and I think things like the young adult address at General Conference are an excellent way to get youth more involved. But it seems as though we almost come to the point of marginalizing youth and making us more of an outside group than a part of the church. It seems like we've always got to change things a bit in order to make them "relevant" to youth or to better appeal to youth interests. This works to a degree, but sometimes it feels like it's just dumbing down the gospel in the name of trying to be relevant. I get frustrated sometimes in that it seems like my opinion as a youth isn't quite as valid; instead I should be worrying about the youth issues and not the big important adult issues. Many of us aren't just interested in how much pizza will be served at the next youth group meeting, but instead what the direction the church is going as it relates to important theological issues.

The global church structure resolution that's on the table of General Conference is so vitally important to youth interests because by the time the proposal would be implemented, many of us who are young adults/ youth now will be in leadership positions in the church! I'm glad that the connectional table had youth and young adult membership, but I think that we can't stop at just having just two youth and young adult members on this very important committee.

Sorry for the slow publishing; this is a very busy semester for me and I'm entrenched in a show that I'm stage managing at the moment.

A New Semester

2008-01-29T07:42:00.000-08:00

So, I began my second semester yesterday. I'm taking number systems, which is a math proofs course, psychology research methods, Acting I, and an advanced psych seminar. I'm also stage managing a show again, this time Little Women. It's a much larger cast than the first show I managed, so it will be interesting to see how well I'm able to deal with the new challenges from that.

In any case, as I begin my new semester, I'm still waiting to hear from dCOM about my clergy mentor for the candidacy process. I am very much ready to begin, but I've still not been assigned a mentor to begin, and the GBHEM online application won't let me continue without having a mentor's name. I'm hoping to get certified within a year or two so that I can go to licensing school and get licensed before seminary. My dilemma is this: I'm engaged to a lovely woman who has health problems that mean student health insurance offered through grad schools would be woefully inadequate for her needs. She and I would like to get married following our undergraduate studies, but this will be impossible if I can't get her decent health insurance. She plans to get a PhD which will take at least five years, so my thought right now is to serve as a licensed local pastor at a level which would qualify me for conference health insurance (half or 3/4 time, I think, is the minimum), and go to seminary at the same time, taking a less than full time course load so that it will take me about five years to finish and that she and I will be able to go through this without being inundated by medical costs. In this way, I can be applying what I'm learning in seminary and also decide if parish ministry is really something I'm up to. Any thoughts or suggestions?

Covenant Renewal

2008-01-01T16:58:00.000-08:00

It is New Years' Day, a time of new beginnings. Although this is a time that is very busy for me with a musical I am advising on the lighting design for, I am reminded of the Watch Night covenant and service that John Wesley modified for use with the Methodists.

This is a very powerful service for me and one I hope to be able to use when I begin pastoring a church. The service, originally three hours long, reminds us of the blessings God has given us and gives us the opportunity to renew our covenant with God and to make it a reality in the following ways:

1. Set apart time to spend alone before the Lord. This is something that it often a challenge for me. I have difficulty doing this when I get busy, especially when I'm in the midst of a theatrical production. I always try to get back to my daily ritual of centering on God: studying His word, praying about the events of the day to come. Wesley's service reminds us to "seek earnestly God's special assistance and gracious acceptance of you... searching your hearts whether you have already freely given your life to Christ." It is incredible that God has offered me his assistance and acceptance, yet I can forget to accept it when I get so busy.

2. "Be serious and in a spirit of holy awe and reverence." A covenant can't be taken lightly. I love liturgy and traditional worship, but sometimes I see that when we overdo certain liturgies they become trite; no longer a special time. Even the holy mystery of communion can become rote. God is a God who makes all things new, even liturgies hundreds of years old. We cannot take worship lightly or just go through the motions. We must realize the amazing work of the Holy Spirit when we make a covenant with God.

3. "Rely upon God's promise of giving grace and strength... trust not your own strength and power." Of course, we cannot expect to keep a covenant to grow and maintain our walk with the Lord without relying on God. I think this will be a challenge for me as I continue through the candidacy process. Sometimes, the convoluted process seems to be quite far from holy and discerning. I've found myself relying on my own human understanding and ideas to get me through it, even at this early stage. As I progress through the candidacy process and eventually in my career as a pastor, I must be aware that God promises to give me strength. As I sit through a challenging PPRC meeting, I must remember that I cannot do it on my own; I was called to the ministry by God and He will not forsake me when times are challenging. God's grace is more than enough for me.

4. "Resolve to be faithful." This is much at the heart of the covenant service. Our covenant renewal reminds us that we have not always been faithful throughout the previous year, even though God has never forsaken us. We can make a covenant to be faithful to our calling as Christians and to the faith. We are forgiven of our past sins, thanks be to God, so we resolve to go on to greater holiness. We resolve to continue in our journey on to perfection.

The service then goes into a covenant prayer. I have blogged on the abbreviated version in the hymnal, so I won't go into a great deal of detail, but the covenant prayer reminds us of these things:

1. To put away all of our idols. We must put God first in our lives. Nothing will stop him from being the God of the Universe, but only we can let him be the God of our lives.

2. We must let God be our God gain.

3. Christ is the only way and means of coming to God. Without Christ, we can do nothing. He is the way, the truth, and the life. We are not worthy to come before God but for the blood of Christ.

4. We must suffer with Christ. We must take up our cross and follow the risen Lord.

5. God has given holy laws as the rule of our lives. Part of taking up our cross is to follow the law of Christ and of God. Love our neighbors and love our God. Be Christ to the world.

6. God searches and knows our heart. We can't make a false covenant with God; he knows our sincerity. We can certainly go through the motions, but God knows every thought and knows whether we offer our covenant with sincerity.

Renewing my covenant with God reminds me of my calling as a Christian. I must humble myself before him more this year. I must continue to work through the ordination process so that God can use me in new and exciting ways in my life. I must be God's servant and a servant of God's people. I must ask God for forgiveness when I stray from my covenant with Him. May God continue to work through all of us, both corporately and individually to further his ministry in the world. Especially as United Methodists, may we all be reminded of our covenant with God this year as we move closer to General Conference.

And now, let the covenant that we have made on earth be ratified in heaven. Amen.

Quotations taken from The United Methodist Book of Worship, pp. 289-294

Handbell Hero

2007-12-21T11:00:00.000-08:00

Here's an amusing game. My church while I'm at Binghamton University doesn't have handbells, so I can use this to quench my undying thirst for bellringing.

