My best friend and cousin, Chad, recently asked me if I would baptize him while our family is together this Christmas season.  Being asked to be a part of such an incredible chapter in his journey with Christ has been one of the greatest honors of my life.  Chad and I are going through some spiritual practices together as we both prepare for this sacred moment.  Perhaps my favorite of these has been to begin each day by saying the Apostle’s Creed.  It has become my pledge of allegiance and starting each day by audibly declaring the one in whom I put my trust and belief has been something I hope to continue for the rest of my life.

I believe in God, the Father almighty,
creator of heaven and earth.

I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord,
who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,
born of the Virgin Mary,
suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died, and was buried;
he descended to the dead.
On the third day he rose again;
he ascended into heaven,
he is seated at the right hand of the Father,
and he will come to judge the living and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy catholic Church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and the life everlasting.
Amen.

This morning I preached an Advent sermon about Joy.  I focused on the text in Luke 2:1-20, especially the angel’s annoucment that the Good News of Joy was for ALL PEOPLE.  I thought the story of Darth Vader was a great illsutration for this radical inclusion… to listen to the sermon click here.

When Kara’s family was out visiting us for Thanksgiving Kara and I went to Manhattan with her brother Nathanael and his wife Laura.  We spent a good deal of our time at the Museum of Modern Art.  It was packed with great exhibits, way too much to see in one day.  But we got a very special surprise while we were there.  The MoMA was having a huage Van Gogh exhibit - Van Gogh and the Colors of the Night.  We saw a ton of Van Gogh’s work and saw his growing facination with painting night time scenes.  My very favorite piece was the Starry Sky Over the Rhone.

Starry Sky Over the Rhone by Vincent Van Gogh

We also got to see Van Gogh’s Night Café for the second time in person.  Kara and I have a print of this piece in our house so I was glad to get to read a little bit of the back story for it.  In short it was inspired by a café that Van Gogh said brought out the absolute worst in people, the kind of place that would make you want to committ crimes.  Yikes!

The Night Café by Vincent Van Gogh

Another painting that I can’t get out of my mind is a very dark piece by Jasper Johns called Diver.

Diver by Jasper Johns

At first it just seems dark and macbre (which it is) but there’s much more going on.  This is the MoMA’s description…

The footprints at the top of Diver, the handprints at bottom and center, and the arrows, powerfully evoke the physical movement of a dive. But Diver also provides a metaphor for Johns’s artistic process: we are invited to immerse ourselves in the rich surface of his thoughts. A dive can be seen as a suspended moment between life and death (the two handprints can also be read as a skull)—and this work has been interpreted as, in part, an homage to the poet Hart Crane, who dived to his death from a ship in 1932.

I caught this on Hulu today and thought it was great.

For more insight into Advent Conspiracy listen to the podcast HERE.

This Christmas I’m joining a movement with Christianity called Advent Conspiracy.  Advent Conspiracy is a new way to engage the season of Advent and Christmas itself.  Rather than getting caught up in a consumer-driven mindset for Christmas that is fueled by captialism Christians all over the world are rethinking Christmas and the way we celebrate it.  We are choosing to honor the birth of Jesus by spending less money on gifts (and asking for less in return) and instead of buying motorized tie-racks that will quickly be forgotten we are putting money into clean water projects throughout the world.

Just under 4,000 people die every single day because they do not have access to clean drinking water.  Experts say that it would take 10 billion dollars to solve this crisis and make sure that everyone had access to clean safe drinking water.  And every year Americans spend 450 billion dollars on Christmas.  We feel like there’s something just not right about that.

So I encourage you to spend less on Christmas this year, give more money to clean water projects (like Living Water International), and give more presence to your loved ones this year.  Celebrate the birth of Jesus by saving someone’s life this year.

Cronyism is partiality to long-standing friends, especially by appointing them to positions of authority, regardless of their qualifications. Hence, cronyism is contrary in practice and principle to meritocracy. Cronyism exists when the appointer and the beneficiary are in social contact; often, the appointer is inadequate to hold his or her own job or position of authority, and for this reason the appointer appoints individuals who will not try to weaken him or her, or express views contrary to those of the appointer.

Case in point, some conferences get automatic seats in the BCS bowl games.  Some do not.

Here are the 6 conferences that AUTOMATICALLY send their champion to a BCS game.

Atlantic Coast Conference
Big 12 Conference
Big East Conference
Big Ten Conference
Pacific-10 Conference
Southeastern Conference

This year, Virginia Tech, the ACC Champion has a record of 9-4.  Cincinnati, the Big East Champs are 11-2.  WAC Champions, Boise State are one of only two teams in college football with an undefeated record (12-0).

However, Cincinnati and Virginia Tech, both who have lower rankings in the BCS poll will leapfrog Boise State because of the system of Cronyism that rewards specific conference champions rather than rewarding teams based on BCS ranking and overall win/loss record… a system called meritocracy.

To make matters even worse Boise State could still have made it into a BCS bowl game as one of the four “at-large” teams that BCS bowls choose from to match up against the teams that automatically get in.  But even the “at-large” teams suffer from Cronyism.  Big Ten runner up Ohio State (10-2) will also leapfrog Boise State into a BCS bowl game simply because of their name recognition.

So that’s THREE teams ranked lower than Boise State all of which have at least TWO losses that will end up in BCS bowl games over the undefeated and more deserving Boise State Broncos.  The same goes for Texas Tech, who will get shut out of the BCS bowls because of a rule that only 2 teams from a single conference can be in the BCS bowls.

