How we came to Grandview...

December 31, 2012

Post # 364

I had visited the International House of Prayer in 2002.  I was so "captivated" by the environment that I remember praying, "Lord, I love IFI and I know you called me there. But if ever I was to move somewhere else, I would like to come be near IHOP."

So there I was, Spring 2006, without a job in Newton. I had a big house and 4 young sons. Amy was very busy homeschooling them and did not work outside of our home.

All I had was my Missouri Teachers Certification.

When I graduated from Northeast Missouri State, I was in one of the last classes to receive a lifetime teaching certificate.  It would be current and valid until the day I died.  So I loaded all of my information into the State of Missouri teacher job-search site called "MO-REAP."

I got a lot of contacts from school systems around the state. I had 12 years of Special Education experience. I had been an administrator for 5 years, and I was an older-dude.  Most school districts sent email responses and inquiries, but I got a phone call from the Special Education Director in Grandview.  She really wanted me for a Middle School SPED Coordinator.  And here's the kicker, the School was 5 minutes from the IHOP Prayer room.

So July 5th 2006 Amy and I drove to the KC area and I was offered the job on the spot.  I was paid basically the same salary for 10 months of work that I was getting from PF. I was at home by 4:00 nearly every day, and my kids had so many more opportunities in the area that were not available in Newton.

A few years later our whole family was back in Newton visiting friends.  We were driving by the Newton town square when one of the boys says from the back of the van said, "Dad, I'm glad you got fired. I like where we live now better."

It's bitter sweet.  I am thankful for the opportunities in Newton. God (as always) was very faithful to my family. I expect He always will be.

chris

My Exit from IFI in one run-on paragraph...

My Exit from IFI in one run-on paragraph...

Things were going well with IFI-IOWA.  However, Prison Fellowship was concerned with the cost of IFI in relation to the few number of inmates being affected. Why spend all that money on 300 inmates over a year when you can contact 300 inmates in a weekend? So we were constantly having to justify what we were doing to folks who did not have a grid for and who had never substantially visited or interacted with personally any IFI. People from all over the country and around the world were visiting IFI IOWA to see what we were doing. There was a lot of talk of expansion around the country and around the world. Ultimately I felt no tug to go anywhere else, but others on our staff did. So nearly all of the original staff and counselors moved on after the first 18-months and then a whole-nother set of staff moved on or up or over and some went to other states and Sam went all-national and things got hectic in an expansion-promotion-administrative-national-sort-of-way.  I tried to mostly stay out of it. Even though I kept getting pulled aside by this party and that individual to try and "stage-a-coup" or tattle, or assert my will.  I opposed all of that.  The only line in the sand I drew was, "If IFI becomes just another treatment program where Jesus in not the center of transformation, I'm out." Then we got sued by the Americans United for the Separation of Church and State and I became mired in a lot of lawyer prep and depositions and more lawyer prep and trials and testimonies  It was surprised that the lawyers Prison Fellowship had acquired were not saved and were not on my side, nor was Prison Fellowship on my side.  I felt very keenly that I was going to testify before the world's representatives and there was no way I could deny The Lord.  I felt very alone in that chair for 6 hours as I testified.  I felt resented by my own lawyers, Prison Fellowship, and my own supervisors. But I kept true to the best of my frail abilities to what the Lord had placed in me.  I even inquired about moving to another IFI, but I didn't have my own house in order, I was being misrepresented to PF National, and I was being under-cut by those who wanted that same position. In the end I was lied about, lied to, and left hung out to dry. (Again, this was just my impression. It was much more complicated and subtle than that and I am not without fault.)  On a Tuesday I had discussions to move to another position within IFI-IOWA.  By that Friday I was told it was my last day. That Sunday I packed my things in a tub and walked out of the prison.  Ironically, on the day I was told to leave, the court decision came back that we had lost our case to the American's United for the Separation of Church and State.

And that's all I have to say about that...

chris

Four days to go...

POST 363 (137 posts behind)

Including the rest of today, There are 4 days left in 2012.

According to my initial goal, I should be on post 496.

However, I am on post 363.

This is not unlike me.  I set lofty goals, make an excellent start, maintain for a time, and eventually end poorly.

This is a life issue I must address. So I'm doing some reflection in the midst of my "failure."

First of all, I set an unrealistic goal. "500 consecutive days of posts?" Not real practical, yet I knew that if I didn't throw it out there I would have done zero.

More importantly, I got bogged down with the Newton and IFI part of my life, which is probably the main reason why I felt the need to write this on-line diary anyway.

I feel like I'm a loyal person. (Maybe I am not, but the perception of myself is that I am.) The core issue I've (not) dealt with since 2006 is that I felt betrayed by people I was loyal to.

I guess I have not completely come to grips with that perception.

So I've decided not to write at length or specifically about all of that.  Tomorrow (or should I say, my next blog entry) I'm going to summarized my final 2 years at IFI in one rambling paragraph.

Then I'll set out into 2013, my 50th year on this planet.

chris

Stigmatizing Mental Health or Developmental Disorders is Harmful

Here is a statement from the National Association of School Psychologists (NASP) about mental illness and developmental disorders.  Understand, most people with mental health disorders will most likely sit around at home watching TV, and nearly all the violence perpetrated in our society is done so by people who are "sane."

