Bad News

I really believe that 9/11 changed the way we viewed 24 hour news stations. Most people would agree that networks like CNN started making waves during the first Gulf War when they displayed live images of US planes bombing Iraq. While that event gave these news channels legitimacy, September 11, 2001 marked the emergence of opinion driven news, with Fox News, CNN, and MSNBC pushing the major networks to another level. In the midst of the Virginia  Tech travesty, we've seen some disturbing actions by these media outlets. Trying to one up each other in coverage, sensationalism has reigned supreme and we need to question if our quest for knowledge needs to be checked.

First, CNN chooses to air cell phone video of a VTech student hours after the shooting. This was before the news networks were even sure of the scope of the situation. What if that video wasn't authentic? What if it was filmed by an accomplice of the shooter? The desire for ratings ruled the day, and not wanting to be scooped, they released an amateur video that really didn't help anybody but themselves.

Then, in the aftermath of the shooting, many media outlets wanted to sensationalize the scope of the tragedy. Quite a few television news broadcasts and newspapers labeled this "the worst mass murder in US history." This is not true. Even if you discount 9/11 and the Oklahoma City bombing, there are others. In 1991 an arsonist in New York set a blaze that claimed 87 lives. It wasn't even the deadliest school killing. In 1927 over 40 people were killed when a disgrunted school board member blew up a school with dynamite. Whatever reason these news outlets chose for making this statement, it is incredibly irresponsible and nonfactual.

Finally, we see yesterday's decision by NBC news to air the photographs and video that the murderer had mailed to them between killings. This could be the biggest decision any news outlet has had to make regarding release of information and they failed miserably. The killer, in death, received exactly what he was looking for: notoriety. And perhaps, to those who feel depressed and/or disenfranchised, he will be viewed as a martyr. The wise decision would've been not to share the information. Was the situation improved knowing that the assassin was disturbed?

Unfortunately, unless the FCC were to step in, there is no one to keep them in check. It should be a reminder to all of us that, even though we're blessed to live in a country with an independent media, we shouldn't digest everything they try to feed us. We shouldn't shy away from demanding integrity in the way they chose to present the news.

And we ought to be careful how desperate we are to want the news. I'll admit that while I question the motives of the media of sharing the info, I didn't turn away when it aired. Many of us will rubberneck at the most insignificant news because we love a wreck.

There is such a thing as too much information.

You Gots'ta Go!

I can't believe I didn't post anything about this until now. If you're in the Cincinnati area, you need to make it to the 20th Century Theater in Oakley tonight for a benefit concert for Amy's Hope, a non-profit group helping children in Romania. Tye VonAllmen, worship leader at Echo, and his wife Andrea front the band Artists and Authors and they will be performing along with a couple other bands. Doors open at 7:00; show starts at 8:00. They even got some pub in today's Enquirer, where there was a shout-out to "tiny Echo Church." "Tiny" is the next level behind megachurch.

We're getting a babysitter. We'd love to see you there!

What Now?

Honestly, it was Sanjaya's world and we were all privileged to live in it. The sun will come out tomorrow.

My Second Life

Kelly and I have been together so long [10+ years now] that I view her life as my life. It's unfortunate that I don't always appreciate everything that she has given up to be my helpmate. Kelly is incredibly talented and probably could've achieved a lot more without me. That being said, I'm grateful that she chose me to drag her down. What got me thinking about this was that, over on her blog, Kelly detailed the last twelve years of her life. They happen to be intertwined with mine. It's pretty humbling.

I am a blessed man.

Perspective

"I'm really mad about it." “I felt like my left arm had been amputated.”

 "It's been a challenging day."

Continued outrage about the Virginia Tech massacre? Nope. That's a sampling disappointment of 8 million Blackberry users who lost service for a few hours yesterday.

It's interesting that in the midst of wall-to-wall coverage about the VTech tragedy that some Crackberry addicts losing email service was a top story today. Was it really that bad? Not compared to what other people are going through.

Sometimes we should take a deep breath and realize some personal emergencies aren't as serious as we think.

Thoughts On Tragedy

I didn't have much to say about the Virginia Tech shooting yesterday. There wasn't much information out about it then and I'm not sure I had much to say. As news has poured out today about the shooter, his motivation, and his advanced planning [he, at least, purchased the firearm[s] a month in advance] many hard questions have presented themselves. I feel somewhat obligated to make a few statements about what happened. Despite this being the worst campus tragedy in American history, surpassing an incident forty years ago when Charles Whitman killed 15 people from a tower at the University of Texas, I'm not sure that the magnitude of this massacre has really sunken in on the American public. Even though there's been considerable coverage on the 24 hour news channels, I believe the coverage would have been larger in a pre-9/11 world.

