by Greg

Beautifully Stained

stainingI wrote a new song recently. Actually, I wrote two. (That was quite odd. Two in one day was a new experience for me.)

To be fair, these songs are not actually yet fully complete. I’m certain that I will tweak them musically as well we lyrically. But for the most part, two near-complete songs were birthed within the span of only a couple hours.

Even more special was the fact that one of the songs reminded me very much of a musician friend of mine, so I sent him the lyric to that song as well as a rough recording (because the melody was partly what reminded me of him), and he responded a while later just to let me know that the email and the song were sent at just the right time—a gift from God to him that day.

Very cool.

After I wrote that first song and sent it to my friend, Paul, I was listening to music and felt an overwhelming overwhelm-ment. (That should be a word, especially with the double Ms…) It was an amazing experience, actually. Quite literally moved by the music that, honestly, wasn’t even that good! 🙂

So I took that as a sign that it was time to play some more music.

And play I did.

Instantly out came another song. This one much more “my” style and feel. And the words were very personal; very meaningful to me. They may not be as much to another reader/listener, but I do believe the picture painted by the words of the chorus—and title of the song—illustrate well the reality of this life: it’s a beautiful mess.

Stains are bad. But stain is also good. (My dad makes beautifully stained furniture.)

Life is full of stains (those are bad) … but the sum of them often creates a beautiful piece of long-lasting, heirloom furniture.

We are beautifully stained—by our Maker, and by life.

A short post today… (and sorry, no music just yet!)

I present, Beautifully Stained

Beautifully Stained

It was the moment you heard the news
The one you’d hoped for was gone
You would never be the same
No matter what would come

It was the moment you saw her face
Something inside you bloomed
This deep assurance within your soul
That she was made for you

These are the moments …

chorus
Live every moment
Embrace both the joy and the pain
Breathe deep and let it all in
Life fully lived is beautifully stained

It was the moment she took her first breath
And when he played his guitar
Happy hearts sang out laughing at play
Togetherness in the air

It was the moment the pain gripped her face
Another tough day with you
Angry tongues loosed their wearied fury
Nothing now you could do

These are the moments …

©2012 Greg Campbell

by Greg

The Blame Game

pointing-fingersDeep within the heart of mankind is a hesitancy, if not an outright refusal to accept responsibility. Some of us are able to work up the courage on occasion, but generally our first (and second, and third) response is to point the finger at someone else.

Yesterday a friend told me a story he had been involved with personally that illustrates this perfectly.

At a recent, one-time event, held by a group of Christian home schooling families at a local park, a boy was injured on the playground equipment. It was bad enough that his family incurred a couple thousand dollars worth of medical bills for his treatment. They did not have medical insurance, so at some point they were counseled to bring a lawsuit against the park to help cover the medical costs. The park, in turn, required (I’m not certain if it was through further litigation) that the home school group acquire insurance for that past event, as well as future ones. The buck was passed from one party to another to another.

My friend lamented this one family’s choice to forego health insurance. That was their responsibility, thought he. I contend that, while he’s right that insurance would be the smarter option for them, they could still choose to not pay monthly insurance, but they are still responsible for the medical bills for themselves and anyone under their care: like a young son, living in their home.

But our culture—nay, human nature—looks for someone else to pass the responsibility on to.

We do it in so many ways. It’s not necessarily just when we do something wrong. We are loth to accept our own responsibility for our eating, sleeping, and other personal care routine and choices. We neglect opportunities for our own education in deference to an easier, more “fun” experience. We miss chances to encourage one another because of the “effort” involved in doing so.

In every case, whether missing out on good, or not owning up to an already-chosen bad… we seek someone or something else to be culpable.

Is it just shame? We don’t want to be the ones who were wrong? Is it that we want someone else to take care of us? I honestly have no idea.

It’s really easy to do, though. I think it’s the reason we clamor for a “king”.

Do you remember the story? The Israelites didn’t want to just be personally responsible to God, they wanted a king like all the other nations. And so God gave them a king, and that did not turn out well.

Today we in America seem to think our President is a king. (I think the presidents do, too, with all of their executive orders.) We get so excited in the lead up to a Presidential Election because he is the embodiment of “Someone Else” to take the blame.

Now, obviously, it’s not all blame. Sometimes he is also praised. We pass that responsibility along, too. Basically, it seems like we’re saying, whether good or bad, I just don’t want to be responsible for it!

Having six rather young children in our home (though they are getting older…) we see this play out time and time and time again. It’s so incredibly rare for any of them to step out and instantly accept responsibility for an action. The funny thing is, the youngest often have the easiest time of it. Our two-, three-, and four-year-olds are the ones who will answer, “I did it!” when Mom or Dad ask, “Who is responsible for this??”

What lovely transparency! How great would it be if we all could be so carefree about our reputation and convinced of our acceptance with and love from those who matter to us that we could simply say, no matter how bad it might seem for us, “It was me!”

It takes humility. Thinking of others more than yourself. It takes that peculiar confidence of feeling—no, knowing—your full acceptance with those that matter.

And ultimately, that comes from understanding your position with Father. Doesn’t it?

A deep confidence in your “rightness” (righteousness through faith) with him. We have been made right with him, by his choice; if God is for us, then who could be against us.

Accepting personal responsibility is also rooted in a love for justice. For truth. (Which, is even more deeply rooted in a genuine care or concern for others, that comes from humility …)

It can certainly be difficult, embarrassing, even painful. There are many reasons to not accept responsibility for your actions (or inactions). And that’s why we’re so good at it, so often. But there is deeper, more lasting joy in doing what is required of you. It’s really the core of a society: that each member is wholly responsible for himself.