I have worked my entire career with people with developmental and psychiatric disorders as well as individuals with substance abuse and criminal behavior. A "let's lock-up all the guns and the crazies" reaction will do little to stop horrible violence.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tuesday, December 18, 2012

CONTACT: Kathy Cowan (301) 347-1665

Stigmatizing Mental Health or Developmental Disorders is Harmful

Bethesda, MD—As the initial shock of the horrific events in Newtown, Connecticut begins to subside, the nation is left to contemplate why such a terrible tragedy occurred. There have been frequent reports in the news that the perpetrator had been diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder and this may have been related to his homicidal behavior. While it is natural for people to want to understand why such an event occurred, speculating on possible causes at this time would be irresponsible. To conclude that the presence of such a diagnosis predisposes someone to commit this type of violence perpetuates an incorrect stereotype and maintains a stigma that often creates a reluctance to seek treatment.

Homicidal or sociopathic behaviors are often the result of a complex combination and interaction of risk factors, which may be environmental, biological, or both. In most cases, the presence of a diagnosable disorder or disability alone does not predispose someone to extreme or calculated violence. Implying so risks undermining the important efforts to reduce stigma around mental health problems and disabilities and may discourage individuals and families from seeking appropriate treatment. With appropriate treatment, especially early intervention, people with mental health issues can lead rich, full, and productive lives.

The same is true for children exhibiting problem behaviors and learning difficulties. With proper interventions, children can overcome barriers to learning, display positive behavior, and engage in positive socialization. Indeed, the primary focus of school-based mental health services is to provide students with the necessary supports to thrive in school and throughout life. Providing ongoing access to these services also promotes school  safety by helping students feel connected and supported and by helping to identify students who may need  more intensive services. In these cases, collaboration among school, community providers, and families is critical  to ensuring continuity and effectiveness of supports. Improved access to mental health services in schools remains among the most critical factors in preventing and responding to school crises.

Our nation must engage in a serious discussion about how we can improve our efforts to provide for the mental  health needs of our children and youth; not just to prevent horrific acts of violence, but to support their well- being, academic achievement, and success in life. Speculating or circulating misinformation can be harmful and  distracting to the mission of providing a safe school environment for our children. Numerous organizations have  accurate information on the real risk factors and interventions for specific disorders and disabilities. These include, among others: the National Association of School Psychologists (NASP), The Child Mind Institute, the American Psychological Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, and the Autism Society of America.

NASP believes that ongoing efforts to improve school safety and to create safe and welcoming school environments are vital to promoting the well-being of all of our children. Eliminating stigma and providing needed mental health services and accurate information is critical to this mission.

For additional information, visit www.nasponline.org or contact NASP Director of Communications, Kathy Cowan at kcowan@naspweb.org.

Let My Tebow Go (a repost from the NY Times)

Let My Tebow Go

Illustration by Tom Gauld

Original NY Times Link: Let My Tebow Go

By STEPHEN MARCHE

Published: December 14, 2012

What will Tim Tebow be doing by the time you read this? Will he be leading the Jets to an improbable victory, perhaps even a miraculous playoff berth? Will he be publicly demanding a trade to somewhere like Jacksonville? Or will he be exactly where he was when we last saw him — injured and wasting away on the Jets’ bench, weathering nasty cheap shots from teammates, like the one who sneered to The Daily News: “We’re depending on miracles? You can’t play that way”?

His future in New York seems more tenuous than ever. Rex Ryan wouldn’t play him during the Thanksgiving Day massacre — a game so hellacious it generated its own series of Internet memes, several revolving around Mark Sanchez’s collision with a teammate’s posterior. In the following game against Arizona, when the Jets finally benched Sanchez, Tebow was out with fractured ribs, and it was Greg McElroy, the third-stringer, who stepped in to provide the game-winning heroics. The cosmos has been laying the ironies on thick this season for Jets fans.

I am not a Jets fan, nor am I a Christian, and I’m certainly not a believer in Tim Tebow’s abilities as a quarterback. But I am utterly on the side of the Free Tebow crowd. Tim Tebow proves, if any proof is necessary, that people don’t go to sports events just because they enjoy watching men throw balls and catch balls and hit one another. Stadiums are full of people like me, carrying their hidden fears and struggles to games in the hope of seeing a story unfold that will help them deal with life.

In that light, Tebow has to play again, if not in New York, then somewhere. Not because it would be good for the Jets or good for the fans or good for football, but because of what he has come to represent (to me at least): the necessity, and the beauty, of absurdity. And it all began with a little girl falling down a flight of stairs.

In the early fall of 2011, I was showing off my attic study to friends visiting from New York — a feeble attempt to demonstrate the advantages of living in Toronto by means of square footage — and their 3-year-old daughter, Emmy, wandered away while we were chatting. I looked over, then rushed over, both too late. All I managed to catch was the sight of her falling, a kaleidoscopic chaotic tumble. She flipped over three times. Her head hit the stairs, then her feet, then her head again, leaving a crumpled ball at the bottom. I knew instantly she must have been seriously hurt.

My imagination whirled with body casts and neck braces. Emmy’s father, rushing to her side, calmed her while surreptitiously and meticulously checking her body, piece by piece. She could move her neck, her legs. She could put her arms over her head. Relief poured over me like a pitcher of ice water. At least nothing major was broken. Then her dad began to look her over more closely. Not only was she uninjured, but she wasn’t hurt at all. Not a bump on her head. Not a bruise on her leg. Not a scratch. She didn’t need so much as a Band-Aid.

