loPEZ Dispenser

Yesterday, the homepage here at the loPEZ Dispenser and at my other site DESTINATION:lopez was hijacked by anti-war protesters. They claimed “This is a cyber protest” and they had an image of a bloodied face and some text telling me all about their little game.

I don’t know what they hoped to accomplish. All they managed to do was piss me off!! First of all, I don’t understand their choice of sites to hijack. These sites are small, generate no revenue, and only see light traffic. You see, if I had a way to find these assholes responsible for this mess the next thing they would find is themselves in the midst of a war they started. Just as America paid back Japan (for Pearl Harbor) by dropping a couple of nukes on their little island, so will thgey be paid back. You had best hope we never meet.

This is twice now that the server hosting this site has been hacked. This doesn’t speak well of the security systems that the host has employed. Honestly, I’m not sure how this was done or who fixed it but these people need to get a life. They think they are patriots cause they are anti-war but really they are criminals who deface other people’s property.

Yesterdayan event happened that made me laugh really hard. We were on our way back after a long day in Hershey, PA. I was driving on to the Turnpike and these women in a Ford Escape did not want to let me on the ramp. Nonetheless, I managed to sqeeze my little Civic in front of them.

As soon as we merged onto the Turnpike they swerved around us and gunned it, giving me a nasty look as they went by. My mother-in-law, who was sitting there next to me said something like “I bet we’ll see them up the road pulled over.” I secretly wished that would happen but after passing they pulled back into the right lane and settled in front of me. This continued for several miles until I looked up and realized they were way up the road. They must have gunned it!! Soon we lost sight of them and that was that.

Around 15 minutes later we noticed a cop on the side of the road. You couldn’nt see what kind of car was pulled over so we all held our breath as we approached. Then we all let out the biggest laugh as just as was predicted, the Ford Escape with the two women was pulled over.

My only wish was that they could hear us laughing. Who knows, maybe they thought “I bet those people in the Civic are laughing at us.”

Setup

Boy there is so much to say here. The cogs in my brain started turning after a conversation I had at lunch today. It went something like this:

(I am the D)
E: Did you hear about that new “cult church” they’re building near my house?
D: I’m not sure what you’re talking about.
E: Ya they just finished a 500 seat auditorium and they have plans to build a huge gymnasium and a 1,400 seat auditorium.
D: So that makes them a cult?
E: Well its not normal.
D: Why because it isn’t a tiny 50 member church like all those peppered throughout our region? Because they use technology and have modern music?
E: I don’t know, its just not normal.
D: I was married in a 15,000 member church and have never attended a church with less than 500 people. So does that make me a cult member? We almost went to that church Saturday.

Erin and I had visited this church when we first moved here. Services were held in the local Regal movieplex which took some getting used to. They seemed like a new church and they still had some kinks to work out. Well now they have the first phase of their construction project done. We were actually talking about visiting the church again (they have Saturday evening services which we love).

I thought the whole conversation was awkward at best and the others at the table presented their best nervous laughs, not wishing to express their opinions. The other person is a lifelong Catholic and probably has known nothing different. That said, the purpose of this is not to put down any group, however there is a lot of controversy surrounding megachurches.

What about em?

Its all a matter of perspective, really. To me, a megachurch is something like Joel Osteen’s Lakewood Church or the more personal United Methodist Church of the Resurrection (we have ties there), basically any church where the membership is more than 5,000. I imagine, however, that to someone used to going to a 50 member church, a place with 1000 members is mega to them.

These churches often boast of mega money. Their buildings are beautiful and they are decked out with the latest of tech gear. Some even have top-notch video production departments that rival many news stations. Many times these churches are also met with much controversy. Whether it be land and traffic issues or the questioning of the wisdom of such a large organization these churches are no strangers to being on the six-o’clock news.

What do I think of them? Well, I think two things and the two mega-churches I mentioned above will do nicely to explain them. Both churches have big lavish buildings. Both have top notch technology. Both have growing memberships, big budgets and Sunday morning cafes. So just how do they differ?

I have attended UM-COR quite a few times in my ventures to Kansas City. The pastor of this church of 15,000 is the same man that employs my mother-in-law and the same man who married Erin and I. Don’t think that my personal connection here has influenced my opinion of the matter. In my opinion people are not drawn to this church because of the music or technology. People are drawn to this church because of the message. Adam Hamilton delivers relevant and life changing sermons that come straight from the Word of God. He is not afraid to discuss those normally taboo subjects such as homosexuality, sex, giving, and other religions. He does his best to present all sides of the issues and leaves it to you to make up your mind as to what you believe. I believe that people feel challenged to go deeper with God when they leave.

I have not attended the Lakewood Church but I have seen Joel Osteen on TV. His church packs out a sports arena and boasts weekly attendance of something like 50,000 people and loads more if you consider his TV audience. In my mind, and from the lips of some who have been there, Lakewood Church seems to be about the numbers and self-promotion. The sermons seem to be loosely based on scripture and they always make you feel good when they end. That is why so many people like to go there. Its all about making your life here on earth more prosperous or more enjoyable. Things like sin, salvation and redemption seem to be far from the typical topics.

The last thing American needs is a watered down Gospel. See a major risk you run with a church this size is that you become a puppet of the church. People don’t want to feel guilty or convicted of their sins. So in order to keep attendance up and giving high sometimes the pastors in essence sell out God. Offensive and controversial, yet very important topics are ignored and swept behind closed doors.

Church is not about feeling good. Its about growing in God, in faith, and in love. Church is about building relationships and fellowship with other believers. These things are difficult to accomplish in a megachurch. The size allows people to slip in and out unnoticed (which is exactly how they like it). While there may be “Get Connected” classes and Small Group initiatives a large percentage of people never participate.