Now the natural media progression will lead them towards people to blame for this tragedy, beyond the shooter himself. The easiest target will be the gun industry. Even though he didn't use an assault rifle, there are those who believe that guns caused this incident. Some want to make Virginia Tech officials accountable for not shutting down the campus after the first shooting. And I already read a letter to the editor in today's paper blaming it on our society not taking mental health issues seriously. I'm confident that during the next few weeks we'll see many people offered as the scapegoat for the shooting.

Why the desire to place blame? I find it to be a reflex in order to explain away the tragedy. It isn't enough to observe the senseless nature of the act; there has to have been something that could've been prevented it from happening. We want to continue thinking that we humans have control over our world. But we're deceiving ourselves here. After every similar tragedy there is utter disbelief that "something like this could happen in a place like this." We perceive our personal environment as being safer than others. The reality is that there is not much safety to be found in a chaotic world such as ours.

No matter how hard you try to prevent this kind of evil, it is unavoidable. You can add security cameras and metal detectors, you can ban all sorts of firearms, you can do preventative psychological testing, but this kind of thing will happen again. If someone is willing to give their life to take life, you can't stop it. Friends, we live in a fallen world. The effects of sin yield evil actions like this massacre. No matter where you live or how cautious you are, you will never be fully exempt; this world is not a safe place to be. And our personal sin makes us just as culpable.

I make this observation, not to frighten, but to make us think about how we view our lives. How important is safety to you? If we hold safety to a higher level than we hold our worship of the living God, then we have issues. We're not promised safety in this life. Trying to create a Utopian existence is futile. We need to come to grips with the way the world functions and accept the dangers of a sinful world.

And we shouldn't have to live our lives in fear. We need to find a way to live in the world despite the sinfulness that consumes it. We Christians ought to have a different perspective on all of this. We believe there is a hope for this world, for something more after this life. We believe in the power of the gospel to transform the sinfulness that surrounds us. We might not be guaranteed safety, but it shouldn't keep us from unleashing the good news of Jesus on this world.

Our prayers need to be with the friends and families of those who lost loved ones yesterday. And we shouldn't ignore the opportunity to reflect on our own mortality.

Reflecting

 Still getting used to the new Wordpress set-up, but I'm liking it. Thanks to my technical adviser Brian Coates for helping me get some issues ironed out. And a shout-out to Tim Reed who suggested going to Wordpress years ago. I'll keep on adding features throughout the next few weeks, but be sure to let me know if you're noticing any glitches. It's been a pain to get the old blog transfered over here to the new one. There was a plug-in that allowed me to import the old posts, but it would only do it a few hundred at a time. In order to complete the process I had to delete some of the old blog so I could bring the rest over. So for the past couple of days I had to glance at everything I've ever blogged. It was actually rather enlightening.

I'm glad I started blogging. Sure, there are some negatives associated with it: every now and then I write something that bothers people and I have to clear it up; it makes my life and my views rather transparent, so there's no hiding where I stand on issues; and, despite what you think about the interwebs, this stuff is out there permanently- people will always be able to go back and see these posts. But those inconveniences are easily overshadowed by the opportunity to reflect on what I was feeling at these times in my life.

And I'm extremely grateful I started during this transitional stage of my life. I was blogging during our trip to Israel, during our decision to plant Echo, and during the birth of Kaelyn [well, not actually during the birth, but you know what I mean]. Some events that I thought were of huge importance at the time now seem trivial. It gives me some good perspective on life.

I'm not sure how long the medium of blogging will exist, but I'll keep at it as long as I can.

New Digs

I finally made the switch over tonight. It took a little bit of work, but I was able to import all of my old posts from Blogger. It required that I delete a ton of my posts, but they'll all be archived here. It'll probably take me a few weeks to fully customize the site, but it'll be a site to behold . . . or something like that. So thanks, in advance, for your patience. I'll get back in the saddle this week and resume regular posting.

Embrace change.

