The Institute (協会)

South Florida upsets No. 5 West Virginia--WHAT???

By FRED GOODALL

AP SPORTS WRITER

South Florida quarterback Matt Grothe (8) eludes a hit by West Virginia's Charles Pugh (15) during the second quarter of a college football game Friday night Sept. 28, 2007, in Tampa, Fla. Grothe eventually threw a touchdown pass on the play. (AP Photo/Steve Nesius)

TAMPA, Fla. -- No. 18 South Florida is not only basking in the national spotlight, the Bulls are thriving in it. Matt Grothe upstaged West Virginia stars Pat White and Steve Slaton for the second straight year, leading rapidly rising USF to a 21-13 victory over the mistake-prone, fifth-ranked Mountaineers on Friday night.

Fellas, what's up with this?

Here's my theory: football is siphoning-off the best althletes from potentially playing other sports (baseball, track, even basketball, etc.) so good athletes are scattered all over the place and the historically "known ranked schools" aren't the only ones with good athletes.

The Revolution Continues. . .

"We need to recover the grand, cosmic significance of Jesus' saving activity that moves the gospel out of the narrow realm of our self-preoccupation. One of the marvelous things about this gospel is that He has saved us so that we can be a part of His redeeming activity.

The gospel properly understood, is much broader than our concerns for personal survival, security, significance, success, or even self-centered sanctification. The gospel presents us with a Jesus, not meek and mild, but One come to set the world on fire. It presents us with a plunderer, and it bids us to throw ourselves away in the pursuit of this new world order."--Bob Heppe, Missionary

Wow. I'm trying to imaging what Christianity in America would look like if conservative evangelicals actually wanted to commit their lives to "destroying the devil's work" (1 John 3:8) wherever the devil's work is found? Maybe churches would have adult baptisms and social refuse like racism, materialism, and worshiping the idols of comfort and ease, etc., would dissipate. Maybe Christians would stop divorcing so much?

Being "a part of His redeeming activity?" Wow, does that mean that Christians wouldn't mind living in trailer parks, on purpose? Maybe lower income neighborhoods would even have Reformed churches where the parking lot is mostly pick-up trucks driven mostly by fathers and sons with fingernails semi-caked with grease and dirt under them. Wow. . .

Or, maybe Christians would love cities instead of trying to live as far away from them as possible. I understand. Who wants to live near "sinners?" Pathetic.

My bros, thoughts about Heppe's quote? OTHER THAN the fact that "you don't like it because he didn't say 'X'".

And So It Begins: The Myanmar (Burma) Oppression Of People Who Desire Freedom From Tyranny

(Buddhist nuns pray as they join monks and their supporters in a protest in Yangon Sunday).

Story Updates:

# Police fire shots, tear gas as 300 monks and activists arrested in Yangon
# 5,000 monks and 5,000 students, NLD party members march on Wednesday
# Comedian Zarganar is first well-known activist rounded up after curfew
# Military imposes nighttime curfew and bans gatherings of over five people

Read the story here.

Fellas, I so wish I could go over there to protest. Myanmar needs to hear from the Church. Thoughts?

Peter Gluck's Socially Conscious Design

(Wow, natural light!! What a perfect environment to learn in!!)

Fellas, Gluck's got some amazing work that you can find here (scroll down-right for the pictures, click one and an enlarged photo album pops up). This brother's edgy and outspoken. Great article.

From Metropolis Magazine:

Peter Gluck has a problem with the AIA [American Institute of Architects]. He has a problem with architectural education too. Really he has a problem with the whole profession of architecture as it is currently practiced. Economic exploitation of youth. Big ideas in service of the highest bidder. Callow young CAD monkeys trained in archispeak. Designers who don’t know how to build. Engineers rescuing forms untethered from reality. He doesn’t seem like an angry person: he’s a sort of laid-back father figure with a gentle demeanor who appears to relish his work. But don’t get him started on the irresponsibility of architects and the way the profession is practiced. Or do get him started: you might learn something.

“I don’t belong to the AIA,” Gluck says during a BMW station-wagon tour of his recent New York projects, among them a campus for Bronx Prep, a charter school for 800 students in the South Bronx, and a center for the Little Sisters of the Assumption Family Health Service, a nonprofit that works with poor families and immigrants in East Harlem. “I think they’re the problem, not the solution. It’s a group of people who get together to promote themselves; they’re not interested in really looking at the profession and trying to see where its problems are.”

