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Introduction To The House of Carr
Introduction To The House of Carr

The Moussaoui Verdict

I'll admit that I really haven't paid that much attention to the Zacarias Moussaoui case. Moussaoui plead guilty to six counts of conspiracy in the September 11th terrorist attacks. At the time of the attacks, Moussaoui was actually jailed on immigration charges, but he was reported to immigration officials about a month before the hijackings after he walked into a flight training school asking how to fly a 747. I didn't pay that much attention to the case because it should've been a slam dunk death penalty verdict; incarceration was the only thing that kept Moussaoui from participating in the attacks.

So I was somewhat shocked to hear that he received life in prison instead of death. I'll admit that I don't know all the details of the case, but I can't conceive how this guy escaped lethal injection.

I've read many an article this morning lauding the jury for showing good judgment and exacting fair punishment, but how does that compare to the 2,000 lives lost on 9/11? Perhaps it's true that Moussaoui wanted the death penalty to become a martyr, but does that mean that you keep him alive merely to thwart those desires? If that's the case, what happens when we catch Osama Bin Laden? Wouldn't he be an even greater figure of martyrdom? The judge, during sentencing, declared that life in prison confirmed that Moussaoui would "die with a whimper." That statement confused me. So if the goal is that he should indeed die, is prolonging it our way of claiming some sort of moral victory? I just don't get it.

But allow me to use this event to explain something about theology. Some might be uncomfortable with me, a Christian pastor, advocating the death penalty. There are some who criticize Christians that claim to be "pro-life" in issues like abortion and euthanasia but are "pro-death" when it comes to government execution. That's might be good slogan-ship, but it doesn't properly explainthe issues at hand. Here's how I develop a Christian ethic for the support of the death penalty.

It all starts with God. What makes human life so sacred is that we were created "imago dei" [Latin for, "in the image of God"]. Scholars have argued about the exact meaning of this phrase for centuries [does God have a belly button?] but it all points back to the fact the we have been created to be eternal beings; our souls, though having a start, will live on forever. That's why killing a person is different than killing a critter. Even though members of PETA might disagree, animals are different than people. And the way I understand Scripture, and I apologize for this but, there will be no dogs in heaven. Only we humans are made like God and are given the opportunity to spend eternity with Him.

God was specific in Genesis 9 about the penalty to be doled out to those who harm one created in the image of God. Mind you, that this was part of the Noadic covenant, given to Noah and all humankind after getting off the ark:

"Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man will his blood be shed. For, in the image of God, has God made man"

God had just wiped out all of mankind, save Noah and his family, and wanted to make sure that people understood how his world worked: it was God's decision on who should live and die. When humans decide to play God and terminate another life, they are in violation of his covenant with mankind. The punishment for the offender is death. And God has bestowed on other humans [society] to enact that judgment.

So abortion is really us [usually individuals] playing God. Euthanasia is us [usually individuals] playing God. But the death penalty is us [society/government/all of the people] acting under God's authority as instruments of his justice.

This is a somewhat short explanation, but I had to get this out there. So it's not that I am wishing for Moussaoui's death, but God's justice allows for it. I pray for his soul, but that should not influence the verdict due him.

I feel obligated to add one more thought to this discussion: we Christians must beware how vehemently we plead for, and how cavalierly we dismiss, the deaths of murderers. I've witnessed many [American] followers of Jesus advocate a "kill 'em all" philosophy when it comes to other countries that are in opposition to ours. It always makes me feel a tad icky. When I, a Christian, delight in the death of people, am I really respecting the image of God?

Stuff to chew on.

The Run For The Roses

It's Derby Time! Time to prepare for the most exciting two minutes in sports. Saturday is the 500th running [estimate] of the Kentucky Derby and I'm already excited. One day, Kelly and I want to be able to attend the race in person. She'd wear a hat. I'd drink a mint julep. It would be awesome.

So it's time to pick a horse and I need a winner because I'm on a three-year slide, having not picked correctly since War Emblem. After a thorough analysis, I've decided who I'm going with:

Sinister Minister.

Here's how I arrived at this pick: he has both Seattle Slew and Secretariat in his bloodline, he's extremely fast, and- who am I kidding- his name is freakin' awesome!

Despite the fact that he's a Bob Baffert horse [a fact that means nothing to many, but would light-up my father-in-law], I feel almost obligated to pick him; Sinister Minister should be my IM screen name. Most experts don't think he has what it takes, and he's running at 10-1, but I'm calling my shot. Wait and see.

Maybe one of these days I'll actually put money on it.

