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The kids are out of school today so we’ll be trekking to see Madagascar 2 somewhere.  Hopefully, they will be able to sit through it.  The didn’t do so well at Kung Fu Panda.  It was a little over their head.  All I know is the Zebra toy from Mcdonalds is quite annoying.  I heard Chris Rock’s voice at 6:15 this morning coming from Drake’s room.  I just heard Karen say,”It’s that Zebra.”

Gotta few more adjustments to make the youth web site.  It’s a wordpress site so it won’t have all the bells and whistles, but at least I will know how to run it.  Saw two great things yesterday.  This article about setting up a great youth website(for free!) and the actual website.  This is the most interactive website having to do with church that I’ve ever seen.  Practical and cool.  If only I were a little more tech savvy.

Yesterday was a topsy turvy day.  Lots of highs and lows.  Saw some light last night at the end of the tunnel, but I have to remove some obstacles to get there.  Nothing cures Monday’s like holidays.

If you haven’t been watching the media’s coverage of the California vote on Prop 8 then you are missing a case study in media manipulation and bias.  Every headline concerning the vote to make gay marriage unconstitutional makes it seem as if the vote of 53% of the people shouldn’t count or is wrong.  One yahoo headline read,”After gay marriage debacle, activists begin to rethink tactics.”  Why is it a debacle when people vote on something?  It’s a debacle if the media doesn’t agree with the vote.  Lots of irony in the demographics.  People against Prop 8 overwhelmingly voted Barack Obama for President who does not support gay marriage, but does not support Prop 8 either.  There was also a very high turnout from the African-American community because of the historic nature of Obama’s candidacy.  African-Americans voted 70%-30% in favor of Prop 8.  They were the deciding factor.  It looks like Obama being on the ballot actually helped Prop 8 and the ban on gay marriage to pass.  Why have a vote if it’s not going to count?  If Prop 8 had failed would the people in favor of it be protesting?  Maybe.  It was “unfortunate” to hear Gov. Schwarzenegger say:

“It’s unfortunate, obviously, but it’s not the end,” he said about the same-sex marriage ban. “I think       that we will again maybe undo that, if the court is willing to do that, and then move forward from there and again lead in that area.”

Why do some always look to the courts to undo the will of the people?  Again, why have a vote if the result is only going to be overturned?  I’ve been thinking a lot about the issue of Gay marriage and civil unions.  How do we love our neighbor, stand for Biblical principles, and reach the the homosexual community without impeding anyone’s right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happyness?  I’ll let you know when I figure it out.

Well, Drake is antsy(or either the honey bun made him hyper).  Thank a Veteran today.  Freedom comes at a high cost.

Yesterday we had combined services to for a special Veterans Day service.  Here are the highlights.

1.  I would’ve gone crazy without a run sheet(easy to read order of service) and pro presenter.  If your church can afford a Mac and the software then buy this program right now.  The way it lets you put videos into the service order makes life soooo much easier.

2.  I get choked up when I hear the national anthem so I should’ve known that opening the service after the anthem and a great song by Gary Nance would be emotional.  Plus, I get overwhelmed thinking about those who have sacrificed their time and energy to serve our country.  It chokes me up every time.  I also knew many familes were facing difficult times this week and well, it was honor to pray through the tears.

3.  Gary did a song and invited all the veterans to the front of the sanctuary.  Towards the end of the song a mother on the front row stood up and went down the line shaking each veteran’s hand.  Hers is a new family that’s been attending about a month so she wasn’t thinking,”Would it be appropriate for me to do this?”  She was thinking,”I owe a great debt to these people and the least I can do is shake their hand.”  A little girl and young boy with a mohawk followed her down the line shaking hands and I couldn’t hold back the emotion of that moment.  Soon, others lined up to shake their hands and after the song, Charlie asked all the veterans to stand outside at the end so everyone could have the chance to shake their hands.

4.  Our speaker was Ray Coleman who helped with the WTC cleanup after 9-11 and served in Iraq.  He had some amazing stories and he was a great guy to meet.  He and Charlie go way back.  It was fitting to have him share his story on this special day.