Read the rest of the article here.

Legalized Prostitution In Hungary

(You can get a receipt from a prostitute)

Fellas, this is so sad for so many reasons. There are men willing to dehumanize women in this way and there are women willing to dehumanize themselves. Sad.

From CNN:

BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) -- In an effort to bring prostitutes into the legal economy, officials said Monday that Hungary will allow sex workers to apply for an entrepreneur's permit -- a move that could generate government revenues from an industry worth an estimated $1 billion annually. art.prostitute.ap.jpg

New permits allow prostitutes to give receipts to customers and become part of the legal economy in Hungary.

Human rights groups often have criticized European Union member Hungary for legalizing prostitution -- which has been fully allowed under certain conditions since 1999. Opponents say legalization does not help prostitutes.

The permits allow prostitutes to give receipts to customers and become part of the legal economy by paying taxes and making social security contributions, said Agnes Foldi, head of the Hungarian Prostitutes' Interest Protection Association.

Hungary's sex industry -- including prostitution and the production of pornographic materials -- generates an estimated $1 billion annually, said Agnes Bakonyi, the spokeswoman of Hungary's tax authority APEH.

Fellas, men can stop this industry from existing. Hungarians need to hear from the Church.

Group of Black Kids Beat Up A 13-Year-Old White Kid--Caught On Tape (Norfolk, VA, last Saturday)

Sep 24, 2007 06:23 PM

The victim in this case is a 13 year-old white kid, Damien O'Rourke. The group who attacked him is made up of all African American teenagers. This occurred last Saturday.

Norfolk Police say they've identified three of the people seen beating a 13-year-old in a videotape shown to WAVY.com by the victim's mother.

According to a spokesperson, Investigators from the Gang Squad have identified 3 of the suspects, and are in the process of identifying the other individuals involved.

Get the story here. Fox News ran the story but the no one else picked it up. Hmmm. . .

Aight, fellas this is getting weird. It just looks racial even though the Norfolk area police say that it was not a racially motivated beating.

They say charges will be filed against all of those involved. They also say that the victim, Damien O'Rourke, knew at least one of the assailants. Police said investigators are also trying to determine what circumstances occurred leading up to the assault.

They also said that, contrary to some statements, the assault does not appear to be racially motivated according to information gathered by investigators that we are unable to release.

Get the story here.

The Nice, soft, tender, "chick-a-fied," church boy type leader won't reach this culture's men?

Driscoll explains why the soft-spoken, tender-dispositioned, chick-a-fied, church boy who loves to sing love ballads to Jesus, can't reach this culture's men and may not be the best kind'a guy to have as a church planter (or pastor).

BTW, there is a feature story about Driscoll posted Sept. 21 in Christianity Today.

This was a funny quote from the Youtube clip:

"60 percent of Christians are chicks and the other 40 percent of dudes are still chicks"

I often hear this: "How does Driscoll get away with saying stuff like that?"

Most evangelical churches, says Driscoll, appeal to 40-year-old women and their children. These churches provide nice, safe environs with soft music, for women to sing about dancing with Jesus and being cuddled in his loving arms.

You never sing a hymn like this by Issac Watts in feminized contexts, "Am I a Soldier of the Cross" (Hymn no. 573, Trinity Hymnal). Churches for women never sing music like this: the battle language is too icky. Here's a great line from the hymn: "Must I be carried to the skies on flowry beds of ease, while others fought to win the prize, and sailed through bloody seas?"

American evangelicalism chooses "flow'ry beds of ease" for men and boys. This is why most men in most churches are bored, practicing empty religion, with secret lives of sin, and are not fighting evil in their local neighborhood many would say.

Fellas, is Driscoll right? Thoughts?

Now, I'm not saying that Jesus is not a comforter, a refuge, a protector, etc. but Mark explains why his church grew by highlighting the other dimensions of Jesus that you rarely hear about.

Instead of innovatively fighting against evil (the Enemy's work in the world) many of feminized churches turn the cosmic battle onto the church and are hell-bent on making sure that other Christian's know that their theology is wrong, meanwhile Satan is destroying the creation. (And yes, we need to fight heresy, I know, save your comment, blah, blah).

