8/5 Sermon on Theology for Dummies, Part 1

Last week at The Family Church here in Gainesville, senior pastor Philip Griffin began a new sermon series that he humorously titles Theology for Dummies...not that we're all dummies, you see, but that sometimes a potentially cumbersome topic like theology needs to be broken down and simplified to its more basic elements so that all can understand.  In this message, Destructive Beliefs & Life-Changing Truths, Pastor Philip discussed the importance of using Biblical scripture as the authority guiding our lives.  Using 2 Timothy 3:1-5, 14-17 as his scriptural focus (click on the passage to read that whole chapter via Bible Gateway), he broke his message down into two sections: destructive beliefs and life-changing truths...

Pastor Philip provided three of the more pervasive destructive belief systems people face today: individualism ("I call the shots"), hedonism ("I do what feels good"), and relativism ("I decide what is right and true").  He pointed out that with individualism, it is okay and admirable for one take a personal responsibility for his or her own behavior as long as they don't make this philosophy the authority in their lives.  Hedonism in itself leads to moral numbness as well as a progressive lust for more while the fulfillment becomes progressively diminished, as our pastor pointed out.  And relativism may be the most insidious of the three as people may deceive themselves into believing they are living upright, moral lives in accordance with God's designs but refuse to accept any absolute standards...

As for life-changing truths, which supplant those negative beliefs, the overriding theme is the authority of scripture.  Philip stressed that the Bible is our authority, reliable, necessary and sufficient.  While the Old Testament stands as the original Jewish scripture, the New Testament was composed by those who lived during the "eyewitness" period of history when many around them had personally experienced Jesus's presence on Earth.  Philip added that scripture's authority cannot save...only God can do that...but it can give wisdom that leads to faith.  And he concluded that the Bible thoroughly equips us for every good work...

You can watch this message by clicking on the following link to the church's YouTube video website: [TFC Videos].  The Family Church, located at 2022 SW 122nd Street, holds its Sunday morning services at 9 and 10:30 am with praise and worship music, prayer, discipleship and learning opportunities...and of course the weekly message.  There's coffee in the hospitality room before and between services, too.  Let's see how Pastor Philip breaks down theology in simpler terms for us next week...

Weekly Short Story: Window by Bob Leman

I've read my share of stories about windows or portals into other dimensions and seen enough of the same on TV and in movies...Bob Leman's 1980 short story Window is another one.  It appears in the anthology Donald A. Wollheim Presents the 1981 Annual World's Best SF (DAW Books).  I can't discuss this sixteen-page story without giving way much of the ending, so if you're planning on reading it you're probably better off stopping here and coming back afterwards...

In Window, our military is working with some scientists on a secret project.  The most eccentric of these scientists, Culvergast, has a research station out in a remote woods clearing.  News of a most extraordinary development reaches Gilson, a skeptical government official, and the colonel on duty informs him further and takes him to the site.  He can hardly believe what he sees: in the place where the research facility once stood is a cubical extraction of another place, with its own weather!  In the middle stands a Victorian-style house much like those of the late 1800s.  Reeves, an assistant working there, reveals that there is a family living there, but they can't see out to our world.  Anything crossing the barrier between that zone and "normal" reality is instantly cut off and never seen again...with one exception. For about five seconds every fifteen hours, a hole in the barrier forms through which objects from our world can successfully pass through.  Threatened with the prospect of outside scientists and officials coming soon to interfere in the project, Reeves desperately flings himself through and lands on the other side.  Funny, turns out that the people living there aren't really people at all as we would define the term: they transform into vicious carnivores, attack him, and eat him in front of Gilson and the other horrified observers...

The story reveals that Culvergast had been researching telekinesis and seemed to have come up with the principle that underlies this ability for those practicing it.  He then tried an experiment which went awry, causing his disappearance and the presence of the now-terrifying creatures.  I will leave the very end of Window, which has elements of apocalypse to it, for you to read if you're still interested in it after all I've revealed.  I got two things from this story: one, when you open up a doorway into a new, strange place whose nature is largely unknown to you, you're also opening up a doorway from that place into your own world...this type of venture carries with it consequences.  Two, a lot of us are revolted at the site of a predator chasing down, catching, killing, and then tearing into its prey...but that's how creatures survive.  We try to separate ourselves from this brutality by compartmentalizing the farming, slaughtering, and butchering of our food, but we're no different from the monsters in Bob Leman's story in the end.  And does being a vegan really change all that, I wonder...

Tuesday's List: August 28 Primary Election in Alachua County

The state of Florida holds its primary election on Tuesday, August 28...just three weeks from now.  Voters will have several decisions to make on their ballots, although some races are unopposed...at least at the primary stage.  Depending on which party you're registered in, you will receive different ballots with your party's candidates on them to choose from...along with nonpartisan races on all ballots.  Here are the positions up for primary voting...I used the Alachua County Supervisor of Elections website to obtain them:

U.S. SENATE

U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES DISTRICT 3

FLORIDA GOVERNOR & LT. GOVERNOR

FLORIDA COMMISSIONER OF AGRICULTURE

FLORIDA ATTORNEY GENERAL

FLORIDA STATE SENATE DISTRICT 8
FLORIDA CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER

FLORIDA STATE REPRENTATIVE DISTRICTS 10, 20, 21

CIRCUIT 8 JUDGES GROUPS 3, 4, 5, 8

ALACHUA COUNTY COMMISSION DISTRICTS 2, 4

ALACHUA COUNTY JUDGE GROUP 2

ALACHUA COUNTY SCHOOL BOARD DISTRICTS 1, 3, 5

ALACHUA COUNTY SOIL & WATER CONSERVATION DISTRICT: GROUPS 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

From what I can gather at this time, unopposed primary races for Republicans are: Florida Senate District 8, and Florida Representative District 21.  For Democrats the unopposed primary races are US Senate and Florida Representative District 10.  In that body's District 20, Clovis Watson (Dem) is unopposed for both the primary and general election...a coronation of sorts.  With the Alachua County Commission District 4, Ken Cornell will likewise "run" unopposed throughout as will this county's Soil & Water Conservation District 3 candidate Danielle Sullen: don't expect to get to vote on these seats.  As for the judges up for consideration, how is anyone supposed to know which candidate to vote for: any constructive advice is welcome.  Other than mentioning the names of the individuals assured election because no one saw fit to oppose them, I deliberately left out the names of the candidates involved in contested contests, either now or for the general election in November.  That's because between now and August 28 I plan to discuss some of them on this blog...stay tuned. 

And no, there isn't a sexy presidential race on the ballot with idols and villains to choose from...just most of your government!  Voting is voluntary, unlike jury duty (unless you belong to one of the exempted categories of humanity).  So naturally since it is voluntary, the government has gone to some pains to make it more convenient, either through absentee ballots, early voting, or polling stations conveniently located near most everybody's residences.  As for early voting in Alachua County, the Supervisor of Elections site lists five locations:

Supervisor of Elections Office

515 N. Main Street, Gainesville

Millhopper Branch Library

3145 NW 43rd Street, Gainesville

Tower Road Branch Library

3020 SW 75th Street, Gainesville

Legacy Park Multipurpose Center

15400 Peggy Road, Alachua

Melrose United Methodist Church

5802 Hampton Street, Melrose

Early voting at one of the above locations will be from Saturday, August 18 and last through Saturday, August 25 with the voting hours on all days being 9 am to 6 pm...

Just Finished Reading Mean Streak by Sandra Brown

Sandra Brown is a prolific romance and thriller writer, rapidly churning out books each year under her own name and others.  I'd never read anything of hers until I recently checked out her 2014 novel Mean Streak from my local public library.  Previously, I had avoided romance literature and thought that this particular book would veer away from that genre.  To some extent it did, but Brown nevertheless felt the need to inject graphic romantic interludes that she apparently is comfortable with in other novels. It seemed a bit awkward because they really weren't necessary to advance the story or the characters...I'm guessing that a lot of Sandra Brown's fans expect this stuff with her books and so there it is.  Aside from that, I liked the suspense and mystery as Emory, a married young woman doctor in Georgia, after falling during a solo twenty-mile training run in the high wilderness along the North Carolina border, wakes up in a strange man's isolated cabin.  This man, who claims to have found her unconscious and brought her back to care for her, refuses to take her back down the mountain to civilization because of the fog.  Emory strongly suspects him of having attacked and abducted her...who is he (he won't name himself) and why does he seem to be hiding way up here?  Meanwhile, Emory's husband Jeff, who is having an affair behind her back with Alice (one of her physician colleagues), comes under suspicion from the local sheriff's office when she doesn't return after a few days missing...

I thought Sandra Brown had a terrific story here, and it wasn't until I was about three quarters of the way through it until I began to suspect who turned out to be the culprit...Mean Streak, more than anything, is a mystery thriller...with some seedy romance thrown in.  If that's your preferred kind of reading, go for it!  She is a good storyteller...maybe I'll explore other books of hers, although that might not happen for a little while...

Yet Another Star Trek TV Series Coming

It doesn't look as if the Star Trek franchise as it relates to television series will ever be a thing of the past, only found through reruns or Netflix, and news has been released as to future plans.  Entertainment Weekly, through my MSN computer newsfeed, has announced that Patrick Stewart will return in a new Star Trek series, donning one again his beloved role of Jean-Luc Picard from Star Trek: The Next Generation.  Picard will be portrayed later on in his life, which makes sense unless Stewart plans on going through Botox or extensive makeup work for every filming.  CBS plans to broadcast it as a regular network series...I'm looking forward to it, although in all frankness I still have yet to view most of the episodes in the previous  Star Trek series.  I saw all of the original series episodes starring William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy, a fraction of Stewart's Next Generation, and very few of Deep Space Nine or Voyager.  I watched none of Enterprise, which wasn't allowed to conclude its run before being cancelled, nor of Discovery, which is has been on CBS since last year and predates even Enterprise on the Star Trek timeline.  I'm interested in the new series, though, because I'm a fan of Stewart and came to prefer the Next Generation episodes in which he was the main actor...sometimes they could get a bit sidetracked and, in my opinion, boring when they focused on one of the side characters.  Well, we'll see what comes of this...