And Can It Be?

2007-12-17T13:32:00.000-08:00

"And Can It Be That I Should Gain?" UMH #378
Charles Wesley, 1738

And can it be that I should gain
An interest in the Savior’s blood?
Died He for me, who caused His pain—
For me, who Him to death pursued?
Amazing love! How can it be,
That Thou, my God, shouldst die for me?
Amazing love! How can it be,
That Thou, my God, shouldst die for me?

’Tis mystery all: th’Immortal dies:
Who can explore His strange design?
In vain the firstborn seraph tries
To sound the depths of love divine.
’Tis mercy all! Let earth adore,
Let angel minds inquire no more.
’Tis mercy all! Let earth adore;
Let angel minds inquire no more.

He left His Father’s throne above
So free, so infinite His grace—
Emptied Himself of all but love,
And bled for Adam’s helpless race:
’Tis mercy all, immense and free,
For O my God, it found out me!
’Tis mercy all, immense and free,
For O my God, it found out me!

Long my imprisoned spirit lay,
Fast bound in sin and nature’s night;
Thine eye diffused a quickening ray—
I woke, the dungeon flamed with light;
My chains fell off, my heart was free,
I rose, went forth, and followed Thee.
My chains fell off, my heart was free,
I rose, went forth, and followed Thee.

Still the small inward voice I hear,
That whispers all my sins forgiven;
Still the atoning blood is near,
That quenched the wrath of hostile Heaven.
I feel the life His wounds impart;
I feel the Savior in my heart.
I feel the life His wounds impart;
I feel the Savior in my heart.

No condemnation now I dread;
Jesus, and all in Him, is mine;
Alive in Him, my living Head,
And clothed in righteousness divine,
Bold I approach th’eternal throne,
And claim the crown, through Christ my own.
Bold I approach th’eternal throne,
And claim the crown, through Christ my own.

This is my favorite hymn of the hymnal. I won't write much on this as it's really hard to speak much more than what these words say. I especially like the imagery of "my chains fell off, my heart was free, I rose, went forth and followed thee!" The blood of Christ frees us from the power of sin and sets us free. Praise God!

Happy 300th birthday, Charles

Bishop Felton May Releases Statement on Shootings

2007-12-10T17:07:00.000-08:00

This UMNS story caught my attention. After speaking of how tragic it was for the families of various shootings, Bishop Felton May says this,

We also long for effective legislation and law enforcement to control or ban the weapons used in these kinds of attacks. Yet another wave of shootings, including those in Colorado, sends a signal that guns have very little or any place in a society that claims to be civil and compassionate.

First of all, the church shooting was yesterday. It is inappropriate to immediately call for political action before the dust has settled. Secondly, the church shooting was only stopped by an armed security guard. Under many gun control laws proposed, only security guards who also work as policemen would be able to carry guns. Thus, in this case, the death toll was as low as it was because of the presence of firearms.

Further, gun control laws will not stop most criminals. Prohibition of alcohol did little to curb alcohol use; indeed, it precipitated the rise of organized crime. This is not to say that gun control laws are completely analogous in this situation, but banning guns will not solve the problem. In countries where handguns have been banned, there has been little effect on overall violent crime rates [1}. Britain has had fluctuating violent crime rates since its passage of a handguns ban, but there is no clearly downward trend. In fact, another study suggests a 40% increase from the passage of the ban in 1997 until 2001 [2].

Must we, as a "civil and compassionate" country also prohibit law-abiding citizens from protecting themselves? Though we as a society may be civil and compassionate, violent criminals are not. The War on Drugs has not stopped drug sales in the United States, why would a gun ban be any different?

A Response to "Right to Health Care"

2007-12-04T11:12:00.000-08:00

There's a petition to change the Book of Discipline that has come from the General Board on Church and Society which would add and amend language related to health care. This statement stood out to me:

Providing the care needed to maintain health, prevent disease, and restore health after injury or illness is a responsibility each person owes others and government owes to all, a responsibility government ignores at its peril. In Ezekiel 34:4a God points out the failure of the leadership of Israel to care for the weak: “You have not strengthened the weak, you have not healed the sick, you have not bound up the injured.” As a result all suffer. Like police and fire protection, health care is best funded through the government’s ability to tax each person equitably and directly
fund the provider entities.

All of the above is new language that has been proposed. First, the Ezekiel verse speaks primarily to the priests and levites, not to the government of Israel. Certainly, the Bible doesn't speak to our modern health care system. The problem addressed in Ezekiel is that the church leaders were wasting their money for their own personal gain. It is not that the government wasn't adding enough bureaucracy to support a health care system.

We cannot say that health care in the form it is today is a right any more than we can say that food is a right. In fact, in nearly cases, private charities and private donors much more effectively support things like this. If, in fact, we were not taxed at such a heavy rate, we would have more money to donate to charities. If you'll recall, the government's response to the Katrina response was much worse than the response of private charities like the Red Cross and UMCOR. The education system, controlled by the government, is bloated and ineffective. Do you want the same kind of lines and bureaucratic incompetency you experience at the DMV now in charge of health care?

Our system of managed care, which has been around for nearly 40 years, has caused rampant inflation and made health care less accessible. The government's role in health care causes more problems than it solves. Republican Presidential candidate and medical doctor Ron Paul described his experiences as a doctor before managed care

“The amazing thing was it was the city hospital and there was no government; there [was] very little insurance and nobody was turned away whether they were illegal or legal, and nobody, nobody was quizzed. If you didn’t have the money, you didn’t pay, and people came in, and it wasn’t that bad. People didn’t lay on the side walks. You’re more likely to hear stories today of people being neglected in emergency rooms…and dying on stretchers—because we have managed care.”

The government cannot be expected to provide for every basic need. Do we now need government provided clothing, shelter, food, etc.? One of the government's responses to the health care problems was the HMO Act of 1973: yet again a government response which created more problems than it solves. We blame the HMOs for many of our problems today, yet they were allowed to become as powerful as they are because of government intervention.

The police and fire analogy given by the GBCS in the resolution is a poor one. Fire protection is provided by the local government. Imagine how horribly inefficient fire protection would be if it were managed by the national government. Most of our police forces are local. This works well because they can easily adapt to the needs of each individual area. The federal government is not authorized by the constitution to set up socialized medicine.