Funny How The Night Moves

Monday night was a "Light-Up Cincinnati" evening, when the entire downtown area is supposed to be illuminated. We packed up Kaelyn, made a UDF pitstop and circled the city to snap some photos. Unfortunately, I had my camera on the wrong setting for nighttime photos, but I did get a few decent ones [touched up, obviously].

Only at night can the Ohio River look this good.
The statues in front of Great American Ballpark.
The family in front of the Queen City.

Starting A Blog

Blogging is in. "Blog" was the word of the year a couple years back. About 80,000 new blogs are created each day. And here's an article detailing the blogging explosion that has taken place during the past few years. I've been at it for a year and a half now. It's been great for me in many different ways, especially since people I've never met before read this blog.

Every few months I get an email from someone wanting to start their own blog. As I was answering one such request this morning, I decided to post my advice here so I'll be able to reference it whenever I'm asked again.

Disclaimer: I'll admit that much of what I've learned about blogging was from Tim Reed, who's been blogging way longer than I have. He gave me almost all these tips, but would probably offer additional, more qualified advice about this subject. I'm sure when he reads this, he'll point you to a great post he did on starting a blog. So I'm just a hack who shouldn't offer advice, but here's what I have to say about it.

Do you use blogger.com? Yes. Even though it doesn't look like it, this is a Blogger site. I've researched all the different blogging platforms and stuck with Blogger because it's cheap [free]. Compared to the alternatives, I'd have to spend around $100 a year to get a blog that I like. So I've been able to maintain this blogging habit because Google owns the world.

How'd you get the www.houseofcarr.com domain name? I purchased the domain houseofcarr.com which costs about $8 a year. It's not that complicated since I just point the domain name to my blogger address. I purchased it from godaddy.com. Having your own domain name gives you an easy way to tell people how to get to your blog, but it's not necessary to get started.

Are you able to monitor visitor stats for your blog? Yes. I use a program called Sitemeter [available at sitemeter.com] to see who visits. Once again, it's free, and it gives rather detailed stats on who checks out your site. I can even tell what kind of computer/web browser they used to search my site. All this for free. I know there are other stat counters you can get, but I love the Sitemeter.

How did you add RSS to your blog? I just wrote about RSS feeds here, if you're wondering what this is about. The RSS I added to my site was free, but you actually can have it through Blogger. If you look up on the right side of the browser bar [example: on the opposite end of http://symbolicorder.blogspot.com] it will should have the RSS blue button. You click it and it takes you to the feed. Try that and let me know if it works.

Does Blogger have many templates? There are a wide variety of blogger templates to pick from but, after awhile, boredom sets in and you need something more. I found mine at http://blogger-templates.blogspot.com. They give you many different choices to customize your blog. By the way, the picture at the top of this page isn't part of a template. It's one I took in Paris [Notre Dame]. In these templates you can replace them with whatever you want.

Any other advice? Here's the deal about setting up your template: it helps to have some knowledge of html code when you mess with this stuff. It's really not that difficult, but you just need to make sure to back up your code before messing with it. You don't want to do hours of work and end up with nothing. Changing your links is a piece of cake if you just copy/paste the ones there.

Seriously, I find blogging therapeutic. I like the fact that people read what I write, but I'd do this even if no one else did. Sure, it's just a glorified diary but it feels way cooler since I'm typing it on my computer [play the Doogie Howser music here].

Good luck.

Hail To The Chief, Baby!

I've been hunting down video from this weekend's White House Correspondent's Dinner because it was absolutely crazy. First, GWB brought in an impersonator, playing dueling presidential podia [the plural of podium?]. Bush loves to self-efface. Here's some video.

But what was ignored was a bit by Stephen Colbert [if you're not watching his show on Comedy Central, you don't know what you're missing] who was invited to do some satire. I don't think administration officials understood the sarcastic nature of comedy that Colbert does. He pretty much ripped the President to shreds in his very presence. Whoever decided to bring in Colbert is most likely searching for a job today. Check out the video here.

It would've been a rather entertaining event to attend.

The Simple Life

As we're planning for our relaunch in September, we're researching the purchases that need to be made that we put off in year one of Echo. The most expensive ones, obviously, are the audio and video purchases that will get our worship area where we'd like it to be. Churches can spend enormous amounts on these "technological needs." Recently I read where one unnamed "super megachurch" has a million dollar a year budget for their A/V stuff. I also came across a church planter's blog last week where he presented how desperately they needed to purchase a $75,000 sound system. It seems as if our churches are practically worshipping technology. Here's a quote I read in a pastor's blog about a service they had this weekend:

"Our Saturday Night service was a technological meltdown . . . Some of our computer files got corrupted so we sang without words on the screen. We barely pulled off our movie clips. And our high-def camera wasn't working until the very last second. Pretty chaotic!"