Boston College Under-Ranked

This week's AP poll has Clemson at 13. Boston College is 12 but they may be the best under-rated team right now. They're a solid squad and should be ranked higher.

USC isn't in a competitive conference (like the SEC) so we have no idea how good they really are.

Fellas, thoughts on the polls this week (or the weekend's games)?

Later this week. . .

How sad it is for Christians near major cities to not love the city and then live as far away as possible from "city people" (too much Wendell Berry, I guess),

and how pathetic it is for churches to exist for their own self-preservation, survival, and isolation from "outsiders," and how sad it is to be a Christian and raise kids who have no passion for the poor and the oppressed because they never see their parents involved in such activities as a regular part of life (outside of thanksgiving, Christmas, the one-weekend inner city "missions trip," or the 10-day trip to poor country X) but the kids love soccer and know Bible stories.

Should Evangelical Black Prospective Seminary Students Only Attend Schools With Black Faculty--Yes, many would say

[L to R--Kevin Smith (History), Bruce Fields (Biblical Theology), Elliot Greene (New Testament)]

A about a week ago or so I wrote something over at the "Reformed Blacks Of America" site on the need for blacks with PhDs in biblical studies and theology.

I know it's strange, but there are still several evangelical Christian schools with no black or Latino full-time, main campus faculty members. There are many reasons for this, but among them is the fact that they're just aren't that many black evangelicals getting PhDs (because many blacks get herded into "urban" ministry "where they belong," I guess).

If you're black and are looking for solid evangelical (representing the evangelical spectrum) seminaries with black faculty in departments other than practical theology (not that there's anything wrong with that, but historically that (PT) has been considered the "safe place" to put minorities much like corporations who want to prove that they have black executives will put them as the VP of human resources but now COO or CEO) there are options for you.

At any rate, if you're a black evangelical I would strongly recommend the following so that you can navigate evangelicalism in theology and biblical studies with a professor on campus if (or when) needed:

(1) Trinity Evangelical Divinity School--Bruce Fields is there. Dr. Fields is one of the pioneers who has suffered the longest as "the black prof" on campus. He talks a little bit about how frustrating it's beenhere. I was recently at Trinity and the students I met absolutely raved about him. Great guy!

(2) Westminster Theological Seminary--Texas Campus--Elliot Greene
. This man exhales the Greek language. The most amazing Greek specialist I've ever met. Amazing.

(3) Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary--Craig Mitchell. Craig's a personal friend. He's an engineer-turned-theologian. Absolutely amazing philosophical/theological/ethical mind. Wow!

(4) Fuller Theological Seminary--Ralph Watkins. Of course, Fuller's so ahead of the game that they even have an African-American Studies program in addition to black faculty.

(5) Covenant Theological Seminary--there's some black guy but nothing too impressive. Steve McCoy sums up a common encounter with this guy: "The second speaker was Anthony Bradley. I didn't like it. Seemed like a good guy with something to say, but he didn't get it out."

(6) The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary--Kevin Smith. I haven't met this brother yet but he's teaching church history. You fellas at Southern Seminary are blessed. I'm sure Professor Smith brings some good and different perspectives to the story telling. As a Hampton University grad, Smith's deeply grounded in the black church and the black community; and appears to still be able to do so which is very easy to do in the SBC--regardless of what southeastern city you're in. I'm looking forward to meeting him some day. Also here is T. Vaughn Walker (Black Church Studies).

My home (Atlanta) community/folks would strongly discourage any black student from attending a school that didn't have any black faculty as late as 2007. I wouldn't go that far. However, some would say if there are no blacks or Latinos on the full-time, main campus faculty of Christian educational institution you would justified to ask some really piercing questions. Someone might put it this, "why go to a school with all whites and deal with all that comes with that when you don't have too?"

If any of you are black students at other schools and want to transfer to a school with black faculty so that you can work through issues of contextualization for ministry within black communities drop me a line and we can get things rolling.

If you're a black evangelical you have, in the list above, a good list of at least one huge reason to help you decide which institutions with whom you would have success and a black prof to vent and process being the only black guy in class.

If I were looking at seminaries I'd probably confine it to the list above which would free me to make decisions based on theological perspective as well. Also, many of those profs are connected to local black churches that could help you find a place to do ministry while you're in school as well.

I suspect that America's future black evangelical theologians, teaching full-time on main campuses, will likely come from the schools above exclusively because of the progress they have shown in the hiring thus far. It's just a matter of time.