The federal government does not need to become even larger and more intrusive. As Ronald Reagan said, "The most terrifying words in the English language are: I'm from the government and I'm here to help." The government is inefficient at providing needs that the free market handles much more efficiently

I also noticed that they removed a line which said that pharmaceutical companies should retain their patents and licensing rights as it pertains to HIV/AIDS drugs, changing the language as follows: "Countries facing a public health crisis such as HIV/AIDS must have access to generic medicines and to patented medicines ~~without infringing on a pharmaceutical company’s patent/ licensing rights~~", implying that businesses should sacrifice their rights in order to support the HIV/AIDS crisis. This sounds fabulous, but the reality is that capitalism and pharmaceutical research couldn't happen if pharmaceutical companies can't make a profit. These HIV/AIDS drugs would likely never have been developed if the companies didn't have patenting rights. It sounds lovely that pharmaceutical companies should just eliminate all of their profits for the greater good, but that cannot feasibly happen; they wouldn't ever develop new drugs. The free market led to the development of those drugs; eliminating all economic incentive to develop drugs would put health care research at a standstill.

Certainly, we as a church are called to reach out to the sick and the needy. But we can't say that we must steal from -- I mean tax-- every American to do so.

Chrysalis, etc.

2007-11-29T10:19:00.000-08:00

So it's the penultimate* week of classes here, and I'm leaving in just a few hours to serve as a team member for a Chrysalis walk. I'll be light on blogging in the next few weeks as classes wind down and as I go into finals week.

I would ask for prayers for all the youth going on this flight with me.

*I've been waiting for months to use that word

And Are We Yet Alive

2007-11-23T13:34:00.000-08:00

Second in my series on Charles Wesley's Writings...

And are we yet alive,
and see each other's face?
Glory and thanks to Jesus give
for his almighty grace!

Preserved by power divine
to full salvation here,
again in Jesus' praise we join,
and in his sight appear.

What troubles have we seen,
what mighty conflicts past,
fightings without, and fears within,
since we assembled last!

Yet out of all the Lord
hath brought us by his love;
and still he doth his help afford,
and hides our life above.

Then let us make our boast
of his redeeming power,
which saves us to the uttermost,
till we can sin no more.

Let us take up the cross
till we the crown obtain,
and gladly reckon all things loss
so we may Jesus gain.

This was one of the hymns I chose when I preached and led the service at my church over this past summer and it's one of my favorites. This is also traditionally sung at the opening of Annual Conference, and is one of the Wesleyan classics. I like how the beginning is simply praise for the fact that we can stand here and be face to face with each other. However, standing face to face might not always seem like something we should be praising God for when arguments begin to destroy the bond we share as CHristians

The verses that tell of the "fighting without and fears within since we assembled last" is especially telling of this sort of situation. As Christians and as Methodists, we can sometimes get caught up in arguments and fights within each other over things ranging from the amount of money allotted to a certain committee, to highly contentious issues about homosexuality. Debate and dialogue only goes so far, and we can lose the kindred spirit in the midst of infighting. Yet, we are reminded that out of this imperfect system, the Lord brings us out by his love. We still have a seat at his heavenly banquet because of our faith in Jesus Christ, not because we are perfect and know all the answers.

So Wesley closes with a reminder for us to take up our cross. We'll need to set aside infighting and inflaming arguments in order to fully see the kingdom of God. And, for me, this may mean changing our system. It is obvious that neither side of the contentious homosexuality debate is going to give up soon. And right now, it gets in the way of the more important things: making disciples of Jesus Christ. We can argue more about whether or not homosexuality is a sin and still have no direction about how we can more effectively make disciples for the kingdom of God. Although schism is never a cheerful word for us, I'm beginning to become more convinced that it may be the only way for us as a church to reach the world effectively. I would urge us all to pray for the United Methodist Church as it enters General Conference 2008. And no matter what, we need to remember that our brothers in sisters in Christ are still our brothers and sisters and that we must love them with the love of Christ.

Happy Thanksgiving

2007-11-22T09:36:00.000-08:00

Happy Thanksgiving!

David's Psalm of Thanks, 1 Chronicles 16:8-36
from The New Living Translation

Give thanks to the LORD and proclaim his greatness. Let the whole world know what he has done. Sing to him; yes, sing his praises. Tell everyone about his miracles. Exult in his holy name; O worshipers of the LORD, rejoice! Search for the LORD and for his strength, and keep on searching. Think of the wonderful works he has done, the miracles, and the judgments he handed down, O children of Israel, God's servant, O descendants of Jacob, God's chosen one.

He is the LORD our God. His rule is seen throughout the land. He always stands by his covenant – the commitment he made to a thousand generations. This is the covenant he made with Abraham and the oath he swore to Isaac. He confirmed it to Jacob as a decree, to the people of Israel as a never-ending treaty: "I will give you the land of Canaan as your special possession."

He said this when they were few in number, a tiny group of strangers in Canaan. They wandered back and forth between nations, from one kingdom to another. Yet he did not let anyone oppress them. He warned kings on their behalf: "Do not touch these people I have chosen, and do not hurt my prophets."

Let the whole earth sing to the LORD! Each day proclaim the good news that he saves. Publish his glorious deeds among the nations. Tell everyone about the amazing things he does. Great is the LORD! He is most worthy of praise! He is to be revered above all gods. The gods of other nations are merely idols, but the LORD made the heavens! Honor and majesty surround him; strength and beauty are in his dwelling. O nations of the world, recognize the LORD, recognize that the LORD is glorious and strong. Give to the LORD the glory he deserves! Bring your offering and come to worship him. Worship the LORD in all his holy splendor. Let all the earth tremble before him. The world is firmly established and cannot be shaken. Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice! Tell all the nations that the LORD is king. Let the sea and everything in it shout his praise! Let the fields and their crops burst forth with joy! Let the trees of the forest rustle with praise before the LORD! For he is coming to judge the earth.

Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good! His faithful love endures forever. Cry out, "Save us, O God of our salvation! Gather and rescue us from among the nations, so we can thank your holy name and rejoice and praise you." Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel, from everlasting to everlasting!

And all the people shouted "Amen!" and praised the LORD.