Wrap-up

So how do I tie all this together? Well just because a church is growing large does not mean that it is ineffective. The opposite is also true. I’d say any seasoned believer should be able to establish the direction of the church after just a few services.

Whether you like huge churches where you can get lost in the shuffle or tiny churches where everyone knows your business the important thing is relationships. Foremost should be your personal relationship with God and then after that your relationships with others.

Its easy to be drawn in by pomp and circumstance, but after you are there, just make sure there is actual meat on the bones. God doesn’t really care where you go to church. Everyone has their personal preferences.

After all, everyone is different!! –I Love You, Erin

As I sit at the desk in my hotel room, looking out of the floor to ceiling window that offers a spectacular view of Melbourne I cannot help but smile knowing that this has been a great trip. At the same time I am listening to Mae’s “The Everglow” on my mp3 player. The music is making me more homesick than I have been the entire trip. If you have never listened to “The Everglow” then I emphatically insist that you do. It is nothing less than one of the best and most complete albums I have ever had the pleasure of experiencing. The reason it makes me homesick is that I have subconsciously associated the album with my wife and son. In the past year I have played it (overplayed it Carrie would say) basically everywhere with them: on the stereo at home, in the car and while out on our family runs. Every time I hear the songs I get that warm feeling that comes when thinking about time spent with family. The same thing occurs when I listen to Third Eye Blind, except that the feelings are associated with Carrie and not Andrew, since he was not yet around when their albums were released. There is no one in this world I would rather go to see 3EB with than Carrie. She doesn’t even like their music that much, but she knows how much I do. As a side note, Mae is going to be at the House of Blues in Orlando in the beginning of August. Carrie did not want to go (I wish she did), so I am going with my friends Joe and Luke. I really hope that they (Mae) don’t let me down as I have big expectations.

Back to Australia. The majority of my time here has been spent working. During the week we really do nothing more than drive and work. Yesterday made up for all of that. We went on a bus tour of the Great Ocean Road, which sits on Australia’s southern coast a couple of hours from Melbourne. In 2002 Carrie and I drove the entire Pacific Coast Highway in California. I loved that trip, and the views were breathtaking, but they simply cannot compare with what I saw yesterday. The 12 Apostles region was by far the most beautiful scene of nature I have ever seen. I hesitate to say that it was the most beautiful site I have ever seen, because any straight man must admit that if shown a picture of the 12 apostles with a beautiful woman in view his eyes would, at least momentarily, focus on the woman instead of the ocean, rocks and cliffs. So, besides God’s greatest creation, woman (with my wife at the top of that list, of course), the 12 Apostles region was the most beautiful thing I have ever laid my eyes on. I took a lot of pictures, but looking at them simply does not compare with being there. The pictures are amazingly beautiful, but they lack the sounds, the smell of the ocean, the view of the enormous waves forming far out in the ocean and the final crescendo as they smash into the rocks and sandy beach. I promise you Carrie, that we will come to Australia together. I want you to see what I saw, and I want to be at that magical place with you. Maybe when we do Tahiti or Fiji we can take some extra time and come here. The 12 Apostles stop was only one of many, and all of them had scenes that were extraordinarily beautiful. Go to my Flickr site to see all of the pictures.

Now that I have gushed over the coastal views for far too long I will tell about the rest of the day. In the morning, we stopped at a place that had koala bears. These animals were perched lazily in their eucalyptus trees, making no mind to the fact that there were 25 tourists taking pictures of them. I think that koalas and sloths should be classed into the same animal family, even if they don’t share any other trait than laziness and the need to breathe. At this same site there was a tree full of very pretty birds that would land on you. There is a picture of me with one on my arm at Flickr. Another stop was an Australian rainforest. The classification of “rainforest” is determined by the amount of rainfall and the density of the foliage. Our tour guide said that to be a rainforest 95% of the forest floor must be shaded on a sunny day. I will take his word for it, as I don’t feel like looking up this fact to verify it, but this location definitely met those criteria. We took a hike at the rainforest and saw a lot of really big trees. The ones in California were bigger, but don’t let that make you think that these were not huge.

The tour guide/bus driver was a little bit crazy behind the wheel. He drove very fast on a lot of windy, cliff edged roads. We made it back alive (and on time). I spent most of today walking around the city looking for souvenirs. The weather turned rainy in the early afternoon, which I took as God’s sign to me that I needed to go workout in the hotel’s health club. I am accustomed to hotels with small excercise rooms that have at most a treadmill, an elliptical machine and a small resistance machine. This one has a health club that is as large and more upscale than the YMCA in Oviedo.

I will be heading back home in just a couple of days. I have enjoyed this trip, but cannot wait to be back in Florida with Carrie and Andrew. I was told that since I have been gone Andrew learned how to say “thank you.” I am pretty ancious to hear hom say that. They miss me a lot too, so maybe we will have one of those “running towards each other in the airport” moments. That would be nice.

What’s the deal with four way stops? No matter where I am, every time I come to a four way stop sign I seem to arrive at the same time as other drivers who forgot or never knew how to handle themselves in said situation.

Its quite simple really. The first person to arrive and stop is the same person who gets to go first.? I think it’s the turns that really throw people off. Especially the left turns. C’mon people!! It’s not that hard!!

This became painfully evident this week after a harsh storm moved through the area and knocked out power. Police remedied the situation by putting 4-way stops at every intersection where there once was a light. As traffic backed up I couldn’t help but think “I wish people knew how to drive through a 4-way stop.