Mike King

25 most influential Evangelicals

Brian McLaren makes Time Magazine's list of 25 most influential Evangelicals...

Sewer Snake to the Rescue

I was so looking forward to this fine day of Shabbat.  Start the day with coffee; contemplative music; solitude; check a few blogs; write a spiritual, theological oriented post; work on some journal reviews; write an article for YouthFront News; maybe watch a movie; then head to Jacob's Well for church.  It had all the makings of a perfect Sunday.  The first indication that something was going wrong was the smell of sewer gas, that seemed quite odd, then an occasional very bizarre glub, glub sound, kind of like the sound coming from the Griswold's storm sewer (Christmas Vacation) after cousin Eddy cleans out his s****r.  Soon we are in a full blown emergency with the main sewer line blocked and a whole lot of unpleasant objects going the wrong way - into the toilets, the showers, the bathtubs.  I felt like kissing the plumber when he arrived on the scene (and yes he looked like the stereotype plumber except there was no sign of exposed crack).  This emergency was nothing that a 100 foot sewer snake couldn't solve.  Believe me the picture on the right in no way, shape or form represents the mess we encountered.  The cleanup was such a delight.  Let's just say I humored Vicki all day with my dry heaving.  When it was all said and done the bill was a measly $89.  I would have been happy to pay three times that amount for the miracle work accomplished by the Snake and the Plumber.  All that and we still made it to Jacob's Well.  Happy Flushing!

Million Dollar Baby (Ex Post Facto)

Well...... Million Dollar Baby was superbly written, great acting, visually stunning... but I'm sticking with Finding Neverland as the best new movie I've seen recently.  MDB could have ended up on my all time favorite list with a few modifications in the film but that is to be left to a personal conversation not a post...  Both MDB and FN had themes of redemption but I just like where I ended up after FN.  I think both of these movies add to the conversation that Tim Keel (my pastor) raised last Sunday about "Kingdom Family Values" from Mark 3 “Who are my mother and my brothers?” MDB was gripping, real, disturbing...  FN was beautiful...

Million Dollar Baby

Million Dollar Baby opens today.  It has garnered seven Oscar Nominations.  I am  really looking forward to this film based on what I have read about it so far.  I usually try to tether my expectations for new films, music, etc. so that I don't ruin it for myself.  But with Million Dollar Baby I'm letting it go...  Finding Neverland is the best film I have seen lately.  But I have big expectations for MDB...

Budgets, numbers, decisions...

This day has been given to one of the things I have to do in my role of leading Youthfront as President/CEO.  Budgets, numbers, spreadsheets, making decisions, ugggghhhhhhhh.  For the joy set before me I endure the pain....  Fortunately, there are a group of people around me that dig this stuff - Topher, Brian and Linda.  They can make numbers make sense.  I even think that numbers are as beautiful to them as musical notes are to me.  So, here I sit in the Whistlestop Coffee Shop in Lee's Summit.  Topher is deep in numbers, spreadsheets, and financial reports... I, on the other hand, am taking a short break, thankful for wireless Internet...

Part II Dobson versus Spongebob

Well now the national media has picked up on the conflict between Dr. James Dobson (Focus on our Family) and Spongebob.   You have to see the MSNBC piece  on this insidious plot that Dobson has exposed.  Keith Olbermann covers the story and even plays the evil video in question.  Too funny... this should inspire a windfall of giving to Focus on the Family.  Click here and scroll down to the graphic link to the video.  You have to watch a quick Monster.com commercial before the MSNBC piece plays but it is worth it.  Also, watch all the way through the music video featuring Spongebob so you can see Olbermann's final comments.  OK, before I go THIS KIND OF stuff is a big reason Evangelicals are ______________!  (you fill in the blank)

James Dobson vs. Sponge Bob

James Dobson continues to protect our families from ominous conspiratorial forces that lurk in every dark shadow...

"Does anybody here know SpongeBob?" James Dobson, founder of Focus on the Family, asked the guests Tuesday night at a black-tie dinner for members of Congress and political allies to celebrate the election results. 

Dobson declares war on SpongeBob!

I'm not kidding click here

Vicki hates my goatee picture

Vick hates my goatee picture so I changed my profile picture.  I really like having a goatee (although I wish it weren't gray).  I like messing with it as if I am deep into some creative original thought that is percolating in my brain.  She doesn't complain she just kisses me on the ear, cheek, bald head, but not on the lips, because it tickles.  It doesn't take long for me to decide I can do without it.  In quiet rebellion I post her picture because she doesn't like attention...

Jim Wallis - Love Him or Hate Him?

Jim Wallis appeared on Comedy Central's The Daily Show with Jon Stewart.  Jim received enthusiastic applause from the studio audience!

                  Wallis on The Daily Show

"The Nation's Katha Pollitt dismantles Wallis' God's Politics as an ahistorical and convenient interpretation of Christian politics ("If it's wrong, it isn't truly evangelical, therefore evangelicalism is purely good.") that boils down to majority rule. Pollitt writes: "The more insistently people bring Christianity into politics, the more political argument becomes a matter of Christian hermeneutics."

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Heeeerrrre'ss Johnny.........

I grew up with Johnny Carson.  He always made me laugh.  Watching all the tribute stuff reminds me how much of a natural comedic genius he was.  One of his best traits was how he could make everyone who came on the Tonight Show so funny.  He was the master of timing...