It is kind'a odd that you can put all of the black evangelical theologians in America in one passenger van.

If only evangelicals did what the mainline schools did in the 1960s: namely, roll out the red carpet for black students. Black professors at mainline seminaries is a process now on it's 2nd round.

Fellas, if I missed other non-Practical theology black theologians at an evangelical seminary, let me know!!

Tuscaloosa, Jena 6: Why Evangelicals Continue to have ZERO credibility on the issues of race

(Al Sharpton on the right)

We are perhaps in the midst of the greatest race/civil-rights clash of the decade and what are we hearing from "evangelical leaders": crickets.

(1) Tuscaloosa, Alabama is in the midst of a massive white resegregation (rezoning of blacks) battle and when I survey the news for evangelicals in the area to offer some leadership there's nothing. This story is international. This may be a Supreme Court case.

(2) Jena, Louisiana--there are THOUSANDS of blacks protesting about the 6 boys accused of attempted murder because they beat up a white kid.

So far, the traditional black church is super involved. Evangelicals? There are talks that this will launch this century's "civil-rights" movement. I've been searching web-sites to see what white evangelical leaders are saying and telling their congregations and what have I heard so far: crickets. This reminds us of the 1950s and 1960s when evangelicals provided no leadership during the real civil-rights movement.

Many African Americans charted buses to go down and protest.

Crickets. Too bad the Jena 6 debate isn't about abortion or N.T. Wright some would say.

This is an opportune time for evangelicalism to broaden its reach. I personally believe that both of these conflicts should be mediated, in the social dimensions and tensions, by the church.

There is no better institution to mediate the social ramifications of these issues for their local neighborhoods than the church. The church speaks truth to culture and points it to redemption, restoration, and reconciliation.

Crickets.

I seriously doubt that most (if any) of you all (unless you were in a black church) even prayed about these issues on Sunday. But that's probably true for Darfur and Burma as well.

Crickets.

At least one black evangelical is saying something. Rev. Lance Lewis offers some perspective. Whew.

BTW, Sunday at 11:00am is NOT the most segregated hour in America. This is kind'a silly if you think about it sociologically. The most racially segregated hours in America are everyday between 3:00pm and 7:00am, when everyone retreats back to their racially segregated shires--marriages, families, neighborhoods, etc. Sunday at 11:00am is only a reflection of how people live life Monday through Saturday. Don't believe the Sunday 11:00am myth.

Maybe this is why Jena 6 is "out-of-sight-out-of-mind." I dunno?

Obama "Acting White" Says Jackson

Sorry, guys, I was gonna wait but I couldn't resist this one.

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The Rev. Jesse Jackson criticized Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama on Tuesday over his reaction to the arrest of six black juveniles in Jena, Louisiana, on murder charges, accusing the Illinois senator of "acting like he's white," according to a South Carolina newspaper. art.jesse.jena.ap.jpg

The Rev. Jesse Jackson speaks to the press Tuesday in Jena, Louisiana.

The comments reportedly came during a speech at Benedict College, a historically black college in Columbia, South Carolina.

The newspaper reports Jackson later said he did not recall saying Obama is "acting like he's white," but continued to condemn the Illinois Democrat as well as the other presidential candidates for not bringing more attention to this issue.

Read the rest here.

This reminds me of the fact that lots of black folks don't consider Obama to be "black" (one of us).

Jena 6--Discuss or no?

Hey, fellas, you guys wanna talk about the Jena 6 case or something else? I could post a little blurb about it.

Alabama's Going Back To It's Segregationists Roots??

The New York Times reports about a plan in Alabama to resegregate a school district.

Do you think Birmingham Christians in the area have different perspectives on this than those non-Christian whites who simply don't won't low-income black kids around their kids? What if their daughters date black guys (that would be tragic)?

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — After white parents in this racially mixed city complained about school overcrowding, school authorities set out to draw up a sweeping rezoning plan. The results: all but a handful of the hundreds of students required to move this fall were black — and many were sent to virtually all-black, low-performing schools.

Kendra Williams and other black parents argue that the plan violates federal law.

Black parents have been battling the rezoning for weeks, calling it resegregation. And in a new twist for an integration fight, they are wielding an unusual weapon: the federal No Child Left Behind law, which gives students in schools deemed failing the right to move to better ones.

