Since the day after we were married, Hayley had been asking me for a nicer trash can. She really, really, really wanted an aluminum trash can to replace our wimpy, unattractive little plastic one. I had no clue how expensive these things were, so once I discovered this reality, I had to turn her down – a task that no one should desire. She can be quite persistent.

This request continued for about four years until a couple of months ago when we were at the Bane of Our Bank Account and, what do you know, they had a very nice-looking aluminum trash can on sale! Being the benevolent husband, I instantly placed it into our shopping cart. Hayley’s joy was palpable.

We got the trash can home and, again, what do you know, it fit PERFECTLY where we wanted it go. Hayley’s joy filled our kitchen.

A couple days passed and, as we are wont to do, we filled up the trash. I prepared to remove the bag and I encountered some difficulty. After a struggle, which included a ripped bag and an injured foot, the bag was removed. I just assumed that we had perhaps installed the bag improperly.

Fast forward a couple of weeks and I hear Hayley exclaiming in frustration from the kitchen. I knew that I had fought against this trash can for weeks and it appeared that Hayley had hit her breaking point, too. 

Up to this point, Hayley had been keeping her frustration with the can a secret. She didn’t want me to know that she hated the can as much as I did since she felt responsible for our owning it. Knowing that our hatred was shared, I immediately went to Lowe’s and purchased a new, nice, relatively expensive trashcan.

And now, rather than our frustration, our joy is mutual.

There’s really no point or lesson to this post.

Other than, of course, the obvious: Give a man a fish, he’ll eat for a day. Teach a man to fish and he’ll eat for a lifetime.

Happy Tuesday.

One of the questions I’ve been asking internally (and externally) lately is “What is the point of worship?”

For most of life, I’ve been taught that worship isn’t about me – it’s about God. About my recognition of who God is and who I am in relation to that. Whether or not I enjoyed or got anything out of worship was irrelevant. It was all about what I gave to God that mattered.

This has never really made sense to me. I’ve never really understood why an all-powerful God would require his subjects to worship Him. Is He insecure? Greedy? Arrogant? None of those attributes seem to mesh with the picture of God in the Bible. I do think that He desires our worship, but I’m not entirely sure why. Feel free to chime in with a comment if you have any insight.

After a great conversation I had Friday night, I began to think about worship again. And while I’m sure that the initial conclusions I’ve arrived at aren’t earth-shattering, they were helpful for me. And so I share them with you.

I’ve come up with three “purposes” (for lack of a better word) for worship. I don’t think that these are exclusive, but rather they exist together in harmony, each equal to the others in importance. As I said, I’ve just started developing these, so be gentle in your critiques, please.

Worship as Praise
Despite my lack of clarity or understanding, I still think that worship is designed to glorify God. Even if it’s as basic as our  recognizing that God is God and we are not, giving praise to God is important.

Worship as Communication
Sometimes, we are incapable of expressing exactly how we feel or think about something. As a kid, I remember listening to a country song called “Life’s a Dance” and feeling the deep, meaningful truth of that song. I could never have expressed that on my own, but the lyrics and melody did it for me. In the same way, many worship songs communicate our feeling of love, gratitude and relief for what God has done for us.

Unfortunately, many worship songs and gatherings only communicate celebration – not sadness, anger or confusion. This is one of the challenges of community worship – it’s difficult, if not impossible, to capture the feeling and emotions of the entire group. Wouldn’t it be awesome if a gathering allowed its participants to express how they were feeling – even if it wasn’t happy? Or, if the gathering encouraged its participants to share in the feelings of others, even if those feelings weren’t happy? (I’ve got more to say about this in another post.)

Worship as Encouragement
Finally, I think that worship is designed to build up and encourage the community of people who are worshipping. Colossians talks about this in chapter three:

Verse 16: Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God.

I think it’s incredibly encouraging when people are gathered together, authentically sharing in worship as praise and communication. When I went to Catalyst, the worship was by far my favorite part. Being in a room with 10,000 similarly minded folks, worshiping one God, was amazing. It reignited my passion for not only worship, but for the God we were praising.