Just Finished Reading Deliver Us from Evil by David Baldacci

I was first introduced to David Baldacci...who tends to write cloak and dagger spy novels...when I checked out one of his books from my local public library.  It was from his Camel Club series but wasn't the first book...causing continual annoyance throughout it whenever a reference to something or someone from an earlier book was given.  I vowed then to subsequently be careful not to start reading a novel in mid-series, but sometimes I goof up and do it anyway...Baldacci's 2010 novel (once again spy-oriented) Deliver Us from Evil is the most recent example.  It's the second in a developing series featuring the protagonist A. Shaw, a tough, smart guy in the James Bond mold who works for a shadow troubleshooting arm of our government.  There are pros and cons to getting involved in a series, both from the author's and from the reader's viewpoints.  An author, when discovering that his or her "first" book has taken off in popularity, can often decide to expand it into a series that is almost guaranteed to continue to rake in the sales every couple of years or so with each new story.  One the other hand, authors doing this can find themselves the target of criticism if they're perceived to be tardy with their expected output...look at the flack that George R.R. Martin is receiving (largely from me) with his delay in finishing his next A Song of Ice and Fire ("Game of Thrones") book.  Readers, for their part, if they take a liking to the series, can count on a rewarding string of reading adventures. But if it's suspense-based, they already know that the series protagonist is in no real danger and will survive to the next installment.  And they have to take care to read the books in chronological order lest they miss the continually developing background story...even if, like Baldacci's novels or that Kinsey Millhone series of the late Sue Grafton, each book has a separate, self-contained main story line.  My irritation with the missing background story to Deliver Us from Evil notwithstanding, I still enjoyed it while keeping in mind that it is largely escapist literature with an intrepid, though flawed, hero struggling though personal issues to save the day. The story has three adversarial groups: how will they align?  There's Shaw and his superior/helper Frank, the bad guy Evan Waller...an evil businessman who makes money through human trafficking and who has a suspected past in the KGB, and a vigilante assassination group working first to rid the world of Nazi war criminals and then to bump off anyone else they don't particularly like.  The "protagonist" of this organization is Reggie Campion, a young woman with her own past to deal with.  How Shaw, Waller, and Campion come together...well, guess you're gonna hafta read that for yourself...

I give a qualified recommendation for Deliver Us from Evil, but you probably would be better off first reading its predecessor, titled The Whole Truth.  Apparently, that introductory book in the series contains more about journalist Katie James, who also appeared in the book I just read but wasn't as central a character.  I like David Baldacci's writing...I also just recently read a standalone novel of his titled One Summer...so far I haven't found anything I dislike...

Quote of the Week...from Confucius

It doesn't matter how slow you go as long as you don't stop.         ---Confucius.

I have to mention up front that Confucius, the famous Chinese philosopher of antiquity, did not live in a technologically advanced, industrial society where work is evaluated by productivity, i.e. how much and how well one produces the required product as a function of time, sometimes measured down to the second.  In my job, I wouldn't be considered a good employee were I just to slowly go about my assignments with no regard to how long I take...your situation, if you happen to be employed, is probably similar...and the consuming public in today's world of instant gratification seems to have lost any semblance of patience.   But you don't have to be an active member of the work force to be affected by time limitations and the need to go a little faster and be prompt.  If you're going to school, you often have to do your assignments at a brisk pace and quickly pack into your brain the material needed for tests. Appointments are pervasive in our lives...juggling them around in our schedules can sometimes involve rushing around, the opposite of Confucius's exhortation. If you like sports, chances are that going fast is an important element for success with whichever team or athlete you're following...including possibly yourself if you're an active participant.  And if you're driving down the road, going slow in itself can present a safety hazard to others if your speed is far below the surrounding traffic flow.  So in today's world the above quote has to be taken with some significant qualifications.  Still...

I think what Confucius was getting at is the importance of continuity in our lives.  For example, if you've read this eleven-year old blog of mine for any amount of time you'll know that I am an avid runner...yet speed rarely enters into this activity as I am more interested in covering distances.  That, I believe, is a wise priority since I'm almost 62 and my days of personal record times are a thing of the past.  Yet as I age, I can still cover those distances with slower running...and mix that running with walking breaks.  But continuity also matters when you consider instilling daily habits.  I believe that if you make a daily routine out of consistently doing something that will enhance your life and possibly others'...even if you do whatever it is slowly...then that element will become a integral part of who you are even if you're not setting speed records.  No point in doing everything at a breakneck pace...there's already enough outside pressure going on without us doing this to ourselves...

7/29 Sermon on Upward Habits, Part 7

Last Sunday at The Family Church here in Gainesville the sermon series Upward Habits continued, with the discussion centered on prayer.  Presenting the message was Gbola Adesogan, an elder at our church and a powerful and persuasive speaker...I was unable to attend due to travel at the time, and the sermon wasn't available on YouTube because of licensing issues.  But I was able to get hold of the sermon notes and, although I would have greatly preferred to hear Gbola's talk directly, they will have to do for this article.  The scripture of focus, which you can read through Bible Gateway by clicking on it, was John 5:2-9...

For his message about praying consistently and tactically, Gbola brought up four foundational points: prayer is urgently necessary as God commands it, there is a strategy to effectively pray, those praying show certain attitudes and postures, and prayer should be intentional.  Since it is, after all, the foundation of Christ's ministry and it helps us experience God, prayer is clearly necessary...Gbola added that it protects us, shapes plans and events, and is the key to all problems and challenges. With strategy, he stressed the importance of recognizing and targeting the true enemy while exalting God and not one's own problems...and also provided the acronym ACTS (adoration, confession, thanksgiving, supplication) to help as a memory device for the elements of prayer.  Attitudes and posture of those praying? Gbola listed many: surrendering sin and grudges, awe for God, focus, attentiveness, connection to God by faith, passion, humility, and in the end giving God...and not oneself...the credit for answered prayer.  As for intentionality, preparing for prayer requires...as our speaker continued...setting aside a time and place, fasting if necessary, and being willing to pray with others...including one's spouse... or in a group setting.  Of course, this very rough summary of Gbola's message reflects his notes and not his actual presentation...I'm sure that I would have included some of his spoken comments had I been able to hear them.  Oh well, the notes were pretty good, and there may be a chance I'll eventually get to watch the sermon if those issues get resolved.  The main thing is that prayer is important and should be approached seriously, intentionally, reverently, and with humility...