It’s not too much to say that Emmy’s wholeness shocked me. I could barely stand to look at her afterward. Every time I thought about what might have happened to my friends’ child, a fierce constriction grabbed my chest and a sickening feeling roiled in my belly. Over the rest of their visit, I kept randomly repeating, “That was a miracle.” It was the only phrase I could come up with. I didn’t know how to deal with inexplicable good fortune. Even after my friends returned to New York, the strange constriction in my chest persisted.

Christians famously have the problem of pain: how can a benevolent and omnipotent god permit evil to exist? But atheists like myself have our own paradox to contend with: the problem of joy. Why do randomly good things happen? In Graham Greene’s “The Power and the Glory,” a priest gives the explicit defense of their reality to his Red Shirt captor: “Can’t you see the doctors round the dead man? He isn’t breathing anymore, his pulse has stopped, his heart’s not beating: he’s dead. Then somebody gives him back his life, and they all — what’s the expression? — reserve their opinion. They won’t say it’s a miracle, because that’s a word they don’t like.” C. S. Lewis described his conversion to Christianity as a process of being “surprised by joy.”

Emmy was my confounding miracle, my joyful surprise. How had she survived without a single scrape? It didn’t make sense, and I couldn’t make it make sense.

Then Tim Tebow, playing for the Denver Broncos, subbed in for Kyle Orton and led a wholly improbable march to the playoffs, and sense started drifting toward me.

It has nothing to do with Tebow’s religion. The show-business aspects of Tebow’s Christianity off the field are mostly a distraction. The virginity, the anti-abortion ad, the praying, the laying on of hands, the Tebowing — a pose in which he drops to one knee in prayer, the imitation of which became a brief Internet sensation — they’re all so many stunts. What appealed to me was his absurdity.

Last year, he took a team that was 1-4 to the A.F.C. West title and its first playoff game in seven years — and now he doesn’t even play. How is that possible? What’s more, even his ardent supporters admit he’s physically incompetent at the very position he’s supposed to be playing — his throwing motion is awkward, his passes are wobbly — yet, they argue, he seems to possess some higher talent, the oft-cited but ephemeral “intangibles.”

Tebow asks a profound question of his sport: Can a football player be different from his results? Evaluations of performance — beyond the stark statistic of victories over losses — can be notoriously poor, particularly for quarterbacks. After all, Tom Brady wasn’t picked until the sixth round of the draft. The commentariat’s description of Tebow’s “intangibles” are just another way of saying, “I have no idea what’s going on.” Can a quarterback with a 7-4 record be considered a bad quarterback? Was Tebow winning last season because he was somehow good in a way that nobody could explain? And if he wasn’t any good, why was he winning? According to Livy, the great Roman general Fabius said that results are the teachers of fools. But what teachers, other than results, do we have in football? Or in life?

I found myself following Tebow, and the Broncos, religiously. And I thought about Emmy every time I watched a game. I know that others were having as much difficulty as I was in figuring out how the Broncos’ season was unfolding. In the crudest analyses, Tebow’s inexplicable record pointed to some kind of divine intervention. Karlos Dansby, a linebacker for the Miami Dolphins, explained his team’s overtime loss to the Broncos after a stunning fourth-quarter comeback like this: “Young man is blessed. Young man has a special anointing on him. . . . And God working through him like that, it opened up a lot of eyes.”

As Tebow kept winning, each time more unlikely than the time before, the Broncos’ progress seemed to speak more clearly to the miracle I saw with Emmy. His wins tended to increase the gnawing in my stomach. I felt every one of his comebacks right in my core.

Football is the most rational of sports, grounded in higher-level thinking, both strategic and tactical. Tebow was making a mockery of that rationality.

Then came Week 15, a game against the Patriots. That was the first game since my childhood in which the outcome could have fundamentally changed my worldview. I’m not saying I would have started believing in God if the Broncos won, but I might have wondered if I should.

The Patriots play football the way I imagine the ancient Romans would have. Rationally. Cruelly. Without mistakes and with the maximum amount of preparation. The Patriots play with pagan wisdom: “We’ll take the material world. You take the miracles.” Even the manner in which they lose speaks volumes about who they are. The two defeats to the Giants in the Super Bowl required two of the most miraculous plays of the decade — “The Catch” by David Tyree and the spectacular 38-yard completion to Mario Manningham that was in bounds by the most ridiculously small of margins. The Patriots versus the Broncos seemed like a contest between the visible world and the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

When Denver went up 16-7 at the beginning of the second quarter, I thought I was going to be sick. It momentarily seemed possible that the absurdity would keep going forever, without end. The tension of an infinite absurdity rose to real possibility. Then, mercifully, it fell apart. Rationality — or, more specifically, Bill Belichick standing in for rationality — prevailed. The Patriots churned through the Broncos with 27 unanswered points. Tom Brady dismantled Tim Tebow. My stomach began to relax. The material world made sense. The Patriots won. The problem of joy was momentarily solved.

I watched every Tebow game for the rest of the season, but they no longer felt like events happening to me personally. Appropriately, the Patriots beat the Broncos again in the playoffs, in a game that included what struck me as a fascinatingly vicious display by Brady, who punted on third down with a few minutes left, putting a diabolical punctuation to an afternoon of humiliation.

Final score: 45-10.

Kierkegaard believed that the failure of human beings to be able to understand the ultimate meaning of the universe throws us into an absolute submission to God, toward total faith. This radically Christian idea was the root of atheistic existentialism. For Sartre, the collapse of meaning produced what he called nausea — a feeling not unlike the one that followed me after I saw Emmy falling down those stairs. For Camus, the situation was nowhere near so bleak. For him, the absurd contained spiritual relief: “Happiness and the absurd are two sons of the same earth,” he wrote in “The Myth of Sisyphus.” “They are inseparable.”

