I'm switching from to WordPress within the week. Be sure to check back at www.chuckp3.com to make sure your feed is still working. I should be able to continue posting to the same feed, so those of you using a reader should be alright... but just in case check back to make sure.

Labels: Life

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YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAR matey! Avast me hearties, this be a verrry special day indeed. Today is the best holiday of the yearrrr, International Talk Like a Pirate Day. So dawn yer fanciest skull and crossbones and go scare some scallywags with yer swarthy pirate talk!

For the storrrrry of how this holiday began, rrread this article.

And here be an instructional video for ye scurvy dogs who know not how to speak like a pirate.

Labels: Funny, Life

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Brian McLaren recently posted his thoughts on voting, saying that the most important thing to him was what kind of a framing story each candidate lived by. In his book Everything Must Change, McLaren talks about the importance of the kind of framing story we live by. There are a few stories that keep popping up in human culture. Here are a few of the stories Brian mentioned when he visited the Bronx this year...

1. Domaination Story - legitimizes the powers that be.
2. Revolution Story - explains the situation for the oppressed and stirs them to revolt.
3. Scapegoating Story - explains the situation by blaming an outside party.
4. Withdrawl Story - justifies non-participation and isolation, rejecting other stories.

He said that in every one of these cases, Jesus offers a different story. For the domination story, Jesus subsitutes the story of humility and serving others. For the revolution story, Jesus subsitutes reconciliation and loving your enemies. For the scapegoating story Jesus subsitutes taking our own sin more seriously than the others. For the withdrawl story Jesus subsitutes incarnational love that isn't afraid to get it's hands dirty.

In Brian's post he suggests that John McCain is still living by an us/them story, much like the story of Domaination and the Scaptegoating story. In contrast Barack Obama is living out of a reconciliation narrative. Interesting thoughts. Check out the post, I think it's one of the most thoughtful endorsements of a candidate I've encountered.

Labels: Emerging Church, Politics, Theology

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So I've been trying to think how to tackle blogging about my trip to Malawi and it keeps feeling way to big. So I'm just going to start blogging about little things that come to mind rather than wait for the "big profound post from the sky." Because let's be honest, that would mean I just never post about it.

One thing that struck me when we arrived in Malawi was the dress. Perhaps this just reveals my ignorance, but I had expected clothing much like what the Maasai tribe in Kenya wear. Instead the clothing, in both urban areas and out in the villages, was very western. With the exception of some of the women - they would wear long skirts and then wrap them in a layer of fabric called a cha-ten-gee. These pieces of fabric often had very colorful vibrant patterns that would be rare here in America. But aside from that, the clothing was very western.

In fact it's not a strech to say that most of their clothes had been worn by Americans at one point. Apparently most of the thrift-stores where we donate clothes pack it up in bulk and ship it off to other countries for dirt cheap. It's a practice called "clothes dumping" and while some say this offers clothes cheaply to those who are poor I can't help but wonder how it stifles the chance for local entrepreneurs to build a textile industry. The practice of clothes dumping has been outlawed by some countries like Indonesia and the Phillipines because they see it as a threat to local textie business. There's a healthy debate about whether or not clothes dumping is helpful or harmful to poor countries. I can't help but feel a little weird about it though. To think that the clothes I pack up and take to goodwill would end up being sold to someone in Africa is odd to me. I'm not sure how I feel about it. I guess part of me wishes that they had a uniquely African way of dressing and weren't wearing hand-me-down t-shirts with Denver Broncos logos on them (yes, I saw this). I just wonder if what I meant as generosity was twisted into something that makes it harder and harder for a seamstress in Malawi to feed her kids because she can't sell the clothes she makes for less than my used clothes are going for.

I'm not sure. I do think that it would go a long way, if I met the people I gave my used clothes to. This stuff seems to happen when there is some third party or institution mediating our generosity. When we give to the poor, but never meet them stuff like this seems to happen more easily. In his book The Irresistable Revolution, Shane Claiborne says that one of the subtle layers of insulation that separates the rich and the poor is charity. He goes on to say that "we can volunteer in a social program or distribute excess food and clothing through organizations and never have to open up our homes, our beds, our dinner tables." He goes on to say that he's not convinced that when we get to heaven Jesus will say "When I was naked, you donated clothes to the Salvation Army and they clothed me."

So Africa isn't just making me rethink how I love my neighbor all the way across the world, but how I'm called to love my neighbor here in New Jersey.

Labels: Life, Travel

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So I've been on quite the blogging hiatus lately. I've been traveling quite a bit this summer, to the streets of Philadelphia with some amazing people for a weekend mission, to Kansas City for some youth ministry observation/spiritual retreat and of course to Malawi, Africa. Other than the travel I've tried to take it easy this summer and take some Sabbath before youth group kicks off again this Fall. I know that many of you have been waiting for me to blog about Africa, and believe me that's coming. I want to do it justice and be thoughtful in how I write those posts... so be patient, they're coming.

But that brings me to tonight's post. One thing I inherited from my parents was an intense interest in politics. And despite my intention to abstain from this election, I'm still watching a lot of political coverage and am interested in the race. Last week Kara and I watched Barack Obama's speech at the Democratic National Convention and were very impressed by it. Barack's vision for America is one that seems healthy for the country and fair to "the least of these." The last part of the speech where he spoke about moving beyond the partisan extremisim and towards a shared common purpose was SO GOOD.