So that’s it. Three facets of worship. What do you think? What have I left out? What have I got wrong? I’m eager to hear.

This was also posted at the Greteman Group blog. Check it out here.

Last night, the GG team headed up to Hutchinson, Kansas, home of the Kansas State Fair.

We started by meeting up with in-the-trenches colleagues Jen and Angelina at the publicity office. We then set off in search of food – perhaps the most important of our fair activities. Of course, we had to partake in the renowned Pronto Pup, a favorite of many fairgoers. My peers have hyped the wheat- and rice-breaded hotdog (this breading sets it apart from its boring cousin, the corndog) to an unbelievable degree; it lived up to their lauding.

While eating, we headed over to the equestrian arts show. We were a little late and didn’t have the best view, but we were able to see some unbelievable stunts from the Cavallo family’s fifth-generation of riders. These athletes balanced on one leg, stood on shoulders and even did back flips while the horse galloped around the ring. Catch their show – it’s amazing.

You Are Getting Very Sleepy
After that, we made our way to the much-touted hypnotist show. Naturally, I volunteered. Shy, I’m not. I’m not sure how best to describe what it’s like to be under. I was very relaxed, open to suggestions and didn’t really care about looking foolish. (Hmmm. Sounds like me every day.) Largely, I was aware of what I was doing, though apparently I proudly displayed my wedding ring when approached by a woman onstage and threw a couple of chairs when asked to “lose the chairs.” I don’t remember doing either. You can see some photos of me under the influence here.

Why Can’t I Grow Pumpkins Like This?
Before we left the fairgrounds, we stopped by the agricultural displays to view some very large produce, creative scarecrows and, of course, the famous butter sculpture. None of us are sure who first decided to carve butter, but we all agreed the result is amazing.

We really hope that you can make it out to this year’s fair. It looks like the weather’s going to cooperate beautifully.

You can check out some photos from our trek here.

I’m going to open a fast-food restaurant, which will, hopefully, be so amazing, that I’ll be able to franchise the model out, get covered in major fast-food publications and be invited to speak at fast-food-related conferences.

What really is going to push me over the top is my tagline: The fast food restaurant for people who don’t like fast food restaurants.

You see, we’re going to be different than all those other guys.

The first thing you’ll notice is that we won’t use the traditional molded-plastic seats. Nope, we’re going to use padded chairs that can be shuffled around and rearranged at will. Then, you’ll probably see that everybody is dressed however they feel comfortable – assuming, of course, that this means they’re wearing jeans and t-shirts. Finally, the first impression will wrap up with our promotional posters for upcoming food features. Rather than using traditional graphics to display our information, we’re going to purchase pre-designed posters and get a college intern to add our information to them.

Once you actually get ready to order, you’ll find that the overall process is identical to other fast food restaurants, but ours will feel much more relevant and edgy. Our cashiers will be casually dressed and carry iPhones. They’ll greet you with a high-five and enthusiastically ask if you’re ready to order up some food. As you peruse our menu, you’ll find that ultimately, our products are the same, but they’ve got far cooler names, like “The Crisp” (our fried chicken sandwich), “No-Mo-Moo” (our take on the Quarter Pounder) and “Swell*” (our version of the Happy Meal).

After placing your order, you might discover that we’re not perfect – no restaurant is – and we didn’t give you exactly what you ordered. We’re just trying our best and we’re honest about when we screw up.

The actual meal will probably be similar to other meals from other restaurants, but you won’t be bored and you will probably be more full.

Once your meal is complete, you’ll throw your stuff away and leave with the knowledge that you just experienced a fast-food revolution.

What do you think? Will my restaurant be successful?

*please note the double-meaning of the word “swell” – I was quite proud of that one.

Two months have passed since my last post.

My experiment to see the importance I played to the success or failure of the Internet has come to a close, and I must say the findings are disturbing at best.