Running to Places

2007-11-19T13:55:00.000-08:00

I'm involved in a new youth community theatre called Running to Places, which is just getting off the ground. The director, Joey Steinhagen, is very involved in theatre in this area and I've worked with him in various capacities on 6 productions at Dryden Middle/High school. He's a fantastic director and is very passionate about youth theatre. I'll be a lighting and sound design mentor for the high schoolers designing the production Fame. I'm very excited about this opportunity, and I'd encourage anyone in the Ithaca Tompkins County area to get involved. They're also seeking donations; since there have been no shows produced yet, there's little money to pay the bills like royalties, lumber, lighting gels, etc. I'm sure it will come but you can find information on how to contribute at their website.

There will also be middle school productions later in the year, so stay tuned.

Also, come to see the show! January 11-13, 18-20 at a location to be announced.

Wesley Blog

2007-11-16T11:18:00.000-08:00

It looks like Shane Raynor has lost control of the Wesley Blog domain again. It's been about a year since he got it back in his hands. His blog introduced me to the Methodist blogosphere and he is definitely missed here. The archives are still accessible at http://wesleyradio.typepad.com , but it's not well formated since many of the images reference the wesleyblog domain.

Whether the Word Be Preached or Read

2007-11-16T07:44:00.000-08:00

Charles Wesley's 300th birthday is coming up in December, so I'm going to be writing a series on some of his hymns and poems. Here's a poem Whether the Word Be Preached or Read, number 395 in the hymnal:

Whether the Word be preached or read,
no saving benefit I gain
from empty sounds or letters dead;
unprofitable all and vain,
unless by faith thy word I hear
and see its heavenly character.

Unmixed with faith, the Scripture gives
no comfort, life, or light to see,
but me in darker darkness leaves,
implunged in deeper misery,
overwhelmed with nature's sorest ills.
The Spirit saves, the letter kills.

If God enlighten through his Word,
I shall my kind Enlightener bless;
but void and naked of my lord,
what are all verbal promises?
Nothing to me, till faith divine
inspire, inspeak, and make them mine.

Jesus the appropriating grace
'tis thine on sinners to bestow.
Open mine eyes to see they face,
open my heart thyself to know.
And then I through thy Word obtain
sure present, and eternal gain.

I've always found immense solace in the Word of God. Yet, the Scriptures are just meaningless words if we don't read it in faith. Yes, they can have some solid moral guidelines that are fairly universal, but the inspired Word of God goes far beyond that of a nice moral compass. We must seek the Spirit's guiding when reading it. When, as Wesley writes, our faith inspires and makes the Words of God our own, it then becomes meaningful and applicable in our lives.

Although many of us can read the Words of God and believe that our interpretation is the inspired one, it is obvious that not everyone is right. Even though people from many backgrounds, conservative, liberal, emergent, Catholic, Protestant, Orthodox, and anything in between can read the same Scripture and get vastly different interpretations, it is still the same Scripture. There is one truth, but I believe that God allows to different interpretation so that dialogue can happen that happens far beyond just agreeing with one another and about how right we are. That's part of the wonderful diversity of opinion in our denomination. We as United Methodists may not be able to agree on what is a sin and what isn't, but our diversity helps us to grow in our faith in ways that a more homogenous denomination can't get. I've learned a lot from my more left-leaning counterparts, and I hope that others who disagree with me can learn from me.

Ultimately, our reading of the Scriptures is only illuminated by allowing the Spirit to open our hearts and our minds to new interpretations. It's important for us to allow the Spirit to allow us to change our minds as we read the same Scripture we've heard a thousand times. We can't expect that "present and eternal gain" if we expect the Word to be the same as we read it yesterday. As the psalmist writes many, many times, we need to sing to the Lord a new song. Our faith needs to be something new and exciting; even though it's the same faith our ancestors centuries ago, we need to constantly evaluate if God is calling us to something new or different. We still don't know it all; thanks be to God.

Spring 2008 Schedule

2007-11-12T05:22:00.000-08:00

I am now registered for courses for spring 2008. I know, you, my readers, have all been dying to know what classes I have been taking, and I know many of you have transferred to Binghamton in order to take classes with me, so here are the classes I am taking and why:

MATH 330: Number Systems: This is a proofs-based course and required for the math major. It is alternatively titled "Introduction to Higher Math"
PSYC 344: Research Methods: This is a psych course which will require me to learn how to write scientific research papers and the methods of psychological research. It is required for the psych major
PSYC 473C: Theoretical Methods of Social Cognition: I am taking Cognitive Psychology this current semester and my professor is also teaching 473C. It studies cognition from a social perspective and also has a modeling aspect which is very interesting to me. It will study various models of knowledge and categorization and use computer and mathematical modeling to test their validity. My professor said that it is aimed toward students with mathematical as well as psychological research interests. It should fit well with my dual degree
THEA 207: Basic Actor Training Processes: This course counts for one of my general education requirements. I also hope it will give me a better understanding for my stage management work. I have been on stage before in my high school's musical, but I've never had formal acting training, so it should be interesting

Reading Level

2007-11-09T09:19:00.000-08:00

This is probably slanted since I've only been blogging for a few months.

Young Clergy

2007-11-09T07:00:00.001-08:00

The United Methodist News Service yesterday published this article regarding a researcher's analysis of the state of the church report. He talks of the problem of recruiting young clergy.

The church must recruit young clergy to bring new ideas, creativity, energy and cultural awareness, said Weems. He added that, without them, these characteristic are lost, jeopardizing the wisdom and experience that can come with long ministry tenures.

I think in order to draw young clergy, we need to change the candidacy system. Though I've only just begun, I have already seen very clearly that it is geared toward second-career clergy. The Ministry Inquiry Process speaks multiple times of changing my vocation and of experiences that someone fresh out of high school or college would not have had. It was a bit frustrating to have to answer "Not applicable" on multiple questions. I believe that we need to allow the process to seem open and available to first career clergy, and not have them work around questions that are not guided to them. Perhaps separate processes or at least separate books might help to make the candidacy process a little easier for young or first-career clergy.

We also need to give churches the resources to foster a culture of call for young clergy. We cannot expect churches and SPRCs to know how to see the gifts that make for potential clergy candidates. Although candidates certainly have many interviews, the SPRC interview should never be considered a rubber stamp as it often is today. Events like Exploration, which I attended, are an excellent start, but we need to involve the local churches more. It is because of the work of the local church that youth and young adults can realize their gifts for the ministry. Candidates for the clergy start with the local church, and the local church needs to be a critical player in the discernment process. I had a chance to lead an entire service at my church while my pastor was out of town, and it was such a worthwhile experience and gave me a good feel for the pulpit. I am not a certified or local lay speaker, but my church still gave me the chance to use gifts that they saw in me.