5.  We had not one, but two times of altar prayer in the service.  We also had a full band and a new guy singing.  He added some nice harmony to the mix.  All in all, it was an amazing day and another momentum booster for our church.  God’s been giving us a lot of those lately.

It’s often after great times like this, the enemy attacks and he came after me hard Sunday afternoon and Monday morning.  Hopefully, God has given strength and grace to others as he has to me today.  Just blogging has lifted my spirits a bit.

In other good news, I am putting the finishing touches on our youth group web site.  I want to have it ready to go by Wednesday.  More on that later.

Adios!

It is sad to me to hear about the “unnamed sources” from the McCain campaign trashing Sarah Palin.  Personally, I think unnamed sources are a joke.  In the book “Game of Shadows”, the authors used unnamed sources who illegally leaked grand jury testimony involving baseball superstar Barry Bonds alleged steroid use.  The authors were hailed as heroes when they refused to name their sources even under the threat of jail time.  Dude, I totally think I’ve blogged on that before.  Anyway, there is name for unnamed sources:  cowards.  This isn’t just a problem in the media.  “Unnamed sources” have been causing havoc in churches since halfway through the book of Acts.  We sometimes call them “gossips” if we’re lucky enough to know who they are.  I remember sitting in a meeting sometime where one of the members said,”Several people have asked me to speak on their behalf concerning this issue.”  Those people would have been welcome to share their opinions for themselves at the meeting but that would’ve required courage.  What would’ve required even more courage was for the member to tell the “unnamed sources” that their names would be mentioned.  Thankfully, I have met a pastor or two who refuse to play the game and tell anyone bringing “concerns” to them that their name will be used when the “concerns” are addressed.  How many pastors, churches, marriages and laypeople have been hurt because of gossip from “unnamed sources?”  How many could have been protected if people had stood up and said,”We don’t use or listen to unnamed sources here”?  Now, there are times when lives are at stake and their identity should be protected for theirs and their family’s sake.  That’s rarely the case in church’s though.  I know I have requested that my name not be used in the relaying of a story, but that stops today.  If I can’t finish a story or comment with the phrase,”and you can use my name, Claude Heath Mullikin, if you need to” then I will keep my mouth shut.  Better yet, we could all go straight to the person to begin with.

Now, with that said, my friend Alan told me that an unnamed source told him that Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops has contacted Clemson about the head coaching job.

I’m reading a book called “The Dark Side of Camelot” that investigates some of the shadiness behind the Kennedy legacy.  So far, there have been a few unnamed sources in the book and they’ve all been alleged mistresses of the JFK.  Their identities are withheld to protect their privacy, careers, and families.  It would’ve been a lot easier to just say no in the first place.  One indiscretion always leads to another.

I was going to comment on something else, but am reserving judgement on the subject.  It’s the kind of thing where I feel that if I write a blog about it then I must also send a letter to the people I’m blogging about.  So, it’s going to be a week or so before I’m able to do that.  Hope everyone has a great weekend.

Whether your candidate won or not yesterday, today is a day to think about the historical implications of what has taken place and why that makes our country a great place.  Tomorrow I’ll start talking about some changes that I’d like to see, but today is a day to celebrate.

1.  Our country is only 232 years old.  Ours is one of the few and one of the first countries to be founded on the Judeo-Christian principle that all men are created equal.  We haven’t always lived up to that but think about this:  name another non-African nation to choose a black man as their leader.  European nations are thousands of years old and most if not all of them have never elected or selected a minority as their leader.  In most places, power is passed down from one generation to the next.  Lineage and loyalty have had more to do with leadership selection than character and competency.  That was often true in America has well, but Sen. Obama’s victory resonates with lots of folks.

For every kid growing up without a father…you can be President.

For every single mother struggling to make ends meet while going to school…your son can be President.

For every grandparent chipping in to help raise their grandchildren…they could be President.

In an age where the minority stereotype is one of broken homes and illegitimacy, remember what it felt like to see a black family ascend to the highest politcal office in the world.  You can say a lot of things about Barack Obama, but you cannot say that he is not a committed husband and father.  Everyone can celebrate that.

