Dan posting....I know it's been awhile

Hey everyone,

I wanted to give you all a little update on what is going on. First off I just wanted to tell everyone that a couple of weeks ago Hilary and I attended a marriage seminar and it was amazing. It was on conflict management and it was hosted by Greg and Erin Smalley. We got so much out of it and it is really helping our marriage. Also this past weekend Hilary and I went to Erie, PA with Tom, Mary, Megan, and Peter. It was a lot of fun and we had dinner at the Quaker Steak and Lube. That was neat because I'd never been to one before and their wings are almost as good as Anchor bar. Also the atmosphere in there is really interesting. If you don't know what it is, the original restaurant took an old gas station and converted it into a restaurant, really neat.

As for my health, the leg is getting better. The MRI showed absolutely nothing, which is in a way good because it means I don't have cancer or a tumor or anything like that, but it also means I'm still not sure what is wrong. The doctor told me just to keep up with the physical therapy and see how it goes. The therapy is helping so I'm encouraged by that.

I have a presentation in Christian Apologetics tomorrow on women in ministry and marriage. I think it will be really interesting. The last two weeks, and for the remainder of the semester, we have had student led topics. We are trying to develop a Christian apologetic for each of these issues. So far we've done things like homosexuality, abortion, the morality of God/problem of evil, and euthanasia. The discussion in class have been extremely eye opening and my hope is that people will respond with the same fervor to my presentation.

One last thing before I go. I know people were probably not that interested in Hilary's rant, which is why I don't want to rant a bit myself but there is something that has been bothering me that I feel I need to get off my chest. So I'm giving you a fair warning. I'm not going to rant about the same thing as her but I am going to rant a bit.

So I'm pretty sure I'm going to lose my mind if one more Christian tells me that their personal hero is Glenn Beck. The reason has nothing to do with his political beliefs. I admittedly am not a republican. I am certainly not conservative. However, I do have a problem with Christians who are all gaga over this guy. Every time I see him my skin crawls. He says all kinds of nasty, outrageous, and just plain derogatory things about his opponents. Again, I have no qualms that he is conservative and disagrees with liberals, but why does he have to do it in such a flamboyant and distasteful manner. In my past I have done some things like that which I am not proud of, but God has really been working on me and trying to help me love my enemies, and I am tempted to put that in quotation because members of an opposing political party are not my enemy they are trying to solve the same problems I am, only in a different manner.

It really upsets me that Christians are looking up to this guy. I don't know whether or not he is Christian so I don't actually care about the manner in which he says things, but those who are Christian should be very disapproving of that kind of an attitude. I am a liberal but I refuse to watch MSNBC because all they do is bash and hate on conservatives. That kind of behavior is unacceptable. I am really getting sick of politics because all they do is demonize each other.

Back to Glenn Beck specifically, I can't help hearing a casting crowns song in my head when I think about him. You all know "What if His people prayed" I'm sure. Well there is a line in the song that says "What if the life that we pursue, Came from a hunger for the truth, What if the family turned to Jesus, Stop asking Oprah what to do" I can't help but replace Oprah with Glenn Beck. The reason is that I don't think his attitude is very becoming of a follower of the Christ who sat down with his enemies and ate with them. He sat down with them and tried to help them become better. He died so that they might...just might...be reconciled to Him. Glenn Beck would rather see his enemies die than die for them. I mean the man wrote a book in which the sub title is "How to argue with Idiots" So much is wrong just with that. I mean would Jesus Christ ever call a sinner and idiot? Secondly Jesus isn't interested in teaching us how to argue, He wants to teach us how to love and disciple those who reject Him. The difference in how Jesus and Glenn Beck treat their opponents is staggering. I am pretty sure that Christ calls us to emulate those who emulate Him, and I'm not convinced Glenn Beck is worthy of that.

I'm sorry to go on such a rant but I really can't stand hero worship of someone who isn't worthy of it. If you want to look at someone who stands up for what they believe in by all means do so, but pick someone who doesn't demonize and badger their opposition.