We do live in a free nation, founded on this idea that each member is created equally, granted certain inalienable rights by the Creator, and is personally responsible for his own actions.

What about those who are born incapable of being responsible for their own actions, whether physically or mentally? Are they expected to “take care of themselves” and the rest of us should just “stick it to them” if they can’t? What about social justice, and social injustice? If someone can’t care for themselves, and they don’t have any family or close friend who is willing to do so, don’t we have a “responsibility” to them?

Sure! Each of us has a personal responsibility to act in whatever situations to aid persons God brings across our paths. Definitely. And we can even join forces, as churches or otherwise, to perhaps do “greater” (more) good for more people. Jesus spoke often about caring for poor, widows, orphans, etc. This is actually one of our responsibilities: to help those who can’t help themselves.

But…

This is a neat quote from Benjamin Franklin regarding charity:

To relieve the misfortunes of our fellow creatures is concurring with the Deity; it is godlike; but, if we provide encouragement for laziness, and supports for folly, may we not be found fighting against the order of God and Nature, which perhaps has appointed want and misery as the proper punishments for, and cautions against, as well as necessary consequences of, idleness and extravagance? Whenever we attempt to amend the scheme of Providence, and to interfere with the government of the world, we had need be very circumspect, lest we do more harm than good.

Our society today has taken the Blame Game so far that a large portion of our citizenry (and non-citizens?) have the mentality of entitlement, and a “victim” mindset. That blame is even worse because it is somewhat amorphous, nebulous, and faceless. It’s “the Man” who keeps you down, a corrupt system, evil Capitalists, greedy bankers, and so forth. If it’s easy enough for us to blame another person face to face, it’s super easy to pass blame onto someone who is not a real person.

Then we are left with an entire culture who is always passing along responsibility to the “next guy”. Personal Injury lawyers… yikes. They only exist to “blame” someone else, to the tune of millions of dollars. But it’s not just litigation. The Blame Game is played at all levels of our society, to the point where it’s incredibly, ridiculously rare to see someone willingly accept responsibility for their own actions, and even to assist someone else, without being forced to do so.

I may be speaking too generally here. No, I’m sure I am. But I’ve been wanting to write out these thoughts for quite some time because it’s more than rampant in every area of American life. (And yes, I’m sure it’s not just in America.) There is something at the core of us that does not want to accept responsibility.

That core—the root—seems to me to be a deeply rooted trust in Father. I really believe that’s the key to life: Trust. Jesus seems to speak of it throughout the gospels. It’s a central theme: faith, trust… placed in a Father who loves you more than you can even imagine.

So if he’s got your back… you can take the blame. You can accept the responsibility, despite whatever pressure it might put on you once you do.

Because He is for you.

I wonder how different our life together could be if we all really knew—and believed—that?

by Greg

Direct-To-Consumer Content: The Future?

Online-Money-ExchangeI’m never one to do something “because that’s the way we’ve always done it”. My wife accuses me often of nearly the opposite: doing something differently simply for the sake of being different!

She may be right, but it’s not out of spite or any sort of malice. I do enjoy variety, that’s for sure.

And in most areas of life I generally do not hold to any sort of “this is how you do it” mentality.

With that preface, it’s easy to understand how I might be able to adapt to newer technologies (if they seem to hold greater merit) such as the TV shows discussion in last Friday’s post. (Be sure to read the comments there, too.) I lean heavily toward the newer, different thinking in that realm.

Early Adopter

AppleA long time ago I proffered an idea to Apple, that they could revolutionize the media industry by doing something with TV and movies similar to what they did with music. (Really. It was about the time the iTunes store came into existence. Before they offered video through the store, though. It was March of 2005.) I knew I was onto something when a few days later I received a response in serious “legalese” letting me know that Apple was grateful for my feedback, but could not accept unsolicited product ideas at this time.

Uh huh…

Well, it turns out Apple was thinking the same thing I was: Who needs cable companies? Deliver the content directly to the consumer.

They have obviously been running with this idea for a long time now, offering TV shows and movies for purchase and/or rent, as well as now books, games, etc. (Yet, they still call it iTunes… hmmm…)

But Apple is not the main subject of this discussion. The content is.

I Know From Experience…

Come As You Are - basicI am a content creator. We have music, I have books… content. Since I began I leaned heavily toward self-publishing all of this content and offering it directly to the consumer. I have not seriously (or really even casually) pursued a relationship with any distributor or other larger entity at the risk of losing control over the content. The intellectual property world however has for a very long time used these “middle men” to get the content from its creator to its consumer. (Enter advertisers and marketers, agents, publishers, producers, etc.)

And, obviously, before the internet and other such powerful, personal technologies, such “middle men” were needed. The “little guy” could not get his content, no matter how fantastic it might be, to the waiting masses. Technology advances making the production of the high-level content much cheaper, as well as new and previously not thought of technologies for distribution of that content. (Not to mention ways to consume the content: “smart” TVs, portable computers, tablets, even phones.)

All of that is to say that I believe we are already capable of a direct-to-consumer model for music and video entertainment, but the industry does not want to change. And, for obvious reasons: the middle man—networks, cable/satellite companies—is no longer needed, and they currently hold the vast majority of the power.

What About Live Events: News, Sports

This even applies to live video events. News programs, live sports—they all can use currently available technology to bring their content directly to the consumer, too. I really, really want to have a “Virtual Season Ticket” option for the Buffalo Sabres. The NHL offers a service called GameCenter through their website that streams (live) any game you’d like, except your local team! Who wants that??

The cable companies and the network who pay for the rights to carry the game do.