This system of Cronyism in college football is NOT one of the precious traditions we speak of that makes the game so awesome.  If playoffs aren’t the answer to this mess, at least getting rid of the “automatic” BCS bids is!

I really appreciated this creative and important video.

Many of you have heard of the website change.org where citizens can post ideas for change in the government, the top 10 of which will be presented to President Obama on his first day in office.  One that I am particularly hopeful about is establishing a Department of Peace and appointing a Secretary of Peace.  To read more and to add your own vote to this go here. It is currently the #6 idea, and if it keeps up the momentum it will be one of the final 10 presented on day one.  Please go vote.

A student in youth group sent me this video that I thought I’d pass along I thought it was so beautiful.

Well Boise State has done everything that could be asked of them.  12-0 season, WAC Champions, beat Oregon State, ranked #9 in the BCS Standings.  But Utah is ranked #6 and only one Non-BCS Conference team is guarunteed a BCS bowl game if they meet the requirements… so Boise State will have to wait to see if there’s a Bowl out there that will take a higher ranked and more deserving team over a lower ranked, more-losses team, with bigger name recognition like Ohio State.  So for now, we just have to wait and see.  I hope it’s in the cards for Boise State this year.

Denver lost in spectacular fashion today to the Raiders.  The foreshadowing of the kind of stomach-turning football we would enjoy today came early in the first quarter when the Broncos had driven to the Raiders RedZone on some big plays only to have Jay Cutler fumble the ball on the 6 yard line.  It would be that kind of a day… and it’s been that kind of a season.  With enough talent to make any offense in the NFL jealous the Broncos have found a way to play consistently bad football.  Dropped passes, turnovers, bad play calling and injuries on Defense have made this a depressing season to watch.  And we’re still in first place!  How on earth this team can still be leading the division is beyond me.  But alas, San Diego has been even better at playing below their potential.  The way things are going now, we’ll get into the playoffs with a losing record.  Sigh.

February 22nd, 2009 will be the 81st Annual Acadamey Awards celebration.  So… we’re a few months out and haven’t hit the holiday movie rush but if the Oscars were held today, who would you nominate for best picture, best director, best actor in a leading role, best actress in a leading role and best original screenplay?

Tonight as a nation we elected Barack Obama to the highest office in our country.  I am grateful for the opportunity our country has been given at this time.  An opportunity to practice a new kind of politics that is about finding common ground and working towards a more just society rather than the politics of polarization whose goal is simply to win no matter the cost.  I am grateful for the opportunity we have to become good stewards of God’s creation.  I am grateful for the opportunity our country has to cooperate with and work alongside other nations for peace.  I am grateful for the opportunity we may have to ensure that no citizen is denied health care or is denied coverage.  I am grateful for the opportunity we have to turn the page on trickle-down economics that do not honor the “least of these” among us.  I am grateful for much tonight.

But while I am grateful for the unique opportunities I think Barack Obama presents in this time, I am not breathing a sigh of relief, as if somehow President Obama would steer history towards the Kingdom of God, as if the fate of the world lies in the hands of people as unimportant as Presidents and Senators.

No.  I firmly believe that the fate of the world lies in the hands of a poor Jewish carpenter born to a teenage mother in the Middle East.  A carpenter who followed God - not to a position of power and honor - but to his own unjust execution by people who held power and honor.  I believe in a God whose Kingdom is like a mustard seed, a small annoying virus that works from the grassroots until it takes over.  And this is why I am grateful for tonight, but I am not overjoyed, I am not elated, I do not think “THIS is the moment we’ve been waiting for.”  Nor do I despair, like some of my Christian brothers and sisters who opposed Obama.  I do not despair, as if the fate of the world rests on Barack’s shoulders, as if God’s hands are tied by people as unimportant as Presidents.

I, like many of my Christian brothers and sisters, do not agree with President Obama’s stance on abortion.  But I am praying that despite our opinions on the matter that we will be able to work with him towards a more just society where abortions are fewer and fewer.  That is common ground I believe I share with Barack.  We should not demonize him for the next four years, and waste an opportunity to work with him towards a common goal, just so we can elect a “pro-life” candidate in 2012.  By all means vote for a pro-life candidate in 2012.  But right now Barack is the President, so let’s make our voices heard, not waste time tearing down a fellow believer.  Let’s pray that Barack is a good and decent and wise leader, no matter how you feel about his politics.  I’ve been praying for George W. Bush these past eight years, though most of those years I was very opposed to his policies.  I hope you will join me in praying for Barack Obama no matter how you feel about his politics.

In some ways I am sad for Barack.  I think that he geniunely wants the best for this country and for the world.  But I also believe that few positions in this world corrupt a human being like that of the President of the United States.  I think it’s an office that takes good people and chews them up and that few people have what it takes to escape with their integrity (especially as Christians).  I hope that doesn’t happen to Barack… but I’m afraid that it will.  I’ve often thought in the past that the kind of people who want to become President deserve what it does to them, but I don’t feel that way about Barack.  So while I’m praying that God gives him wisdom and integrity I will also pray that the power he has does not corrupt him as it certianly would me.  And I’ll also be praying that when Barack’s agenda and the agenda of Jesus collide (as it does in all our lives) that Jesus would prevail against Barack and against me… for the good of us both.

If you are feeling confident about who to vote for then get out there and vote today!

But, if your conscience is bothering you… if you feel like you can’t give either candidate your “YES,” then feel free to abstain.  There’s nothing in scripture that says it’s your duty to vote.

Derek Webb put it this way, “Voting is a legal right, like carrying a gun or having an abortion. And I can abstain from doing anything that I have a legal right to if it violates my conscience.”  For more check out his essay titled, How Then Shall We Vote?