The Family Church, located at 2022 SW 122nd Street, holds its Sunday morning services at 9 and 10:30 with the weekly sermon, praise and worship, prayer, discipleship and learning opportunities, and many friendly folks eager to welcome you.  There's a hospitality room where you can get coffee and treats before and between services...I usually make a beeline for it when I first arrive.  Looking forward to this Sunday's service...

Weekly Short Story: Unaccompanied Sonata by Orson Scott Card

Sometimes I come across a story whose intended meaning may be very different from what I get from it...science fiction writer Orson Scott Card's 1979 short story Unaccompanied Sonata is a case in point.  It's a part of the anthology The 1980 Annual World's Best SF (DAW Books), but you can probably get access to it elsewhere...

The setting is Earth at an unspecified time in the far distant future.  A utopia of sorts has settled upon humanity, with children rigorously tested as to their inclinations and talents from infancy until they turn two...and then assigned life-long roles in which they will most be "happy" and content, productive members of a society that no longer accepts discontent and violence among its members. Christian Haroldsen is born into this world and quickly is revealed through his many tests to be a musical prodigy...and then taken from his parents and sent into isolation in the woods where his musical development will be completely original and unaffected by the works of others...he is now one of the Makers.  There are other people who have been tested and assigned the role of Listeners...from time to time they will visit nearby and listen to the music Christian has made and plays on the complex keyboard instrument provided him.  But one day a Listener slips Christian some music by Bach...his own music slightly changes as a result, catching the attention of another group: the Watchers.  When confronted with this "violation", the story turns down a darker path...making an already suspect "utopia" in effect a very disturbing dystopia...

Unaccompanied Sonata resurrects the age-old notion of people being sorted into classes or castes in which they are expected to live out the rest of their lives...the testing early on supposedly places them in areas in which they will thrive, but are people really like that?  Don't we all diverge from time to time and rebel a bit?  And since when does whatever one is inclined toward as a baby determine their life's course?  Then again, this system does seem to curb society away from war and violence...but why not instead just implement a very intensive universal education of nonviolence and positive interaction among the very young instead of this battery of aptitude tests?  So I'm consequently somewhat dissatisfied with Card's tale...but it did remind me of a trend I've noticed in today's real world...

I like to study foreign languages, although I'm not much of a linguist.  When folks encounter me studying out in public...say in a coffee shop...I often get a quizzical reaction and the automatic question: what am I going to do with it?  The same goes whenever I'm "caught" doing math problems out of a textbook or workbook, as if I am somehow operating outside their notion of the kind of person I am "supposed" to be.  It all seems a bit silly to me...I'm enjoying the challenge of progressively learning new things for their own sake without a special agenda in mind.  But to certain others, just studying in some fields in itself bothers them...there has to be an end game to it all.  The screwed-up utopia in Unaccompanied Sonata is controlled by powerful elements in society who have taken upon themselves the assignment of what people are allowed to engage in...even to the point of what music they can listen to. That "end game" becomes the driving, imperative force with undue pressure placed upon children as their futures are laid out for them by the tests they take, after which they are place in specialized areas beyond which they are NEVER to venture.  Not cool, I say...as R.E.M.'s lyricist Michael Stipe wrote in their hit song Losing My Religion, "Life is bigger...it's bigger than you, and you are not me": let us all be vigilant and watch out that well-intentioned social engineering never progressively supplant our precious liberties...

My July 2018 Running Report

In July I slid back some from my progress in June, although I did manage to participate in a race: the modest three-mile Melon Run held on the morning of July Fourth at Westside Park here in Gainesville.  My month's total mileage went down from June to 68 miles as did my longest single run: a measly 3.3 miles.  I missed a couple of days running in July, so although my running declined, at least I was holding to a routine sorts.  I'd like to be able to run some races in the fall, so hopefully my distance training will pick back up in August.  We'll see...

Tuesday's List: Some More of My Favorite Movies of Various Actors

This list contains some more actors that I missed in last week's...still, I left out an awful lot of great performances.  And to illustrate how limited my movie-viewing experience is...even at my relatively advanced age...there were a couple for whom I could only list two movies.  Still, I didn't want to leave them out...so here's my list of favorite films by actor, once again in no particular order:

PETER SELLERS
1 DOCTOR STRANGELOVE
2 A SHOT IN THE DARK
2 THE MOUSE THAT ROARED

ROBERT DE NIRO
1 TAXI DRIVER
2 THE GODFATHER, PART 2
3 CASINO

HALLE BERRY
1 CATWOMAN
2 DIE ANOTHER DAY
3 CLOUD ATLAS

ROBIN WILLIAMS
1 ONE HOUR PHOTO
2 JUMANJI
3 MOSCOW ON THE HUDSON

SIDNEY POITIER
1 TO SIR, WITH LOVE
2 A RAISIN IN THE SUN
3 THE JACKAL

GREGORY PECK
1 MIRAGE
2 SPELLBOUND
2 THE BOYS FROM BRAZIL

NATALIE WOOD
1 WEST SIDE STORY
2 MIRACLE ON 34TH STREET
3 REBEL WITHOUT A CAUSE

JOE PESCI
1 MY COUSIN VINNY
2 GOODFELLAS
3 CASINO

JACK NICHOLSON
1 CHINATOWN
2 ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO'S NEST
3 EASY RIDER

LAWRENCE OLIVIER
1 MARATHON MAN
2 THE BOYS FROM BRAZIL
3 THE WORLD AT WAR (series narrator)

ROBERT SHAW
1 JAWS
2 FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE
3 DIAMONDS