So we have come again to the main issue: money. Currently, more money can be had from the networks and cable/satellite companies offering very large contracts to sports leagues (and individual teams?) because they in turn can sell advertising during these sports programs and make tons of money themselves.

All at a greater cost (if not money, at least convenience?) to us, the consumer. Because Network X bought the rights to my team’s games, I have to subscribe to Cable Company A or Satellite Provider B to watch the show because (even though the team and/or league has the technology to stream the games to me, both live and on-demand) the only place I can get that channel is via that cable or satellite company.

Yuck!

So What Is Holding This Back?

Admittedly, one reason this is not happening—other than the Almighty Dollar–is that the technology is still a bit lacking on the consumer end. We have been sans cable for quite a while because we have a Mac mini connected to our living room TV (along with several other portals to view content in “normal” ways) which obviously allows us to more easily enjoy TV and movies via Netflix, Hulu, iTunes, Amazon, and others.

The next steps to tip the scales toward Direct-To-Consumer content distribution are:

  1. Superior data transfer infrastructure. I’m thinking some form of ubiquitous wireless data … like 4G, only way better—and cheaper!
  2. A “grandma-friendly” device that is affordable, and as easy as turning on your TV and “flipping the channels”. We’re close, I think… but still don’t quite have this one down.
  3. A break with “traditional” thinking. The consumer needs to shift from the radio station or TV channel mentality of having preselected content brought to you at a certain time, all at the whim and fancy of some other entity. The new reality could be you watch and/or listen to what you want, when you want to listen to it
  4. Advertising will also necessarily need to adapt. With so much more control available to the consumer, sitting through commercials is a thing of the past. If the old model holds, commercials will have to become vastly more interesting, making the consumer want to watch them, or else an entirely new way of advertising will need to emerge. I’d guess the latter will be the most likely route.

Are We Ready?

So are we ready for this yet? I AM! But is everyone? Probably not. The technology is available now to make it happen, and lots of content creators are moving that direction (or at least exploring that option). Once the “right” device comes around—like the iPod in 2001, or the iPhone in 2005—and the data transfer technology is even more accessible (and faster, better, cheaper) … well, I do believe this is the future of content distribution.

Of course, ten years from now, if we’re all still around, this post might be fun to read and say, “Ha! Boy was he wrong!!”

But I was right in 2005…

Related Reading:

by Greg

Buffalo Bills: Upheaval… Partly.

doug-marroneToday is Football Day in America. Actually, around most of the entire globe. People everywhere are excited about “The Big Game” played on this first Sunday of February. The best two teams in the NFL—perhaps the greatest sports league in the world—clash in a winner-takes-all contest for ultimate supremacy!

But I’m thinking about the draft, and free agency, and our new coaching staff.

Yes, that is the life of many Bills fans. Our season ends as the clock hits 00:00 in week seventeen of the regular season (but really, it feels like it ends somewhere around Thanksgiving).

Ah, the life of a Bills fan!

But, it’s not all sunshine and lollypops. (Wait…)

While everyone else is talking about Ray Lewis using deer antler spray or the Brother Bowl (Alex calls it the SuperBaugh) … we are discussing the Bills becoming Syracuse West, the Senior Bowl, which QB will be the best fit, and free agent and/or trade possibilities.

And since we’re in football mode… let’s look at some of the reasons for hope here in Buffalo. (I know… I can always find those. But really, read on!)

Heart Transplant

And maybe a brain transplant? A lot has changed at One Bills Drive, and also, not a lot.

The players are all the same. Even Ryan Fitzpatrick has not yet been dethroned. He remains the Bills top QB, though there is rampant speculation about who might supplant him next season. (Will cover that below.) The two-headed RB monster should remain in place in the Bills’ backfield. Stevie Johnson is still Stevie Johnson. The Bills are (as far as I know) trying to re-sign solid left guard Andy Levitre and Pro Bowl safety, Jairus Byrd. Much of the on-field Bills will look the same.

However, starting at the very top, the Bills are markedly different.

First, Bills owner Ralph Wilson—a nonagenarian beloved by the city and the league—has for the first time in his 50-plus years of owning this franchise, ceded control to another person: Russ Brandon. That is truly a remarkable change. A few years ago, Russ had some fancy title, and acted as the General Manager of the team (though I believe there was a more football-minded “sidekick” with equal or more football-related decision making power) … that didn’t work out that well, so they gave him a different fancy title, and brought in Buddy Nix as a true NFL GM. All the while, Ralph Wilson, by all accounts, had daily contact and directives for the team and administrative staff. (Though, he was no Al Davis.)

Well, Brandon has done a fine job with the organization in all areas (he’s a savvy business man and marketing guru to be sure) and so, Mr. Wilson decided it was time for him to “retire” more officially, and he has now granted full control of the Bills organization to Russ Brandon.

Neat.

Once that was in place, the younger, more decisive Brandon wasted no time.

Chan Gailey and his entire coaching staff were fired. They decided to keep Buddy Nix, but I think they re-titled him also. A few other guys were moved around, and then within six days of the start of their search for a head coach, the Bills chose the man you see at the top of this article: Doug Marrone.

Doug Ma-who???

The Bills have done it again! They could have hired someone with a reputation, a record, or at least a recognizeable name! Instead, we get a no-name, never-head-coached-in-the-NFL yahoo … sheesh!

Well, you see… it actually feels quite different this time.

This time… the Bills interviewed the guys with the big names. (Including Chip Kelly, whom everyone seemed to be gaga over.) And guys like former Bears HC, Lovie Smith, were publicly stating that they wanted to be the Bills choice for head coach.

Yes! For real!

The same was true with their eventual choice, Marrone. Apparently the Bills were one of four teams vying for Marrone’s head coaching services. And he chose Buffalo.