Fortunately, someone laid hands on the equipment and everything turned out OK.

"Yikes," I say.

Total we've spent on A/V stuff since starting Echo: $0.

We borrowed both a projector and a portable sound system from Impact Church.

Total budgeted that we're going to try to spend on equipment for our relaunch: $10,000.

Yes, that's a large chunk of change, but it's rather westside [cheap] by today's new church standards. In our defense, the video projector allows us to get by without hymnals and song sheets, saving trees and making us environmental conscience [we're such a hippie church]. And the sound system will guarantee that people will be able to hear clearly all that happens in our gatherings. We're going to get by with as little as we can because we believe there are better places to invest church funds. I'm all for technology, but churches have to set appropriate boundaries for how far we're willing to go to be a culturally relevant, tech savvy church.

It's absolutely amazing that the church was able to flourish the 1900 years without electricity. No wonder they were called the Dark Ages. Powerpoint must've come during the Enlightenment.

But I believe the Bible confirms that the first century church couldn't have done it without the Holy Spirit and high-def cameras.

Apply Peer Pressure Here

One little request for you faithful readers: I've described the process by which I was converted to the Myspace cult. I now think it's time for someone else to succumb to the will of popular culture.

My wife Kelly is a way better writer than I've ever been and she has yet to start a blog. It's sad, indeed. With so many people using cyberspace as their personal sounding board, there's no yin to my yang [not a sexual remark] on the world wide web. Yes, it's time for Kelly to start blogging.

Am I right? Yes. Yet, like many other ideas that I have, she sometimes tunes me out. But if the masses speak, she will be forced to respond. We need to move to action.

Force Kelly into blogging.

Leave a comment on this post and let her know you feel this way too.

Quick Hits

  • Last night we attended the CEF Banquet. This is the group granting us funds to do our fall marketing campaign for Echo. Dick Alexander, from Lifespring Christian Church here in Cincinnati, spoke and did an excellent job. His message alone was worth the trip.
  • We had seven people come with us to the banquet, by far the youngest demographic in attendance. Case in point: the main course was hamloaf. What is hamloaf? Do a Google of it and find out. I'll give you a hint: Spam is the main ingredient. You don't serve hamloaf to people under sixty-five. It's just not right. Rhonda, who attended with us, emailed me a recipe for it today. And that's yet one more thing to put on my "never make this" list. The food in Jordan was less scary.
  • I had to get a background police check done on me today. I really want to let you know why, but it'll take a week before I can say publicly . But if you're really curious, watch America's Most Wanted tonight for details.
  • I have to wake up really early next Sunday for the Flying Pig Marathon. Am I running? Yeah, right; like I have the desire to beat up my body like that. If I want the marathon experience, I'll go play in traffic in front of the condo and wait to get hit by a Metro bus. No, I'm going to be doing a devotion for all the interested runners about half an hour before things get started. If you're going to be down there, it'll be in a parking lot near the starting line, off Mehring Way, between 5:30 and 5:45. Yes, that's AM. We'll see how it works out, but I'm going to have to start training to wake up that early.
  • Getting ready to wrap up our series on Genesis at Echo. Looks like we'll wrap it up with a little more than seven months of messages. I might write more on this later, but I'm glad that we're doing it this way. It might seem like a long series, but I think our people have benefited from seeing the entire book within its context. After this, we're moving onto Romans and will most likely hit one of the four gospels this fall.
  • Added a few new recommended links to the side of the page. I now have a separate Echo line-up, in addition to a new section I call "Tracking Cincy." It's critical that I stay up-to-date on Cincinnati issues and these are sites I frequent to help me do so. I'll warn you that I don't defend all the ideas [or language] found in these sites, but I do find them helpful for doing ministry in our context.
  • I know this is internet 101, but I've been meaning to post this tip for awhile. If you frequent a lot of blogs and websites that post new content and aren't using an RSS reader, you're wasting your time. On most sites [and almost all blogs] you can subscribe to an RSS feed [stands for "Really Simple Syndication"] so you only have to go to one place to do your reading. I use Google Reader, where I get all the updated content I'm subscribed to. It's Really Simple, Stupid [just keeping with the acronym, people]. I'm able to scan the content from 50 sites in minutes as opposed to having to click bookmarks or enter in url's. I know this is really basic for some of you, but many of you are missing out. Let me know if that tip was helpful.
  • Tomorrow it's off to Lexington for yet another baby shower. Who doesn't like this kid?

All for now.

