Tales From The Yellow Brick Road

I don’t think they’ve gone far enough…

Big Announcement #3: I Am Looking For A New Home Church

After 16 years at the same church, God has made it abundantly clear that it is time for me to move on to a new church. I have spent over half my life at that church and didn’t quite imagine things ending the way they did. I think the shock and denial has worn off and I’ve moved on to some of the other stages of grieving for this departure, but suffice it to say, I am relieved to finally be leaving and I know they are relieved that I am leaving as well.

That being said, I am departing with a “good standing” as far as membership goes, and I want to state for the record, and for those that may read my blog and still decide to go there: I am making this decision because it is what is best for me. For too long I did what I thought was best for the church but in the long run I think that was wrong. I truly believe that for many reasons this church got in the way of my relationship with God and instead of putting Him first, I put their reputation and even my own reputation above standing up and doing what was pleasing an honoring to God. Let it also be said that there were mistakes made on both sides. I can only be responsible for my mistakes, and taking responsibility for them, and I believe I have done so. There is no need for me to drag their name through the mud or warn those that still attend of the dangers of the church. And there is certainly no need for me to ever have any doubts that there are people at that church that love the Lord.

That being said, I know that I have made some eternal friendships and most recently some earthly enemies. I will continue to do my best to maintain those friendships and will do my part to be at peace with all men if possible. While it would be nice if those that are my enemies would repent of their sin and choose to be at peace with me, I am fairly certain that the devil’s foothold is strong in their lives and only God can change that if He wants too. Those who have stood by my side despite the risk to do so and pressure not to do so, have a special place in my heart and will certainly reap the eternal benefits of doing the right thing in the face of opposition. Those that aligned themselves with my enemies and chose to believe the lies from The Accuser, will have to answer to God, who has all of eternity to make things right.

Over the coming weeks I’ll be looking for a new church home, a process which I am fairly new to and have much anxiety and trepidation about and here is where I could use your help. I have a few questions and hope that you can take some time to answer them:

1. What kinds of things do you look for in the first visit to make sure the church is legit?
2. I’d say for me the most important thing would need to be a sermon that is doctrinally sound and presented in a meaningful and understandable way. What should be my priority after that?
3. Does the size of the church matter? I am well aware of the cons of a mega-church but I’d like to attend something that is bigger then a Bible Study and has resources to help inwardly and outwardly. What are your thoughts on size?
4. What should be some doctrinal deal breakers? Obviously if a church worships someone other than Jesus that’s a deal breaker… but what are the basics the church should take a stand for?
5. Are there any churches in the Southern California Area that you’d recommend? What about some churches or denominations to stay away from?

In closing, I’d like to ask you all to pray about some things:

1. Pray that God shows me the right church
2. Pray that I listen when God shows me the right church
3. Pray that I will have the courage attend the right church and not be afraid of being hurt again
4. Pray that those who stood beside me will continue to do so by the grace of God
5. Pray that I will be protected from those that stand against me both physically and emotionally

This is the last of the Big Announcements… thanks for hanging in there!

For the past 7 years September 11th has been a day that has caused many to pause and ponder the fragility of human life. As a nation we have never experienced grief of this magnitude since Pearl Harbor so many decades ago, still fresh in the minds of another generation. One day in the future, people of this generation will tell the next generation why this day was so pivotal in our lives. And, just as our generation did, they won’t understand it until the defining and pivotal moment comes in their lifetime.

What is so fascinating about a day like September 11th is the scale, the comprehensiveness and the universality of the grief it brought about.

First, almost 3,000 people died as a result of the direct attacks that day and over 3,000 more have given their lives in the ensuing war. That makes the total cost in human lives (from America alone) at over 6,000. Imagine for a moment if only two people knew each of the 6,000 people that have died and you have at least 18,000 that have died or were directly affected by those events. But the list doesn’t stop there. Each of those two people have a few friends and pretty soon the number of those who are only 1 person away from the tragedy has grown quite a bit. Add to that the number of people who saw the attacks, and have watched the coffins arrive live on TV and now you have millions of people that witnessed a traumatic life changing event. The scale of grief is overwhelming to think about.