It makes some sense that the Bills had an edge. (He has a relationship with the Bills administrative guys, he’s lived in NY for a while now, as head coach of Syracuse, just a couple hours away, and a few other such intangibles.) But truly, that a sought-after head coaching candidate would choose Buffalo over other teams… that says something.

And very shortly thereafter, Marrone began putting his staff together, including bringing in the Jets former Defensive Coordinator, Mike Pettine. One thing the Jets have had over the past several seasons is a good defense. So that hire is certainly promising.

Lastly, the new coaching and higher-ups staff for the Buffalo Bills is young! Some are really young, like Offensive Coordinator, Nathaniel Hackett. He was the offensive quality control coach (or something like that) a few years ago here in Buffalo, but now, at age 33, he’ll be heading up the offense featuring up-and-coming NFL stars such as Stevie Johnson and C. J. Spiller.

Truly, it may not be as visible on the field on Sundays, but this Bills team has had some impressive upheaval in the off-season so far. It seems like that can’t help but produce change.

Quarterback

The biggest question for the Bills now is their QB. Ryan Fitzpatrick had a tremendous start to the 2011 season, taking the team to a 5-2 record before being cracked in half by former Bills LB, London Fletcher. After that, he was never the same. Including pretty much all of last season.

Fitz has guts. He’s perhaps the toughest QB in the NFL. (Maybe Roethlisberger could challenge for that title.) He’s fearless, and has a pretty strong arm, actually. He can really zip the ball into tight spots. He’s also highly inaccurate, or, can be? Not sure how to say it. Maybe 40% of his throws are off-target? Yikes. That just can’t pass for an NFL starter, no matter how many other intangibles he might have.

So the hunt is on for a new starting QB option.

Will it be the draft? Not sure. They will definitely draft at least one quarterback in this year’s draft. However, most reports suggest that there may not be a true first-round talent in the draft. So do the Bills take a chance on a guy with the 8th overall pick? Or do they draft a big lineman at that spot and either trade back up or hope their QB guy falls to their pick in the second round? I’m really not sure. They attended the Senior Bowl and the reports I hear favor Tyler Wilson from Arkansas from that group of six QBs. Of course there is speculation that Syracuse QB Ryan Nassib would be selected by this new Bills coaching staff that features eight coaches from last year’s Syracuse staff! But, again, Nassib is certainly not worth the 8th overall pick … could be be available for the Bills’ third- or fourth-round picks? We shall see.

So what about free agency? Technically, Super Bowl QB, Joe Flacco, is not under contract following this season. You think the Bills might go after him? Um… do you think the Ravens would EVER let him go after this year’s playoffs? Never.

So what other options are there? There is certainly the possibility of a trade. Alex Smith is one rumored option, as well as Seattle’s now-backup, Matt Flynn. Do the Bills want a guy like that? Or should they just put everything on a rookie that they select? Recent history has shown that rookies are certainly capable of great things in the NFL. (This year alone: Andrew Luck, Robert Griffin III, and Russell Wilson had great success.)

Whichever route they go, the Bills will almost definitely have a new guy under center in September of 2013. My hunch is that they will get their guy through the draft. (That seems to be Nix’s M.O.) It will be very interesting to see who that guy ends up being!

Reasons for Hope

There really are reasons to be optimistic as a Bills fan. Let me list a few, bullet-point style:

  • CJ Spiller: CJ finally made it to the Pro Bowl as an alternate. (He should have been selected as a starter, in my opinion.) This guy is going to be fantastic. And Fred Jackson is actually fairly amazing, too! What a great tandem. I liken them to Marcus Allen and Bo Jackson in LA a few decades ago. Not a bad problem to have!
  • Defense: So, the Bills defense is fascinating. They have Pro Bowl caliber players on the D-line (the two Williamses, and even Marcell Dareus perhaps) and they discovered a new better-than-average player in Kyle Moore last year thanks to injuries. Don’t forget Mark Anderson, who was supposed to be pretty great, too … never got to see it as he was injured much of the season in 2012. Then with Stephon Gilmore, Jairus Byrd (they have to re-sign him!) and a few other very promising young guys—just a couple additions to this defense could make it great. (Not to mention a new guy at the helm, who has had great success in Baltimore and New York.)
  • Schedule. The Bills get the last place schedule again this season. That could be good, until you look at the list of opponents. I’m not sure this is a reason for hope… but it could be? 🙂

In short, we’re in off-season mode already here in Buffalo and so far it’s been at least interesting, if not downright impressive.

New coach, new attitude, new coaching staff, new decision making at the top … add a handful of new key players via draft and free agency … the Bills really should be in contention for at the very least the playoffs this next season, if not winning in the playoffs.

Don’t forget the ancillary things that have already happened here. The Bills signed a new stadium lease (10 years, I believe) and a new 5-year deal with Toronto. (That is a sore subject with many Bills fans, but it does increase the potential fan base, as well as simply bring cash to a team that doesn’t make as much as other teams.)

They certainly are busy. You can’t deny that.

And for the most part, the moves seem to be positive, aggressive, and hopefully will finally lead to the Bills being a winning, respectable franchise in the NFL again?

That would be impressive.

(My 14-year-old and 11-year-old NFL fan sons don’t know a Bills team other than the joke that they’ve been for all of their lives. How sad! The Bills went to FOUR straight Super Bowls when I first became a fan of theirs. THAT is what I hope they get to see from their team again some day… soon? We’ll see)

Go Bills!

by Greg

How Do You Watch TV?

old-tvAre you a current TV show watcher? Do you watch one or more new and/or current television shows as they air new episodes weekly? I don’t qualify as (anywhere close to) an avid current TV Watcher, but I do enjoy a few currently running shows.