Tim Tebow is a prophet of happy absurdity. He is a moment of inexplicable joy. Which is why the Jets must play Tebow even though, evidently, Mark Sanchez (and most likely Greg McElroy) is a much better quarterback.

This is an atheist’s plea: Let Tim Tebow play. What do the Jets have to lose now? Are they seriously considering passing on absurd beauty just to possibly win a few more football games in a season that is now all but beyond hope?

They might even get lucky. You never know. It has happened before. The whole world is like that little girl falling down the stairs. Tebow shows us: Sometimes good things happen. Deal with it

Original NY Times Link: Let My Tebow Go
.

Newtown

Newtown

The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?

Jeremiah 17:9

Do not start with…

Ø  Restricting guns or arming everyone…

Ø  Locking-up the mentally-ill or having them roam free…

Ø  Barricading the doors of our schools or opening the classrooms…

Ø  Blaming Conservatives or blaming Liberals

Ø  Accusing Society or excusing Culture…

Start by looking…

Look into the Human Heart where every murder, act of violence, war, crime, lie & hurt that has ever been released from one person to the next has been conceived, grown, and bore bitter fruit.

Then ask the eternal questions…

“How could the Heart become so dark?”

“Can the Heart be saved?”

“Who can save it?”

Then (and rightly) talk about …

Ø  Guns

Ø  & mental illness

Ø  & classroom security

Ø  & Conservatives

Ø  & Liberals

Ø  & society

Ø  & culture

You will find that once you have grasped the problem of the Human Heart, you will have less to talk about in those other controversies.

And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. Ezekiel 36:26 

The Story of Charles and Andy Stanley (Re-posted)

I enjoyed this article. It referenced one of my favorite books, "Tale of Three Kings" by Gene Edwards.

The Story of Charles and Andy Stanley

What do you think?

chris

My final reflection on the election (Hooray!)

*Yesterday’s post cost me some cyber-friends, but I am not deterred from spewing my self-absorbed drivel throughout the interweb! (I still like the people who cyber-shunned me.)

My final reflection on the election (Hooray!)

Being FOR something or someone

is more powerful

than being AGAINST something or someone.

When it came right down to it…a majority of the voters were for President Obama. Despite all the numbers you could throw out there and the implications of those numbers (for example: higher taxes for 2012 at a rate of $1300-$6000 per household), people were for him. Conversely, voters were not for Romney.  He was a candidate by default, (much like McGovern who I supported or Dukakis, or Dole, or Kerry, or McCain.) In that situation you are doomed to failure.

When Jimmy Carter (who I supported although I couldn’t vote because I was 17) ran in 1980, people were fed-up with the Iranian situation (GO SEE ARGO.) But there was a candidate who showed actual leadership like we hadn’t seen since Kennedy. That was Ronald Reagan.  People were for him. When GHW Bush ran in 88, people were still really for Reagan, but in 1992 people figured out they really weren’t for Bush. They got behind the media darling, Bill Clinton.

I was never really for Romney, the man. He has been kind of a blank to me.  This idea of voting against a candidate or issue by voting for another candidate just doesn’t have legs with the masses.  It may have a local or regional affect, but spread to 100,000,000 voters, it doesn’t hold up.

People couldn’t be against Claire McCaskill by being for Todd Akin.

People couldn’t be against President Obama by being for Mitt Romney.

Hopefully they’ll be someone to be for in both parties in 4 years.

chris

My Personal Report: REMEMBER, THIS BLOG IS MY SELFISH-SELF ABSORBED-SELF-EXPRESSION OUTLET!

By the numbers:

As of today:

• 54 days until January 1^st, 2013 (the beginning of my 50^th year)
• 181 days until my 50^th Birthday
• 12 pounds I’ve lost since January 1 (boo)
• 0, number of physicals I’ve had
• 17,891 views of 500to50

My body (however) is pressing the issue of going to the Dr. because my left leg and hip are in such agony I am having a difficult time with my mobility.  I went to the Chiropractor multiple times a week from November of last year through May of this year without the lasting relief I was hoping for.

Dang,

The Single-Issue Voter: Abortion

500to50 is BACK!

Forgive me father, it has been 32 days since my last confession…or blog entry.

Election day!

I’m glad this part of the process is over. However, I have a feeling by the end of the night we will not have a clear winner (it is noon as I type this on my lunch-hour.)

Many of my friends are single-issue voters, that is, there is one position or issue that trumps all other issues or qualifications of a candidate that will cause them to either vote, or not-vote for a candidate. As a matter of fact, the candidate is irrelevant, only the issue.

Here are (in my circle of friends) the top two single-issue deal breakers being punted around on Facebook statuses:

1.)    Abortion

2.)    Same-Sex Marriage

Today I’m going to write about Abortion. Tomorrow I’ll write about Same-Sex Marriage.

Abortion (under the auspices of “Reproductive Rights”) has been the single-issue decider since Roe-V-Wade.  All a candidate has to do is state they are either “Pro-Life” or “Pro-Choice” and instantly a group is lined-up behind them and another group is lined-up against them.  I would hazard to say that many in both groups never even check on the rest of the candidates’ positions on anything else. “Why,” you ask? There is no reason to check any other position. The matter has been settled on the single-issue.

