Media Monday --- Messed Up Story of the Year

OK...I need your help. I am confused after reading this story whether I should be saddened by the sinful nature, laughing at the irony, shocked by these events, or sitting in disbelief that this story is true. Someone please tell me how I should feel!

In Stuttgart, Germany, a court judge must decide on a case of honorable intentions in a situation where a man hired his neighbor to get his wife pregnant. It seems that Demetrius Soupolos, 29, and his former beauty queen wife, Traute, wanted a child badly, but Demetrius was told by a doctor that he was sterile. So, Soupolos, after calming his wife’s protests, hired his neighbor, Frank Maus, 34, to impregnate her.

Since Maus was already married and the father of two children, plus looked very much like Soupolos to boot, the plan seemed good. Soupolos paid Maus $2,500 for the job and for three evenings a week for the next six months, Maus tried desperately, a total of 72 different times, to impregnate Traute. When his own wife objected, he explained, "I don’t like this any more than you. I’m simply doing it for the money. Try and understand."

After Traute failed to get pregnant after six months, however, Soupolos was not understanding and insisted that Maus have a medical examination, which he did. The doctor’s announcement that Maus was also sterile shocked everyone except his wife, who was forced to confess that Maus was not the real father of their two children. Now Soupolos is suing Maus for breach of contract in an effort to get his money back, but Maus refuses to give it up because he said he did not guarantee conception, but only that he would give an honest effort.

Media Monday --- M-I-C-K-E-Y M-O-U-S-E

Well, we have returned to Ohio from our Amelia Island/Disney Trip, and I really have no "Media Monday" topic because we did not watch the news, have Internet, or listen to the radio. Our biggest concerns were what time the parades and fireworks started and what to eat for dinner...and it was great! For the first time in years I had no clue who was winning the March Madness and nor did I care.

So I think everyone needs a "Mickey Mouse Week". Doesn't have to be Disney, or even far away, just a week to turn off the TV and computer and have a week of "Hakuna Matata". Maybe your stocks still tank, maybe your favorite team loses, etc...but you can deal with it all later.

I went to a conference several months ago by Dr. Daniel Spaite (M.D.) who wrote the book Time Bomb in the Church...he has done tons of research that supports those involved in ministry are "silently" killing themselves by not utilizing Sabbath rest. He suggests (if you want to really live healthy) that you must have some "Mickey Mouse Time" at least 1 hour a day, 1 day a week, and 1 week every quarter-year to allow God to refresh your mind/body/spirit/soul.

So next week I may have a news story for you...that's 7 days away...so you can start your week right now and not miss a thing! (oh, but be sure to check back tomorrow to see a video of part of our trip hahaha).

Media Monday --- The Direction of Government

Well, here we are with another week gone by, and you just can't escape government in the news. This week, Obama decided to take away the conviction clause that would allow doctors to abstain from doing abortions if it went against their religious beliefs (so much for separation of church and state/freedom of religion), he took away all the governmental bans on funding for stem cell research (so much for saving money and taking a scalpel to our budget), and we are hearing more and more about the government taking over the banks, health care, etc, etc, etc. So, what does this all mean?

Well, when we look at politics throughout all history, there are 5 models of government:

1) Anarchy (the people have total control/no government)

2) Republic (the people have some control/limited government)

3) Democracy (the people and government share control)

4) Oligarchy (an elite group of government have control)

5) Dictatorship (one person has total control)

Although these sound possible in theory, you can eliminate 3 of these as long term governments. Anarchy results from people rebelling against government and trying to tear them down. Every group of anarchists throughout history have had an agenda in mind as to who would take over power if they did overthrow the government...so there is no such thing as an anarchy rule (the people in total control) as it would eliminate all laws, military, etc, etc, etc (as someone would have to run these things)...it is only a temporary attempt to overthrow a government.

Same with dictatorship...even the most notorious dictators (ie: Hitler) had his group of goons working with him. In reality, he was the leader of an oligarchy, where a select few were in charge of the masses.