Second, the grief takes on many shapes and fashions. There is the immediate grief caused by the death of a loved one. There is the empathetic grief that others feel toward those that are left behind. There is the fearful grief at the loss of our safety and security. There is the angry grief at the failure of leadership to prevent the attacks and their decision to implicate an innocent nation instead of getting the real bad guys. There is the survivors grief of those who escaped buildings, called in sick, missed flights or had a feeling to take a different route than normal. There is the spiritual grief for those that can’t piece together how a loving and caring God could allow such terrible things to happen to those He says He loves and to their families. There is the guilty grief that wishes they had said “I love you,” or had hugged someone or forgiven someone but never got the chance. There is the intellectual grief that causes people to crunch numbers and count statistics on how it was almost impossible for all the tumblers to fall into place and allow the devil himself to be unleashed. The comprehensiveness of the grief is also overwhelming to think about.

Third, all humans will face grief in its various and insidious forms. It may come in the form of cancer, or a hurricane, or a tornado or a weak levy, but most often it comes from you and me. That’s right everyone, look around, look in a mirror and you will find the main source of grief in all it’s gory glory. Mankind. If we’re not doing something to hurt ourselves, we’re probably doing something to hurt someone else. No one in this life can escape it from the moment they are conscious of themselves to the moment they take their last breath. All have tasted the grip of grief. All are shaped by it, most don’t understand it, some embrace it and few deny it. We all know what it’s like to loose someone, even if it is not death that separates us. Perhaps it’s time, perhaps it’s hurt perhaps it’s distance. Whatever it may be, we have all lost people we cared about. We also have felt the sting of defeat in the midst of a battle. Perhaps it’s a battle with a disease, perhaps it’s a battle with sin, perhaps it’s a battle with God. There is no way to overlook the battles we’ve all lost in one way or another. The universality of grief will always be overwhelming to think about.

So where does that leave us 7 years later?

7 years later we still grieve, 6,000 people are still dead and everyone has been changed by this one event for the rest of their lives here on earth. I can only think of one other event in history that has affected mankind in such a way. It is the eucatasrophe of the cross. Out of the grief, pain, loss and fear that came in the final moments of the cross, there came an event that turned a catasrophic event into a glorious moment of hope and strength for those that needed it the most. The Resurrection. From the rubble of a mountain shaped like a skull came the new, pure and glorified body of the One who had made it all to begin with. Such is the work that only someone like the God of the Bible can do. Only God can take the shattered and torn in heart, the broken and weary in faith, the lonely and grieving in spirit and bring about a sudden and complete reversal that undoes the power of grief and transforms it into joy. And only God can heal those who grieve.

Big Announcement #1: This Will No Longer Be An Online Journal About Me

As someone who has been blogging and podcasting for three years it’s really easy to think that because you’ve lasted this long, your blog is the best blog in the world, especially if you don’t read a lot of other blogs. I can honestly say I do read a lot of blogs and I know what a good one looks like and this isn’t one. So here are a few reasons why the blog is changing:

1. Lack Of Regularity And Consistency

When I first started blogging the goal and purpose was to share what was going on in my life and to pass on some funny stories, articles, pictures and videos. When I began reading other blogs they all had regular weekly features like Mind Dumps, Bible Journeys and other recurring themes and so for a while I tried to adopted that style. The only feature that ever really lasted was my TMC Journal but that was less a feature about life as a TMC student and more just an extension of what was going on in my life. That being said, an online journal is cool and all, but you really don’t develop a following or a regular audience unless you’re consistent. I have been consistently inconsistent and as a result I have very few regular readers and more Googlers and Yahooers that are just passing by when a keyword or tag from my blog lands in their search results.

2. A Need To Protect My Privacy

I have been a very honest and open person ever since I became a Christian. I felt that instead of keeping the blessings and failures in my life a secret, I would be someone that was transparent and real with those around me. I believe that part of it was my personality and part of it was a need for attention. Every once in a while I’d go through a “crisis” and strategically point any and every conversation toward my troubles in order to gain sympathy and affection from my friends. As I began to get older and more mature people began confronting me about it and so it decreased less and less to where I simply had a small circle of people who knew “everything” about me and then had the general population that would get and honest answer to any question they asked me for the sake of authenticity. I’m not sure it was a bad idea but when you go through life being an open book and are suddenly faced with a real crisis which can’t be public knowledge you learn very quickly that sometimes there is a need for privacy and protecting the parts of who I am that have no business being shared with mere acquaintances.