The “Pro-Choice” issue has bled into other issues as well, such as the requirements of health insurances, government agencies, even private hospitals and healthcare providers to provide contraceptives and abortions, often free of charge because it has been framed as a “right” by the proponents.

Sooooo…..Now not only does a candidate have to espouse a women’s right to choose an abortion (through all nine months of pregnancy and beyond), they have to also work towards free contraceptives and abortion services at every hospital, even faith-based or catholic hospitals to be “Pro Choice.”

It also strongly affects the “Pro-Life” voter as well and can cause some awkward moral predicaments.

Case in point: Todd Akin

Mr. Akins has made a series of telling statements about rape and women in general that wave some really-big red flags that he (at best) is highly insensitive to women and violence against women or (at worst) is an old-school chauvinist.

Yet he is staunchly “Pro-Life.”  He is more “Pro-Life” than most “Pro-Lifers.” That fact alone will force the single-issue voter to affirm and support him, and conversely, oppose the much maligned; Claire McCaskill.  It is a pickle.

It also strongly and awkwardly affects the “Pro-Choice” voter.

Everyone on the planet is against babies having the base of their skulls pried-open (without anesthetic) and their brains sucked out through a small tube until they are dead.  Everyone in the entire world is against that, yet, to be truly and fully “Pro-Choice” you must support abortion through nine months of pregnancy including “partial-birth” abortion.  The “Pro-Choice” voter must support those who support that act, including our current president.

So, what am I saying?  Our choice is between a man who believes some rape victims just “got what they deserved” and a woman who wants babies’ brains sucked out? …I am kind of saying that, yes.

I am like everyone else in the world…I don’t want either of those things or either of those people, yet I don’t have another practical choice. Sure, I could pick the libertarian candidate, write someone in, or abstain, but what would that do?

It is this kind of dilemma that causes my heart to cry, “Lord! Come quickly!”

Chris

(and “no” I’m not telling you if I voted for Todd Akin or Claire McCaskill)

I Don't Like Debates

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I am not a fan of debates.  And I distrust all politicians. Therefore I get super frustrated on nights like last night.  I don’t believe anyone is going to be completely truthful, that they will spin any factoid in their favor, and will disparage their opponent at every turn with regard to the truth.

That being said…

I enjoyed a part of the debate last night and have pulled part of the transcript:

PRESIDENT OBAMA: Well, I think — let's talk about taxes because I think it's instructive. Now, four years ago when I stood on this stage I said that I would cut taxes for middle-class families. And that's exactly what I did. We cut taxes for middle-class families by about $3,600. And the reason is because I believe we do best when the middle class is doing well.

And by giving them those tax cuts, they had a little more money in their pocket and so maybe they can buy a new car. They are certainly in a better position to weather the extraordinary recession that we went through. They can buy a computer for their kid who's going off to college, which means they're spending more money, businesses have more customers, businesses make more profits and then hire more workers.

Now, Governor Romney's proposal that he has been promoting for 18 months calls for a $5 trillion tax cut on top of $2 trillion of additional spending for our military. And he is saying that he is going to pay for it by closing loopholes and deductions. The problem is that he's been asked a — over a hundred times how you would close those deductions and loopholes and he hasn't been able to identify them.

But I'm going to make an important point here, Jim.

MR. LEHRER: All right.

PRESIDENT OBAMA: When you add up all the loopholes and deductions that upper income individuals can — are currently taking advantage of — if you take those all away — you don't come close to paying for $5 trillion in tax cuts and $2 trillion in additional military spending. And that's why independent studies looking at this said the only way to meet Governor Romney's pledge of not reducing the deficit — or — or — or not adding to the deficit, is by burdening middle-class families.

The average middle-class family with children would pay about $2,000 more. Now, that's not my analysis; that's the analysis of economists who have looked at this. And — and that kind of top — top-down economics, where folks at the top are doing well so the average person making 3 million bucks is getting a $250,000 tax break while middle- class families are burdened further, that's not what I believe is a recipe for economic growth.

MR. LEHRER: All right. What is the difference?

MR. ROMNEY: Well —

MR. LEHRER: Let's just stay on taxes for —

MR. ROMNEY: But I — but I — right, right.

MR. LEHRER: OK. Yeah, just — let's just stay on taxes for a moment.

MR. ROMNEY: Yeah. Well, but — but —

MR. LEHRER: What is the difference?

MR. ROMNEY: — virtually every — virtually everything he just said about my tax plan is inaccurate.

MR. LEHRER: All right, go —

MR. ROMNEY: So — so if — if the tax plan he described were a tax plan I was asked to support, I'd say absolutely not. I'm not looking for a $5 trillion tax cut. What I've said is I won't put in place a tax cut that adds to the deficit. That's part one. So there's no economist can say Mitt Romney's tax plan adds 5 trillion (dollars) if I say I will not add to the deficit with my tax plan.

Number two, I will not reduce the share paid by high-income individuals. I — I know that you and your running mate keep saying that, and I know it's a popular things to say with a lot of people, but it's just not the case. Look, I got five boys. I'm used to people saying something that's not always true, but just keep on repeating it and ultimately hoping I'll believe it — (scattered laughter) — but that — that is not the case, all right? I will not reduce the taxes paid by high-income Americans.

And number three, I will not, under any circumstances, raise taxes on middle-income families. I will lower taxes on middle-income families. Now, you cite a study. There are six other studies that looked at the study you describe and say it's completely wrong. I saw a study that came out today that said you're going to raise taxes by 3(,000 dollars) to $4,000 on — on middle-income families. There are all these studies out there.