Raining Babies

Kaelyn had a doctor's appointment this morning that turned out to be meaningless. They were going to give her a final RSV shot to help with her lungs, but [after 40 minutes, mind you] they said it wasn't necessary because it's the spring. Which, by the way, they told us a few months ago but changed their mind . . . only to change it again today.

No, I'm not bitter.

The one interesting thing was that they weighed Kaelyn in at 9 pounds, 15.5 ounces, just half an ounce shy of ten pounds. If she hadn't spit up part of that last bottle this morning, it might have pushed her over the edge.

And FYI, my sister is pregnant again [congrats, Becky!], due in October. So by the end of the year, that'll put all my siblings at three kids each, leaving us two behind.

Are we jealous?

With the sleep we're [not] getting? Nope.

Me And The Kid

This is the first day that Kelly had to go back into the office, so it's the first day of extended dad and daughter time. She was quieter this morning, but has been wired all afternoon. Yes, Michael Keaton, I am Mr. Mom.

But since it's "Take Your Daughter To Work Day" and I'm working out of the house, I guess I was just doing my duty as a good father. Everyone in the office seems to like her.

Anyway, I thought I'd use this opportunity to tell a story I've been holding onto for a couple of days. It's a little gross, so you might not be interested.

I always wondered how I'd do with the diaper changing. I have a pretty strong stomach, but I'm not a big feces person. I heard an interesting quote on Seinfeld that summed up how I've been able to deal with it. Elaine is hanging out with a bunch of her friends who have babies and, as the scene opens, one mother remarked, " . . . but when it's your own baby's poop, it's not that bad." I've actually found this to be true. I have no problem dealing with our baby's poo, and have gotten the diaper change down to a science. It's no big deal.

Last week I woke up early in the morning to feed the little girl. In the middle of feeding her, we usually go for the diaper change because it's when she's the least resistant. It was a beautiful, quiet morning and Kaelyn was subdued. As I laid her on the changing table, she looked at me with her big [currently] blue eyes. I took off the dirty diaper and, before I could fasten on her new one, she proceeded to relieve herself. Number 2, mind you. And it was a well placed projectile.

Before I could blink, I had baby poo all the way up my arm. Fortunately, I was wearing a t-shirt.

All I could do was stare at her. I just wish someone had been around to witness it. I almost had the urge to pull out the camera so I could have proof, but decided to let it be a father/daughter moment.

Yep, I'm living the good life.

Going Pro

We're now a two computer home. Kelly officially heads back to work tomorrow. The blessing is she'll be working from home; she'll have to go in for about four hours each week, but beyond that it's me, her, and the kid working at the condo [not sure how much work Kaelyn gets done beyond her diaper]. Standard requires that you supply your own computer when working from home, and sharing one just wasn't a possibility.

We knew we were going to get a decent tax return back so we planned on using the-money-we-loaned-interest-free-to-the-United-States-government to pay for it. And I was able to finagle a discount so I went for the new MacBook Pro. It's sleek. It's silver. And it's freaking awesome.

I purchased a firewire and was able to transfer all the contents from the iBook to this laptop in half an hour. Now we don't have to wrestle over who gets to use the computer, leaving us ample opportunity to wrestle about other things [7+ years of marriage and still the fire burns].

I guess we're now officially a Mac family since we now have two Apple computers. Yeah, I guess we're yuppie scum, but we're getting things done.

Filler Post

I have a lot of pots in the fire right now. Too much to update tonight, especially considering that I'm one-handed typing right now. Kaelyn's sleeping on my chest so the laptop is lying on the couch beside me as I hunt-n-peck with my right hand, working up a good case of carpal tunnel. I'm actually getting good at it.

More tomorrow.

I Love To Teach

With Aaron vacationing in Hilton Head, he needed a replacement to teach his CCU class. I had the chance to take his place and I have to admit: I love to teach.

It's rather fascinating because I was never a big fan of school. I was and still am, however, passionate about learning. I think it's because I enjoy telling people about the things I have learned. There's so much information out there that it's tough for some people to assimilate what's important. That's what I try to do in the pulpit or in the classroom: give people intimidating material in digestible amounts. And getting to use the Bible as a primary source just makes it that much more enjoyable.

There's always something encouraging when you see the light come on in a person, and even more when you flip the switch. Maybe that's why I feel like I'm running on all cylinders with Echo. I'm getting to do what I love.

Just thought you should know.

Bad-Am-I

We had a visit today from the Badami's. Jason and Dalea were the best man/maid of honor in our wedding. We all met while in college. They sorta got me and Kelly together; yep, if it wasn't for them, we might not have gotten together. We've been able to maintain our friendship throughout the years and enjoy the times we can all get together. They were in town for a family get-together and stopped in briefly with their three kids. ***Quick note: scary that we have friends our age with three kids. Even scarier that one of those kids is eight years old.