JOAN CRAWFORD
1 HUSH HUSH SWEET CHARLOTTE
2 WHATEVER HAPPENED TO BABY JANE

GEORGE C. SCOTT
1 PATTON
2 DOCTOR STRANGELOVE
3 FIRESTARTER

KURT RUSSELL
1 BACKDRAFT
2 DEATH PROOF
3 VANILLA SKY

GOLDIE HAWN
1 PRIVATE BENJAMIN
2 SHAMPOO
3 SEEMS LIKE OLD TIMES

RICARD DREYFUSS
1 CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND
2 JAWS
3 MR. HOLLAND'S OPUS 

JOHN TRAVOLTA
1 PULP FICTION
2 SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER
3 FACE/OFF

SHARON STONE
1 CASINO
2 TOTAL RECALL
3 BASIC INSTINCT

JAVIER BARDEM
1 NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN
2 SKYFALL

JOHN CAZALE
1 THE GODFATHER, PARTS 1 AND 2
2 DOG DAY AFTERNOON
3 THE CONVERSATION

FRED GWYNNE
1 PET SEMATARY
2 THE MUNSTERS (TV series)
3 MY COUSIN VINNY

WARREN BEATTY
1 HEAVEN CAN WAIT
2 BONNIE AND CLYDE
3 SHAMPOO

SEAN CONNERY
1 YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE
2 DOCTOR NO
3 THUNDERBALL

ROY SCHEIDER
1 JAWS
2 2010
3 MARATHON MAN

JOANNE WOODWARD
1 SYBIL
2 THE THREE FACES OF EVE
3 A FINE MADNESS

HENRY FONDA
1 THE WRONG MAN
2 MISTER ROBERTS
3 ADVISE AND CONSENT

CHARLTON HESTON
1 PLANET OF THE APES
2 MIDWAY
3 BENEATH THE PLANET OF THE APES

BILL MURRAY
1 GROUNDHOG DAY
2 STRIPES
3 GHOSTBUSTERS

JASON ROBARDS
1 THE DAY AFTER
2 YOU CAN'T TAKE IT WITH YOU
3 ALL THE PRESIDENT'S MEN

NICHOLAS CAGE
1 NATIONAL TREASURE
2 GHOST RIDER
3 MOONSTRUCK

JEFF GOLDBLUM
1 THANK GOD IT'S FRIDAY
2 INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS
3 JURASSIC PARK

JANET LEIGH
1 PSYCHO
2 MAN FROM U.N.C.L.E. (TV episode "Concrete Overcoat Affair")
3 THE MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE

DONALD SUTHERLAND
1 THE HUNGER GAMES (all four movies)
2 M.A.S.H.
3 INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS

Most Pro Soccer Leagues Starting a New Season

The 2018-19 season for most of the world's premier soccer leagues has just begun or is about to begin in the next two to three weeks...Mexico's Liga MX regular season is already a week old.  For most of the rest there is still a short wait...but in the meantime some of the top European teams from different leagues have been playing each other in the International Champion's Cup...sounds impressive and important doesn't it? Fact check: they are only exhibition matches, held in the United States and other countries to promote more interest in the sport.  However, these games, also called "friendlies", while bringing with them most of the rosters of the different participating teams, are missing the star attractions...where are Messi, Ronaldo, Neymar, and the rest?  Well, Chelsea is one of those featured teams and its manager/coach Jose Mourinho has recently complained that his best players are missing because they are recuperating from the recent World Cup, making his club appear worse than they are.  But I've seen these International Champion's Cup matches in past years when there hadn't been a World Cup and the stars were still often missing from the field.  Still, even without them it's fun to watch these matches...I noticed that since they don't actually "count" in the standings or official tournaments, there are a lot fewer spectacles of players feigning injuries to impress the officials after fouls as they writhe around on the ground with masks of agony...only to get up a few seconds later and sprint down the field...

It looks as if television will cover the upcoming soccer leagues as they did last year.  Univision, along with Galavision at times, will cover much of the Mexican soccer (in Spanish, of course) while NBC/Sports and NBC will show the English Premier League, most of whose matches take place (from our time vantage point here) on Saturday and Sunday mornings.  Germany's Bundesliga will have their games...often delayed or on replay...broadcast by Fox 1 and Fox 2 Sports.  America's Major League Soccer, which has been going on since spring and whose regular season is winding down toward the playoffs, can be seen on a number of different channels although most of their matches can only be viewed through special paid subscription...a policy I think is foolish when they are trying to stir up more interest in the sport within this country.  What teams am I following? UANL Tigres in Mexico, Leicester City and Arsenal in England, Orlando City and Portland in Major League Soccer...and Bayern Munich in the Bundesliga, for no other reason than I might as well since they win the championship every year, why not?  One side note: Cristiano Ronaldo, arguably the world's best soccer player and who had been playing for Real Madrid in Spain's La Liga the last few years, has jumped leagues over to Italy's Serie A and will being playing for Juventus this year.  Maybe that will help to boost that league's stature among the others after its recent decline the past few years... 

Indiana, Temperatures, Running, Baseball, Gator Football

This entry stands as a hodge-podge of different items, as its title strongly suggests...

My wonderful wife Melissa is off to Indiana at her seminary for a couple of weeks to complete a couple of her required courses.  I'm missing her already, although I drove her to the airport just this morning.  May everything go well "up" there!

I understand the temperatures in northern Indiana right now are more temperate and comfortable then here in sweltering northern Florida...the heat and humidity have definitely interfered with my running (as has a recent week of jury duty).  There's a long distance race here in Gainesville in November (the Tom Walker Memorial Half-Marathon) that I've run a couple of times in the past...I sure would like to be in shape to run it.  Guess I'll have to come up with some alternate ways of building my endurance back up during these dog days of summer...including more frequently using the treadmill at my local stupendously air-conditioned gym...