But let's get to the bottom line. That is, I want to bring down rates. I want to bring down the rates down, at the same time lower deductions and exemptions and credits and so forth so we keep getting the revenue we need.

And you think, well, then why lower the rates? And the reason is because small business pays that individual rate. Fifty-four percent of America's workers work in businesses that are taxed not at the corporate tax rate but at the individual tax rate. And if we lower that rate, they will be able to hire more people.

For me, this is about jobs

I kind of understood that. And I hope it’s the truth (you never can tell) and I like his analogy about his boys.

chris

The IFI Chronicles: National Public Radio

147

IFI got a lot of National and even International attention.  Prison Fellowship decided that when groups made requests to tour an IFI program, they decided to send them to IFI-IOWA.  Even National Public Radio decided to do a story about IFI.

A reporter and an audio technician showed up at the Newton Prison.  Sam Dye, Rod Brouwer (Aftercare Manager) a couple of inmates, and I walked around the prison with our two celebrities.

We showed Reporter-Gal and Sound-Guy the gym and health services.  We showed them the library and education.  We walked on the east side of the yard and showed them the Units A-D.  They looked at the weight yard and pickle ball and hairy-tattooed dudes in blue walking the track.  Then we headed to Unit E and Building M.

Reporter-Gal (who was doing the story) was very, very interested in questions concerning the TVs.  It was one of the first things she asked all of the inmates she encountered:

• DO YOU HAVE A TV?
• DO YOU MISS TV?
• HOW MUCH TV CAN YOU WATCH?
• IS THERE A TV IN YOUR ROOM?
• DOES YOUR ROOM MATE HAVE A TV?
• IS THERE A TV ON THE UNIT?
• IF YOU WERE ON THE TITANIC AND IT WAS SINKING AND YOU HAD A PUPPY IN ONE ARM AND A TV IN THE OTHER, WHICH ONE WOULD YOU SAVE AND WHICH ONE WOULD YOU SEND TO A FRIGID WATERY GRAVE?

During these kinds of visits I adopted a “speak when spoken to” attitude. The less I said the better.  So as we were shepherding around Reporter-Gal and Sound-Guy I had said nothing.  Finally Reporter-Gal and I had this interaction:

REPORTER-GAL: Well? How about you? Do you have a TV?

           

ME: Yes. Yes I do. (I couldn’t tell a lie.)

           

REPORTER-GAL: Ahhhhhhhhhhh….

           

SOUND-GUY: Leans in with microphone…

           

REPORTER-GAL: Do you watch it much?

           

ME: Not really.

           

SOUND-GUY: Leans in even closer with microphone…

           

ME: I really don’t have time to watch much TV.

           

REPORTER-GAL: Hmmmmmm…..

SAM DYE  to REPORTER-GAL: You realize he (me) is an IFI employee and not an inmate? Right?

REPORTER-GAL: Looks disappointed…

SOUND-GUY: Shuts of recording devise…

I did not make it on the NPR report.

chris

Looking for a Church

148

Once in Newton, we struggled to connect with a local Church.  We attended the local “Alliance” Church for the first couple of years.  The boys attended AWANAS each Wednesday, but Amy and I struggled to connect with the Church itself.  We met one couple who we remain friends with, but generally we were just too “Charismatic.”

We drove to the Vineyard Church in Des Moines for about a year.  We liked the “Vineyard way” and would have liked to be a part of a Vineyard Church in Newton, but in the end, it was too much to think about being part of a Church plant and be a part of IFI.

We had a “home-church” experience in our house for a year.  A few other families joined us Sunday evenings for prayer. It was fun and in some senses, rich, but again, it didn’t last.

Finally we attended the local Assembly of God Church.  We loved the Pastor and the Youth Group.  We also became close with the Wilson family and, of course, Meagan, Rana and Luke.  It became a home for us for a couple of years before our move to Kansas City.

I'm Spiritual. Not Religious. (a reposting)

Re-posted from CNN. That's right, CNN.

My Take On, "I'm Spiritual Not Religious" is a Cop Out

Les Miz!

Can't Wait!

24601!

The IFI Chronicles: The Adventures of TOMB-MAN!

151

I looked at this passage a lot while at IFI.

Mark 5

They came to the other side of the sea, into the country of the Gerasenes. When He got out of the boat, immediately a man from the tombs with an unclean spirit met Him, and he had his dwelling among the tombs. And no one was able to bind him anymore, even with a chain; because he had often been bound with shackles and chains, and the chains had been torn apart by him and the shackles broken in pieces, and no one was strong enough to subdue him. Constantly, night and day, he was screaming among the tombs and in the mountains, and gashing himself with stones. Seeing Jesus from a distance, he ran up and bowed down before Him; and shouting with a loud voice, he said, “What business do we have with each other, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I implore You by God, do not torment me!” For He had been saying to him, “Come out of the man, you unclean spirit!” And He was asking him, “What is your name?” And he said to Him, “My name is Legion; for we are many.” And he began to implore Him earnestly not to send them out of the country. Now there was a large herd of swine feeding nearby on the mountain. The demons implored Him, saying, “Send us into the swine so that we may enter them.” Jesus gave them permission. And coming out, the unclean spirits entered the swine; and the herd rushed down the steep bank into the sea, about two thousand of them; and they were drowned in the sea.