One characteristic of many current shows (at least, the ones I watch?) is that they have a continuous and developing plot line. If you do enjoy watching newer shows every week (following that unfolding story) well, unfortunately you often are left hanging.

For example, I just learned that a show I started watching towards the end of its first season was not renewed for more episodes following its second season. They probably thought they would be renewed because there was really no resolution whatsoever to the various plot lines.

This happened to me a few years ago when I began watching the Sarah Connor Chronicles, a now-defunct TV series based on the Terminator movies. It was canceled after its second season, leaving every plot line dangling helplessly in the unpredictable winds of ratings…

I also learned this week that another show I had been watching this past year was not renewed beyond its first season. Their story was somewhat resolved as they were notified of the non-renewal with enough time to rewrite the last few episodes to be more of a series finale. Whew!

So what’s the deal here? Is the most frustrating part that the show doesn’t run very long? Or is it just frustrating that they leave you (permanently) hanging when a show is canceled before it’s story is “finished”?

OR, is it possibly the most frustrating that the networks who carry these shows only use live TV as their metric for which shows are “successful” and which are not?

Yep. It’s that!

I never watch live TV. EVER. We have kids! We have a schedule! Who can sit down in the evenings and watch a TV show? (And who wants to do that without being able to forward through the commercials?) I think Jen and I have watched a combined three episodes of live TV in the past… maybe six or seven years?

I watch any current TV shows via Hulu or iTunes (if I really like it). Don’t you? Do you watch regular TV at the regular, scheduled time? We don’t even have cable here… just Netflix, Amazon Prime, and then free Hulu (and other internet content). (And of course, can purchase or rent things via iTunes, Amazon, et al.)

Really… when will these guys change their paradigm? Their thinking is very outdated. Live TV should be one of the factors in determining audience, but the main or only one? That article said one of the shows canceled from last fall had a huge DVR audience. How can they cancel a show because its viewers watch it later, on their own schedule?

Craziness.

And that doesn’t even factor in the online services like Hulu and Amazon/iTunes. I’d assume plenty of people watch current shows via Hulu, despite the fact that the content providers try desperately to make you not want to. Some shows are available on Hulu a mere eight days after they air initially on TV, some are thirty days delayed. (Some are only one day delayed. That’s nice.) Also, some shows are only available in standard definition, while others are available in HD, but only on certain devices. (And not on a computer… which is how we watch TV in our house!)

Ugh… It really does make me angry sometimes, the short-sightedness of these people. The greed and lust for power, control. Yuck.

(These people of course being the Time Warners, NBC Universal, Paramount… and so on. I’d rather not give them more time here.)

The ridiculous way that content is still delivered is mind boggling to me. You have to pay an outrageous monthly fee to receive hundreds of channels—that you mostly do not want—in order to watch a few shows you’d like to see every week… and then those get canceled because you use your DVR to watch them on your schedule?? What in the world?

And what of iTunes and Amazon, where you can pay $20-$40 or so to subscribe to a season’s worth of shows (downloaded and/or available very soon after their air date… which, is also an archaic practice…) Do those count towards the content providers’ ratings system? When someone is willing to pay money to watch a show… it should count double. Or triple!

Eventually everyone will catch up. Everything is always about money. Always. So, once someone discovers a way to satisfy the consumer’s desire for direct access to content and a way to maximize the monitization of that content, then we’ll have the new paradigm.

For now, it’s frustration for we who have moved on to a new model while we wait for the old school content providers to “catch up” (or, give in)… or… there is a reason that piracy is a problem. (And it’s not because people just want free stuff! It’s equally or more because of these ridiculous ways of thinking by the “old school” content providers.)

I’ll stick with Hulu and Netflix (old TV shows are still awesome!) and the occasional iTunes or Amazon purchase.

That is, until I come up with a way to bring the whole system down myself! Who says I can’t be the one to invent the next breakthrough technology? 🙂

by Greg

Sex Sells (Apparently)

Aerie Ad - Girl in lingerieI wouldn’t usually post such photos here. But I guess I’m trying to make a point.

Have we really gotten so used to seeing women in their underwear (or less) that it doesn’t even slightly surprise us?

(My hope is that when you saw the photo for this post on my website, you were surprised, or shocked. It hopefully seemed quite out of place. And it should.)

Last night my four-year-old daughter, Emma, and I walked through nearly the entirety of our local mall, and the volume of near-nudity prominently displayed in store fronts truly overwhelmed me. It was not hidden in the lingerie section near the back of a department store. Rather, right out in front, for every passer by.

I did some research when we got home and found out that there are an inordinate amount of lingerie stores in our mall. It could be that this is the reason that there are so many super-over-sized revealing photos, but still, you can’t walk down nearly any corridor of the mall without being bombarded by boobs.

Aerie storefront display - Girls in lingerie

I know I sound old saying this, but… I don’t remember this when I was a kid!

(Yep. Old.)

Now you can be shopping at the Apple Store for an iPad mini and get an eyeful of what amounts to “soft porn” at the same time. (There’s another “intimate apparel” store across the hall from our Apple Store.)

Am I overreacting here? I’m not sure. I am a guy, of course, and scantily clad, beautiful women do have a certain appeal, but what is that appeal? Certainly it is to my flesh—the part of me that is supposed to be dead. We are all well aware, however, that it still fights for life.

Jesus said that adultery is wrong, but that a man looking at a woman lustfully is just the same (since sin is a heart issue, before it’s a behavior issue) … but, I’m not sure that’s why I feel uncomfortable strolling the halls of the mall. (There wasn’t any lustful looking going on.)