Most people will look at this election as simply shattering the ceiling for African-Americans, but I think it shatters the ceiling for the common man.  Barack Obama wasn’t born with a silver spoon in his mouth, worked his way through law school, married his wife before they had kids, and woke up this morning as the President elect of the United States.  It means Drake has a shot.  It means Charis and Milena have a shot.  It means we’ve all got a shot.  Isn’t that what America is all about?

2.  I felt for Sen. McCain like I did for Bob Dole in 1996.  Both men are heroes in their own right and both men won their parties nomination 8 years too late.  They had a lot of things going against them and both ran subpar campaigns.  I don’t see that McCain lost the election as much as Obama won it.  Which brings me to…

3.  Hopefully, someone in the Obama campaign started writing a book this morning on the best Presidential campaign ever run.  This guy had no shot a year ago because everyone from East to West saw it as Hillary Clinton’s to lose.  Ironic that the man criticized for his past as a community organizer won because of his campaign’s ability to organize communities.  This was a grass roots effort from the start and hats off to them.  I’m not a Howard Dean fan, but the way Obama won this election fits the new 50 state playbook of the Democratic party.  Hopefully, Republicans will quit whining about the media’s coverage of Obama and initiate some change I can believe in.  Buying this book would be a great place to start.

4.  Finally, I can only hope now that President-elect Obama’s first meeting with the Congressional leadership goes something like this,”You guys are a bunch of morons.  I’m running the show here.  I’m in charge.  You guys’ approval rating is worse than the Presidents’ so don’t think for one minute you’re gonna boss me around.  There are 62,000,000 reasons you’re gonna do exactly what I say.  Now, where do we begin.”

Well, that might be one American dream that doesn’t come true.

I remember watching election results from the 2000 election on my parent’s couch.  We were staying with them while remodeling our house.  Everyone else was in bed, but I toughed it out until about 2 am.  I will never forget all the networks calling Florida for Gore, then Bush, then no one.  Tim Russert finally brought out a tiny dry erase board since things changed so much.  The dry erase board is now used by many on election night.  I remember waking up the next morning and us still not having a president.  I remember watching the supreme court case on tv and Gore finally conceding.  I had never seen a close election in my lifetime and it was an eye opening experience.  Today, there is a lot of bitterness and meanness on both sides and I think I get caught up in it sometimes.  It’s very easy to.  I think it’s a sad day when we try to pin the hopes of our nation on any one person whose name does not begin with a J and end with ESUS.  Polititians will always do what they do, but it is only the transforming power of Christ that can change a man and a nation.  I think I too often try to wear the hat of political operative and pastor at the same time.  I think since 1994 the Republicans have blown a great opporunity to lead our nation positvely.  For many, this election is a referendum on that failure amongst others.  Just think about this, if every person who claimed to be a Christian tithed 10% then we could elimate hunger, tons of government programs, and half of the political debate.  But, as long as the church fails in its mission to change lives and serve the needy, there will be some polititian promising to do that for us.  As for tonight, I’m pretty sure I will be in bed at a decent hour and I will know who to pray for.

I spent a lot of time thinking this weekend about racism in our country and our world.  Racism is and always has been a scourge of mankind.  However, I don’t think racism has anything to do with race anymore.  I think it is all about skin color.  For me, that makes it an even worse sin if that’s even possible.  In one of histories worst cases of racism, the Nazis had to force Jews to wear the star of David.  Why?  Because they weren’t able to distinguish them entirely by skin color and changing one’s name from a Jewish sounding name to a more European sounding one was also an option for Jews wishing to escape persecution.  So, the Nazi’s made Jewish citizens wear the star of David.  This brings us to the interesting case of Presidential candidate, Barack Obama.  Obama is the son of a caucasian mother and a Kenyan father.  To claim that Obama would be the first African-American president is only half true.  But, he is considered the first because he looks African-American.  There are millions of people prepared to vote for and against Barack Obama based solely on his skin color.  There are also millions of people prepared to vote for and against John McCain because of his skin color.  I believe that they are all wrong to do this.  It’s bad enough to live in a world where race is a factor in anything because we are all created equal in the eyes of God.  It’s even worse to live in a world where skin color is factor.   You can never judge a book by its cover and you can never judge a person’s race or character by their skin color.  I think racism is dying a slow death.  Unfortunately, Skinism is alive and well. What are we going to do to defeat it?