“We’re talking about moving children from good schools into low-performing ones, and that’s illegal,” said Kendra Williams, a hospital receptionist, whose two children were rezoned. “And it’s all about race. It’s as clear as daylight.”

Tuscaloosa, where George Wallace once stood defiantly in the schoolhouse door to keep blacks out of the University of Alabama, also has had a volatile history in its public schools. Three decades of federal desegregation marked by busing and white flight ended in 2000. Though the city is 54 percent white, its school system is 75 percent black.

The schools superintendent and board president, both white, said in an interview that the rezoning, which redrew boundaries of school attendance zones, was a color-blind effort to reorganize the 10,000-student district around community schools and relieve overcrowding. By optimizing use of the city’s 19 school buildings, the district saved taxpayers millions, officials said. They also acknowledged another goal: to draw more whites back into Tuscaloosa’s schools by making them attractive to parents of 1,500 children attending private academies founded after court-ordered desegregation began.

Some questions:

(1) What about the bad schools that are left behind?

(2) Why do black and Hispanic kids need to be around whites in order to get a good education?

(3) Why are middle-class whites, it seems, so against having low-income blacks (or low-income whites, for that matter) in school with their kids?

(4) Are there any churches that will serve to mediate this conflict? My guess is that conservative evangelicals in Birmingham are going to remain silent on this issue. Why?

By the way, fellas, this story is huge. I saw it on a French news website today.

Fellas, thoughts?

Judge Confesses To Consulting Elves Fights To Get Job Back

(Snap, Crackle, Pop)

Gentlemen, this is a true story (from the Wall Street Journal)

MANILA, Philippines -- As a trial-court judge, Florentino V. Floro Jr. acknowledged that he regularly sought the counsel of three elves only he could see. The Supreme Court deemed him unfit to serve and fired him last year.

Case closed? Not in the Philippines, where vampires are said to prey on unwary travelers and wealthy politicians consult fortune tellers and card readers. Mr. Floro, 54 years old, has become a media celebrity. He is now wielding his new clout to campaign for the return of his job -- and exact vengeance on the Supreme Court.

Helping him, he says, are his three invisible companions. "Angel" is the neutral force, he says. "Armand" is a benign influence. "Luis," whom Mr. Floro describes as the "king of kings," is an avenger.

Aight, homies, elves. Fellas, elves???? Wow.

Three elves. What else is there to say? This guy may have some problems or maybe he really believes it. I dunno.

Study: Men Wash Hands Less After Using Bathroom

The Associated Press Reports on a new study:

One-third of men didn't bother to wash after using the bathroom, compared with 12 percent of women, said the researchers who spy on people in public restrooms. They reported their latest findings Monday at a meeting of infectious disease scientists.

Two years ago, the last time the survey was done, only one-quarter of men didn't wash, compared with 10 percent of women.

"Guys need to step up to the sink," said Brian Sansoni, spokesman for the Soap and Detergent Association, which co-sponsors the survey and related education campaigns.

Fellas, I got one word for this dumb study: "daaahhh!!"

OJ, How Will He Get Out Of This One

LAS VEGAS, Nevada (CNN) -- A judge will decide Wednesday if bail will be granted to O.J. Simpson, who faces numerous charges -- and potentially decades in prison -- for what police said is his role in a sports memorabilia heist.

Judge Ann Zimmerman was reviewing the paperwork in Simpson's arrest and will determine if there is probable cause to detain him, said Judge Nancy Oesterle, who is briefing media but will not oversee the case.

The Hall of Fame running back was arrested Sunday in Las Vegas, Nevada, on robbery, assault, burglary and conspiracy charges, according to police.

A judge must see the arrested person within 72 hours, either in the courtroom or by video, and Zimmerman does all her arraignments in person, Oesterle said.

Las Vegas Justice Court Chief Judge Douglas Smith put a "no-bail hold" on Simpson, meaning bail is not an option for him before Zimmerman makes her decision.

OJ, come on, dude. Are you kidding me? This guy's got some issues.

Fellas, is he going to jail this time?

See Y'all Next Tuesday

I'm speaking at a conference and can't blog again till Tuesday.

Please follow the West Virginia story for me. Put any updates in the comment section. I'm afraid that since this woman was not being used for dog fighting there may not be as much moral outrage as we saw in the Vick case.