Democracy also doesn't work. Our Founding Fathers were very purposeful in not mentioning democracy in any of our founding documents. They believed 100% in a Republic....where a limited government would represent (not rule) the people. In a true democracy, majority would always rule...so a criminal trial would only need 50% for a conviction, if at anytime the senate wanted to overthrow the president they could as long as they got a 50% vote, if city council voted 5-4 to take your house away, in a true democracy they could without other reason. All democracies were very short lived and fail miserably and always result in a Republic or an Oligarchy (depending on if they give more power to the people or the government).

So that brief history brings us to the point of this post. Our Founding Fathers dreamed of and set us up as a Republic. The government is to represent the people. We know we can't have anarchy nor a dictatorship, and democracy can't and doesn't work. So we are left with 2 possibilities --- remain a Republic or become an Oligarchy where the elite government officials rule the people rather than for the people. All this nationalization and government control of everything is slowly taking us down a path I don't think we want to go. But maybe our time is up. Consider the cycle of great countries throughout history:

1) From bondage to spiritual faith

2) From spiritual faith to great courage

3) From courage to liberty

4) From liberty to abundance

5) From abundance to complacency

6) From complacency to apathy

7) From apathy to dependence

8) From dependence back to bondage

It takes about 200 years to go through this cycle and we are in year 233. I see us somewhere around #6 moving toward #7...and the Oligarchy would put us in dependence on government. Very scary thought. Where/what do you all see us moving toward?

Media Monday --- Steroids in Baseball

Well, the topic jumped to the top of the media again the last few weeks as Alex Rodriguez (one of the best players in the game) was caught and admitted to taking steroids (after he had previously denied it). It is getting to the point that if a player was any good during the 1998-2003 seasons, we may as well assume they had taken steroids. Actually, even average players may have been using during this time just to make them "average" (according to the list of players who have been caught). Those years will be forever known as the "Steroid Era".


But the big question now is what to do about it. There are a lot of arguments about the Hall of Fame (should players caught with steroids get in...and how do you know for sure who took them and who didn't?), questions surrounding broken records (should Hank Arron get his HR record back since Bonds took steroids?), whether or not we should just erase those years from baseball history, etc.


To me...this all boils down to one major point --- ENTERTAINMENT. That's what baseball is all about. Major League Baseball needs us (fans) in order to survive. How do they survive? They entertain us, and we pay to go to games, buy apparel, allow them to get advertising dollars by watching games on TV, etc. Right now the arguments seem to center on the players...it's all about them...but I think the center should be on the fans since we are the ones that keep the league going (would these players still play 182 games a year for free? Don't think so).


As a fan, I absolutely LOVED the 1998 season (Mark McGuire/Sammy Sosa Home Run Chase), and so did everyone else. In a strike shortened 1994 season, only 50 million fans went to major league games. People were fed up with baseball after that and only 50 million fans went to games during the entire 1995 season. But as the Home Run Chase Year began (and the steroid era) in 1998, over 70 million fans attended games...over 40% growth! That season has been called "The Season That Saved Baseball" and for good reason.


As fans, most of us like to see the long ball. I always loved going to batting practice an hour before the game (in 1999, I caught 11 baseballs at the left-field wall during batting practice and would always give them to little kids hoping to get a ball). All fans tuned into their TV's to see Sosa and McGuire at-bats that would automatically interupt whatever was on ESPN.


I am certainly not excusing illegal behavior or saying (as some have suggested) that steroids were necessary for baseball. But MLB needs to turn to its main source...the fans for some perspective. I don't care so much about the records --- after all there are more games in a year now, the fences are shorter, the equipment is better, etc, etc, etc. There are a lot of arguments that today's records aren't fair even outside of steroids.


So as the players continue to deny, argue, fight, apologize, etc --- the fans care about one thing --- keep playing ball and keep us entertained. We don't care to hear that you would have done just as well without steroids. As my former pastor used to say, "Don't Just Sing it...Bring It!"

Media Monday --- Political Cartoon Uproar

Last week the cartoon pictured above created a "racial uproar" (led by "Rev" Al Sharpton of course). They (along with many others) were completely offended that Obama was being portrayed as a Chimp. Now take a look at these past cartoons...

This whole media circus with the "Obama Chimp Cartoon" is completely idiotic, and here is why...

