Jesus is Coming: Look Busy

It was while I was in San Francisco, enjoying quiet time in the most beautiful of settings, letting my mind wander, drifting in and out of prayer, that I began to give credence to the acceleratingly negative feelings I've experienced over the commercialization of Christianity.

In it's most innocent form, marketing Christ via consumer products is intended as an evangelism tool. In my experience, it rarely succeeds at that. - Marketing Jesus as one would market Coke, "The Real Thing," and the "Got Milk" craze that led to the "Got Jesus" craze - felt superficial to me as though Jesus was a refreshing by-product of a good life, but I didn't raise any serious objections. -- Seemed prudish at the time.

Through the years, as the marketing increased, my sentiments intensified accordingly. It's as if we are being indoctrinized to keep Jesus at a casual distance, to utilize Him in a convenient and efficient manner, much as we would a t-shirt or jewelry.

I'm very much concerned that hypercommercialized Christianity slights doctrine, reduces evangelism and discipleship to an ineffective, albeit comfortable, level and reduces faith to a small asepct of one's life, much like exercising or eating right. Odd that these thoughts were culminating during my stays on park benches with the homeless in San Francisco, but that's what was going on. I was studying Hebrews 5:8 - 6:3. -- Very convicting in a city inhospitable to disciples of Christ. While there, I did see a new Jesus T-shirt that I found very revealing:

"Jesus is Coming: Look Busy"

Prague 2: Attempting to Reach the Aliens

My second & third days in Prague were action-packed

First I toured the Prague Castle, the best part of which was St. Vitas Cathedral. I did the audio tour and roamed around inside for a long, long time. Construction was begun on the cathedral in 1344 and not completed until 1929. Actually, there was construction going on while I was there, too. You can see scaffolding in the top left corner of this photo.

The Cathedral houses the tombs of many saints and three Kings. In the main sanctuary, all along the outside wall, circling the inner pews, are small rooms sectioned off and dedicated to a saint or king.

Each side section also has elaborate stained glass windows.

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Here is an example of the tombs.

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I know. Lovely, right?

This is a view of the exterior of the Royal Palace. You can see the two St. Vitus spires behind. The palace grounds cover 18 acres and could take a whole day to visit.

The palace buildings were quite plain looking, but the most unusual feature of this palace was the Main Hall. It was used for jousting. The staircases were designed for horses & a fully mounted soldiers to use.

A really interesting part of my trip to Europe was meeting up with the Hood family in Prague. I went to high school with Richard and Alyssa & we have kept in touch periodically since then. They were missionaries in Hungary for awhile, then back at Word of Life in NY, now in Prague.

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I previously contacted Alyssa and asked what I could bring them from the US. She suggested chocolate chips, cheezits, then she said, "Oh, lots of nerd ropes for Travis." Sure thing.

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Well, I couldn't find nerd ropes. I loaded everything else for them in my suitcase and headed to the airport. I wasn't feeling well, so I stopped at a drug store for cold medicine and there by the counter..... nerd ropes! I bought every last one of them.
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It was so great to meet up with them and catch up on old times. We spent Saturday afternoon and evening together & Sunday we went to church and dinner with them.

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So we went to a restaurant on the top of the "communciations" monument. Awesome restaurant, excellent food, but please. This is a TV tower that encompasses TV, FM and mobile communications. It is the tallest building in Prague. It was started in 1985 and finished in 1992.

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Yes, that means.... this gem of a building . . .

. . . is a communist work of art. "People were outraged by such an eyesore, but back then nobody had a right to complain," says Kamdine Khosrowkhavar.

He (and the Hoods) swear up and down that these are babies crawling up the building, "slightly creepy babies" according to Khosrowkhavar, but, let me tell you, I've been there, I've seen them, these aren't babies, these are aliens.

And it's a communications tower, get it?? They are trying to communicate with the aliens. Duh. Even I can see that. But please. Why would they put creepy babies crawling up Prague's tallest building?
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And then they all go around stomping their feet and saying "No, they're babies!!!"

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What's the big deal? I'd be proud to be reaching out to other universes and stuff. You know, like the guy in Bowman, SC, and his UFO welcome center. It takes some really advanced scientific minds to reach out like this & I'm all over it.

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OK, so I know, my observant reader, you are wondering.... "...but where is Richard Hood in these photos? Didn't you take Rich to the communications tower?"

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Sure we did.

That's him in the blue van, in a circle pattern, looking for a parking spot.

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We got a kick out of watching him go round and round and round.

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One last photo from Prague:

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Sunday Worship:

We attended the International Baptist Church of Prague. It appears they have a Czech service downstairs & an international English speaking service upstairs. They might even have a Spanish speaking service going on, too. It is such an awesome experience, as we travel, to go to local churches and feel like we are home. I love worshipping with other people of other churches, having one spirit, it always leaves me in awe. Prague is a wild city, a party city. I heard the bars and nightlife stays open all night long and people from all over Europe fly in the party all night, then fly out the next morning. The filth, the smell, the ads, the crowds testify this is probably true. But then to attend church and see a flicker of Light in a world of darkness -- wow -- what an encouragement, as well as a humbling experience. Let me encourage you to attend local churches when you travel, what a blessing.

Prague 101

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Prague:

The City of Spires

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I don't have any photos of the Austrian/Czech countryside, so with my narrative, I'll show you pictures from the city of Prague.