I am more uncomfortable when my boys are with me. Aged 14 and 11 1/2, the internal chemicals are beginning to and have already worked their magic and the appeal of women dressed in little, even posed suggestively many times, well… that’s not something I want to test my boys’ will power on. And all to just find a new favorite well-used video game?

Last night it was Emma, who was certainly taking it all in. Once she said, “More bras! Ha!” (Yes, she’s awesome.) So I’m not really sure what she thinks about it, but she at least finds it somewhat humorous.

spencers

But I think in the end, I just find it sad. Near the end of our mall tour we passed Spencer’s. This particular window display was the most overt of all the stores in their attempt (in my opinion) to use sex to sell. (They might even more be selling sex, not simply lingerie, but…) I actually shook my head at their forwardness, and quickly moved along. Later when I was looking for store displays online to share with you here, I discovered that when you click the above banner—taken from their website, but this was also the current store front display—you have to consent to viewing adult material before going further into their site. So, perhaps they aren’t even trying to hide the soft porn part?

(Note: I actually do remember that my mom would direct us past and cast doubt upon the goodness of Spencer’s stores in our various malls. Though I do think we darkened their door a time or two along the way. I think my sister liked some of the stuff in there? I do not remember such displays in their front windows… but I do have this inner, red warning light regarding their establishment. Perhaps this is not a new development.)

What I think all of this reveals about us (yes, pun intended) is a culture that is certainly progressing more and more towards debauchery. Again, I know that I sound old suggesting that “my generation” wasn’t as perverse as “this generation”, and to an extent, I’m sure I’m wrong. People are people. We’re all dead in sin, none of us can escape that; one generation’s societal moral superiority notwithstanding.

But I really do think this is a symptom of a deeper sickness.

Families are now horribly rent asunder: rampant divorce, children outside marriage, multiple parents (but really no parents), gay marriage, abortion… they are all signs of our inner moral corruption and decay.

So it makes sense that we’d continue to feed our flesh—the part of us that drives this decay—and even progressively think less and less of it, allowing it to have more of a hold on us.

We’re naked under our clothes. (Did you know that?) Nakedness is not the sin. The way it’s used to appeal to our selfish, fleshly, worldly desires can be, and those desires can be. Paul said, “All things are permissible, but not all things are beneficial.” Perhaps that applies here.

I don’t think I’m talking about the over-sized posters, though.

It seemed so blatantly obvious last night on our walk through the mall that these are symptoms of a culture-wide decline; gradually slipping more and more toward full worldliness, and farther away from godliness. It makes sense, of course, as culturally we have been removing God from everyday life for several generations now. It’s certainly bound to happen this way.

I know I sound old. (And, I kind of am!) This generation is worse off morally than mine, but maybe not than my parents’ generation? (The sixties, hippies, etc? Could be we improved from that?) And we will continue the downward trend until, as individuals, and families, and then as a society we allow God to resume his rightful position as Father and leader and provider and all that he is and wants to be to us.

Until then, it shouldn’t surprise me what is displayed in the large windows of our public marketplaces. If we continue this way, it wouldn’t be shocking to see actual nudity soon, as well as much more sexual images.

This really is the visible symptoms of a deeper issue.

I want to say, “And I hope for our society’s sake that we turn to Jesus and live full lives as he intended us to!” … but I wonder if that’s my wrong thinking about “life to the full”. Life to the full is messy. We are messy, broken, sinners. We are in a broken world, and though we can experience a taste of true, unbroken life, we are still here, in this mess. And that will never change, until we’re not. So, no matter how much we, as a society, might turn to Jesus … the deeper issue here (not the symptoms) is part of the bigger picture of “full life” that God intended. I think.

That doesn’t mean I have to traverse the mall corridors, though. 🙂

I’ll finish by saying that I hope wherever you are right now, you know the Father, the One True God, and Jesus Christ whom he sent (John 17:3) and that you know his abundant grace and life and are living that fully and free from guilt and condemnation and judgement (John 3:17) … because that is how we’re meant to be.

(Clothed, or not.)

Note: The photos in this post are mostly taken from the retailers’ websites. My iPhone camera was not doing a good job capturing the images I wanted to use for this post. All of these images here were on display in three-times-real-life size in the store windows, as well as dozens more.

by Greg

Eating Better

sugarIt’s not a New Year’s Resolution, really, but since around January 3rd or so, I’ve been eating better—and I’m already really noticing the effects of it!

Around the holidays (which, in America means October 31st through January 1st, give or take a few days or weeks) we are inundated with all kinds of wonderful foods, and maybe especially sugary food. There are the Halloween candies, then Thanksgiving pies and other desserts, followed by a month of cookies, hot chocolate (and other warm, sweet beverages) and plenty of candy.

It’s no wonder so many Americans make food-related New Year’s Resolutions!

Well this year, following a long time (not sure how long, really) of having basically no restraints whatsoever on my daily food consumption—and, certainly feeling appropriately bad from that—I decided to exercise my personal discipline a bit following the ubiquity of holiday sugary treats.

(Note: in the Campbell home, it goes a tad longer as Three King’s Day (January 6th) is celebrated here annually, with those three kings bringing several more sweet treats and depositing them in our waiting foot wear.)

I had been noticing a feeling of “heaviness” most of my days, and maybe especially in the mornings, so I decided to do the following:

  1. Remove most sugar from my diet.

    I have done a few “sugar fasts” in my life, and always with very favorable results. Usually after just a few days to a week I really start feeling better. Generally that means slightly less “heavy” (or, lethargic?) and, contrastingly, having more energy. This time I decided not to just go completely off of sugar because (1) I like sugary things, and (2) I figured a little is not really a problem. So far, I think that is correct: I’m feeling much better in the energy and “heaviness” department and still consuming some sugar.

