A Real Hope…

I just got back last night from attending a Christian Young People’s Conference in Odessa, Texas. There were about 120 attendees, ranging from junior-high to college-age.  The topic of the conference was “Experiencing Christ as the Good Land of Canaan”. If you are familiar with the Old Testament, you will know that there is a major focus on entering and possessing the Good Land. We saw this weekend that this is just a type or picture of the New Testament believer, who’s focus and goal should be on gaining and possessing more Christ. It is not good enough to just be a Christian who has partaken of the Passover Lamb (signifying redemption) or one who has crossed the Red Sea (signifying baptism). Even one who is enjoying the manna (signifying Christ as our real food) in the wilderness cannot fully accomplish God’s goal. God needs a group of people who give themselves to walk in Him (Colossians 2:6), and allow Him to make His home in their hearts. (Ephesians 3:17). Once the land has been gained, there is a way for the city and temple to be built, signifying God’s authority and representation.

Being in the enjoyment of the conference, I completely forgot about what was going on with the presidential election.  The analysts have been saying that more people will vote in this election than in any presidential election in U.S. history. Seems both sides are quite fired up for their candidate of choice. While I do have my choice of who I want to see in office,  I was reminded this weekend that my hope is not in a person named Obama….or McCain. Or Palin. Or any other cause, for that matter. As Christians, we have a living hope (1 Peter 1:3). This hope is the real hope, and this hope is what keeps us going day by day, even when things don’t seem to go our way.

Regardless of who wins the election tomorrow, may we grant the new President the proper prayers and respect that is fitting for the highest elected office in our great nation…

 

1 I exhort therefore, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercessions, thanksgivings be made on behalf of all men;

2 On behalf of kings and all who are in high position, that we may lead a quiet and tranquil life in all godliness and gravity.

3 This is good and acceptable in the sight of our Savior God,

4 Who desires all men to be saved and to come to the full knowledge of the truth.

                                                                        - 1 Timothy 2:1-2

Dino-fun at Zilker!

I spent 3 hours today installing our new dishwasher after our old one gave up the fight after a brief 5 years of service. I am by no means the master of home improvement (just ask my dear wife), but since I installed the original dishwasher 5 years ago, I thought it would be a piece of cake. Turns out, some cakes take a long long time to make. Needless to say, that’s 3 hours of my life I won’t be getting back again. But it wasn’t all bad. Today, we finally made it over to the Zilker Botanical Gardens for the Dinoland exhibit! It was a beautiful day for a family outing, the sun was shining, but it wasn’t too hot.

When we arrived, parking was an issue. It took us a good 15 minutes to find a spot. Guess Dinoland is a popular place! Admission is free for kids under 3, everyone else is $5/person. The last time we were in the Botanical Gardens was when we took our engagement photos, almost 7 years ago(!) I must say, ZBG is still as beautiful as ever. If you are graduating from high school/college or need to take special occasion photos, you can’t go wrong taking them there. That’s my free tip of the day.

As for Dinoland, it was a huge hit for the dinosaur fan in our family. Benjamin liked it too. :)  He kept saying “big dinosaurs” in awe.   He enjoys his “little dinosaurs”  (the dino-chicken nuggets from Costco, which I highly recommended to all nugget fans) so he was amazed at seeing them full-size. If you’ve got a little dino-fan you know, I suggest you take them to the Dinoland exhibit. It runs until November 30th.  Below you will see some photos from the exhibit. The last one is from our lunch at P. Terrys, which has some of the best burgers in town. Okay, that’s my second free tip of the day. Aren’t you glad you read this post?

   

 

 

Proof of the Cult of Obama: Obama-gazines

Pictured above are the latest issues of some magazines I subscribe to: Men's Health (Nov. 2008), Time (October 20, 2008), and MIT Technology Review (Sept/Oct 2008). Guess what they all have in common? That's right, they all have cover stories on the 47 year old senator from Illinois! Yes, the media infatuation continues! Seems like he doesn't need to be spending any of the $150 million he raised last month (over $600 million total) on things like this, when the media already scrambles to put the Obama "brand" on anything possible. Don't believe me? Walk into your local bookstore and scan the magazine section, then get back with me. I would be very interested in seeing how many magazine covers McCain has been featured on versus how many Obama has been on.

Consider the issues in my photo. Men's Health? Yes, I agree, Obama is a man, so I guess he qualifies to be on the cover. I suppose it is better than the usual cover of male models with chiseled abs and bulging biceps. But check out that tag line - "Strong and Fit!" Wow, not too subtle eh? Especially when considering the "Old and Weak" alternative, right? How about Technology Review? Published by MIT since 1899 (almost as old as Senator McCain!) the cover tag line is "How He Really Did It". Did what? As far as I know, as of the publication date of the magazine, the election had not been decided yet! And Time, the oldest newsweekly in the United States, seems to have Obama on the cover every week.

This post is not meant to be an indictment of Mr. Obama. He is very accomplished, seems to be a natural leader, and is quite eloquent. If I had to choose between listening to Dreams of My Father spoken by Mr. Obama, or Faith of My Fathers, spoken by Mr. McCain, I'd choose Obama's sonorous voice over the nasally pitch of MCain everytime. And there's no doubt, if Mr. Obama is elected president, it will be a historic event, the first man of color to be elected to the highest office in the land. Perhaps such an event would prove that race is no longer an issue, and that a person's character and honesty and belief is what really matters. Sounds dreamy, right? Sounds like real change, right? Former Secretary of State Colin Powell seems to think so, calling Obama a "transformational figure" while endorsing him for president today.

I appreciate his life-story, I think he is quite likable, and because he is younger and a person of color, I can definitely identify with him more. But here is my main concern: I am worried that Senator Obama is going to be elected president solely because of America's love affair with all-things celebrity. Senator Barak Obama is a rock star. Senator McCain is not. I remember reading about the first televised presidential debate, between JFK and Nixon, and how many analysts felt that because JFK looked better on camera, that translated into people thinking he would thus make a better president. Perhaps that is not the best example, based on what happened with Nixon later on, but it still makes a strong point about the need for star power. McCain made a valiant effort at fighting back with his own choice of celebrity, but she has proven to be no match to the Obama love affair, even with her latest appearance on SNL.

The 2008 election is not about who has better economic policies, who would make a better world leader, or who has more experience. Really, it's about who will sell more magazines at the newstand. And frankly, that's just plain sad.

O Who?! Texas 45, OU 35

My sister Anne just got back from a 3 month rotation in Kenya last week. She flew into Austin, and we went down to San Antonio to surprise my parents for their anniversary. We had a great time together, especially on Saturday morning. We drove out 10 miles past the city of Medina to the Siesta Valley Ranch to go on a 3 mile walk. The only drawback was that I had to miss what many are calling the greatest UT-OU game of all time. We were able to listen to the end of the 3rd quarter and entire 4th quarter on the drive back, so that counts for something!

 

Hard to believe that UT is back at the #1 spot in the nation! With games against Missouri, OSU, Texas Tech, and Kansas coming up, if they can run the table, looks like they might be playing again for the national championship.

 

Gameday photos

Run Chris Run! Chris Ogbonnaya’s 62 yard run in the 4th was the final nail in the coffin.

 

OU fans stream out as they realize they are no longer #1.

 

Reality begins to set in: “We lost and we still have to drive back to the state of Oklahoma.”

A lovely site for all Longhorns!