1) Where was the uproar when Bush was made out to be a monkey/chimp/etc? Nobody cared.

2) This cartoon is an obvious poke at the stimulus plan...saying even a monkey could have created it...that's the whole point of the cartoon.

3) Even IF this cartoon was directed at a person, Hello...Obama didn't write the stimulus, Pelosi did. So she would be the chimp, not Obama.

4) This cartoon is in bad taste because a woman is fighting for her life after the attack, and I am sure her loved ones don't want to see this cartoon in the news over and over and over, yet nobody seems to care about the effect it has on the family of the person who was attacked. That should be the real issue, but Sharpton and clan do not seemed too concerned about that.

So here is the real issue...the so-called "tolerant group" is being very intolerant (they are tolerant only when you agree with them). And above all else, I think those with the real racism issue are those who looked at this cartoon, saw a chimp, and immediately assumed it was Obama (even though he didn't write the plan). Automatically equating the chimp to a black man Mr. Sharpton is where the real race problem is..

What do you all think?

Media Monday --- The Stimulus Plan

OK, so the big news over the past few weeks is the new "stimulus" plan that is supposed to bring new jobs and jump start our floundering economy. The plan was put together and voted on without even being read by Congress (see video above), and for the most-part, they just voted along party lines. The plan only costs several hundred billion...chump change on top of our already 9,000,000,000,000.00+ (that's trillion!) deficit. Supposedly, this stimulus is supposed to bring back at least 1 dollar for every dollar spent through new tax money (meaning that in the long run this shouldn't cost us a thing...only break even or make money). But when you do get a picture of the contents, you have to wonder how STD education, digital TV coupons, new governmental hybrid cars, renovation of the Smithsonian, etc will actually "stimulate" the economy. I think Governor Mike Huckabee said it best when he suggested the name of this stimulus should be the:

Congressional
Relief
Action
Program

But FAR above my opening paragraph, there is something more that you need to catch in all this mess....Hope. People want it...people are desperate for it. It's the platform Obama ran on that got him elected. Hope. But unfortunately, people are looking for hope in the wrong places. Previously they looked for it in their jobs, their cars, their families, etc, etc, etc...but now that families are being torn apart, jobs are being lost, homes taken away, people need to turn to a new place, and who can blame them for turning to the government when the government promises it?

But we know that no matter what the bill says, no matter what the government does, and no matter how good or bad things turn out in the end, people are still going to be looking for it. Hope. There's really only 1 place to find it --- One place that you'll never lose it --- and one place that won't end in disappointment --- in Christ. So when you come across people that you may be tempted to label "crazy" or "insane" because of their views on all this, remember they are only looking for 1 thing. Hope. If you've already found that hope, you are Blessed! Other people are dying for it right now. Please take the time to show them where it really comes from!

Why so downcast O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God! (Psalm 42:5)

Media Monday --- The Octuplet Mom

Unless you live your life free of TV, radio, newspaper, or computer (which obviously you don't since you are reading this)...you've certainly heard about the "Octuplet Mom" that gave birth to 8 babies at once in California. Soon after the births, the mom's name (Nadya Suleman) and some interesting facts about her became public. She has no job, no husband, lives in a 3-bedroom house with her parents, already has 6 other kids under the age of 8, and had these babies through "in vitro fertilization" (IVF)...taking eggs from her body, joining them with sperm, and implanting the fertilized eggs back into her body.

Since all these details came out, the web, talk shows, newspapers, etc have all come out blasting this woman for the choice she made...and also condemning the hospital for the choice it made to implant these eggs. This uproar hasn't been contained to just secular places...I have seen Christian sites as well as Christian friends share how appalled they are about the whole situation.

But (although this may not be a popular opinion) I have a different take. The woman went through the 1st step of in vitro fertilization years ago (the process of fertilizing the eggs). During this process, over a dozen eggs are fertilized, but only a few are implanted at a time (which resulted in the first 6 children). Prior to this latest pregnancy, Nadya still had 6 "frozen embryos" (fertilized eggs) that had not been implanted (2 of them split causing twins which is why she had 8 babies). So here was the choice she was faced with --- have the doctors implant the eggs, or have them destroyed.