6 Whites Allegedly Torture Black Woman In West Virginia For One Week

(Danny Combs and Alisha Burton were charged in the West Virginia case. They are two of the six. Bottom, Megan Williams, the victim)

(CNN) --

Six West Virginians charged with kidnapping, torturing and sexually assaulting a woman for at least a week may also face hate crime charges, Logan County Sheriff's officials said Tuesday.

The victim, 20-year-old Megan Williams, is black; those charged are white.

CNN does not normally identify the victim in sexual assault cases, but in this case, Williams' family said they want the public to know what happened.

The suspects include a mother and son, a mother and daughter, and two men.

According to criminal complaints filed in the county, Williams was sexually assaulted, stabbed in the left leg, choked and beaten.

The victim said one of the suspects cut her ankle with a knife while saying, "That's what we do to [racial slur] around here," police records show.

She also allegedly was forced to eat rat and dog feces, lick up blood and drink from the toilet. The criminal complaints say the suspects threatened to kill the victim if she left the house where she was being held.

"Deputies found her with two black eyes, part of her hair had been pulled out, she had lacerations on her neck and she had been physically, mentally and sexually abused," said Sheriff W.E. Hunter.

Fellas, I don't even know what to say.

I haven't called my African American posse in Atlanta but I already know what they're thinking: (1) "whites will never change in their hatred of blacks", (2) "This is why, under no circumstances, anyone black should ever, ever trust a white person."

I already know this is will be the buzz, 'cause I've heard it before when stuff like this happens.

Get a new update on the story here.

Fellas, thoughts?

Update:

One of the six suspects arrested in the case, Bobby Brewster, had a previous relationship with the victim, Logan County Prosecutor Brian Abraham told The Associated Press. He said Brewster had been charged in July with domestic battery and assault after a domestic dispute involving the same woman.

The mobile where the alleged events occurred.

Sports Does Not Build Character

I argue here that if you're one of those people who actually believe that sports build character, professional athletes are making you look pretty dumb. Sports does not build character without virtuous adults.

Obviously, Sports Do Not Build Character

By Anthony B. Bradley
Christian Post Contributor
Wed, Sep. 05 2007 03:04 PM ET

If you are one of those people who believe the old adage “sports builds character,” you have some explaining to do.

Why are so many professional athletes, who have spent their entire lives in organized sports, masters at cheating, serial adultery, drunkenness, compulsive gambling, drug abuse, and thuggish fighting (to name just a few of the vices)? The truth is that sports no more builds character than attending Clemson University football games qualifies you to replace Tommy Bowden as head coach.

By character I mean moral excellence: a life characterized by prudence, fortitude, self-discipline, and humility in pursuit of what is good.

University of Colorado sociologist Dr. Jay Coakley, in his book Sports in Society, explains that we mistakenly believe that sports builds character for two reasons. First, we wrongly assume that all athletes have the same experiences in all organized sports. Secondly, we wrongly assume organized sports provide unique learning experiences that are not available from any other activities.

Read the rest at Christianpost.com.

Fellas, thoughts?

Boston Beatdown--Angry White Kids, Hardcore Punks Beat Up Preppy and Emo Softies

Rolling Stone Magazine recently ran a story (listen to the journalist interview) about really, really angry working class white kids in the Boston area in the "hardcore" punk rock scene (August 23rd issue). Boston has one of the highest suicide rates among young white males from communities like these. Cornell West referred to it as an epidemic.

Boston Beatdown is a glimpse into one of the worlds that evangelicals seem to comfortably ignore: poor and working-class urban whites. These white kids are angry and regularly beat up white kids from the suburbs and they especially hate emo kids (which, by the way, is EXTREMELY popular in Christian youth groups these days. It's pathetically feminized for boys).

I am not asking you to embrace the hardcore culture nor am I asking that you accept it. But, for so many kids, hardcore is something for them to hold onto – it is something to help them get through the rough patches of their lives. And you may not understand it, you may not like it, and you may not agree with it, but those reasons are not enough to condemn it.--Ronin Morris, Boston Beatdown

There must not be any churches in these neighborhoods that can reach them for some reason. I wonder why that is?

They also love to beat up white, preppy, frat boy college kids as they come out of bars and clubs. They also fight each other a lot.

