Destroying Our Future to Pay for the Present

I think it's time for Kansans to wake up and pay attention to what the state Legislature has done. By a 21-19 vote yesterday, the state Senate approved a House measure that would allow for the expansion of gambling in Kansas, including the building of three state-owned casinos. Have we become so desperate for money that we are now willing to build casinos that will, if anything, only increase the number of gambling addicts? Have we become so desperate for money that we are willing to encourage vice in order to get money into the state coffers? It's a sad day for Kansas, as many will discover in about 5-10 years when the full social impacts of these casinos are felt. May God have mercy on our state!

Dead Sea Scrolls

Since it was Spring Break for me, and I was starting to go stir crazy staying around my apartment most of the time, I decided to drive over to Kansas City and visit the Dead Sea Scrolls exhibit at Union Station. Surprisingly, getting to Union Station and parking weren't as much of a hassle as I expected. The route to Union Station is easy, and parking in the garage on the west side was free (unless I had stayed longer than 3 hours, which I didn't).
The exhibit itself wasn't as well attended as I expected: I was one of 4 people in the 2:30 group. The majority of the exhibit focused on the background of the scrolls, the community at Qumran (where the scrolls were found), and the political situation in Judea at that time. For the majority of Americans, this background is helpful for them, since their knowledge of Old Testament history is, at best, limited. The scrolls themselves were fascinating to view. There were several different fragments (or replicas, depending) on display. The most interesting part for me was how small the writing was. I can only imagine the amount of care and detail that went into writing the scrolls.
The exhibit was not perfect, though. <rant>Instead of using B.C. and A.D. to designate the appropriate era for a year, the exhibit used the modern, politically-correct (and intellectually disingenuous) labels of B.C.E. and C.E. B.C.E. means "Before Common Era" and C.E. means "Common Era", and A.D. 1 is the same as 1 C.E. In other words, the systems are identical, but someone was bothered by the references to Jesus Christ in the traditional system. So, instead I had to endure a minor slap in the face that denied the importance of the Lord in history. (Besides, there is no such thing as a "common era." The Jews, Arabs, Hindus, and Chinese all use or have used different calendar systems. It is only in the West that B.C. and A.D. are common. Thus, the system is not really about removing religious bias but instead instilling an anti-Christian bias.) </rant>
In spite of this one minor flaw, I enjoyed the exhibit. It was certainly better than sitting around home bored for another day.

Interesting Article

Kerby Anderson of Probe Ministries has recently put up an interesting commentary on global warming, especially in response to Al Gore's "documentary" An Inconvenient Truth. This short article is well worth your time.

Bracket Go Down the Hole

Although I am not totally surprised by it, KU's loss earlier today to UCLA has messed up my bracket, since I had KU reaching the championship game. The only thing that could hurt my bracket more is if Ohio State goes out (which is likely), leaving me without the ability to accumulate any more points. I could tell somewhat early on in the game that this wasn't going to be KU's night. They missed point-blank shots, the referees let the game be very physical, the "neutral" court was in San Jose, close enough to Los Angeles for a sizable contingent of UCLA fans to make its way up to the game. So, add all that together, and you get a KU loss. And with it goes half of my bracket. Oh, well. It's all just for fun, anyway.

Here Come the Storms

Today is the first official day of Spring, also known as the vernal equinox, and just in time, strong to severe storms are breaking out to the north. At this point, it looks like the first line will miss Topeka, but it's good to see Spring-like weather again. If we do get rain--which would be wonderful--I only hope we get what we need and not too much. I really would hate to lose a soccer game due to a swamped field. Only time will tell, though, what God has in store.

Thoughts about a Glass

An optimist says, "The glass is half-full."
A pessimist says, "The glass is half-empty."
A cynic says, "Not only is the glass half-empty, but what's left isn't worth drinking."
A meteorologist says, "There's a 70% chance of the glass being half-empty."
A mathematician says, "Liquid occupies 50% of this glass's internal volume."
A conspiracy theorist says, "The glass was put here as part of the government's attempt to cover-up its involvement in the JFK assassination."
A Democrat says, "The glass is half-empty, and it's the Republicans fault!"
A Republican says, "The glass is half-empty, and it's the Democrats fault!"
A Blogger says, "The glass, whether it's half-full or half-empty, at least gives me something to write about..."

And so...

Um, uh, well, that is, you know, eh, and so on, and stuff, like, etc.

It's March, It's Warm

Although a cold front has right now brought blustery north winds to the region right now, the past three days have been beautiful, especially for mid-March. For the first time in my five years as a soccer coach, I was wearing shorts to the first game of the season. Usually, I'm bundled up against freezing temperatures. So, it's been a tremendous blessing lately to have warm weather. Praise God!