As I continue on in the candidacy process, I hope to continue making commentary about how well it is working for me and what I think would make it easier for me.

OS X Leopard

2007-10-31T11:34:00.000-07:00

I am now running Mac OS X Leopard. This is Apple's long-awaited new operating system that came out after delays due to the iPhone's release. It has a number of new features and it seems to run even faster than Tiger, version 10.4. It is now 64-bit entirely, so my Core 2 Duo processor can take advantage of all of its power. Anyway, here's a quick review of some of the new features in Leopard.

First, it now includes Spaces, a virtual desktop implementation similar to those found on most Linux distributions. I used Linux before switching to Mac, and although 3rd party applications like Virtue worked, they didn't have the integrated feel of a Mac application and it was definitely something I missed from Linux. Although I've only worked with it for a few hours, it has some nice features; you can easily move applications from one desktop to another, and Exposé is very nicely integrated into the UI.

Time Machine is one of the most touted features of OS X. Its UI is a bit overdone in my opinion, but set up was easy enough. When I plugged my external hard drive in, it asked if I wanted to use it as a time machine backup disk, which I did. It just creates a folder in the hard drive, so no need to repartition. The interface is very intuitive, and it's very simple to configure. Apple's goal is to get regular backup to be something a standard user does, not just enterprise IT. I think Time Machine is a great step toward this.

The Dashboaard also got some improvements. Web Clip is quite useful; you can select a part of any web page and then make it into a dashboard widget. For example, I can now have my "Just in from the MethoBlogoSphere" Widget.

Mail also got some updates. It opens and runs much faster than before, and now sports To-Do lists, notes, and stationery (which I won't be using, but may be handy for some). Setup for e-mail for many ISPs and e-mail services is now built in, including gmail, hotmail, etc.; no more configuring the servers on your own. Mail also includes technology that recognizes things like places, times, and the like and let's you add it to your iCal seamlessly. iCal also gets improvements, making it much more robust. The days of iCal day, July 17, are over. Since its inception, iCal's icon has always shown the date as July 17 when it was closed. Now it shows today's date. Not an innovation, by any means, but still nice.

The airport menu sports some new changes, and networking in general has been cleaned up. Instead of the confusing Internet Connect application doing some work, and the Network system preferences pane doing some of it, it's all consolidated into system preferences. Airport now shows more information such as encryption of various available access points at immediate glance.

Another new feature is "Stacks," an interface that gives you a quick look at a folder on the Dock. It works nicely

as long as the folder is small, but once you get a number of items in a folder, it's much easier to view it in the Finder. Unfortunately, there's no option to automatically view items in the finder instead of just in the stack. The Dock also gets some icon changes and now instead of clear, concise icons that are easy to read, you have the icon of the first file in whatever folders are on your dock. I found this to be a step back in usability, but I eventually got used to it.

Speaking of Finder, the Finder also got some new looks. Still no tabs, which is depressing, but it now has an

interface similar to iTunes. It lets you flip through a folder similar to album cover view in iTunes, and displays a Quick Look preview. Quick Look previews PDFs, word documents, images, videos, etc. to let you have a glance inside before opening it. Oddly enough, it does not preview text only files, which is annoying since I save many short items as text only, and

it seems that text only would be easy enough to preview.

Under the hood, much has changed in Leopard. It is now UNIX certified, which will make developing for the Mac and UNIX platforms easier. It is also 64-bit entirely now, which gave me a performance boost since I'm running the Core 2 Duo processor, which is 64 bit. Further, a new API, Core Animation, has been added which allows making some of the neat animations available in some of Apple's applications more accessible to programmers whose specialty is not animation. Since this isn't a technology blog, I won't go into the many changes that have happened in the developer technologies. If you're interested, Ars Technica has a very in depth review.

There are lots of other smaller changes that I won't go in to, but for the most part, I am very pleased with the upgrade. I would recommend this to any Mac user, and if you're a PC user, Leopard could definitely be a reason to look at a Mac.

Ministry Inquiry Process

2007-10-31T06:44:00.000-07:00

I completed the Ministry Inquiry Process on Sunday. I have prepared a letter to go to my DS, candidacy registrar, etc. and I will soon have the honor and privilege of mailing my $50 check (UPDATE: it is now $75. Cancel my dinner plans for tonight. Sorry, Kristen.) to the GBHEM.

Anyway, I think the MIP was fairly useful to me, but it also seemed to be more geared toward second career pastors. It also, interestingly enough, hardly mentioned licensed local pastors. Although I feel that I'm being called to the ministry of ordained elder, it was interesting that in the final chapter it talks of the ministry of the laity, mostly assuming that that ministry would keep you in your current vocation, it talks of the ordained elder, and of the ordained deacon. But for some second career pastors, the ministry of the licensed local pastor as a full time vocation might be a very valid way for them to live out their call. I hope that in the 2008 revision they can at least mention licensing in a place other than the flow chart for candidacy.

In any case, with the Christian as Minister, the Ministry Inquiry Process, the candidacy guidebook, interviews, ordination paperwork, etc., it is clear that the denomination wants to make sure that its ordained ministers have gone through serious discernment before they are ordained. Although it is a somewhat grueling process, it also means that being an ordained elder in the United Methodist Church has a meaning. Now, if only we as a denomination can continue to do work that will ensure that pastors remain effective. Even if a pastor had the gifts and graces for ministry when he or she was ordained, pastors can become ineffective if we don't do work to help them to maintain their gifts and to make them accountable. This is described as part of the purpose of an Order in the Discipline, but to me it seems that it can be ineffective.

The Judicial Council made a ruling this past week about a Memphis Annual Conference policy on clergy effectiveness. Although I couldn't locate the policy itself, the ruling is very clear that Annual Conferences cannot simply dismiss a pastor because he or she is deemed ineffective. The ruling specifically states that, "The twelve month whirlwind process for dealing with a clergyperson’s ineffectiveness and the number of times the clergyperson is offered the opportunity to exit suggests that the primary purpose of the policy is to weed out ineffective clergy rather than developing the skills and abilities which would enable them to become effective." Those who have been ordained or have spent the time to become licensed deserve respect and care, even if they seem to be ineffective. We as a denomination need to uphold their calling and use their gifts, while at the same time maintaining standards for our clergy after their ordination. Ineffective clergy is a problem, but dismissing all supposedly ineffective clergy is not the solution.