In addition to helping me find the love of my life, Jason also introduced me to another great love: soccer. If he hadn't asked me to play indoor soccer with him our freshman year, I'm not sure I ever would've played. I can't imagine not playing soccer.

We became close friends at the end of our sophomore year. I'm not sure what brought it on, but it's been a great friendship. Some of the best stories I know involve Jason. I don't have enough time to share them all now, but if I share a few, you might understand why we click.

  • Jason had a vision of the coolest dorm room ever. He went through the dorm gathering all the mattresses he could find. He emptied out all the furniture and filled the room with wall-to-wall mattresses. I wish I had a picture, but Jason was proud jumping on his 20'x16' bed.
  • Jason thought of the idea of a "good-luck squirrel" for our soccer team. He skinned a squirrel and carried it around in a cereal box to every game. And it actually worked. So the next season, while in the midst of a losing streak, he knew another squirrel was needed. He had a friend kill one and didn't have time to skin it until we were on a road trip. He chose to do it in a Days Inn parking lot. The people driving by must have been wondering what he was doing skinning a squirrel in a hotel parking lot at midnight.
  • Jason and I roomed together the last semester before he got married. We had this book shelf that spanned across the room. Jason found the perfect accessory to the shelf: a basketball rim. I thought it was funny until I came back from class one afternoon and discovered his modification. Jason used duct tape to make lines for a basketball court. He made court rules [you had to play while kneeling] and invited all the guys on the floor to play. We didn't sleep much that semester.

And that's just the tip of the iceberg. From nicknames to flea markets, it's been a ton of fun. It's good to have friends like Jason.

The Day That Wouldn't End

Saturday was non-stop. I'm almost too tired to type. But for you, faithful reader, I will carry on and make it happen. You can thank me later. Woke up this morning and headed up to Walnut Hills to participate in our local extension of Clean-up Cincinnati. Dale, Jim, Larry and me joined countless others walking the area streets picking up trash. It was great to traverse sidewalks I haven't before, meeting quite a few people. A popular misconception of the city is that the city is cold- that people are unfriendly. I swear I heard, "how you doing?" from more people this morning while walking the streets than when we circled the lake in suburban Landen.

I came home briefly to change my clothes to play soccer in a recreational league. This was an outdoor league to compliment my Friday night indoor league. The team I'm playing with was put together, meaning no one knew each other. I was probably the oldest person on me team but, hey, I have the ever-youthful look. I didn't do too bad. I felt a lot better moving with the ball, and was able to create some good things. Since no one is a keeper on the team, I played the second half between the pipes. I posted a clean sheet [no goals allowed], which ain't bad for 5 feet, 9 inches. It was a beautiful day to be out playing.

Then I came home, showered and we left for Jeff Lyon and Jess Finuf's wedding. This was our second trip to Christ's Church at Mason in the same week, and we had a great time seeing some old friends again. And for those CCMers that we didn't get to see this week, I truly apologize. Who knew it would be so hard to talk to hundreds of people in a few hours? We really love you people.

Anyway, about the wedding. It was beautiful to see Jeff head over heels [literally] for his bride. Loves her so much, he just couldn't stand [for] it. And then there was the reception. Perhaps the craziest, alcohol-free wedding I've ever witnessed. I just wish the DJ had turned the music up a little more; I still have 6% of my hearing left. Highlight of the night: having Dan Blair, Jamie Johnson, and Dale Reeves sweat all over me. Yes, I feel dirty.

Oh, and I'm pretty sure all of Warren County held Kaelyn tonight. That being said, I'm trying to figure out why I was the only one who had to change her diapers. Shout-out to the Handels who made the trip from Iowa to support the happy couple. Dang, we miss them.

Tomorrow won't slow down either as we have another full day ahead. But we're young, and dumb, so bring it on.

I Feel Dirty

There's a litany of things I swore I'd never do but eventually did. And, usually, it all turned out for the better. I tried Chinese food. I wore sandals. I bought a Mac.

And the list goes on.

Today I add to the list yet another thing. After a conversation with my friends and ex-coworkers Alex and Erin yesterday, I realized it was time to give in:

I finally created a Myspace page.

I'm a web-whore.

I really hate Myspace. I think it's an ugly site. I've had lots of people in their twenties recommend it to me, but after listening to Alex [who is no longer in his twenties to say the least] I decided it was now time.

So you can find me at www.myspace.com/beitcarr. Add me as a friend. Send me emoticons. Blah, blah, blah.

God help me.