This is current violent class warfare within the white community. This Boston hardcore scene is slowly spreading nationwide. There are some white kids I know in the youth group I help out with in the wealthy suburbs of St. Louis who are sold on this stuff. I first ran into this stuff when I stumbled into the hardcore punk scene during my years in Philadelphia. I saw some crazy stuff at shows.

Here's a trailer for the documentary on this scene from Boston Beatdown. The music may contain some bad language.

Remember: most of these guys are "straight edge," meaning they do not abuse drugs or alcohol so you can't blame it on that.

Why don't we hear of "ministries" or churches directed at reaching hardcore punks? Lots of ministries for urban gangs of brown people. I totally understand why kids of working class whites are full of resentment and anger. They're not dark enough for Christians or the government to pay attention to them and everybody else just considers them "white trash."

Well, guess what? They're letting us all know what's up. The new enemy is the weak looking, preppy white kid who grew up in the suburbs. If he's around hardcore punk kids in a major city he's probably going to get his butt kicked.

What's different about this scene from other gang scenes is that they don't seem to be murdering people--only beating the tar out of people. So they're not quite like the Italian or Irish gangs of old (the mafia, that is).

(Below is more information about this growing scene. WARNING: these clips are directly from the hardcore punk community and contain very bad language as they express their anger against middle-class suburban white people)

Here's a clip of why these why these white kids are so angry and commit themselves to violence.

Here's a sad picture of the real violence.

Cano Estremera

The trombones, fellas, the trombones!!

Lloyd Carr: Michigan's Future Former Football Coach

Pictured below is Lloyd Carr. In a few months he will be known as "Michigan's former head football coach."

Should Carr resign?

Oregon 39, Michigan 7

Michigan fans, this may be a tough season for you.

The last time you guys were 0 and 2 was 1959.

Is The Word "Missional" Being Hi-Jacked By Some Traditionalists and the Contemporary/Seeker-Sensitive Contexts?

(the traditional/seeker/program-oriented/"ministries"-driven church that thinks it's missional)

The past few months as I have snooped around in "evangelical sermon world" I have noticed that more and more people are using the word "missional" since it's now cool and trendy. But you gotta wonder if, in fact, they even know what it means because there is nothing about their personal lives or their church that is actually missional. Mission is still interpreted internationally and/or in the form of special programs.

It seems that in some circles "missional" gets reduced to a new word for focusing on evangelism or in others is a new word for old-school, international missions.

Tim Keller gives probably the best start to thinking about what it means to be missional:

"adapting and reformulating absolutely everything [the church] does in worship, discipleship, community, and service--so as to be engaged with the non-Christian society around [it]."

Can you really be missional if your personal relationships are confined to the Christian shire? If your church has no non-Christians attending? If adult baptisms of the unchurched aren't a regular occurrence, if the church is not serving the needs of the local community, etc?

I was recently in the suburbs of a major US city and the pastor mentioned that their church wanted to have a missional presence in their community and I looked around and thought, "hmm, then why is this church so focused on growing the Christian sub-culture (ghetto)? How are people being directed at engaging in non-Christian society personally and structurally?

I'm beginning to think that we may have to come up with a new word to communicate the kinds of things that Keller is talking about.Thoughts, fellas?

Opera legend Pavarotti dies at 71

From the BBC: World renowned tenor Luciano Pavarotti has died at his home in the northern Italian city of Modena.The singer, who was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer last year, was 71.

Amazing voice.

He even did a duet with James Brown (see below).

Singing with James Brown?

D. James Kennedy Dies (1930-2007)

From WPBF:

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- A pioneering megachurch pastor and prominent Christian broadcaster has died in Fort Lauderdale.

The Rev. D. James Kennedy died early Wednesday morning at his home due to complications from cardiac arrest in December. The 76-year-old Kennedy had not been seen publicly since then; his retirement was announced on Aug. 26.

Kennedy took the Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church in Fort Lauderdale from a congregation of 45 in 1959 to a megachurch of nearly 10,000 members today.

Dad Arrested After Leaving Daughter In Parking Lot During His Brothel Visit

Fellas, you're not going to believe this story sent by Brad from FOX News:

PATRICK, Nev. — An Oregon rugby player remains in jail Tuesday after being arrested on charges he left his 2-year-old daughter in a vehicle in the parking lot of a Nevada brothel on a 95-degree day.