So for the Christian, which is better? The Bible tells us life begins at conception (when the egg and the sperm meet), so these were just frozen fertilized eggs, they were little lives. Why are Christians so appalled that this woman saved the lives of what God created through man? If anything, this should be a time to bring awareness to the in vetro fertilization process and to inform believers that if they choose this process to be sure they are willing to have EVERY fertilized egg implanted at some point. The alternative is death...not really different than abortion...and 1,000's of these fertilized eggs are destroyed every year because people can't afford to have them implanted again, because they have a kid the first time and decide to stop, or they are just unaware of what happens to the "leftovers".

So I for one am glad she decided to choose life rather than destruction. It is fine to argue whether these kids should be put up for adoption, whether she is fit to raise these children on her own, etc, etc, etc...but please, praise God that these children were granted life in the first place!

Media Monday --- Superbowl

Well, as I am sure you are well aware as it is plastered all over the TV and Internet...the Steelers are the Superbowl Champs! These are the days I miss living in Pittsburgh and all the buzz and excitement going on right now. I miss seeing the players around town (I used to live in the same complex as many of them as well as getting to play in a charity basketball game with them) and I miss being able to walk down the street a few blocks to catch the Jerome Bettis Show (he used to broadcast at Dick's Sporting Goods...only a few blocks from my first apartment.

But it was a great game. We got to watch it with Jen's family in PA and we had a lot of fun...especially when James Harrison got an interception and ran it back 100 yards for a TD just before the half. I wasn't sure who needed oxygen more...Harrison or Jen's dad Jerry. Here is a video you won't see on the news --- fans (us) celebrating the final play of the game...

Media Monday --- Sanctity of Human Life

Last week was "Sanctity of Human Life"...of course it was way overshadowed by the presidential inauguration, so if you didn't acknowledge this day at your church last Sunday you probably wouldn't even know it was here and gone. It is a day to mourn the death of all the lives lost to abortion (now over 40 million), pray for the future decisions that will be made by our leaders, and probably what gets pushed back but should be just as important --- to celebrate all those who chose to give life when it was unexpected and wasn't the easiest or most convenient choice (rare these days!).
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There was a VERY powerful video created this year for this day (published below). It will go through many of the Scriptures and reasons to choose life, but come on...it's common sense! Here is what really gets me --- the vast majority of our country is against "Partial Birth Abortion" (unfortunately our new president isn't one of them)...which basically means they believe abortion should be illegal after a certain amount of time (usually 20 weeks). So my question is this...what happens at 20 weeks? A baby at 19 weeks and 6 days is ok to destroy, but if they did it the very next day it would be considered murder and wrong? What happened overnight??? I mean come on...don't insult common sense...you are either for the destruction of the unborn, or your not. Calling it a "choice" is just as much as an insult as well...what "choice" did the baby make (or the father as far as that is concerned)?
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I often wonder what this generation will look like as people look back 100's of years from now. I know we look back just at our own country and are appalled that we actually had slavery. Then came the oppression of women and minorities. Do these things even compare to the murder of 40 million helpless victims? I think 200 years from now, people will look back in disbelief and see us as FAR worse than any other generation because we view this as a reasonable option. We would rather follow the gods of convenience, of "I'm not married", of "I can't afford this", of "This isn't what I planned", etc, etc, etc rather than the God who is the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords.

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One last rant about the "choice"...you always hear the argument, "What about those who became pregnant as the result of rape or incest"? If you don't know, if someone gets pregnant as a result of incest they have a much greater chance that the baby will be born with physical and/or mental handicaps. So I guess the "choice crowd" feels that someone who may be born with handicaps should be an automatic abortion. Even if it were a 100% guarentee, since when did being "handicapped" make you less of a person...so much so that you don't even deserve life? What is our country coming to that we would even suggest this as a valid argument?
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Keep praying for the unborn and our leaders and that God would do a mighty work in this area. And all those of you who chose to give life...praise the Lord! Enjoy the video and feel free to post your thoughts, tell me I am nuts, whatever! Sorry for such a long post...I'll keep them shorter in the future!
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