  2. Do not eat anything after 10pm.

    This one came from a very regular routine I had fallen into regarding when I would eat daily. I generally would eat lunch, dinner, and then a rather large meal around midnight or so. (I had also gotten on a late night schedule!) What I also noticed was that these late night meals either kept me awake longer than usually necessary, or they would actually “put me to sleep” and I’d wake up feeling just … bad! It was that “heaviness” again, and also often finding it much harder to wake up.

A few comments on the above. First, the “heaviness” I’m talking about is not (I don’t think) merely a body mass/weight thing. I think it was/is more than that. It seems to be more of a general “energy” feeling. Second, the “no food after 10pm” is not hard and fast like with the Mogwai where any deviation from the rule would be catastrophic. It’s really just a general guideline, and I’ve had some carrots sticks when I had some work to do late night, or even a salad one night (I was really hungry!)

The results? I can’t say other than I just feel better. I feel more energy. I feel much better in the mornings. I noticed that I even feel better after eating. (Is that possible?) I am also enjoying the feeling of being hungry and telling my body, Not right now…

It’s certainly not easy all the time. I’m pretty OK eating or not eating, so perhaps this is not a difficult area of self discipline for me. But I know there have been many times where I have nearly physically willed myself away from the sugary snack (which, have you noticed, are so easy and available to eat?) as well as avoiding the urge to late night snack.

And after three weeks or so, I couldn’t hope for better results all around.

I’m not trying to “lose weight”, or any similar dieting goal. I am just hoping to feel better by eating better, and… it’s working!

Now I’m also thinking about what other areas of self discipline I could tackle next. I’m thinking maybe just time management. There are so many things to do, perhaps there are ways I could better spend my time? (Maybe that will be a blog post somewhere down the line.)

For now, I leave you with an article I came across today. (I um, kinda… “used” the photo from it here? Thanks, Forbes!) It’s titled “What Eating Too Much Sugar Does To your Brain“. Seems related, no?

Enjoy, if you have time to read it, and hopefully you’re also enjoying some self-discipline success, food-related or otherwise.

If you have a similar experience, or anything to add, I’d love to hear it. Please leave your thoughts/story/comments below!

by Greg

Scattering, or Gathering?

Recently I was catching up on some podcast listening and enjoyed hearing Wayne Jacobsen’s response to an article by John Burton. I am unfamiliar with Mr. Burton, but in general, his interpretation of observable trends does seem to differ from mine—at least, his conclusions certainly differ.

His article is titled: “You are NOT the church: The scattering movement : What about church online?” (… long title!)

I feel like it’s a bit of a Straw Man argument—the “I’m the church” section of his article (does anyone really think that he or she, as an individual, is “the church”? I have not come across that philosophy…)—but other than that, I do understand where he’s coming from: I just disagree.

He contends that the trend towards Jesus followers removing themselves from the 501c3 “churches” and emphasizing daily life being the Church (living loved by God, and actively loving his people around you) is a “scattering” of the Church: God’s people are being wrongly divided and the Church is being lessened by it.

Listen to Wayne’s closing comments from that episode:

I think there’s not a ‘scattering movement’ going on, John Burton, I think there’s a gathering movement. Honestly, I think our Sunday morning institutions with their political ambitions, with their different names and distinct doctrines—with all the things they do—they have more to do with scattering the church in an area, and people who are leaving some of those things are actually being invited to a greater gathering; a gathering that’s greater than my preferred style of worship, or my human leader I want to follow; a gathering that’s more important than ‘do we agree on all of these little, narrow doctrinal minutia’.

It’s based on people who are learning to live loved by the Father, and then live as lovers in the world, caring for people. I see that church in amazing ways.

I concur with Mr. Jacobsen. It’s apparent to me that many people who desire a more real, everyday life with Jesus and his Church are not finding that in the organizations that culturally we think of as “churches”, but realizing a much more full life (“I came to give you life, and life to the full”—Jesus) when not tethered to (beholden to) those named entities.

Obviously, no experience or label is universal. And, these are my thoughts from my experience. However, they seem to fit what I observe, and I wonder if we, the Church, continue to miss out on the fullness of life that could be had as first, followers of Jesus, living completely dependent upon him and his lead and sustenance in our lives, and then second, as he intersects our paths with followers with whatever frequency he should choose as head of his church, we encourage and build up one another as those opportunities come: no agenda, or self-sustaining plan to accomplish that end of our own making.

I certainly admit that such a view of God’s Kingdom could be heavily influenced by my own personality. (I bristle at most “plans”. Knowing I have “things to do today” often weighs me down to the point of not being able to do anything!) But I keep coming back to the fact that Jesus didn’t name anything. He didn’t establish a structure to train up and “contain” his Church. He builds and directs his Church… no?

Again, it all comes back to Jesus.

So, please have a look at that article, and enjoy the response to it via Wayne’s podcast episode. And I welcome your thoughts/discussion here as well.

by Greg

Christianity, or Jesus? (Aren’t They the Same?)

Our family is currently making our way through the book of Luke together. We’re taking our time, but I do enjoy reading in larger chunks, so we will often read what might be the subject of an entire series of sermons in one sitting.

Tonight, we read through the fifteenth chapter: the three stories of lost and found.

Though we’d often read more than that, it’s such a good three-part story—with the most famous, the Prodigal Son story at the end—that I thought it would be nice to stop and discuss.

The kids are reading and learning about “unreached people groups” with Mom during the school days, and both of the older boys picked up on the “lost” theme that Jesus’ stories held.

