ABC

Last night I found myself sitting at the Brickstore enjoying a great beer and discussing politics. This wasn't so strange, but the nature of the politics was. My friend and successful blogger Will Hinton has had enough of Cynthia McKinney's antics and has decided to run against her for Congress. He had his first interview this morning on WGST 640AM, and our job last night was to prepare him for his appearance.

I'm not holding out much hope that a mostly conservative white guy can beat Cynthia, but I'd love to see it happen. A more realistic hope is that her lunacy and inattention to her district will draw a more viable candidate to the race. Since I've never helped anyone with a campaign, it's going to be an interesting few months.

The Christian Cocoon

ATL malcontent said it better than I could, but there's a real problem with many Evangelical Christians - they realize the call to evangelism, but they don't want to actually get to know the people they're supposed to be evangelizing. It's almost as if they're afraid that getting too close to sinners might cause some sin to rub off onto them.

Nevermind that according to the Bible everyone is a sinner. And never mind that regardless of the type of sin, whether it's adultery, substance abuse, murder, or gluttony (which most Baptists happily overlook), all sins are equally objectionable in God's eyes. It's as if someone else's sins are going to rub off and make the Christian even more sinful. Isn't this what the Pharisees were doing in the New Testament, and aren't they always painted as the bad guys by Christians?

The early church may well have been the most welcoming group in the history of the world. This is the group which not only welcomed the very poor, the whores, and the traitors, it hunted them down and invited them in. It welcomed people of other races and ethnicities, and it even rescued the babies of their oppressors which would otherwise have been victims of infanticide. This is the church to which I want to belong.

Opening Day

With all due respect to Dignan, I believe Opening Day should be a national holiday. Fortunately for me, I work at home and am now watching my second game of the day. Tell me how many offices would allow you to sit at your desk and watch the ball fly over the fence from Andrew Jones' bat?

I don't know what the Braves will do this year, but there's something comforting about the return of baseball every year. Yes, it's had its ups and downs between the strike in '94 and the cheating which everybody was willing to wink at until this year, but it's still a great way to spend an afternoon or evening.