Change Is Good

OK, so I felt it was time to change up the blog again. I didn't really vibe with any new themes so I decided to take an entirely different approach: I'm switching from Blogger. When I started blogging a couple of years ago I wasn't too sure how dedicated I would be to the discipline. That's why I went with Blogger: the price was right [read: free]. The longer I went, the more it became habit, and the more I've learned about the different options available. I've decided to switch over to a Wordpress blog that will give me a lot more tools to work with.

So things will be a little choppy this week, but soon everything will be at beitcarr.com. I'm still working out the feeds and some other issues; I was already able to transfer many of my previous posts but, in order to get everything, I'll have to make a mess of the current Blogger site.

I'll keep up-to-date on this site until I get the change over complete.

Until then, pardon our dust.

I've Been Busy

. . . but I have the latest Tuesdays with Kaelyn video up over at the House of Carr. I think it's one of our best yet. Have another huge project I'm immersed in. More soon . . .

Outbreak

Rumors surrounding my demise have been greatly exaggerated although I have been feeling like death warmed over the past few days. Thursday I braved the cold to take advantage of a free ticket to the Reds game [thanks again, Brian]. Fortunately there was one place we found selling coffee which made the game at least bearable in those arctic weather conditions.

That night I returned home and starting feeling a tad sick. Kelly was volunteering at her inner-city program, so I had Kaelyn at home. All of the sudden, I felt like I was having an Alien [the movie] experience, as if something was trying to rip out of my stomach. Fortunately Kaelyn fell asleep early that evening and I spent the rest of the night near the bathroom [details withheld for your protection].

Friday I was still sick but had to speak at the Good Friday service at Covenant First Presbyterian downtown. I couldn't pass because the venue is amazing. If you ever get the chance to go some Sunday, you need to check out [plus Russell is a great preacher]. I felt bad because I rolled in late, did an average job, and got out of there as soon as I could. On the plus side, though, I didn't yak all over their 150 year old pulpit. Yea, Steve.

For Easter we enjoyed going over to my parents house. It was there that I tried to infect Mandi [my sister-in-law] with my virus. Apparently she took issue with the way I chose to acquire the ice for my beverage. All I'm saying is I grew up with her husband and he is not the model for perfect hygiene. We westsiders view the world of viral infestation differently than everyone else; it's share and share alike. There, I've said my piece.

So four days later, my stomach is still queasy. I guess I keep using illness as my ultimate weight loss program. It really sucks because I'm eating better than I ever have in my life. I'm working out of the house which means I'm not surrounded by other sickies all the time. I'm not quite sure what else I can do to keep from getting sick.

Maybe I should pick up smoking. That would fool these viruses to thinking I'm an unworthy candidate.

Let's Play Two

Well, maybe just one more thought on First Pitch-gate. Mayor Mallory was attempting to save some face on Jimmy Kimmel's show tonight. Kelly and I ended staying up to watch it. Had to see if he could redeem the reputation of Cincinnati. I will give it up to him: he has no problem with self-effacement. Kimmel dropped a great line on him. He suggested, "maybe you're not right handed."

So they gave him a second shot at making the pitch. They supplied the audience with batting helmets for their own protection. Kurt Russell was on the show, so he caught for Mayor. On the delivery, the ball sailed wide right. Yikes.

He asked for another chance and this time it was a one-hopper over the plate. Finally, a sense of vindication. Still not sure all the publicity is a good thing, but at least he's running with it.

I'll try to post a video link tomorrow to the spoof attack ad they made against the Mayor. It ended with "Cincinnatians want a pitcher, not a belly itcher."

Additional Unrelated Thoughts:

• Elliott Yamin, one of the old American Idol losers sang afterwards. Not quite sure who wants to buy that album.

• As I'm wrapping this up, Inside Edition is on. They were covering the release of the British soldiers from Iranian captivity and felt the need to interview a Fox News reporter about what it was like to watch the release unfold on television. Just to clarify: they interviewed someone about what they saw on TV. Our society is in trouble.

Yippee-Ki-Yay

Finally, the Die Hard IV trailer. Regardless if it looks over the top, I will see this film in the theaters. John McClane is a working man's Jack Bauer. If that makes any sense.