After two months of nothingness from ToddBlog.net (the very blog you’re reading now), the Internet still functions as it always has. For two months, a corner of the interwebs that formerly contributed humor, relevance and thought-provoking posts was silent, and still Facebook, Google and CNN.com stand, as if nothing had changed.

I’m exaggerating, but it is amazing the crippling pressure that one can put on oneself to crank out posts in between actually cranking out posts. You get this idea in your head that all your previous posts are well-written, logical, enjoyable pieces that people actually want to read. You then keep yourself from writing anything because you don’t feel like you have anything to say.

I’m always telling people not to over-think what they’re about to write, or they’ll never actually click publish on a post. I’ve lost sight of that advice and I’ve allowed my blog to go without an update for too long.

I can’t pretend that I’m going to post daily, but I can do better than once every two months.

So stick around. I’ll be back shortly.

What’s the point of prayer? Is it an exercise for our benefit? Or do our words, thoughts and desires actually contain the power to change God?

What do you think?

Is it wrong to be a universalist – one who believes that all people enter into Heaven upon judgment?

What do you think? Is it sinful to hold that belief?

There was an entire conversation on Facebook you may have missed. Sierra Scott, the creator of the Darfur documentary, responded to our criticism in the last post. We’ve copied and pasted her responses below and inserted our responses where we felt they were necessary. So, this is one of the longest posts you’ll ever see here on the ToddBlog. Blame Hayley.

Sierra Patricia Scott at 4:12pm June 26
Todd I cannot believe you are attacking what I am saying without having gone to Darfur yourself. I have to say that I am extremely disappointed that you aren’t giving me the benefit of the doubt that I have done a LOT of reserach here and met with a number of academics who have ben studying Darfur for YEARS! since I know you to be a very inquisitive person I HIGHLY recommend that you read “Saviors and Survivors” by Mahmood Mamdani. He is a NOBEL PRIZE winner who is saying EXACTLY the same things that I am. He was recently featured on NPR. I would welcome you to read it, then you and I need to have a meeting to discuss. Why would you not trust me to be telling you the truth? Please take the chance to learn about the other side before you blog again. Please have an open mind about this. I am NOT saying NO ONE IS DYING… because they ARE. But it is not GENOCIDE. I have a copy of the book I am more than willing to lend you. I am NOT supporting the government in any way, shape or form.

It’s true, we’ve never been to Darfur. But we have formed our opinions on the situation there based on the reporting of individuals and organizations who have been there for an extended period of time, in some cases years. As for giving her the benefit of the doubt, we don’t question if she has done research, we just believe that the contradictions to her findings are more compelling and better documented.

Concerning Saviors and Survivors, we had read about Mamdani’s book prior to her mentioning it, but had decided against investing time in reading it due to the vast criticisms of his explanation of the crisis. These critics, who all had very similar problems with the book, were not simply disagreeing with author’s conclusions but casting serious doubt on his entire research process and lack of due diligence regarding his sources. (Sidenote: We were unable to locate the year or category of his Nobel Prize from nobelprize.org.) And, based on the blogs and websites we routinely read, we feel as though we already have a basic understanding of “the other side.”

The impression Scott’s movie gives is that there is a small contingent of people fighting and that the casualty rate is very low. We only saw the movie once, and will watch it again once it’s posted online, but from our recollection, she did not discuss the 300,000 deaths from the fighting. Again, we’re not scholars, but we know that people much smarter than we have determined that what has happened in Darfur is genocide. But regardless of whether we call it genocide or not, it needs to end.

And while it’s unfair to accuse Scott of supporting the Sudanese government, the film certainly felt pro-government.

Sierra Patricia Scott at 4:14pm June 26
By the wya, MILLIONS of people have NOT died there. Even the WHO estimates (not that I am downplying this. death is TRAGIC) between 200,00 and 300,000 people have died there. Compare that to 4 MILLION in the Congo and it begs the question of why “save Darfur” isn’t more worried about the Congo…

We didn’t say millions had died, we said millions have suffered and died, which is true. The exact number of casualties is hard to determine, but more than 2,000,000 people have been displaced, and estimates vary between 250,000 and 500,000 deaths. We never want to minimize the suffering in the Congo, which we know is disgusting and tragic, but the film was about Darfur, so that is what we’re addressing.

