Stranger > Acquaintance > Friendship > Best Friends > Family

The title of this blog is a small and extremely succinct progression of interpersonal relationships. For most people they will agree right away that this seems to be the normal progression of how humanity in the North American and Western culture progresses to deeper and more meaningful relationships. Admittedly, there are exceptions to this progression. There may be certain circumstances that might prevent the progress, or that propel a relationship further along by skipping a step. Either way, most people would agree with this progression.

There is a popular commercial that is circulating on the Internet advertising Google+ called “Google+: Circles Love Story”. The commercial is a split screen of a man and woman using Google+ circles to define their relationship. The commercial begins with the creation of a “circle” of people and progresses from “creeper” to “maybe” to “keepers.” The reason the commercial is so captivating is because it points to the natural and often experienced reality of relational progression. It hits us right where we are and confirms our suspicions and our experiences. See commercial below.

On Steve Jobs

Steve Jobs passed away yesterday. It wasn’t something unexpected since his latest medical leave from Apple was speculated to be a result from his fight with cancer. Nonetheless, the news took me by surprise.

While I was standing in line at Peete’s, I was reading the newspaper that was left on one of the tables. The paper printed a cover story about the innovator, inventor, and black turtle-neck-wearing-czar of cool technology. As I was reading the article I was asked by a fellow patron, “pretty sad news, huh?” Yes. Of course it is sad news; death is rarely ever anything but.

The Patron calmly asserted that his death was probably better than what he was going through with cancer. “After all,” he said, “better to not exist than to exist in that kind of state.” I don’t think he really meant that. How, in any world, is it better to not exist than to exist? Non-existence can’t be better for anyone. It certainly isn’t better for the one that doesn’t exist because “better” is probably a state for people that actually exist. It certainly isn’t better for those people that do exist because a person’s existence may be inconsequential to most, but incredibly personal to others. Neither group would affirm the situation to be better. This truth seems self-evident. I can see it played out in the way our legal system functions. We send more people to prison for life than we sentence them to death because a fundamental human principle is that existence is better than non-existence.

Objective v. Subjective

I was able to preach at my church recently and I mentioned something that I have received a number of questions about. I made a comment that we live in a society and culture that operates with a subjective and relativistic approach to life and morals. But what does that even mean?

I had hoped my comment would have been easily understood, and I think it was for the most part. But the questions that came to me were ones of inquiry. Many simply wanted to know the difference between an objective standard and a subjective one. And how does preference and relativity play into that?

To understand subjectivity you might need to have a basic understanding of what objectivity is. To be objective is to be uninfluenced by opinion, preference, or emotions. Supposedly, Judges are to be objective, teachers are to be objective in their grading, and umpires are expected to be objective in their umpiring. That is to say, Judges - whether for the Olympics or in Law - are expected to make judgments from the actual performance uninfluenced by their personal opinions, preferences, and emotions related to the athlete and/or their country of origin. In Law, the Judge is expected to rule based on the facts and not on hunches, feelings, opinion, or personal vendettas. In these cases objectivity is an adjective - something that modifies a noun.

Another way to look at objectivity is to

Longing for Home

For those readers that were at Kairos last night, you are probably expecting a blog about movie watching and the condition it puts your soul in. This is not that post. This post is simply about the meaning, feeling, and purpose of what we call "home."

I have had several homes throughout my life. When I say a statement like that it gives the impression that my family moved all over the country like what is common with most military families. Truth is, we moved twice - both times within the city limits of the same town. I really can only remember one house I ever knew as home. I remember the first time I went to the house when I was about 3 and how I was bit several times by fleas that were jumping around from the carpet. And I also remember the day when I was 16 and my parents got new carpet (they didn't wait that long to get the fleas out!).

Now that I am a grown up (which I know is still debatable) I "visit" my parents in the house that I grew up in. It's a strange experience. The reality is that the house I grew up in is not really what is important. What is truly important is the feeling of home you get no matter what

The Best Judgment Day Ever!

This past weekend Heather and I and a group of leaders from Kairos went on a houseboat trip to celebrate the past year of ministry. We had a very good time laughing and talking, reading and writing, eating and sleeping, playing and relaxing. One of the highlights of the weekend was having one of the leaders confirm that Saturday was, "the best Judgment Day ever!" Of course the Saturday that he was referring to was May 21st. He was tubing behind a ski boat when he was flung 20 feet across the water and landed in the frigid water, bobbing up and down waiting for the boat to retrieve him. Once he boarded the boat, the now famous line was emphatically delivered: "this is the best Judgment Day ever!"

What I find hilarious about this comment is the logical implications that come with it: 1) When he said "best", what other Judgment Days did he have to compare with that would lead him to think Saturday was the best? Very interesting question. 2) He thought the May 21st Judgment Day was silly, but what was not silly is being thrown across a lake full of snow run-off water at 25MPH...that was what made this Judgment Day the best.

I talked with a woman at Barnes and Noble about what didn't happen on Saturday. The conversation just sprang up as I perused the Christian Living section of the bookstore. She is a self-proclaimed "intellectual"; too smart for religion. Although she did so rudely, she asked, "Aren't you kind of embarrassed by the end of the world not coming?" Wow. So, I answered her in the most honest way I could: "not any more than you are."

On Reading Books

Currently, I'm reading a book about church planting from Crossway. The book is written by Darrin Patrick who is a church planter and is vice president of Acts29 Church Planting Network and is a close associate of Mark Driscoll. Perhaps these are names that you recognize, maybe they are not. What I want to write about has little to do with what the book says, or about the men who write them. The fact that my eyes scan across ink on paper, bound with glue and called a book, is amazing.

Over the years my mom has kept pretty much all of my report cards. I have them from 1st grade through high school. I think most are accounted for and for the ones that are unaccounted for, there's probably a good reason they are "lost." By and large they exist and they tell a story.

Thoughts on OBL

There has been some pretty dramatic changes in the world over the last few days. You would have to be living under a rock to not know what I'm referring to. So, because of the well known events that have transpired, there is no reason to recap. But a great many people have begun to talk and say what they think - or at least regurgitate what someone else thinks and pawn it off as their own thoughts. So here are some of my thoughts. Many will disagree, some might agree, but at least we're thinking.

• Osama Bin Laden is dead and that is good. It is good for terrible men to no longer be afforded the opportunity to continue in their terribleness and run the risk of others joining them.