Foul Ball

OK, I have to revisit this. I figured that Mayor Mallory's poor attempt at the first pitch on Opening Day would attract some attention, but I had no idea it would go this far. It was wall-to-wall on ESPN today and, apparently, it even got mentioned on CNN International. Before we proceed, you out-of-towners gotta check out the effort:

I've met the Mayor on numerous occasions while on his Young Professionals cabinet. He is a quality guy: very intelligent, well spoken, and he even has a great sense of humor. The way the political system in Cincinnati and Hamilton County is set up, the mayor of this city can only do so much to make any change around here. Mallory receives a lot of criticism for being ineffective when, the real issue is, the entire system needs total rehaul. I really doubt any mayor will make a noticeable difference until city and county governments are combined. Mallory's doing the best he can do with what he has.

That being said, I honestly think that brutal first pitch dented his reputation. You might not think that people are that fickle, but I believe they are. Prediction to pack away: the first pitch footage will surface again during the next campaign. And if he ever runs for higher office, he'll be known as "that mayor guy who can't throw."

Today the Mayor made the following statement: "All I know is Bob Castellini called me up and asked me to throw out the first pitch and you can't say no to that."

Um, yes you can. You open up your mouth, pronounce the hard "n" consonant followed by the "o," as in, "oh no, that ball is headed for the dugout."

One thing I perceived is that I didn't think the Mayor was that athletic. He's in great shape, but not necessarily an athlete. All Monday morning I was telling Kelly that it wasn't going to be a good move. Again, I am a prophet.

The Mayor is surrounded by a bunch of smart young guys who are incredibly proficient in their jobs. But I can't imagine that not one of them made sure to ask the boss if he could throw. There's no shame in admitting you can't. This is an instance where I say it's best not to try at all. I'm not going to be joining a hockey league with my friend Dale anytime soon. Sure, I love hockey, but I can't skate. I'm honest with myself about my abilities. And hopefully, I've surrounded myself with counsel that will let me know if I'm in over my head. Maybe it's a good lesson for all of us: do you have people around you who will bring you back to earth when you get caught up in your own hype?

I hope the Mayor can get past this event. In all likelihood, it'll probably be fine. But it could've [and should've] been avoided. Having to spend a day spinning a mishap like this is not time well spent.

endnote: I still laugh when I watch the footage. The best part is Eric Davis who was absolutely horrified.

Baseball Is Back

Tuning in to Fox Sports Ohio, we have great seats for Opening Day [and they're going to broadcast all but twenty games this year, so that's awesome]. Already saw Mayor Mallory butcher the first pitch, begging the question: if you know you can't throw, why offer to throw the first pitch of the biggest game of the year? And Adam Dunn already went yard, meaning he only needs a strikeout and a walk today for his natural trifecta. So we packed up the little girl this morning and headed to Over-The-Rhine to watch the Reds Opening Day parade. It's been about twenty years since I last saw the parade, and it was Kelly and Kaelyn's first. The weather was perfect and we had a blast. Here are some pictures of our outing. First, the cute ones:

And now for the other interesting things we saw:

A huge Pete Rose head , haircut circa 1978.

Nothing says "family friendly parade" like a strip club advertisement.

Nice to know that our tax dollars are going to Pimp The Air Force's ride.

And before I could post this, Adam Dunn hit his second home-run. He's now on pace to hit over 500 home-runs this year, allowing him to pass both Barry Bonds and Hank Aaron next year.

On The Back Side

I crossed over today. I knew it would happen. It was inevitable. I spanked Kaelyn.

*Sidebar: Now I know that some of you reading this might be appalled that I could do such a thing to our little girl. Before you go all Oprah on me, let's agree to disagree. I could easily mount a Biblical defense on spanking. It's all about how you choose to raise your children. This is how we chose to do it, so just respect that.

Anyway, Kaelyn has been fully sensing out her surroundings for a few months now. Off-limits for her is the television area, with the cable box and DVD player. Once she started crawling, she headed straight for it and we told her sternly, "no!" As she continued to progress, she realized it was wrong and would head towards it with a grin; she wanted to see if she would get away with it. We'd say, "no," she'd look at us, shake her head no, then proceed to go for it. At first, we'd just move her away.

Over a month ago, it was time that we let her know that we mean it. After the verbal warning, we'd grab her hand and smack it. It never phased her; I guess she still has those chubby hands that are pretty cushioned. But we continued to do it, nonetheless, hoping it would make a difference.

So while Kelly went to the hospital to visit a friend today, and me and the little girl were by ourselves, it was still same-old, same-old: Kaelyn heads to the TV, I say, "no," she looks at me shaking her head and does it anyway. I proceeded to smack her hand and moved her to the other side of the room. Without missing a beat, she crawled straight back to it.

I didn't plan on it, but it was finally time.

