What a Trip!

Beverly and I returned home late Tuesday night from our incredible trip. We are still feeling jet-lagged, and I am dealing with another issue as well. I was on some medication that has caused me to have the hiccups. I'm talking for up to 4-1/2 hours at a time! Whew! Hopefully it will be out of my system by Sunday, because once they start I can't carry on a conversation.

We were able to visit the cities of Rome, Athens and Jerusalem. We saw the ruins of the great cities of Ephesus, Corinth and Pompeii. We toured the islands of Crete and Rhodes, and the beautiful coastline of Italy. We enjoyed quaint villages that I thought only existed in movies. It would be hard to pick out only the highlights of our trip. Probably gelato -- both Italian and Greek (they each claim to have invented it). It is awesome! Unlike any American ice cream.

Can't wait to share more about our trip in coming days. It will forever shape the way I see the Biblical text.

Mavs in 6?

Can the Mavs do it? If they do, I am really hoping it is in Game 6 on Sunday night. If not, Game 7 will be played while we sleep in Rome.

Can we please lay aside these comparisons of Lebron James being as good as Michael Jordan? What an insult to Jordan!

And Dwyane Wade is a guy that, if he was on my team, I would like. But he has been known for his theatrics through the years. So I found it ironic that after Game 4, he said something to the affect of Dirk is a great player without the dramatics. Really? Playing with 102 temperature is hardly being dramatic. And Dirk NEVER used it as an excuse, nor did he draw any attention to it.

But last night, there's Wade acting like his leg is broken. The courtside announcer (do those people ever tell you anything insightful?) said Wade was questionable for the remainder of the game. That lasted for a couple of minutes.

Come on, Mavs! Let's do it in 6. PLEASE!

Catching Up on the News

I am trying real hard to live in the moment right now. Beverly and I are preparing for a trip that I am SO excited about. We will fly to Rome and spend a day or so. Then, we will board a cruise ship that will take us to Naples, Athens (and Corinth), Ephesus, Rhodes, Crete, Jaffa and Ashdod (both in Israel). It's going to be great!

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What a cool gesture by the Rangers in drafting a guy who was paralyzed when he and a teammate collided in a game a couple of months ago. I am not going to say more because a friend of mine (Jeff) is going to be blogging about it. But what a classy move by the Rangers. And the Astros did something similar, I think.

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Anyone who ever accuses Dirk of being soft again needs to be flogged. Torn ligament in his finger? 102 degree fever? No biggie. Climb on my back, boys.

Have you ever tried to function AT ALL with 102 temperature? I can't get out of my bed -- unless it's to move to my recliner.

Any discussions of greatest players in NBA history that does not include Dirk Nowitzki are craziness. Note: I didn't say "the greatest" -- but he has to be in the mix of top players.

Colin Cowherd, are you listening?

Hollywood's New Low

There is a new show ABC is promoting that they have entitled, "Good Christian B*tches." What in the world is happening?

Can you even in your wildest dreams imagine Hollywood naming a show, "Good Moslem B*tches"? Or "Good Jewish B*tches"? I know Christians are often viewed as hypocrites in our culture. This is probably because we are the majority faith -- and thus more visible. But I am a little tired of the bashing of Christians -- even by our own! Take Christians out of this world, and what would it be like? Who on this planet are most concerned about taking care of the hungry? providing pure water for third-world countries? building hospitals for the sick? And by the way, this is not something that originated with the "emergent" Christians movement.

Can we do a better job? Absolutely! But the constant bashing and condescension toward our own is self-defeating.

But I digress.

What should our response be to ABC's plans? Well, I imagine what they WANT to happen is a loud public outcry. Why? Because, as Jerry Jones has said, even bad publicity is good. It will stir interest and get people to watch.

So here is my proposal. Let's ask ourselves what Jesus would do. And Scripture even provides us an answer in 1 Peter 2: 21-23. I am summarizing: ". . . follow in his steps . . . When they hurled insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly."

You might think, "But that won't work!" Really? Ask Gandhi. Or Martin Luther King, Jr. Or Nelson Mandela.

Perhaps the best way to handle this is for every Christian to simply not watch it. That alone would be enough for the show to bomb.