CSI on iTunes

2007-10-25T08:05:00.000-07:00

So I was watching CSI that I downloaded from iTunes. Although I'm often annoyed by the extreme jumps they make with the science on CSI (zoom in on his eye... there's a reflection! Enhance! Now we have a perfect picture of the perpetrator, even though we only had a single pixel to work with. Now let's do a DNA test that will only take ten minutes!), it still often has an interesting enough plot that makes it worth it to watch. Anyway, I noticed something strange flash on my screen. I went backward and paused it at the point and discovered this:

Blackmagic Design makes various video editing systems, and it seems that the conversion from broadcast video to the feed sent to iTunes had a bit of a glitch.

Tech Week

2007-10-04T10:37:00.000-07:00

I am about to enter Tech Week, also known as Hell Week. For you non-theatre types, this is the week before an opening of the show where all technical elements of the show come together, or more likely: fail miserably to work properly. I'm stage managing this show, and part of my job description is to give up all sleep, social life, schoolwork, or anything else that does not involve spending time in the theatre. As a result, blogging will probably be light until after this show opens (October 12).

Death of a Language

2007-10-01T05:06:00.000-07:00

I came across this article via digg. It discusses how many languages across the world are dying. As we become a more global society, the diversity of the more than 7000 languages that exist today is being lost. The problem of the Tower of Babel is slowly becoming null. When a language dies, we lose a huge part of a culture. We lose a big part of our past. The United States forced many Native American tribes to learn English and as a result much of Native American culture was lost as the language died. We cannot get it back. Some languages have been preserved in writing, but many of the dying languages are only spoken and the knowledge that was contained within that language will never be able to be retrieved.

This got me thinking about the English language. With globalization and changes in conversational English, English is evolving rapidly. Reading Elizabethan English is hard for many because colloquial modern English sounds nothing like the poetic beauty of Shakespeare. Reading the English of Chaucer requires a translation for many. The rules of grammar have changed and continue to change. I still shudder when I see blatant grammatical errors on signs, billboards, even official documentation. Yet, I wonder if what I see as a grammatical error today will evolve to be accepted some time in the future. For example, the use of the subjunctive mood in English is all but dead. Yet it was commonplace not long ago. Now, the only vestige still in use "If I were..." is slowly becoming defunct to "If I was...". Do we try to preserve rigid rules of grammar, or do we let language evolve. We are close to the point of English becoming spoken more by second language speakers than it is spoken natively. As the richness of other languages becomes part of ours, do we stop it and try to preserve our own language? Or do we let English evolve as a living language into something completely new? Only time will tell.

Clive Wearing's Enduring Love

2007-09-26T11:55:00.000-07:00

I read a bit about Clive Wearing in my cognitive science class. He's a man who suffered a severe case of amnesia following his contraction of encephalitis. He cannot remember anything that happened more than a few minutes ago, and remembers very little of his life before the virus. However, his love for his wife never seemed to falter. Even though he could not recall his wedding or his children's(from another marriage) name, he continued to greet his wife with love and affection.

Deborah Wearing tenderly embraces her husband while he whispers sweet nothings. 'You're beautiful,' he tells his wife. 'Absolutely gorgeous. I adore every thing about you. I could kiss you all day.' Despite the chill January afternoon, the muddy garden, he twirls her around as though they're at a tea dance. They make an elegant pair, one of those couples that naturally seem to fit together. He serenades her in a velvety singing voice and she laughs, delighted.

Clive Wearing couldn't remember the times he had spent with her, but he still loved her. We as children of God are sometimes like that, too. We've been blessed with God's prevenient grace: even before we were aware of it, he has blessed us and filled us with his love. Even though we aren't always consciously aware of God's presence in our lives, his love still surrounds us and eventually we become aware of his love and respond to it.

Often, though, even if we recognize God's love, we can get so caught up in life that we forget to recognize it. Between the show I'm stage managing and schoolwork, I sometimes get so busy that I forget to recognize and thank God for his blessings. But I know that God continually pours out his blessings and love even when I'm unaware of it. When I finally stop letting life get in the way of my relationship with God, I am continually amazed at how God works in my life even without my being aware of it. Thanks be to God.

Greebles and the Fusiform Face Area

2007-09-24T10:37:00.000-07:00

I am a psychology major, and one of the things that I have studied in my classes is the Fusiform Face Area, a specialized structure of the visual system that helps in our specialized recognition of faces. We reviewed the Greebles study by Isabel Gauthier, which showed some evidence that the fusiform face area might not be specialized only for faces, but rather is more generic. Because of how critical social interaction is to our development, it becomes more specialized at facial recognition. The Greebles study, in short, trained randomly selected subjects to recognize these strange shapes called Greebles (also pictured above), which were various shapes that no one would be familiar with. After several days of intensive Greeble training, the subjects were noted by fMRIs to be using their Fusiform Face Area to distinguish Greebles.

This made me wonder whether it could be used by other senses, such as hearing, to differentiate between specific sounds. I've done a great deal of work in sound reproduction, and some people with very well trained ears ("Golden Ears" as it's called), can differentiate between very minute changes in volume or pitch, such as a slight increase of merely 1/4 dB at a specific frequency. It's unlikely that their ears have become more sensitive than anyone else's, but rather that they have honed their perceptual senses to better differentiate subtle changes. Perhaps they employ the Fusiform Face Area for such subtle recognitions. There is some research [1] that shows at least some overlap between the visual and audible senses in facial recognition. In short, this paper reviews research that suggests that the voice of someone else can activate facial recognition in the FFA. It may be that the FFA develops originally as a generic recognition system, but develops quickly to be able to easily distinguish faces.

Of course, none of this has been peer reviewed or experimentally tested. In fact, it is the unbacked up ramblings of someone who has taken 3 psychology courses.

The Secret Life of Philanthropist Chuck Feeney

2007-09-20T07:01:00.000-07:00

I read this article today about a billionaire philanthropist who continues to give away most of his billions of dollars while living a frugal life. He flies coach and wears a $15 watch, although it's estimated that he was worth as much as $4 billion dollars before giving a great deal of his fortune away. The most interesting part of this is that he gave away much of it in secret: he didn't write off the donations on his taxes to avoid mandatory disclosure, and he gave all of his donations in anonymous cashier's checks.