Friday morning came too early, we packed up our bags and got on the bus, enroute to Prague. The Austrian countryside consisted of fertile, green fields spotted with orange pumpkins, yellowish vineyards, and rolling hills dotted with tall, spiral-topped church steeples.

Crossing the boarder into the Czech Republic, we drove through boarded-up passport checkpoints no longer in use. In between Austria and Czech is a short span of no-man's land containing garish casinos and odd, touristy attractions similar to Pedro's South of the Border on I-95.
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Travel into the Czech Republic is still undeveloped and uncommon, no autobahn, just a two lane road and the train systems aren't very broad or networked well.

We continued into the countryside where there was a little farming, a nuclear plant smoking to our right and many deer-speckled fields. Wages in the Czech remain about 1/4 that of Austria's with very little benefits, but steadily improving.

Two hours into the Czech Republic and we were pulled over for speeding and held for awhile. Quickly we are reminded of their communist background, these cops were fierce and intimidating.

The police were checking fire extinguishers, tires, everything. Troudy uses this time to teach: "This is a good example of Czech Republic oppression - we are treated as criminals. Austrians would never be so rude, Austrian police are friends, not rulers." She pointed out this is one good example of why Austrians still aren't travelling into Czech very much. Also, she said, this was basically revenge because the Czech's tour buses often get pulled over in Austria because they're known for bad pollution and technical improprietries. Two-thirds of the cars going from the Czech Republic to Austria are forced to turn around due to being substandard so hostility here is strong, in addition to hundreds of years of hostility anyway. In retribution, they pull over Austrians, find something wrong and charge a fee, in our case, 100 Euros.
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When we got into Prague, the city streets were too narrow and curvy for our big ol' tour bus. We got stuck. We had to disembark with our luggage and walk a few blocks to our motel, Betlam Club. It was a great place to stay, excellent location, excellent service.

Within minutes, I donned my backpack, kissed Tom goodbye and hit the streets. Took me about 10 mintues to get over to the Old Town Square. For my notes on Old Town Square, click here. Old Town is a web of cobblestone alleys, dating back to the 11th century, in which I got a little lost a few times. It's also full of tourists.

Next, I ambled over to the Charles Bridge, a Gothic 14th century bridge that connects Old Town with the castle. Local artists sell their crafts on it and local bands plays music there all day long.

-The best time to be on the bridge is early morning and late evening, when it isn't packed with people. It is very romantic to be out there at sunrise and sunset and watch the lights come on at the castle.

I found my way back through the cobblestone alleys, back near the Betlam Club to the Bethlehem Chapel. This chapel was founded in 1391 for sermons to be delivered in Czech. It was the largest meeting place, holding up to 3,000 people with no furniture.

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It became a place where ideas could be expressed, a place of scientific debate. Jan Huss became the preacher here in 1402. Huss led a rebellion against the corrupted Catholic church & was eventually burned at the stake.

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I remember studying about Huss back in my Christian School days and I was filled with awe at being in his chapel, walking where he walked, reading some of his sermons.

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Above the chapel was his living quarters. Here I am sitting in contemplation in his bedroom window seat, where, he perhaps sat in prayer 600 years ago.

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The next morning, Tom & I enjoyed the Charles Bridge at sun-up. He had class-related duties and I went over the bridge and up to the Prague castle, the largest ancient castle in the world..

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Here's a sneak peak of the St. Vitus Cathedral on the Royal Palace grounds. Construction on the cathedral was begun in 1344. I took an audio tour of the Cathedral and Palace and I'll share that tour and photos with you tomorrow. You look exhausted. I think I've worn you out for today.

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There are a couple more photos below.

Along with the Cathedral and Palace, I found an old high school friend in Prague & I'll tell you all about our encounter tomorrow. (spoiler: aliens are involved)

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Here you can see the cathedral and palace from the Charles Bridge.

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And here is the same view after dark.

BFF Back Atcha

My daughter posted the original BFF post here, totally awesome. She continues to amaze me with her blog.

But...she got me to thinking.... BFF's, eh?

I've had a few.

sorry, debra

Here's to BFF's everywhere.

What a joy they add to life!

"True happiness consists not in the multitude of friends, but in their worth and choice."- Samuel Johnston

The sweet smell of perfume and oils is pleasant,

and so is good advice from a friend.

Proverbs 27:9

..in which Kramer invents the movie phone.

Volleyball Season's End

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Marj's Senior year playing volleyball is almost over. I am going to miss this a whole lot. Seems like it just started. To experience our giddy excitement at the beginning of the season, click here.
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Meet the Scorekeeper. (me)

You'd think we would have won a few more games with me being the scorekeeper, but no. Didn't happen.

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Here's my babe, slammin' one. She's got some awesome stats this year. Notice the lack of spectators? Parental support is good, but community support is lame. If they didn't have to pay to get in the door, we'd have more support, but that whine's for another post.....
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We did much better this year with communication on the court, but sometimes we still had trouble. This is such a good example. Lacie and Crystal smashed here, but what I love is Lacie's smile. Every single time she smashed into someone, she'd be laughing hard. She has a great smile.

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Oh, I have to share this Lacie story. On the bus, going to HKT, she fell asleep. We turned on a rather sharp turn and she fell to the floor with a scream. So Lacie.
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And this is the team with their new uniforms. So far, the uniforms haven't proven to be lucky.

Even afta Marj graduates, I might have to come back and keep score. (that's not a commitment, coach)

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See ya then.