3. Disclaimers Are Good Up To A Point

Early on in my bogging experience, I made some comments on a Podcast that got me in trouble. Comments that led a friend of mine to believe that I was talking about them and the organization that we were a part of. I immediately got an irate phone call from them demanding answers and it took me quite a while to explain that the comments were not directed at them or the organization and had to remove the portion of the Podcast where I made the comments. After a few similar incidents, I posted a disclaimer that helped folks understand that my opinions were my own and that they were not the onions of others unless they stated so on the blog. However, I think I missed the point in that initial confrontation. The problem was less about who I was representing, but was more about the fact that my comments were misinterpreted because they were not well thought out or carefully planned. And sometimes, no matter how carefully you word something, there will be those who misinterpret what you say and end up being offended.

4. You Are What You Blog

I have to say when I look back at all the posts for the past three years I have noticed a frightening trend. Since I began blogging 70% of my blogs have been written because I was depressed and the content and the tone reflected that. In other words, this blog is pretty depressing when you go back and look at all the stuff that I’ve written. It has been the most intense the past 1½ years due to my Mom’s cancer and subsequent death but if someone was to come along and read this, without knowing me, they’d probably think I was a pretty depressed and somber guy. For those of you who know me, you know that I have a sense of humor and laugh a lot and joke a lot, but you wouldn’t think that by reading this. If I really wanted this blog to be a place where I share my thoughts and what’s going on, I either did a terrible job, or my life really sucks (it could be both).

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Here is what you can expect in Tales From The Yellow Brick Road 2.0:

1. More Consistency For The Sake Of Consistency

Over the next month or so I’m going to be trying out a few different styles and formats. I’ll warn you in advance it’s going to suck, but I hope that when the right one comes along you’ll email me and speak up. I want to find a genre of blogging and stick with it. Maybe it’ll be an entertainment review blog, maybe it will be a Bible verse blog maybe it will be a Wizard Of Oz trivia blog who knows. All I know is when I find the right format that is appealing to all you regulars, I’ll stick with it.

2. I’m Keeping Stuff On The Down Low

If you want to know what’s going on in my life and want to keep up with all the stuff going on, you’re gonna have to find another way besides this blog. From now on my personal life will be private. I’m not ruling out the possibility of having a journal, but from now on it’s not going to be available for all the world to see. One alternative to this will be my Twitter Feed that I will maintain and keep updated with short snippets of what’s up, but don’t expect any posts about me or my life that are more than 140 characters.

3. I Ain’t Representin’

My disclaimer still stands, but just know that I reserve the right at anytime to give honest assessments of public organizations that I may or may not be involved in and that other people may or may not be involved in. Unless I name someone by name don’t assume that I’m talking about anyone in particular. If I’m going to blog about something that is potentially “misinterpretable,” I’ll clear it through someone else first before I post it. Hopefully, the lack of personal content on my part will also help eliminate some of those misunderstandings.

4. This Blog Is Now Officially On Prozac

From now on my posts will go through an elaborate evaluation for depression related material. Any and all posts that are potentially depressing will go through a rigorous editing and sifting process. All of us know that sometimes the world can be persistent source of discouragement, however there’s no reason for me to make this blog a sob fest that tries to coax certain emotional responses from people. Some of this will be solved due to increased privacy but mostly, it’ll be a conscience decision to choose a less discouraging approach.

Well that’s it for now. More jaw-dropping announcements to come shortly… I figured I’d start with and obvious and easy one.

That’s right folks I’ve got some stuff that I need to sell and I wanted to enlist your help. The following items are for sale on Craigslist and I need your help selling them. If you or someone you know are looking for these items let me know and I will be more than happy to let you/them have a first shot and a somewhat reduced price.

On Sale Now:

1. 2000 Nissan Sentra $2995.00 OBO
2. 2006 Saturn VUE V6 3.5 Liter - $15995.00 OBO
3. 15′ MacBookPro 2.2 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo (including FCP Studio 2)- $2300
4. Canon XL2 Video Camera w/Custom Pelican Hard Case- $3000

As you can tell these are some high priced items and the bottom line is I’m raising funds to purchase a vehicle. And just like I need your help selling, I need your help buying! So here is what I’m looking for:

2005 (1/2) - 2007 Volkswagen Jetta

Must Haves:

• 40K Miles Or Less
• $12,000 - $15,000
• Dark Color
• One owner, rental or lease car with clean title
• Spectacular tires

Wish List:

• Sun Roof
• Upgraded Sound Package
• Good floor mats

If you can help out in any way with anything on this list I would be most greatful!

Tell me if the following scenario sounds familiar:

Over 100 people are standing outside a bank, hoping they can get their money back. The bank had failed and now people were left wondering if everything they had worked so hard to earn and put away for a “rainy day” would now just be mud. You see the economy had taken a turn for the worse and after the hemorrhaging of the stock market the banks were starting to feel the sting of a recession.