Conference Mergers

2007-09-19T18:52:00.000-07:00

My conference, the North Central New York annual conference, is currently in talks with 3 other conferences about the prospect of merging. With all four conferences losing membership, and the entire denomination in decline, it is suspected that the Northeastern Jurisdiction will lose 1, possibly 2 episcopal areas. Although nothing has been finalized yet, the four conferences are meeting in adjourned session in October (unfortunately I can't go, because I will be in the midst of Tech Week for the play I am doing). They will be meeting in separate venues, but teleconferencing together at various points. There is a resolution on the table regarding the merger.

I write because there's a lot of opposition to merging (at least from what I've seen). Some of the arguments are financial, which I have a tough time buying. It's estimated that it costs approximately $1,000,000 every quadrennium for the cost of a bishop [1]. Some have argued that the merger of the four offices will require even more staff, which I think is questionable. We could reduce the four Directors of Connectional Ministries into 1 position, for example. Yes, this will lead to reduced individual and church contact, but the reality of declining numbers is that cuts have to be made. It is sad to have to reduce ministries, but to maintain a sustainable system where local churches can afford to pay their apportionments without having to continue to reduce local church ministries, the denominational structures have to be cut back.

This year at Annual Conference, the comments made by the finance chair made me somewhat upset. He came down on churches that did not pay their apportionments in full (in a very unchristlike manner, in my opinion). My church paid its apportionments in full for several years, but only paid about half of them last year. With the apportionments increasing year after year, there was no way to sustain the increased levels that we were being asked to pay. Reducing 4 conferences into one, with a single bishop, which would save $250,000/yr in the episcopal fund alone, could go a long way to helping apportionments to be a manageable bill for local churches. Reducing the overhead of four separate conference offices would also have cost savings. Although there are some areas where cost increases would be inevitable, I think with appropriate management, costs can be reduced, and with episcopal leadership focused on one conference, perhaps the continuing decline of all of these conferences could be reduced, or even reversed. I know that God will be able to work through this merger to continue to make disciples in this area.

God only knows where the future will lead these conferences, but I think that this conferences will need to make changes if a merger doesn't happen in order to make the finances sustainable without forcing local congregation to sacrifice their ministries. Hopefully merger discussions can continue in a christlike manner, but I think a hot button issue like this will lead to tempers flaring and some less-than-holy conferencing. It will be an interesting several years, to say the least.

College Admissions and Test Scores

2007-09-19T17:13:00.000-07:00

This article in the Ithaca Journal caught my eye today, initial because it concerned my school. It discusses how Binghamton University received the most SAT scores of any school in New York State. But I read on: what interested me most was how it talked about the schools that weren't requiring SAT scores for admission. SAT has long been one of the standard benchmarks for college admissions. It is standardized, which can be useful for making sure it is a level playing field, because GPAs and class rankings can mean something completely different depending on the school. However, it can also reduce the college admission process to performance on a 4 hour test on a Saturday morning. The test has come under a lot of criticism lately for its methods, and as a result it was completely redesigned a few years ago. My high school graduating class, the class of 2007, was the first class required to take the redesigned test, which eliminated analogies, changed the methodology of the mathematics section, and added a writing section which included an essay. It also included a price hike to $43. (On a tangent, for a non-profit organization, the College Board does quite well for itself. For example, to call and get scores by phone, where one only navigates a computerized phone tree, they charge $8.)

It also penalizes those who do not handle tests well. Although I did fine on my SATs, I know several people whose performance was affected by fear of the test alone. For these and other reasons, some schools have dropped the SAT as a requirement, instead focusing on high school transcripts, extracurricular and volunteer activities, and admissions essays.

Thomas DaRin, an admissions official from Nazareth College, which no longer requires SATs, responded this way:

We felt in some ways it was a barrier toward diversifying our applicant pool. By doing it this year we found that that was the case. We had more students from lower socioeconomic groups apply for admission and subsequently enroll.

92% of college-bound students take the SAT. But who knows what kind of potential that 8% of students hold. I imagine that removing the barrier of having to take a test that costs money, (even with certain fee waivers given, it still costs some) would make college more accessible to the economic groups who are already less likely to attend college. It also, however, makes admissions a much more subjective matter. Although its effectiveness is arguable, the SAT is a standard: a 2100 means the same regardless of where one attended. It then means that there might not be an even playing field depending on what high school you attended.

What is a good solution to making admissions fair and equitable for people from all kinds of schools? Ranking the schools and adjusting GPAs and rankings accordingly is unfair to students whose only option is poorly performing schools. Yet, leaving them on an even keel can be unfair to the student in a prestigious school who had to put forth immense effort to maintain a 99.7 GPA. To compare him to a student in a poorly performing school who maintained the same GPA with much less effort is also problematic. I think admissions essays can be an excellent way to measure at least one standard, and to better understand who the applicant is through his or her writing, but it's not an end-all to the application process.

I could not do the job of an admissions professional who has to compare so many different things to find who is suitable for the rigors of higher education at a particular university. Some might argue that grades and test scores should not be the determining factor in admissions, but I have trouble buying into this. Although the extracurricular activities certainly should pay into it, doing poorly in high school is not likely to yield improvement in a college or university setting.

Colleges continue to refine their admissions process. I hope that they can admit people in a way that will expand diversity and give a chance to people who might have had less opportunities. It will be interesting to see how schools that don't use SAT scores measure the effectiveness of new admissions standards.

Rabbit Hole

2007-09-18T18:17:00.000-07:00

I'm currently stage managing a show at Binghamton University, Rabbit Hole. It explores one family's battle to deal with the grief of the loss of their 4-year old son, Danny. We probe to various degrees the character of the boy's mother (Becca) and father (Howie), his aunt (Becca's sister, Izzy who is pregnant with her boyfriend's child and sporadically employed), Becca's grandmother, Nat (who lost her son, Arthur, years ago to a heroin-induced suicide), and briefly the 17-year-old boy, Jason, who unintentionally hit and killed Danny with his car while trying to avoid Danny's dog, Taz.

We explore the now strained marriage of Howie and Becca, 8 months after the tragedy. Their marriage is strained partially by their different ways of handling the grief. Howie tries to remember Danny by doing things like keeping Danny's toys, keeping Danny's room decorated the same as it was, watching videos of Danny, and the like. He also goes to a support group.