Their herdsmen ran away and reported it in the city and in the country. And the people came to see what it was that had happened. They came to Jesus and observed the man who had been demon-possessed sitting down, clothed and in his right mind, the very man who had had the “legion”; and they became frightened. Those who had seen it described to them how it had happened to the demon-possessed man, and all about the swine. And they began to implore Him to leave their region. As He was getting into the boat, the man who had been demon-possessed was imploring Him that he might accompany Him. And He did not let him, but He said to him, “Go home to your people and report to them what great things the Lord has done for you, and how He had mercy on you.” And he went away and began to proclaim in Decapolis what great things Jesus had done for him; and everyone was amazed.

How would we have “labeled” this man today with his presenting “symptoms?”

• Homeless (dwelling among the tombs)
• Violent (and he had his dwelling among the tombs. And no one was able to bind him    anymore)
• Displays of strength (even with a chain, because he had often been bound with shackles and chains, and the chains had been torn apart by him and the shackles broken in pieces, and no one was strong enough to subdue him.)
• Psychotic Episodes (Constantly, night and day, he was screaming among the tombs and in the mountains,)
• Self-harm/mutilation (gashing himself with stones)

* Reminds me a little of the “Bath-Salts Maniac” in South Florida

What would we do with such a man today?

> Hospitalize him?

> A double dose of Thorzine?

> Restraints?

> Solitary confinement?

> Case-management?

> Lobotomy?

This is how Jesus handled the situation.  He bypassed the man altogether and spoke directly to his affliction, in this case a “legion” of demons.  He commanded them to “come out” and they did.

What was Jesus’ outcome: “observed the man who had been demon-possessed sitting down, clothed and in his right mind, the very man who had had the ‘Legion’”

Jesus didn’t do a social history. He didn’t do a medical exam.  He didn’t ask the man if he preferred the “outdoor” lifestyle. He didn’t even ask permission. He didn’t speak to the man directly.

Jesus took authority and the affliction was cast away.

That was where I wanted to go.  I wanted Jesus to speak directly to the hearts of the men and prison and instantly “heal” them.  I wanted the men to amaze people by sitting clothed and in their right minds.

You would think the people of the Gerasenes would have been ecstatic to have Tomb Man taken care of.  Surely he had been a community risk for many years?  You would imagine they would have begged Jesus to stick around and clean-up their community.

Not so much…

Here was their response:

“they became frightened. Those who had seen it described to them how it had happened to the demon-possessed man, and all about the swine. And they began to implore Him to leave their region.”

They would rather deal with demonically oppressed men and continue their illegal “swine” operation than to have a healthy community…a theme that would show up in our reality as well.

So Jesus left.  His only reported convert? TOMB-MAN!

“As He (Jesus) was getting into the boat, the man who had been demon-possessed was imploring Him that he might accompany Him. And He did not let him, but He said to him, “Go home to your people and report to them what great things the Lord has done for you, and how He had mercy on you.” And he went away and began to proclaim in Decapolis what great things Jesus had done for him; and everyone was amazed.”

That also became a common theme in our reality as well…

chris

The IFI Chronicles: Leaders

152

“E” Unit had 242 beds that generally stayed full.  We may have had a few beds open a few days at a time, but generally, the Unit was full of men.

The weekly curriculum time looked like this:

Ø  Treatment/instruction from an IFI counselor: 2 hours daily (10 hours weekly)

Ø  Volunteer-led Evening Curriculum: 90 minutes 3 days a week (4.5 hour weekly)

Ø  Community Bible Study: 90 minutes (1.5 hours) weekly and mostly led by inmates

Ø  Friday Night Revival was 90 minutes (1.5 hours) weekly led by Volunteers

Ø  Sunday morning services were 90 minutes (1.5 hours) weekly led by IFI staff

Ø  Community Meeting was 45 minutes 5 days a week (3.75 hours Weekly)

Ø  Morning Devotions were 20 minutes 5 days a week (1.66 hours weekly) led by inmates.

 That is a grand total of 21.41 scheduled hours a week for “treatment.”

IFI members in curriculum mode would also have scheduled one-on-one times with their counselors throughout the week/month/quarter.  So let’s call the whole “time” in “treatment” as 24 hours a week.

That left 144 other hours a week free. Free to study, work-out, sleep, visit, play sports, and “do-time.”

Clearly, 144 hours in a prison setting would have an insurmountable affect on the hearts of the men.  IFI staff could not be the sole source of “knowledge” or “wisdom from on-high.”  We needed partners and co-laborers. We needed leaders.

I looked at the men as potential leaders in three different ways:

Criteria 1:  I looked at men who were already buying into what we were doing and who were already taking initiative.  That didn’t mean they were automatically put in a leadership position. Sometimes it was the opposite.  Some men craved leadership and wanted a position. They wanted to be up front and in front.  They wanted to teach and exercise their brains and mouths, not their hearts. Others were taking what they were learning and applying it right away.

Criteria 2: I looked for those who had potential.  This was my main criteria and the most subjective.  I would pray and try to perceive who the Lord was highlighting to me.  I picked some “risky” guys n an attempt to “coach-them-up.”  Sometimes it worked; sometimes it was a total flame-out.

Criteria 3: I would look for guys in groups who were closed to me.  I looked for guys who were Hispanic and spoke Spanish, especially guys going back to Mexico.  I looked for Gang Members who may be going back to California or Chicago or some other area.  I looked for a variety of religious persuasions. I looked for men who had knowledge or experience with Islam.  I looked for short term guys, long term guys and Lifers.

What I found was if I really stuck to my 2^nd criteria (looking for the Lord to highlight someone) I would get everyone in my 3^rd criteria.