Speaking of sports, Major League Baseball just finished the All-Star break and it looks as if my two Floridian teams, Tampa Bay and Miami, won't be going anywhere in the post-season (as most have predicted they wouldn't). The Rays, however, have surprised a lot a folks (including myself) by being a strong third place in the American League East...the Marlins, with their previous star lineup decimated by incoming team president Derek Jeter, are predictably in last place in their National League East Division.  Looks like the Red Sox, Yankees, Indians, and defending World Series champions Houston are in line to make the playoffs in the American League with Seattle and Oakland fighting for the last spot.  The National League is much more wide open, with Philadelphia, Atlanta, Washington, Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Louis, Los Angeles, Pittsburgh, Arizona, Colorado, and even San Francisco still in the hunt for the postseason.  Sometimes I'll come across a televised game while surfing around, but I rarely watch it in its entirety...and it really doesn't matter who's playing or what the score is: I like to take each half-inning on its own terms as the strategies unfold between the pitchers, batters, fielders, and managers...

It won't be too much longer before the University of Florida begins the Dan Mullen era of football.  It used to be that the term "era" referred to several years, but recently with the stunted "eras" of the last two coaches we've had, it's getting to be a sad joke when a new one gets hired as we wonder how long he'll last.  I have a better feeling about Mullen, though: not only has he been very successful the last few years in coaching Mississippi State, but he was also offensive coordinator under Urban Meyer and taught Tim Tebow a few things about how to play quarterback in college football...the Gators are in desperate need to have a good offensive season after eight straight dismal ones.  Now if the new head coach can just keep his players from being arrested...

Musical Interests Veering Away from Alternative Rock, Toward Metal and Classical

Well, I pretty much said it all in this article's title...now for me to expand it into a paragraph or two.  Usually by this time of year I've already compiled a short list of current songs I like for the ongoing year.  In late July of 2018 the list has but one song, and it is really from last year: Arcade Fire's Creature Comfort.  I keep tuning in to my local alternative rock station, 100.5 WHHZ "The Buzz", but other than some retro hits I'm picking up on nothing that I like...has the genre changed or have I?  I still have WUFT/Classical on 102.7 as the default local station on my car radio, and I often listen on my smartphone to WQXR, the famous classical music station out of New York.  But there's a genre that I had hitherto avoided but now enjoy hearing from time to time: heavy metal...

I would probably listen to heavy metal music...the more intense the better...for longer periods were it not for the dismal lyrical themes that accompany the genre and its performers.  I don't see why so much of it is involved with death and spiritual darkness, yet that seems to be the mindset embedded within so many of its artists...or at least that's how they like to portray themselves.  Too bad: although instrumentally I think that some of it bears well artistically, even to the level of classical music, I can't take the negativity of the words being screamed out...and it gets so dogmatic and predictable to the point where each song seems to be a parody of the genre.  I think heavy metal needs to break free of its stereotypical lyrical chains and speak to a broader listening audience...I think it would boom in popularity were this to happen.  I hear there are Christian heavy metal bands...well, maybe that's a good area for me to explore.  Also, if I could just dispense with lyrics and singers and just listen to the music...are there any purely instrumental heavy metal acts out there?

Quote of the Week...from Michael McDonald

I don't use my blog anymore.  All the people I'm trying to reach are on Facebook.
                                                                    ---Michael McDonald

The Michael McDonald in the above 2011 quote...taken from a New York Times article by Verne G. Kopytoff...isn't the famous singer/songwriter of Doobie Brothers fame.  At the time of the quote this Michael McDonald was an aspiring young filmmaker who had been blogging to promote his videos.  When his viewership declined in direct correlation to Facebook's rise to prominence, he stopped his blog in favor of the new social media site.  I know his lament: I started this very blog back in 2007, before Facebook and when personal blogging was being heavily promoted on the Internet.  I used to get feedback from across the country and even abroad, although I did nothing to promote my blog...it has always been for me primarily a disciplined exercise in writing.  I did notice, like with Mr. McDonald, that no one was commenting on my articles anymore...other than spam sources... by around 2011-12.  So I decided in 2013 to begin placing links to my blog entries on Facebook...the difference now with the comments or "likes" I occasionally receive is that I know the folks making them while before it could be anybody with Internet access, from anywhere in the world...

This blog, which you are probably reading via Facebook, is actually a Google site and is still available worldwide as much so as it was eleven years ago.  The difference since Facebook's advent is that the potential reading audience has vastly shrunk due to people's drift away from "universal" interaction that characterized the blogosphere in the first decade of this century and toward exclusively associating with those they are familiar with...a tendency toward clannishness, something I find unhealthy.  Still, Facebook has been good to me over the past five years and I relish the connection with people I had lost contact with over the years, as well as with my friends and family around me now.  But I miss the more cosmopolitan nature of blogging whereby people across the planet were increasingly exploring others' blogs and establishing groundbreaking connections...Facebook pretty much smashed that once-promising trend...

7/22 Sermon on Upward Habits, Part 6

At The Family Church here in Gainesville last Sunday, senior pastor Philip Griffin delivered the sixth installment in the ongoing Upward Habits sermon series with the message Relationships of Accountability.  As always, the Bible served as the focus: this day it was Mark 2:1-5, which you can read via Bible Gateway by clicking on it.  The text refers to the time in the ministry of Jesus when he was speaking to many people crowded within a house...a paralyzed man's four friends, faithful about the Lord's healing power but unable to reach him through the crowd, carried their crippled friend to the roof, made a hole, and lowered him through the ceiling.  Jesus was moved and forgave the paralytic of his sins...because of his friends' faith.  The question Pastor Philip posed is "Who do we have to carry us through life?"