If you think that sounds like the beginning of the Great Depression, you’re right, but it’s also what I witnessed today outside of IndyMac Bank in Torrance, CA.

I was running some errands in the area and decided to drive by the bank and see what their was to see. Needless to say I was shocked.

In Depression-Era style, people had lined up outside of the bank to withdraw their money and figure out what to do with it. “Lois” who retired from Honeywell over a decade ago said that she wasn’t sure if her money was safe somewhere else or not. “It’s a little scary to think that we’re not going to be able to get all of our money and if we get it where can we put it where it’ll be safe?” Most people in line said they’d have to put it in another bank. “Jesse,” a Navy Veteran on disability from asbestos poisoning said he had no choice but to put his money where it would collect little to no interest. “If I ever thought that this was possible I never would have put it all here. But this place offered me a great interest rate when my other bank was bought out two years ago. Now I have to trust that some other bank will keep my money safe.” The accounts offered by IndyMac paid as much as 5% interest to customers that banked with them, although that figure has been lowered for newer accounts as the economy has come to a crawl. Regular banks that offer Savings Accounts with interest usually only offer 2% or less, which is quite a large gap when you have more than $100,000 at stake.

“Bobby” and “Beverly” have a combined total of over the $100,000 that is Federally insured at IndyMac. They had arrived outside of the bank at 7:50am and found that a large line had already formed. It was about 2:00pm when I spoke with Bobby, who was sitting in the shade on the tailgate of his car. “When they opened they told us that they could only take 90 people… my wife and I were number 89.” As we talked, a large and loud security began shouting instructions at the crowd. His demeanor and tone were typical for what customers at the Torrance IndyMac branch had experienced all day. “When we first signed up they offered us coffee and snacks and all kinds of incentives. Now we’re standing out here in the heat and they’re yelling at us and won’t even give us some water,” Bobby explained. Earlier in the day some employees from Trader Joe’s across the parking lot from IndyMac brought over full carts of free water bottles to the anxious crowd, most of whom are 50 or older. Some employees from CitiBank also dropped by with juice boxes and fliers from their bank. One lady, who had been standing on her feet since 9am, needed two juice boxes and a helping had from Arturo, an employee at CitiBank. “We’re just here to help people get through this difficult time.” I asked him if felt that people would have a hard time trusting banks after today and he smiled, “That’s another reason we’re out here. We want to let folks know that not all banks have gone bad.”

However, at the front of the line, “Stan,” “Teresa,” “Deb,” and “Mia,” all had a different point of view. All four of them had been waiting since before 9am and all of them had disabilities that did not allow them to stand for long periods of time. “My parents did this 80 years ago,” said Stan, who had been offered a seat in someone’s yard chair due to his need for a walker. “They had to live through the banks going under back then and I’d never thought it’d happen again.” Deb, who was in a wheelchair and needs oxygen said that her money isn’t used for expensive trips or luxuries. “I use my money to survive. I’m a sick woman and even with health insurance I still have medical bills that are hundreds of dollars. The interest is how I pay those bills.” Now Deb faces the uncertainty of placing her money in another bank with high interest, hoping that they too will not fail. “Not only are they making us wait around, but we don’t even know if we’re going to get our money. You have to stand in line just to talk to someone.” Mia, who walks with a cane, said that she had no intention of putting her money in another bank. “I’ll just have to hold on to it and figure out what to do with it later. But at least I’ll know where it’s at and that if I need it I can get to it.” All four of them had waited over 3 hours before an official from the bank pulled them aside to let them wait in the shade. “We still might not get in today, no one has told us anything for hours,” said Deb.

At the back of the line, most people had only been there for an hour or so. “Linda,” said she wasn’t really nervous, but was hoping to get in today. “I have a lot of questions and I wanted to speak to someone in person.” When asked if she knew that the line she was in was to make an appointment for tomorrow, her expression changed. “So I have to stand in line today, in order to stand in line again tomorrow?” She asked. Anthony, a gentlemen in front of her replied, “Yeah, that’s how you can tell that the Government took over this operation. You have to wait in line, just so you can wait again.” The FDIC took over IndyMac on Friday and over the weekend it’s customers had a lot of time on their hands to worry about their futures. “It’s not like we didn’t see this coming,” Anthony added. “I’m going to three other banks today and putting it all in larger banks. I’m done with the smaller banks.” When asked what attracted him to the smaller bank in the first place he responded, “With a bigger bank comes less return and more bureaucracy. But if I’m gonna have to worry about the same thing at a smaller bank, why bother? I’m safer at a big bank.”