And as a political junkie and one who is committed to being fair and non-partisan I tuned in tonight to see Sara Palin and others speak. I thought Huckabee's speech was fair and decent for the most part. Huckabee has been consistent and dependable in not getting into dirty politics and I respect him for it. Romney and Giuliani were another story. I felt like their speeches were the kind of dishonest partisan speeches that are more demonizing the opponent than speaking about what they're for... and I'm so tired of it. I'm tired of it when Democrats do it and I'm tired of it when Republicans do it. Because Romney's speech came first it's the one that I was the most upset with so I thought I'd just vent publicly a bit tonight. I'm including a few of his most troubling quotes and my responses to them here. His speech is in red and is indented.

Click here for the full text of Mitt Romney's speech.

Last week, the Democrats talked about change. But let me ask you - what do you think Washington is right now, liberal or conservative? Is a Supreme Court liberal or conservative that awards Guantanamo terrorists with constitution rights? It's liberal!

The people in Guantanamo Bay are HUMAN BEINGS. Human beings, who like Americans deserve the right to habeas corpus. How can we ever tell if those human beings are terrorists if they are never charged and are never allowed to see the evidence against them? Is Mitt Romney against trying suspected criminals? Does Mitt Romney think you are guilty as long as George W. Bush thinks you're guilty? Does he think that if you aren't born in the United States you should not be "rewarded" with basic human rights?

And I'll say this, YES, it IS liberal to extend all human beings basic human rights. It IS liberal to try suspected criminals instead of capturing people from all over the world and then locking them up indefinitely. Those are liberal principles. Principles the United States was founded on.

Is a Congress liberal or conservative that stops nuclear power plants and offshore drilling, making us more and more dependent on Middle East tyrants? It's liberal!

It seems to me that investing in renewable, green energy is the best way to break the addiction to foreign oil... and OIL in general. I don't see Republicans wanting to break the addiction to oil, just the addiction to oil from other places. Drilling offshore will only bring that oil online in TEN YEARS. It's a commitment to a dying form of energy in a time when we need to be moving towards the future of energy.

Is government spending - excluding inflation - liberal or conservative if it doubles since 1980? It's liberal!

Does spending billions and billions on invading foreign countries factor into government spending? Does spending 50% of the nation's budget on the military factor into government spending? Let's just be honest about the ENTIRE budget. If we weren't spending billions on new ways to kill people we'd have enough to pay teachers more AND lower taxes.

We need change all right - change from a liberal Washington to a conservative Washington! We have a prescription for every American who wants change in Washington - throw out the big government liberals and elect John McCain!

Who has been running all three branches of the government for 6 of the past 8 years? Hmmm, it's conservatives. Now they only have 2 of the 3 branches of government and they're complaining as if they were in exile!

They think we have the biggest and strongest economy in the world because of our government. They're wrong. America is strong because of the ingenuity and entrepreneurship and hard work of the American people.

Straw man argument. I've never heard a Democrat say that, and Mitt Romney is not a mind-reader.

We strengthen our people and our economy when we preserve and promote opportunity. Opportunity is what lets hope become reality.

Yes, when it's promoting opportunity for citizens. We don't need any more "opportunity" for Exxon.

Opportunity expands when there is excellence and choice in education, when taxes are lowered, when every citizen has affordable, portable health insurance, and when constitutional freedoms are preserved.

Constitutional freedoms? Like the ones Bush has trampled on?

Liberals would replace opportunity with dependency on government largesse. They grow government and raise taxes to put more people on Medicaid, to take work requirements out of welfare, and to grow the ranks of those who pay no taxes at all. Dependency is death to initiative, risk-taking and opportunity.

Straw man argument again. Obama has worked on programs moving people from welfare to work.

It's time for the party of big ideas, not the party of Big Brother!

Big Brother? Like wire-tapping? Sounds like Bush to me.

Did you hear any Democrats talk last week about the threat from radical, violent Jihad? Republicans believe that there is good and evil in the world. Ronald Reagan called-out the Evil Empire. George Bush labeled the terror-sponsor states the Axis of Evil.

Democrats talk about "fighting terrorism" but no, they don't use your unhelpful and ever evolving scare-tactic labels. Implying that Democrats don't talk about fighting terrorism just because they don't say "radical violent Jihad" or "extremist militant Islam" or whatever is misleading.

And at Saddleback, after Barack Obama dodged and ducked every direct question, John McCain hit the nail on the head: radical violent Islam is evil, and he will defeat it!

Dodging and ducking every direct question? More like being thoughtful and reflective... and humble. And seriously, John McCain is going to defeat a religious movement? Are you kidding me?

Republicans prefer straight talk to politically correct talk!

Then why does the Defense Department call dead Iraqi civilians "collateral damage?"

To this we are all dedicated and I firmly believe, by the providence of the Almighty, that we will succeed.

President McCain and Vice President Palin will keep America as it has always been - the hope of the world.

In the span of two sentences Romney invokes God and then says that America, this country at this point in time is the "hope of the world." (Which by the way Obama says too) That is just so wrong. The Kingdom of God is the hope of the world, and the Kingdom of God is NOT the United States. When Romney and others say this, they're worshiping themselves.

All this devotion to America and the flag is in effect a way to worship ourselves and worship what we stand for. It's idolatry.

Labels: Politics, Theology

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