Becca is somewhat haunted by the constant reminders of Danny and, in Howie's eyes, tries to eliminate him. However, she reminds him that she could never forget Danny or his memory, and being surrounded by Danny's presence makes the memories all the more painful.

Nat tries to be helpful in her daughter's loss, but she often compounds problems. Her daughter is frustrated by her comparisons to Arthur, and by her attempts to affect the way Becca grieves.

Izzy causes problems and frustrations with her family. Her pregnancy causes both strain and joys, and she is often between her sister and her mother with their frequent arguments. The loss of her nephew seems to have compounded some of her already complicated personal problems, yet she decides to keep this unexpected child, likely because she sees her sister's loss and does not want to give up the chance to raise a child.

This play has really made me think about how each of deals with grief differently. Becca has lost her belief in God, and refuses to go the support group because they are "a room full of God freaks." She is upset by comments like "at least he's in a better place" and "God needed another angel." Yet, she is also jealous of the comfort they get from their God.

We need comfort in grief. We all get it from different places. Does it help to force or suggest other people grieve the way we do? Grief has a polarizing effect. For some people it will make them cry out to God and demand that he help us in our need. For others, it can lead to anger, frustration with, and denial of God. There are few who remain neutral about God when we suffer. How do we help people who don't know God to feel his comfort without causing them to turn further away from him? I think that in suffering, we must be there to provide love and care, but never to evangelize. God can work through us and help us to provide comfort to others. Even if they aren't consciously crying out to God, we need his comfort. Becca was jealous of others' comfort because I believe that in times of pain, we need God, even if we do not realize it.

I first truly met God in one of the most difficult times of my young life, and even as a 13 year old, I knew that God was there for me to provide comfort in my sorrow. Although this time also challenged my faith in God, it was only because of this that I so fiercely believe in him as my redeemer and savior today.

I didn't expect to analyze the play I was stage managing; this is my first straight play... quite a different experience from a musical.

Back on Blogspot

2007-09-18T16:48:00.000-07:00

I'm a college student now, and with rising expenses, I had to cut the cost of my Typepad blog, and moved back to good ole blogspot. I'm intending to eventually migrate to wordpress on my personal server, but until then, this is my home.

2006-11-23T08:06:00.002-08:00

Moved to typepad:

http://wsanders.typepad.com

Unison Prayers and Corporate Response

2006-11-22T20:50:00.000-08:00

While at Exploration 2006, one of the more amusing parts was the Lord's Prayer during the Communion ritual. At the end, the participants were invited to recite the Lord's Prayer, as is customary during the ritual. They printed a more modernized version than the one that is usually said ("sins" instead of "trespasses"; "thine" and "thy" changed to your, etc.). However, when it got down to it, almost the entire room recited the traditional version, and by the time we got to the second "trespasses," I didn't hear a single voice reciting the one printed.

This brings up the question of whether we actually mean it when we pray corporately. When we use call and response liturgy, does anyone actually consider the words they are saying? Although I like traditional worship, I sometimes find myself mindlessly saying the liturgy, especially at Communion. The ritual has become rote for me, regardless of how powerful the ritual can be. When I hear a congregation "proclaiming the mystery of faith" that "Christ has died, Christ has risen, Christ will come again" in the most depressing, droning, monotonous voices, I can't help but question how much impact Communion will have on the people participating. If we can't be excited about the very essence of Christianity, there's not much of a point to the rituals.

But then again, the rituals can be moving if we actually reflect as we go through it. We can either mindlessly read the unison prayer, or say the Lord's Prayer without a second thought or we can contemplate the meaning and try to understand what on earth trespasses are and why they need to be forgiven. If we let traditional worship become rote, then we forget why we're there, and we just "go through the motions" of worship. But if we reflect on the theological power of the liturgy we're reciting, then the Holy Spirit will move in us in unfathomable ways.

Exploration 2006

2006-11-21T12:29:00.000-08:00

I got back from Exploration 2006 in lovely Jacksonville, FL, yesterday. It was quite an interesting experience, and it was valuable for me in a lot of ways. It solidified my sense of calling to the ordained ministry. The United Methodist understanding of ministry is one of the things that really draws me to remain in this denomination.

However, my call to the ministry isn't the thing that will stick with me for the longest. During one of the worship services, we prayed this prayer, the Covenant Prayer in the Wesleyan Tradition.

I am no longer my own, but thine. Put me to what thou wilt, rank me with whom thou wilt. Put me to doing, put me to suffering. Let me be employed by thee or laid aside for thee, exalted for thee or brought low for thee. Let me be full, let me be empty. Let me have all things, let me have nothing. I freely and heartily yield all things to thy pleasure and disposal. And now, O glorious and blessed God, Thou art mine, and I am Thine. So be it. And the covenant which I have made on earth, let it be ratified in heaven. Amen.

This prayer really got me thinking about surrender to God, doing what He wants in order for Him to be glorified. Sometimes it means not doing anything, sometimes it means suffering and death, sometimes it means a bit of financial expenditure. Sometimes what we do makes no difference, it seems. Surrendering when it seems like doing so is bearing no fruit can be very frustrating. But ultimately, before we can completely claim God as ours and be totally intimate with Him, we must surrender to His will.

Several of the preachers this weekend hit on the point of letting God's plan work out, instead of making your own. God calls us to do many things, and a lot of times, it's very inconvenient to do them. Surrendering to God when it might mean ridicule, losing friends, or even physical torture is not an easy task. Most of us won't be called to martyrdom, but we'll all have to take up our cross in one form or another. I can't say I'll always willingly do so, but in our journey on to Christian Perfection, if we don't surrender to God, we will ultimately grow farther away from Him.

Introduction

2006-11-21T07:02:00.000-08:00

I'm a high school senior in the North Central New York Annual Conference of the UMC, and I'm very interested in church polity and Wesleyan theology. I'm currently going through the Ministry Inquiry Process and I'm intending to go on to seminary and ordination as an elder in the distant future. I'll blog mostly on issues in the church, theology, politics, and occasionally technology. I'm a proud Mac user, and an occasional programmer and server administrator.

Since last August (2005), I've been dating the very beautiful Kristen, a pre-med, psychobiology music student at Binghamton University. She's also a United Methodist and may occasionally post here.

I'm an employee at Jason's Grocery and Deli in Collegetown Ithaca, where my duties include everything from cleaning up hangover-related messes to database administration. You can learn more about my somewhat infamous employer, Jason, here.