Time will tell if money is safer at the bigger banks or if this is just the beginning of a long line of bank failures.

Dear Thug(s)-

Hope you’re not offended by the word Thug but then again you committed a crime and broke into my car so I don’t really care if you are offended or not. Oh yeah and… YOU FORGOT THE RADIO MORON!

Something tells me that you’re not too bright. Perhaps you should have taken my $200 flashlight so that next time you can see better, but it seems you left that behind too.

Maybe you had your $75 headphones on and were distracted by the loud music playing in your empty head. That would explain why you left my iPhone headphones behind after you went through my glove compartment.

But maybe, just maybe the thing you should have taken was my $150 police scanner.

Because when the cops use the fingerprints you left in my car (and you did leave some) to find you and hunt you down, you’re going to wish you had some warning to run from the SWAT team that kicks down your door, uses a flash-bang grenade to make your ears ring and your eyes blind. And I hope when they shove you to the ground like the scum you are you’ll think, “Why would they go to all this trouble when I didn’t take anything?”

Because you did take something from me. You took away my sense of security and safty. True, I live in the ghetto and the likleyhood that you live in the ghetto too is very high. But you chose the wrong white-guy to attack last night. Because when the SWAT team carries you out of that house I’ll be there with the $3000 camera that you left in my trunk to put your incompentant, ugly face all over the news so that when your thug friends bail you out with their crack money, you’re Mom will beat you silly like she should have done when you were younger.

Oh and if you’re thinking about coming back to my hood and back to my car and trying again, you better hope and pray the posse I’ve rounded up doesn’t catch you.

The following is a quote taken from a Yahoo News Article about a man who killed his girlfriend, cut her up and ate part of her body. His defense attorney said the following:

“He killed her because he was high on cocaine,” said defense attorney Humberto Guerrero Plata. “He didn’t eat her, he just cut her body up.”

Oh? He “just” cut her up? Well I guess that makes it okay then right? Gee, how could they be making such a huge mistake prosecuting this guy. Come on he “just cut up her body.”

The immediate fire danger to Santa Clarita is over.

The Buckweed Fire is almost contained and is no longer threatening structures.

The Ranch Fire is headed toward Ventura and has burned over 50,000 acres.

The Magic Fire is headed toward open country and is 40% contained.

This will conclude the updates on the fires in the Santa Clarita area unless another incident occurs.

I have temporarily escaped the fires in Santa Clarita and I have spent the day at home.

As most of you know almost 1 million people have been evacuated from their homes all over Southern California. Some of those residents are friends and relatives of folks at TMC.

Today TMC sent out prayer teams to local evacuation centers to minister to the people displaced by the fires.

The Buckweed Fire has moved away from the Canyon Country toward Magic Mountain and up toward Green Valley.

The Magic Fire and the Ranch Fire may merge into one complex fire in the next 8-12 hours and will head for Fillmore and Ventura County and may possibly move as far south as Simi Valley.

Masters has not been evacuated or directly threatened for the past 12 hours and will probably remain open.

As Of 3:15pm

Fire broke out at Magic Mountain Parkway and the Old Road and has burned 300+ acres. The fire has possibly reached Stevenson’s Ranch and is headed south-west into the community. (Pictures to come.)

The Buckweed Fire is still burning and is only 20% contained and is headed south-west toward Saugus and Magic Mountian.

Classes are still in session at TMC for now.

Just so you all know my sister had to leave the home she was staying in, in Canyon Country. The fire was outside her house just up a hill from her. She had no warning to evacuate from any authorities and only had time to grab a few clothes and the dog. She is safe and is staying with her landlord and her daughter in a safe location away from the path of the fire. She is without her medication for now but should be able to get some tomorrow. I’ve been listening to the scanner and the Buckweed Fire has burned over 10,000 acres as of right now and is heading toward the college. It’s still over a hill and a little ways away but I’m packing something in advance just in case. I’ll keep you updated via iPhone if need be.

Please be praying for those that have already lost their homes and for the people that were injured when their vehicle ran off the road and was overtaken by fire.

The Ranch Fire Near Copperhill at about 12:45pm on Sunday
(As seen from Rio Norte Junior High)

The Buckweed Fire in Agua Dolce at about 3:15pm on Sunday
(As seen from the Hotchkiss Parking Lot at TMC.)