When I asked what everyone heard in Jesus’ stories, Ian replied first, “I think it shows that God cares about every single person: if even one in a thousand is lost, there’s a celebration when he realizes he’s wrong and returns to God.”

“Yep. So right, Ian.” I affirmed.

Alex chimed in next, “Or, like if one person in the 10 million in Japan who are buddhists or other things turn to Christianity. It’s like that, even.”

I smiled and affirmed Alex’s insightful answer, too. But something didn’t sit right with me, the way he had phrased that answer.

Ian and Mom both explained what they had been studying—unreached people groups—and I realized what it was that bothered me: the lost returning home story is not about conversions to Christianity, it’s about the Good News that Jesus is life and nothing else.

I tried to lovingly expand on that thought to Alex, but I guess maybe it didn’t come out quite right. Jen didn’t think I was saying it correctly, and by offering further instruction at that time, kinda squashed Alex.

jesus-christ-in-stained-glassAnd, honestly, she doesn’t really agree with my instruction, that Christianity is not the same as Jesus.

I told Alex that the somewhat subtle distinction between someone “turning to Christianity” and someone meeting Jesus (The One true God and Jesus Christ whom he sent) are often, even usually very different things.

One is a religion. Plain and simple, Christianity is not in the Bible. (Really! It’s true!) In this sense, Christianity is no different than Islam, Buddhism, Hindu, and so on. Jesus never talked about establishing a religion (though he did mention building the Church) and I can’t think of anywhere that the word “Christianity” or “Christendom” can be found on the pages of Scripture. (Though other people called the Church, “Christians”—Acts 11, and Acts 26—the only other occurrence of the word is in 1 Peter 4:16.)

Returning to a loving Father is a different story. Realizing our need to be connected to the Vine; understanding the limitless, boundless love that God has for us, wanting from before the foundation of the world to adopt us as his own children; understanding how the cross restores our friendship with God by destroying sin and death and shame once and for all…

That’s a different story. (And doesn’t “sign you up” for anything.)

Now, I’m certainly painting with too broad a brush right now. Firstly, only a chapter or two before, Jesus addressed his disciples and the crowds following him, making sure they understood the cost of being his disciple. The cost is… everything. He said we need to be willing to give up everything (even family, wealth/possessions, a home), even our own life.

But the key is, nothing else matters outside of his Life. Nothing.

And that’s the point. Converting to a religion often satisfies our own accomplishable goals and benchmarks. There are “measurables” with Christianity. You can check things off like, reading your Bible, or having quiet time, joining a prayer group, or some other “small group”, going to services, volunteering for a ministry… or five ministries. All of those things can become “feathers” in our caps.

Jesus asks us to volunteer to be last, though. To not be noticed. To give up our dreams, turn the other cheek… all of that. And all because there is nothing we need or could ever want more than to know him.

Paul knew that, and wrote:

Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ. —Phil 3:8

Honestly, I could be convinced that I’m straining out gnats here. OR, I could be convinced that this is the pivotal, most important, fundamental part of the Gospel: Jesus matters.

It’s him. And nothing else. Not a religion (Christianity), not a building or an organization (First Christian Church of Wherever), and not even a set of benchmarks that you set up for yourself to take your spiritual temperature.

Do you trust him? Then you’re in. And your life will never be the same. If you believe that Jesus is Immanuel, God made flesh, the Christ, the Way, the Truth, and the Life… buckle up!

That might be the same to you as “Christianity”, and if that’s the case, I’m really glad. My experience has been different. We people are good at maintaining control, and I think Jesus wants—longs for—us to relinquish that. Most often systems with fancy names—Christianity—don’t allow any room for that to happen, and even worse, they keep us in the “performance” mindset, where we’re always trying to “do better… for God, of course…

But Jesus’ words were always simply, “Follow me.”

I think it might really be that simple.

by Greg

The Adventures of Zamboni® and Policeman

Zamboni® Ice Cleaning Machine

We love to read around here. There are books everywhere, and lots of hands, minds, and eyes to devour them. Mom and Dad both love books, love to read… more than we have time in our days to actually accomplish.

Ian, the oldest child, is a ravenous book reader. (And now, he’s becoming a writer of books as well.) Alex is more picky; the books he enjoys, though, are read multiple times—even in the same week. Kirstie is learning to love reading, but does love books (being read to), as do her three younger siblings. Julia is not a confident reader yet, but her four-year-old sister, Emma, was brashly sounding out each letter and word she could locate on the large pages of her over-sized book with Mom last night.

Cameron, not being one content to be left out, and possessing as vivid an imagination as a three year old person could hope to have, decided to “read” his own book. (He picked up a blank date book, showing me the “words” on the empty pages before he began reading.)

The following is, nearly verbatim, the story that he “read” on those pages…

zamboni-and-policeman-01

The Adventures of Zamboni® & Policeman

by Cameron J. Campbell

Zamboni® was cleaning the ice.
But then he ran out of water!
He had lots of water, but just didn’t know it.
Then he had a dream about having enough water and cleaning the ice.
Policeman shot Zamboni®.
Zamboni® ate policeman.
The End!

That was too fantastic not to share! I sure hope there will be more “Adventures of Zamboni® and Policeman!”

zamboni-and-policeman-02

Note: Cam adores Zamboni® ice cleaning machines. We go early and stay late for Ian’s hockey games, just so Cam can watch the entire ice cleaning process by the Zamboni®. I’m pretty sure he knows most of the drivers at each rink, and someday aspires to attain to their lofty position. 🙂 He also often fancies himself a police man, so the subjects of his book were certainly no surprise to his family.