I picked her up and swatted her rear end a couple of times. She paused and looked at me and broke out into a huge cry. I held her for a few minutes, took her outside, and she was back to normal, happy and smiling.

Boy, that sucked. It's one of the worst experiences I've had with Kaelyn thus far. I always knew that this was how we'd raise our children, but I didn't know it would be this difficult.

I obviously love my little girl, so I don't want to hurt her. But I love her enough that I won't hesitate to spank her. We're at the beginning of a process to form her into the best woman of God that she can be. Even at this early stage of her life, she's learning. She's beginning to understand right and wrong. And she needs to understand that you can't get away with doing whatever you want in this world. Unfortunately, that means all of our experiences won't be just smiles and giggles. She's not going to like me all the time. But I can live with that.

This whole parenting thing is tougher than I thought it would be.

Now That's Biblical Imagery

My favorite part of Mel Gibson's Passion of The Christ was a scene at the beginning of the film. Jesus is praying in the Garden if Gethsemane before his arrest and interacts with Satan. While this exchange isn't exactly Biblical, it gets there as Jesus steps on the head of a snake. Although it's a metaphor, I find the visual compelling. That's why I thought Mars Hill Church in Seattle was rocking when they released the following graphic to advertise their Good Friday services:

I should have thought of that.

Going Simple

I haven't been updating the House of Carr website lately. I think it's because I wasn't thrilled with the way it looked. I decided I should just strip it down and go with a simple layout that would leave me more inclined to keep it updated. So if you don't normally go there, stop on by houseofcarr.com. At the very least, I have some more Kaelyn pics there.

"I'll Kill A Snitch"

It's not that I hate Peyton Manning, but I can't stand the Colts [nor could I stomach Tennessee]. But as a regular Saturday Night Live viewer, I was interested to see how he would do hosting this past week. I would claim that he was one of the best actor among all the athletes they've had on the show in recent years. Unfortunately, the writing was hideous this past week, even compared to recent standards. It was almost as if the material was below him.

There was one shinning moment, however. This fake United Way commercial still makes me laugh a few days later.

iTeach

I received a piece of mail today addressed to "Reverend Steve Carr." I'd never call myself that but I still get a kick out of seeing it in print. I mean, who would ever consider me as being revered? My wife knows the truth. I was asked a couple of weeks ago about my title. All of our publications list me as being a teaching pastor. I chose the title myself, and I did it rather intentionally. I did so because it best expresses my position in our young church.

First, I am a pastor. Do a Greek word study [or perhaps a geek word study] and you see the terms elder, pastor, presbyter, overseer, and bishop are used interchangeably; they all refer to a shepherd. That's my role at Echo: I'm supposed to pastor our flock. Currently we only have two pastors, but we plan on developing a larger group of shepherds over the next few years.

Second, the part of the job I'm more passionate about, I am a teacher. I guess I get that passion from my parents who both love to teach. It is my role to instruct our church concerning the Word of God. I take this responsibility very seriously. I spend hours each week in study so I can share a message each Sunday. You might not think this is much work, but presenting fresh and relevant information every week forty-plus times a year ain't easy. I love the challenge; there's nothing else I'd rather do.

One thing I've discovered since we started Echo is that I'm teaching much longer than I used to. I used to feel constrained when I spoke in previous ministries, afraid I would go over on time. Now, since our services last as long as we feel like, I teach until I'm finished; when I'm finished, I stop. This means I speak anywhere from forty minutes [my average] to just shy of an hour like I did yesterday. I suppose now that this info is out there, some of you won't be visiting Echo anytime soon.

You may reason that's why we've not experienced huge growth: because I preach way to long. I've found this to be untrue. Actually, people keep coming back despite my long-windedness. I believe people are more apt to embrace this longer preaching because of two things: 1) I do prepare a lot and strive to keep it interesting and 2) I teach straight out of the Bible.

People today are extremely curious about the Bible but know very little about it. This recent Time Magazine article verifies this, claiming that more public schools are offering Bible classes so kids will be familiar with the book. As a church that values depth, we take advantage of this. Echo is committed to unpacking the mysteries of Scripture every week. We might go deeper than some people prefer, but we'll never be able to get everyone up-to-speed with basic Christian theology in just one week. So why bother trying? There's nothing wrong with making people think hard about their faith, even if it takes weeks, months, and even years to develop.

I teach the only way I know how. And I'm having fun doing it.