Lucien Hoffman, of Bend, Ore., is being held in the Storey County Detention Center in lieu of $40,000 bail on charges of child neglect.

Police arrested Hoffman early Sunday night at the World Famous Mustang Ranch brothel in Sparks, Nev., after a security guard found the child crying inside the car, according to Storey County Sheriff's Det./Sgt. Kenneth Quirk.

Hoffman, a wing for Bend Rugby who goes by the nicknames Luke and "Torpedo," had been attending a pool party and barbecue at the brothel, a co-sponsor of a Labor Day weekend rugby tournament in Reno organized by the Reno Zephyrs Rugby Club.

Fellas, I know of a few of you probably started cussing when you read that. Here's the rest of this pathetic story.

Here's what I don't understand: there are some really great guys I know that aren't able to have kids for various reasons but guys like this get to have kids and do this is kind of ridiculous @#$%! with them. This has always been a profound mystery to me.
Thoughts, gentlemen?

White Guys, 3 Nooses, A Fight, And Some Serious Jail Time For The Black Kids--What year is it?

(The tree students say the white kids hung the nooses from)

You remember the story: some white boys put up nooses in a tree at school to send a message to the black guys that wanted to sit under the tree. Some black kids (now called the "Jena 6") weeks later beat up a white kid after he allegedly spouted off some learned racial slurs. The black kids went to jail.

Well, the prosecutor recently reduced the charges for 2 of the 6 involved and it's stirred up things again.

Story Highlights from CNN:

# NEW: Prosecutor reduces charges to aggravated battery for 2 of Jena 6 Tuesday
# Attorneys to ask judge Tuesday to reconsider Mychal Bell's case, conviction
# Victim's mother: Charges warranted because attack could have killed her son
# Attack, other violence came after white students hung nooses from campus tree

In September 2006, as the school year kicked off, a black Jena High School student asked the vice principal if he and some friends could sit under an oak tree where the white students typically congregated.

Told by the vice principal they could sit wherever they pleased, the student and his pals plopped down under the sprawling branches of a shade tree in the campus courtyard. The next day, students arrived at school to find three nooses hanging from those branches.

"I seen them hanging. I'm thinking the KKK, you know, were hanging nooses. They want to hang somebody. Real nooses, the ones you see on TV, are the kind of nooses they were," Robert Bailey, 17 . . .

Racial tensions at the school soured and then a few weeks later:

Several students jumped a white classmate, Justin Barker, knocking him unconscious before stomping and kicking him. Parents of the Jena 6 say they heard Barker was hurling racial epithets. Barker's parents say he did nothing to provoke the beating.

Barker was taken to the hospital with injuries to both eyes and ears as well as cuts. His right eye had blood clots, said his mother, Kelli Barker. Justin Barker was treated and released that day.

Here's the rest of the story.

There are concerns that if the jury is all-white the black guys won't get a fair trail. Well, daahhh, of course he won't get a fair trial in that small town in Louisiana if the jury is all white. If it's all white he's toast some would say. But if the jury's all-black they'll get off "scott-free."

Thoughts, fellas?

Men Want Women That Are "Hot"

A new study reports that men want "hot" women.

Men's choices did not reflect their stated preferences, the researchers concluded. Instead, men appeared to base their decisions mostly on the women's physical attractiveness.

The men also appeared to be much less choosy. Men tended to select nearly every woman above a certain minimum attractiveness threshold, Todd said.

Wow!! They did a study on this?

Clemson Beats FSU, Barely, But I'll Take It!

(Clemson quarterback Cullen Harper (10) throws against Florida State during the fourth quarter of their football game Monday Sept. 3, 2007, at Memorial Stadium in Clemson, S.C. Harper was 14 of 24 for 160 yards and two touchdowns as Clemson defeated Florida State 24-18.
(AP Photo/John Byrum))

Clemson survives to beat FSU 24-18. ESPN has the game recap.

I'm sooooo glad we've got Cullen Harper. He's a real QB.

Here's what worries me: Clemson did not score in the second half.

Fellas, thoughts on the game?

App State 34, No. 5 Michigan 32--What??

Sucks to be a Michigan fan. Michigan looses at home. At home????

ANN ARBOR, Mich. (AP) -- What was supposed to be a tuneup turned into a stunner: Appalachian State 34, No. 5 Michigan 32.

Get the recap at ESPN.