I would hand-pick a group of 20 guys for leadership training. Then I would proceed to spill to them everything I was doing.  I would walk them through my thought process in certain situations and why I was doing what I was doing.  I did this at great risk, because I knew there was a potential to any of those guys running right back to the unit and spilling all of my “tactics.”  However, I never worried about that.

 

Another thing I would do was teach them specific skills in leadership.  We used an excellent curriculum called “Jesus on Leadership: Developing Servant Leaders” by Gene Wilkes.  It was an excellent balance of the practical and the theoretical.  It also emphasized servant hood as the main mechanism of leading.

 

I would then place resources, teachings, books, etc. into the hands of guys.  If I felt they were prophetic I would slide them a book about the prophetic. If I saw they were worship leaders, I would give them music.  If I saw they were teachers, I would give them assignments to teach.  If they were counselors, I would put them with other guys who needed to be listened to. If they were pray-ers, I would pray with them.

Most importantly I would pray for them, and I would pray for them in a very specific way and with a specific intent.  I would pray, with faith and with my positional authority, that their potential would be unleashed in their lives.  I expected the Holy Spirit to ramp His work up in their lives.  I waited to see them make exponential growth, and I did.

Our community began to really flourish as the day to day discipleship and the atmosphere of the unit were in the care of the inmates themselves and shepherded by the “elders” as they were called (a term I never used, but the men used for each other.)

 

chris

 

To learn more about Gene Wilkes and his Jesus on Leadership curriculum : Jesus on Leadership
(I prefer the book to th DVD Curriculum...)

 

 

Helmet Man

153

Yet another wacky story having to (kind-of) do with the Chiefs...

...and it makes me laugh.

KANSAS CITY, MO (KCTV) -

The FBI said Friday afternoon that no explosives were found and there is no threat to the public after a scare in downtown Kansas City.

The man at the center of the scare, Wahed Moharam, was later released. He talked to reporters once he arrived home Friday night.

"I love this country," he said, adding that he has lived in the United States for more than 30 years. "I would give my life for this country."

Police initially said the man claimed to be a terrorist, leading to the evacuation of some downtown streets and buildings. Moharam, who is apparently on a federal watch list, was taken into custody at the federal building at 13th Street and Holmes Road.

Moharam reportedly yelled, "Why am I on the terrorist watch list?" when he entered the federal building downtown Friday.

"While the individual was detained and is being questioned, there is no public safety concern and we determined no personnel inside the federal building were in harm's way," the FBI statement says. "The individual walked into the federal building to clarify whether he was under investigation by a federal agency. The individual did not make a threat of a bomb or explosive device being contained in his vehicle."

The Kansas City Star, KCTV5's reporting partner, reported that Moharam has ties to the first World Trade Center bombing. He testified against some of the bombers.

Moharam is also a die-hard Chiefs fan and appeared on KCTV5's Locker Room show. He also appeared regularly on other KCTV5 business-related segments. He was known as "Helmet Man," and was wearing a Chiefs shirt Friday night.

He told reporters Friday night that he had been pulled over on a traffic stop in Grain Valley. He said he felt harassed and the stop was extensive. He said officers told him the traffic stop lasted so long because they discovered he was on a terror-watch list.

Moharam said this upset him and he went to the federal building to clear up the issue. He said he never had a bomb and never implied that he had one.

"I love this country more than anything on earth. I will do anything for this country," he said. "I never went to the building and said I had a bomb. If I said I had a bomb, I wouldn't be talking to you now."

After Moharam was taken into custody Friday afternoon, bomb dogs indicated that explosives were inside the vehicle. This led to the evacuations and a heightened search.

After a robot and investigators in bomb squad gear searched the vehicle, explosives were not found.

A gun was found inside his vehicle.

Moharam owns a cleaning business. And the cleaning chemicals inside the vehicle were what the dogs hit on. 

Moharam was known to many Kansas City area residents as "Helmet Man" because of his attire at Chiefs games. Many knew him as Edgar Sanchez. 

Neighbors described him as friendly, good with children and involved in his church and community. He was also described as odd. He came to KCTV5's newsroom in February to discuss a business opportunity.

The Star reported that Moharam's season tickets were revoked because of safety concerns in 2003. He was once in the federal witness protection program for testifying in the first World Trade Center bombing. Click here to read the newspaper's 2003 profile of him.

"Everything is OK," a man identifying himself as Wahed told the newspaper. "I don't have to tell you exactly where I am. The FBI requests me to hang up the phone, but I can assure you I'm OK and they treat me good."

He added: "And everything mistake. Everything mistake. I didn't have any bad thing anyway. Everything is just ... thank you and God bless you and I'm OK."

The General Services Administration initially relocated employees from sections of their downtown building as a result of the threat. Federal agencies sent some workers home for the day.

The nearby Jackson County Jail was placed on lockdown.

Kansas City police said they acted out of an abundance of caution. 

In its statement, the FBI said they could not discuss whether Moharam is on a federal watch list.

"Local police and FBI agents acting with an abundance of caution responded appropriately with the initial limited information they had based on witness accounts of what happened," the statement said. "A police canine sniffed the person's car and alerted to a possible explosive substance. A closer look has determined that no items of concern have been located in the individual's vehicle. Again, the primary concern was for the public's safety, which made the actions today necessary."

KCTV5's Brad Stephens, Stephen Mayer and Dave Jordan contributed to this report.

Copyright2012 KCTV (Meredith Corp.) All rights reserved.