around this time every year, i used to preach a graduation sermon to my graduating high school students about what a different world they are about to enter. the inspiration for the series of messages came from the show ‘a different world’ which was a spinoff of ‘the cosby show’. the themes of my talks were the same on the cosby sequel: there is another world out there and its beyond what you can imagine.

something mind boggling has happened in burma/myanmar. a cyclone slammed into the country last week and the projections include 100,000 dead and millions displaced. articles are a-plenty about the situation. i’ve included a few links from diverse sources:

http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5gBw5sUoXe5e0Q25UniUtc29D2lYQ

http://eugenecho.wordpress.com/2008/05/06/pray-for-burmamyanmar/#comments

http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/893E25D5-625D-4ECC-A56C-FA267738DFA1.htm

http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/asiapcf/05/08/myanmar/index.html

meanwhile in this country….its a different world…..we do not have to worry about water, shelter or burning our dead….instead many are preoccupied with what to do with our $600/$1200 rebates from the government. i was challenged by a passing comment that i heard: most folks are only thinking about how they are going to spend it on themselves….and not thinking about how they can bless others.

i think i know what we’re doing with our rebates.

if you are thinking of giving, two groups that our church has worked with on the issues of disaster and relief are world vision and samaritan’s purse. we sent a team down to new orleans to aid with the clean up and rebuilding. we also have been sponsoring children(all in the one village)in rwanda. so we like both of these groups and trust their work. both are receiving donations.

perhaps this is a visual parable to how different a world i live in….i was struck by the amount of packaging and waste needed to get me my replacement headphones. shure sure makes some fraking good headphones. and they have a great warranty….replacement or repair up to 2 years! my left earbud went out and i happily sent it back in for an exchange

to my shock, i got this packaging limo for my headphones. look at all that plastic, cardboard and bubblewrap needed to get me quality sound! i also got 5 copies of instructions in 5 different languages! rather than “waste” time with shipping different booklets to different countries, they give everybody every volume!

i live in a world where headphones get better treatment than…………

(for those unfamiliar with parables……you may have to do some work to connect it to (your own) real life)

like i said, youtube took down most of the saturday night live videos that i posted but i have the links to the official nbc site in the previous post for your viewing pleasure . i’m a prophet!

but apparently, jerry is not a prophet. jerry seinfeld’s jokes are not appreciated by a lady who is suing jerry’s wife for plagiarism. not all comedians can get away with everything they say anymore(from cnn):

Seinfeld on cookbook author: Assassin parallel a joke

NEW YORK (AP) — Jerry Seinfeld was joking when he compared a woman accusing his wife of plagiarism to the killers of John Lennon and the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., his lawyers said.

Lawyers say Jerry Seinfeld was kidding when he took shots at a woman suing his wife, Jessica, left.

In a filing in U.S. District Court in Manhattan, attorneys for the former sitcom star asked a judge to throw out a lawsuit filed by Missy Chase Lapine against Seinfeld and his wife, the New York Daily News reported in Tuesday editions.

“Jerry Seinfeld made overstatements of opinion for comic effect,” the comedian’s lawyers said in the filing.

Lapine is seeking unspecified compensatory and punitive damages for copyright and trademark infringement, and made slander and defamation claims.

Lapine, the author of “The Sneaky Chef: Simple Strategies for Hiding Healthy Foods in Kids’ Favorite Meals,” accused Seinfeld’s wife of plagiarizing her cookbook.

Jessica Seinfeld’s “Deceptively Delicious: Simple Secrets to Get Your Kids Eating Good Food” was published in October; Lapine’s book was published in April.

Lawyers for the Seinfelds dismissed the plagiarism allegations in the court filing, saying, “The idea of sneaking healthy foods into a child’s diet is not original to your author.”

Lapine also contended in her lawsuit that Jerry Seinfeld, while making a promotional stop on CBS’ “Late Show With David Letterman,” suggested she was a crackpot by comparing her to the killers of Lennon and King. E-mail to a friend

Copyright 2008 The Associated Press.

i’ve been joking that comedians are the last prophets in western society. they can say anything including the raw-est truth and get away with it. other people say the same things and they have to apologize or get fired. so chris rock, jon stewart, conan and stephen colbert are our last prophets. often, i find that the opposite is true.

i’ll make a side comment about something in a sermon and later on, sometimes years later, my truth become jokes. when saturday night live returned to the studio in my hometown this past weekend, i realized what my fate could have been if i wasn’t in ministry. theresa is tired of me saying…those are my lines!

i don’t know how long these videos will be on youtube but if nbc makes them take em off, here are the links to the official site: huckabee, i drink your milkshake, and how the bleep is the pill a sane concept? if you can’t see the videos below, stop reading on facebook and head over to agapeshack.com

i made a random joke about mike huckabee being a cartoon character with all his talk on not understanding math, delegates, maps and miracles at a youth retreat in boston a week back. i also lamented how i wish people who make dumb statements would also stop representing jesus. we need more bono and less huckabee.

about a month ago, i threw in a spontaneous i drink your milkshake in a sermon and i got 3 laughs(one from my wife, one from our adopted daughter and one from a hip korean). the other people just looked at me like i was queer. alas, it is already overplayed. i still laugh.

finally, before theresa and i got married, we argued about birth control. my point was that these new fangled pills promise to do all sorts of things to a women’s body….does this sound natural or right to anyone? and listen to the side effects! does anyone listen to the disclaimer? methinks all they hear is the pill clears up your complexion and they’re sold.

ironically, these videos may get taken off youtube. i don’t know what nbc is so jerky about this since youtube and nbc(the CHRONICles of narnia/magnolia cupcakes)was such a mutually beneficial partnership.