Sierra Patricia Scott at 4:23pm June 26
I was in Washington to take part in PEACE NEGOCIATIONS between the Sudanese Government and SPLA. I met with US envoy Scott Gration who was part of those talks as well. AGAIN I am NOT saying people aren’t dying, because sadly THEY ARE. Please Todd, before you write again, read “Saviors and Survivors”. It’s a lot more indepth than I was in my documentary because this COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY PROFESSOR is a lot more learned than I am on this subject. I challenge you to listen to the “other side” which hasn’t gotten much attention yet. I promise you it will.

Sierra Patricia Scott at 4:26pm June 26
By the way I have been “invited back” to go to South and West Darfur to do a more “com0plete story” Even the Sudanese Ambassador said he wanted ALL sides to be features to give the story more credibility. So I WILL be going back. I will tell you that many leaders of NGO’s were there and told me they totally agreed with my assessment. I will be featuring their interviews soon.

We are curious to know who invited her to go south and west Darfur and we look forward to seeing her report after she visits those places. We’d also be interested in knowing which NGOs she’s speaking to.

Sierra Patricia Scott at 4:42pm June 26
There are a “few” fact errors I want to correct. 1) Most of the interview on the “Darfur” part of my documentary was from a University Professor and DARFURIAN expert. Even during the interview he said he DOES NOT support the currrent government however he wants to help end the conflict. 2) I did NOT compare Abraham Lincoln to Omar Al Bashir!!!!! I said the comflict was between NORTH and SOUTH just like our civil war. 3) I did NOT minimize the deaths. I think war is TRAGIC!!!! Again I said over and over in the documentary that there ARE people dying. 4) I did NOT CHOOSE not to go to Southern Darfur I ran out of time to go, and as I said I will be going back. The Ambasador even said he wanted me to show the country WARTS and ALL so people can decide. Only with all information available can the truth be known.

1) We apologize that we didn’t see the distinction between the parts of the documentary regarding Darfur and the rest of the documentary. 2) What we remember is Scott saying that not more than 150 years ago our country went through a civil war in which the government-backed north fought against the south. This sounded like a comparison to us. 3) We don’t remember hearing about the deaths over and over, but again, we’ve only seen the movie once. We also do not mean to imply that Scott does not care about people dying, but in our opinion, it just seemed that her failure to discuss the deaths at any length did, in fact, minimize them. 4) Scott did choose not to go to Southern Darfur because she chose to go to somewhere else.

Sierra Patricia Scott at 4:45pm June 26
By the way just because a LOT of people “believe something” does NOT make it true!!!! Just a few years back scientists and doctors all agreed that it wasn’t physically possible for someone to run a 4 minute mile. Which was true…. until someone did it. Why because I am saying something that’s NOT BEEN heard much in the media does that automatically make upi assume I am “wrong”?

We’re not disagreeing just for the sake of disagreement, and we don’t believe something simply because the majority does. But in this case, we think the evidence of the majority significantly outweighs the evidence of the minority in both quantity and quality.

Sierra Patricia Scott at 10:00pm June 26
Looking back I can only say [not going to Southern Darfur] was a “bad decision” made on my part. I chose instead to go to Geziera to see the farm lands. If I had it to do over again I would choose differently. That’s why I am so excited at the opportunity to go back again. However I met with representatives from the SPLA in Washington and did hear what they had to say. Todd. PLEASE before you write again, PLEASE read “Saviors and Survivors”…. I am not trying to CHANGE your mind, but I really do want you to understand the “other side”. I will say again I DO NOT support the government. I am trying very hard not to get political at all. I am fighting for the people and I want to make it possible for them to achieve peace. I am VERY SINCERE when I say I fell in love with the ordinary people there. They are the most incredible human beings I have ever come across.