So why do we need accountability?  Philip structured his answer around four reasons: because we all need to be loved, carried, strengthened by the faith of others, and healed.  With being loved, we need it even when...no, especially when we are acting in "high-maintenance" mode and are not all that lovable.  Only through God's grace can we change ourselves...that environment of grace enables the kind of Godly fellowship we need.  With the need to be carried, most of us are not physically paralyzed, but our emotional and/or spiritual paralysis cries out for help...we need others to pick us up, as Philip pointed out.  And yes, the faith of others strengthens us...Pastor Philip emphasized...that as we bring others to Jesus we need enough faith to know that he is good and able to heal them.  Finally, we all need healing: our pastor noted that the "easy" healing Jesus performed was the physical one...the spiritual healing through the forgiveness of the paralytic's sins was his more profound healing.  Philip concluded his message by referring to the accountability questions of John Wesley that believers can use as they develop Godly accountability relationships with others...they vary from website to website, but here is one link that most closely imitates the list we were provided: [Wesley Questions]…

The Family Church, at 2022 SW 122nd Street, meets each Sunday morning at 9 and 10:30 for its weekly services.  There is the message, praise and worship music, prayer and discipleship opportunities, a hospitality room with coffee and treats, and a lot of very friendly people.  If you'd like to watch Pastor Philip's message about accountability in its entirety, just click on the following link to the church's YouTube video website: [TFC Videos]...

Weekly Short Story: N. by Stephen King

No, the above article title doesn't contain a typo: the story I'm discussing today...actually more of a novella than a short story...is N., appearing in what I consider to be one of Stephen King's best collections of his short fiction: the 2008 Just After Sunset.  When I first read it right after the book came out, I knew right away that this was a classic, and I hold firm to that conclusion.  The abbreviated title refers to a Maine psychiatrist's coded reference in his notes to a patient of his...what happened to that patient, along with the reason that Dr. John (or Johnny) Bonsaint's papers are now in the hands of his sister Sheila, form the launching pad for this venture into the sometimes murky distinction between what one perceives and what is really out there.  You see, Johnny has committed suicide and Sheila is desperately searching for his reasons when she comes across N.'s story, which the author proceeds to relate...

In a typically "Stephen King" creepy part of rural Maine, along a winding river, lies Ackerman Field, hard to get to and even harder for N., who while photographing the rustic scenery stumbles upon the field, which is beyond a gate with a NO TRESPASSING sign.  Drawn somehow by the field beyond, he goes past the barrier and sees eight vertical stones sticking up out of the ground in a rough circle.  Wait, or is it seven stones...and is that dark presence within them simply an optical play on his eyes?  N. looks through his camera lens and once again sees eight stones...and the darkness is gone.  Looking with his own eyes, he sees eight again...and thus begins an inexorable chain of increasing obsessive compulsive behavior designed to keep the number at eight, lest the evil thing within escape into our universe...and N. is convinced that it, along with other unspeakable monsters following behind, would then devour our reality...

Stephen King masterfully displayed the actions and inner thinking of someone afflicted with full-blown, life-disrupting OCD.  Throughout the experiences of N., it's never completely clear as to how much of what he is perceiving is coming from him and how much is objectively real.  But one thing is certain: either his obsessive-compulsiveness or that causing it is very, very contagious...

N. has become one of my all-time favorite Stephen King stories. It's a combination horror story and psychological thriller of the highest order.  Sometimes an author will load up his short story collections with forgettable and shallow tales, but I've found that while I like some of Stephen King's short stories more than others, it's tales like N. that often surpass the quality of his more renowned longer works...

Tuesday's List: My Top Three Movies of Various Actors

Here is a list of my top three favorite films that various actors have starred or appeared in.  No, I couldn't include everybody and probably missed a few of your favorites.  Also, for a particular actor I may have excluded a movie they were in that you like...there are three reasons this might happen: (1) I haven't yet seen the movie, (2) I didn't like the movie and/or their performance in it, or (3) it was a good movie but just didn't make the list.  There's no particular order in how I present the actors below...hope you enjoy going through it...

HARRISON FORD
1 MOSQUITO COAST
2 RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK
3 STAR WARS 

HUMPHREY BOGART
1 THE MALTESE FALCON
2 CASABLANCA
3 THE CAINE MUTINY

RICHARD PRYOR
1 STIR CRAZY
2 SILVER STREAK
3 BUSTIN' LOOSE

BRUCE WILLIS
1 THE SIXTH SENSE
2 THE JACKAL
3 SIN CITY

TOM CRUISE
1 RAIN MAN
2 EYES WIDE SHUT
3 VANILLA SKY

JULIE ANDREWS
1 THE SOUND OF MUSIC
2 THOROUGHLY MODERN MILLIE
3 MARY POPPINS

SAMUEL L. JACKSON
1 PULP FICTION
2 STAR WARS REVENGE OF THE SITH
3 STAR WARS THE CLONE WARS

JAMES STEWART
1 VERTIGO
2 REAR WINDOW
3 IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE

GARY COOPER
1 SERGEANT YORK
2 HIGH NOON
3 PRIDE OF THE YANKEES

TOM HANKS
1 FORREST GUMP
2 SAVING PRIVATE RYAN
3 BRIDGE OF SPIES

JOHN WAYNE
1 RED RIVER
2 THE GREEN BERETS
3 SANDS OF IWO JIMA

SALLY FIELD
1 SYBIL
2 SMOKEY AND THE BANDIT
3 LINCOLN

LAWRENCE FISHBURN
1 THE MATRIX
2 APOCALYPSE NOW
3 THE MATRIX RELOADED

MARLON BRANDO
1 THE GODFATHER
2 ON THE WATERFRONT
3 APOCALYPSE NOW

FAYE DUNAWAY
1 BONNIE AND CLYDE
2 NETWORK
3 LITTLE BIG MAN

ROBERT DUVALL
1 THE GODFATHER, PARTS 1 & 2
2 APOCALYPSE NOW
3 TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD

AUDREY HEPBURN
1 MY FAIR LADY
2 BREAKFAST AT TIFFANY'S
3 SABRINA

GENE HACKMAN
1 THE CONVERSATION
2 SUPERMAN 1 & 2
3 BONNIE AND CLYDE

GENE WILDER
1 THE PRODUCERS
2 STIR CRAZY
3 YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN

ROBERT REDFORD
1 THREE DAYS OF THE CONDOR
2 BRUBAKER
3 BUTCH CASSIDY AND THE SUNDANCE KID

PAUL NEWMAN
1 BUTCH CASSIDY AND THE SUNDANCE KID
2 HARPER
3 COOL HAND LUKE

DUSTIN HOFFMAN
1 LITTLE BIG MAN
2 MARATHON MAN
3 MIDNIGHT COWBOY

AL PACINO
1 DOG DAY AFTERNOON
2 THE GODFATHER, PARTS 1 & 2
3 THE SCENT OF A WOMAN

DIANE KEATON
1 THE GODFATHER, PARTS 1 & 2
2 ANNIE HALL
3 LOOKING FOR MR. GOODBAR

Just Finished Reading The Man Who Was Thursday: A Nightmare by G.K. Chesterton

English writer G.K. Chesterton came out with his short novel The Man Who Was Thursday: A Nightmare in 1908, during the middle of a historic period in which anarchists wreaked havoc across the world...one of them assassinated our own president, William McKinley, in 1901.  In Chesterton's tale, set in England, this movement is the central theme as two poets with different worldviews meet in a park.  During their discussion about their respective philosophies, Gregory reveals his belief in the destruction of society's institutions for the greater good of humanity...he is an anarchist.  Syme counters his argument by exalting the law and the beauty of order that society bestows on us.  The two conclude with Gregory inviting Syme, who expresses doubt as to the degree of Gregory's commitment to anarchism, to a real anarchists' meeting...only he must swear an oath to never speak of it to others.  Once at the meeting place, Syme turns the tables on Gregory and elicits a corresponding secrecy oath from his fellow poet: having it, he reveals that he is working undercover for the police and is infiltrating anarchist groups.  Both feel bound by their oaths, but Gregory is very uncomfortable in the presence of an undercover cop...so when he is nominated to be the local chapter's representative to the general council, he makes a weak speech toning down the severity of their plans.  Then Syme unexpectedly rises up and opposes him, making a thundering and passionate address supporting anarchism and its violence.  The members enthusiastically choose Syme over Gregory to be Thursday...that's the cover name...and the winner now has to meet with this group that organizes and oversees anarchist activities.  Syme is introduced to the others...each named by a day of the week...with Sunday, a very large, charismatic man, leading them all.  There, I've given you enough background story...you can read the rest yourself, but beware: while certain subsequent events might lead you to make your own conclusions as to where it will all lead, the ending is nothing short of puzzling...

Chesterton put an enormous amount of humor in The Man Who Was Thursday, and the developing situation as the tale progresses is nothing short of ridiculous.  Had the ending been a little clearer, who knows, this might have been a more universally known and liked story.  In a few movies I've seen of late, like Fight Club, Vanilla Sky, and American Psycho, they seem to deliberately confuse the viewer as to what is real and what isn't...and who exactly is who.  I know a lot of us enjoy being messed with like this, but I don't...when I first discovered as a kid that Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz had dreamt everything up, I thought it all was a cop-out...although back then the term didn't yet exist for me.  There is a message...or maybe more appropriately...a moral at the end of this perplexing-yet-funny story, but the question of what is real and what isn't obscured it all for me and detracted from my enjoyment.  Why not check out The Man Who Was Thursday: A Nightmare and tell me what you think?  You're sure to get a few good laughs from it, although I bet you'll also be scratching your head in bewilderment at the end...

Media Outlets Making Money Off the People They Interview for Free

Media outlets make money off the people they interview for free...does this bother you?  It bugs me, although I acknowledge that the overall flow of information might be seriously slowed were they obliged to pay folks for asking them questions and then airing them.  My mind keeps going back to Fox News celebrity Jesse Watters, a likeable young man who made his name on the old Bill O'Reilly show going up and down city streets and exposing the abject ignorance of people at large when they couldn't correctly answer the simplest questions.  Now Jesse is a millionaire and his star only keeps rising...after O'Reilly was canned in disgrace for his sex scandals, Watters has been given his own prime time show on that channel.  I don't know about you, but I for one would never sign any release for a street-side interview with any for-profit news organization, especially those with a reputation for spinning the news in a specific direction and whose stars are soaking themselves in wealth...unless they in turn paid me for my contribution to their profits.   It's one thing to say that paying people to be interviewed would ethically taint objectivity and somehow violate journalism ethics: it's another for companies and their employees to nearly universally practice this behavior...excluding special paid interviews...while always carefully looking after their own financial bottom line.  Sure, it can be argued that with more public figures like government officials the press needs unimpeded access to them without a demand for compensation.  And many artists, athletes, and others aspiring to public fame and wealth see any media exposure...paid or unpaid...as something to be sought after.  But for me...and most of us as well...I don't believe it is proper for others to enrich themselves at our expense...