Hope is a tricky thing. Some of the most peculiar events can trigger a episode of hope, and the slightest change in a situation can make it all but disappear. I have been a Dallas Cowboys fan for as long as I can remember. I suffered through the ups and downs as a kid, thinking Danny White’s middle name was an expletive. Through the highs and lows ups and downs I have rooted for my Boyz. However, lately I haven’t watched many games. Mostly due to my Sundays being pretty busy, but I must admit when I have had the opportunity to tune in, the games have been extremely hard to watch. I find myself yelling at the screen, while my daughter generally looks at me dumbfounded and makes obvious statements like, “Dad, they can’t hear you.”

The final two games of the regular season, I found myself getting drawn in, during the final minutes of the fourth quarter. Playoff hopes were still alive, if they could only pull off last minute heroics. I was especially disappointed in the last game when all our playoff hopes where on the line. Mr. Tony Romo, who is the quarterback of the Cowboys didn’t play very well under pressure, and I found myself getting frustrated with him, rather than his performance. I had to truly check myself. It is only a game after all.

As I reasoned within myself, “Why am I so frustrated at Tony Romo”, it dawned on me. He was … Continue Reading

My youngest daughter offered a bit of sage advise a few weeks ago, on how perspective can be slanted based on who is telling the story.

As we sat on the sofa watching a Tom & Jerry cartoon.   She said, “I always go for Tom.”   A bit flustered I asked “What?”  Her response, with confidence was, “I root for Tom!”   She explained, “He is a house cat, the mouse is stealing from his owner, and he is just doing what house cats are supposed to do.”   A light bulb went off in my head, and then I looked at Tom in a whole new light.   He is simply doing what he was designed to do.

Since Jerry is a cute cartoon-ized mouse, in which the writers of the cartoon decided to make the hero, we tend to like him.   However, in the world we live in, we would loathe Jerry, and would try to exterminate him with extreme prejudice if he were ransacking our fridge in the middle of the night.  There is even an idiom for success and ingenuity that  urges us to “Build a better mousetrap.”  So how did we come to love find ourselves duped into loving a cute cuddly, thief?   It’s all about the perspective the story teller decides to paint in our minds.   We live in a world were there is also a story teller, who wants to blind our perception of God. The Bible calls this story teller out as “the god of … Continue Reading

The women in  Togo, a small country in West Africa, may be onto something.  These Togolese women are staging a Sex Strike, which they have branded “Keep the gate of your ‘motherland’ locked up”, in an attempt to remove from power a dictator.    As I read the headline earlier today, I admit I was intrigued, but as I continued to read, I thought the power and intent of the strike wouldn’t make a dent in the power structure of the nation.   Why am I so cynical?   Well the strike is only scheduled to last 1 week.   Sure a guys resolve wouldn’t be weakened after only one week, right?

I couldn’t help but think how this would work back home in the United States.   The land of the oversexed.  I am not surprised by the statistics I read about sexual activity in the U.S. anymore, but the nonchalant attitude towards the act of sex is disheartening.  Especially among people who profess a relationship with Jesus Christ.   Much like the battle the people of Togo are waging for control, we are getting our hats handed to us, spiritually by a very controlling dictator.

Some opponents of this strike say it further devalues women, and makes them looked at as only sex symbols.   I somewhat agree with that statement, using sex as a bargaining chip in my perspective cheapens the experience.   From my biblical worldview on sex, I believe it’s a sacred and holy act, to be … Continue Reading