We also want peace, and that’s why we think it’s so important to highlight the issues we had with her film.

Sierra Patricia Scott at 10:29pm June 26
Better yet, would you agree to meet with my Sudanese-American interpreter? I LOVE great debate and obviously you are a well read and well informed person. I would LOVE to set up a lunch where we can all discuss this face to face. The sad thing about writing back and forth through a computer is that you can’t hear someone’s inflection, nor their tone of voice. So what’s “said” can sometimes be misinterpreted. I would LOVE to hear what you have to say…. it can only make my ability to write the next story better. I am not too proud to change my mind if there is evidence that I should. I have done a lot of research but you could bring something to my attention that I have not seen and I would welcome that.

Sierra Patricia Scott at 12:35am June 27
I have to say your phrase “She chose not to tell the whole story” is not only a personal attack on my “intentions”, but is totally misleading. Without really knowing me, and I am a person who would NEVER intentionally mislead anyone. EVER. You can ask just about anyone who knows me and they will tell you that I always tell the truth to the very best of my ability. I may have made a “judgment error” in not going to Southern Sudan, but I can assure you that error in judgment was NOT INTENTIONAL nor was it made with any agenda in mind. I guess saying or implying “bad things” about someone is easier to do over the computer because you don’t have to see the hurt in their faces when you write it, but I can assure you those allegations hurt. In my heart of hearts I am only trying to help.

We do not doubt that Scott was trying to help, and there is nothing in this or the original post that we would not say to her in person. We did not mean for it to be a personal attack, and we’re a little surprised that Scott seems not have expected this type of reaction to her movie. She knew she was creating something controversial, and even stated as much in one of the opening lines of her film.

We’re incredibly interested in continuing this dialog face-to-face. If you have any questions you’d like for us ask, leave a comment a below. 

If you’re interested in seeing our sources, check out our Darfur Delicious page.

Todd and Hayley

I wasn’t going to blog about Sierra Scott’s Darfur “documentary” – I thought it would die on its own. But she’s travelled to DC, met with some fairly influential people and is now tweeting about how Save Darfur is a corrupt organization and doesn’t deserve our dollars. I can’t abide such things.

Two Sundays ago, Hayley and I went to see “Destination Darfur,” a documentary created by Sierra P. Scott. Scott traveled to Sudan to uncover the “true” story of what’s happening there and to uncover the mistruths that the media is propagating about the conflict.

The documentary started with a line that said, “What if I told you everything you knew about Darfur was wrong?” She then proceeded to show through interviews and footage that there isn’t any genocide or fighting – or, at the least, that the reports from the media around the world are greatly exaggerated.

Unfortunately, she primarily spoke to current or former government officials, only visited two displacement camps and never visited southern Darfur at all – the area most heavily traumatized by the conflict. She even said that she had been given full access to go wherever and speak with whomever she wanted. Which means, if that’s true, she chose not to tell the whole story.

The documentary ended up feeling like a propaganda piece for the Sudanese government. Just to highlight this, at one point, she compared the Darfuri conflict to our own Civil War, drawing parallels between Omar Al-Bashir (Sudan’s president) and Abraham Lincoln.

In no way could I be considered an expert on Darfur. But I’m not a fool. The fact that she has been become a spokesperson for the Sudanese government is disturbing and frightening and her statements and documentary minimize the deaths and suffering of millions of people there.

If you want some more information about the Darfur crisis, I encourage you to visit Enough Project or Amnesty International’s Eyes on Darfur. Also, check out the Social Science Research Center’s “Making Sense of Darfur” blog – particularly this post. And then I encourage you to watch Scott’s film for yourself. Apparently it will be added to DarfurStory.com soon. As soon as it’s live, I’ll be sure to link to it and include further critique here.

If you’ve had the chance to see it, what did you think?

Ever feel like you’re not making a difference?

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Ever feel like there’s no easy way to connect your belief to your action?

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I urge you, at least consider it.

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