No Respect

Kansas State should be in the NCAA Tournament, especially since Texas Tech made it in. There are a couple of other teams that probably also deserve to be in, but I don't know enough about them to comment. I do know that the Big 10 and Pac-10 have too many teams. I have no idea how Stanford made it in, nor do I know how Illinois made it in, either. Georgia Tech, in my mind, is also a question mark, given that they finished 6th in the ACC. Kansas State could have legitimately taken any of those teams spots and could probably beat those teams on any given day. So why was K-State left out? One simple reason: reputation. Those three teams are all perceived to be good, so even if they have a sub-par year, they will be allowed in. K-State will have to have a better year next year in order to get the respect of the Selection Committee. For now, I guess it's NIT time for K-State.

Spring Forward

This weekend is when Daylight Saving Time begins, which means that however groggy you thought you felt last Monday, it will be ten times worse this Monday. The good news about the earlier time switch is that JV soccer games will be much easier to complete because we won't run out of light as quickly. Now, if only the perturbation of my sleep schedule doesn't make me more grumpy. I'm already feeling off because of the changes brought about by soccer season. I am such a freakish creature of habit!

Phenomena

Hymns

Amazing love, how can it be
That Thou, my God, shouldst die for me
--Refrain from the hymn "Amazing Love"
There's just something that I like about some old hymns. I'm not quite sure what it is. Perhaps it's the depth of doctrine contained within the good hymns' lyrics. Perhaps it's just what I was raised on. And perhaps it's because it's such a rich part of our cultural heritage. I'm not sure. All I know is that I think that we do a disservice to ourselves in modern Evangelicalism when we ignore them. Too many churches have abandoned hymns, which I think is sad. We should not abandon hymns because in doing so, we lose much depth of doctrine and our ability to understand God's glory.
A disclaimer is in order, though. I am not saying that we shouldn't sing modern praise music. I think that there are some excellent modern praise songs out there that truly reflect God's glory and majesty in a powerful way. Many, however, do not, instead contenting themselves to repeat the same words over and over (and over and over, ad nauseum). (The worst example of this, in my opinion, is the song "I Could Sing of Your Love Forever," which could as easily be titled "I Keep Singing the Same Words Over" because of how often we sing that same trite chorus.) My concern, then, is that in leaving behind the hymns, we have left behind intellectual depth and traded it for worship that is emotionally stimulating but intellectually devoid.
One complaint about the old hymns is that they are boring. This complaint is, to be honest, valid sometimes. I'm not a huge fan of any song if it's played lugubriously. Too often in the past, especially in the mainline churches, the organist would play hymns at a tempo more appropriate for a dirge than a song of praise. Granted, there are hymns out there that should be played slowly, but slow hymn playing (as if to encourage greater pondering of the lyrics) only allows the minds of the singers to wander. On the other hand, played correctly, a hymn can be intellectually and emotionally powerful. Few songs, for example, have the power to touch me better than the third verse of "Holy, Holy, Holy."
Holy, holy, holy
Though the darkness hide Thee
Though the eye of sinful man
Thy glory may not see
Only Thou art holy
There is none beside Thee
Perfect in power, in love and purity
This verse declares to all that, no matter how bad circumstances become, God is immutable, always holy, even if no one holds Him to be so. Few songs, especially modern, hold such sound doctrine.
Contrarily, many modern songs have very little doctrine in them. Most focus on our relationship with God and sound almost like (or sometimes exactly like) contemporary love songs. While it is good to love God, He is more than simply "a beautiful one [we] love." He is the Creator of the universe. Perfectly approachable, yes, but also perfectly holy. We need to remember that He is both our Father and our King, and treat Him appropriately in our worship.
For that reason, I think it is good to sing both modern praise songs and the traditional hymns. When played appropriately, a good hymn is engaging to the mind and the emotions, stirring the whole of the worshiper into praise of his Creator. So, let us not forget the traditional hymns of the faith, even as contemporary songsmiths craft new songs to express adoration in different ways.

Only in Kansas

Yesterday, it was a beautiful day, as we were situated perfectly in the warm sector. The high was about 70 degrees, and it even got warm enough for thunderstorms. The lightning show off to the southeast of Topeka (80 miles SE) was one of the most wonderful and beautiful displays of God's creation that I have ever seen.
Then, there's today. It snowed this morning, the temperature never cleared 40, and a bitter north wind made the wind chill somewhere in the low 30s. That forced the first day of soccer practice to be inside. Sigh.
There's hope for next week, though. The long-term forecast calls for temperatures to be back into the 50s. Let's hope so. Indoor practices are tough.