Have you heard the latest about Hillary, Obama, Bush, and McCain?

What do the following stories have in common:

- Hillary Clinton helped free two Black Panthers accused of torturing and murdering Alex Rackley
- President Bush paid for the funeral of a 6-year-old boy who drowned near his ranch in Crawford, Texas
- Illinois Senator Barack Obama is a radical Muslim

Two things - First, I have received all of these stories via e-mail several times (and many more like them). Second, they are all verifiably false.

These kinds of things get to be particularly ubiquitous during election years. And, if you've ever received these e-mails or anything like them, then you know that the e-mails are normally sent to you and a whole bunch of other people - and you probably notice that your simply the latest group to get this thing forwarded to you. My parents even received one of these in their snail-mail (anonymously, of course).

Friends, here's the thing - when you receive one of these e-mails, the first thing you should do is go to www.snopes.com and check to see what the validity of the claim is. Now, here's the funny part - some of the worst offenders will actually claim in the e-mail that their story has been verified by snopes.com - do not believe them! Check it out for yourself.

Quick Tip: if any variation of the following phrases are used, red flags should be going up:

- this is a story you won't read in the media
- this is something ____ doesn't want you to know about
- forward this to everyone you know

Um, chances are that if you won't read it in the media it's because someone actually did a little fact-checking and found the claims to be lacking in credibility (just a thought).

If, by chance, the information you have received is completely true, then feel free to forward at will.

If, however, the e-mail is verifiably false or if it contains half-truths mixed in with innuendo and speculation, then I highly recommend hitting the “Reply All” button and explaining to everyone (in a nice way) that the information contained in the e-mail is not entirely accurate.

Here's the frustrating part - at times I have replied to completely false e-mails and I've been told by the person who sent it to me, “it may not be completely true, but it's a good story anyway.” Um, folks, that's called lying - or “bearing false witness” as it's put in Exodus (you know, one of the Big Ten!).

Look, you can be opposed to someone's policies without having to forward lies about their character.

Please, use a little bit of common sense when you see these things.

OK, I'm going to get down from this soap box now - please forward this to all of your friends, you probably won't read this in the media, it contains information they don't want you to know.

Most Redeeming Films of 2007

Anyone who knows me knows that I really enjoy good films - I mean, if I could I would watch two movies a day every day.

So, I was pleasantly surprised a couple of years ago when I discovered the film reviews offered by the folks at Christianity Today. I was expecting to see some rather lame reviews complete with a "naughty word count" or some such nonsense - what I found is a site that consistently offers thoughtful and insightful reviews.

One thing I find myself looking forward to every year now is their "Most Redeeming Films of the Year" list.

This year's list includes some truly great films (at least I can vouch for about half of them - I'm looking forward to catching the rest in the next few months).

I'm especially looking forward to seeing Lars and the Real Girl, Into Great Silence, and The Diving Bell and the Butterfly.

My wife and I both enjoyed Bella - which says an awful lot (we don't tend to get excited over the same movies very often).

The #3 movie on the list - Juno - I've already seen twice in theaters (not something I normally do) - if you haven't seen it yet, check it out.

Check out the complete list here.

Share your thoughts - what would you say are some of the most redeeming movies you've seen?

More Cowbell!

I just have to share this one - my lovely bride and I were out last weekend enjoying a great evening of art and music on Wilmington's Art Loop. By the end of the evening we were enjoying some great jazz music from the Arpeggio Jazz Ensemble.

So, after one song, the leader says he's going to prove that everyone has some musical talent - and to do that he needed the least musically talented person in the room to come up on stage - my wife looked at me and simply said, "Go."

I hesitated for a moment, but then thought about the fact that I've been telling the guys in the men's class at HBC to "do something you've never done before" - well, I knew I had to go up.

Imagine my surprise when I was handed a Cowbell and told to go to town on it! This is an experience everyone should have at least once in their lives.

And yes, the entire time all I could think was:

I have a fever - and the only prescription is MORE COWBELL!

Funniest Satan Video Ever

I don't care what you're doing right now, you have to click here and watch this video.

Next time you feel like quitting...

I just finished watching the movie "Dodgeball" -- a fun little comedy romp. The plot involves your basic group of underdog misfits trying to accomplish something big (in this case the national dodgeball championship - hey, it's a goal).

Anyhow, there's an incredible scene where the team leader -- Peter LaFleur played by Vince Vaughn -- decides to quit just before the final game, he doesn't even tell his team-mates, he just sits at the hotel bar.

That's when Lance Armstrong comes up to the bar to order some water, recognizes Peter and tells him he's been watching the Dodgeball games and that he's pulling for Peter's team -- and Peter tells Lance that he's decided to quit, and the following discussion takes place:

Lance Armstrong: Quit? You know, once I was thinking about quitting… when I was diagnosed with brain, lung, and testicular cancer – all at the same
time.

But with the love and support of my friends and family, I got back on the bike and I won the Tour de France five times in a row.

But I’m sure you have a good reason to quit…

So, what are you dying from that’s keeping you from the finals?

Peter LaFleur: Right now, it feels a little bit like… shame.

Lance Armstrong: Well, I guess if a person never quit when the going got tough, they wouldn’t have anything to regret for the rest of their life.

But good luck to you, Peter. I’m sure this decision won’t haunt you forever.

Is that great or what!

So, print out Lance's words and the next time you feel like giving up, well, I'm sure that decision won't haunt you forever.

A truly incredible weekend

2008 got off to an awesome start for me -- the first weekend of '08 was spent with my father and my son at a men's retreat with approximately 160 other men from Evangelical Free Church of Hershey, PA.

Of course, the question came up more than a few times -- what's three guys from Newark, DE doing with this group from Hershey, PA? The answer to that one is simple, we came to see the guest speaker - John Fischer.

I have been reading John's books and listening to his music for probably 20 years now - his insight is pretty darned impressive. If you ever get a chance to see him in concert or attend a seminar or retreat weekend where he is speaking, just do it - you will be challenged and encouraged. In the meantime, try to get one if his books and sign up to get "The Daily Catch" - a daily e-mail from John that helps put a lot of things into perspective.

Just to give a very simple, scratching the surface kind of review of some of the things John spoke about this weekend:

1) Christians should have a fearless faith - ready to see the world through a wider lens, appreciate more of the creativity, truth, and beauty that exists regardless of the conduit through which it arrives

2) to quote from Proverbs 25:2 - "It is the glory of God to conceal a matter; to search out a matter is the glory of kings" - so search (or ask, seek, and knock)

3) People today are searching for transcendence, significance, and community -- ideally that is exactly what a church based on the gospel should be offering, you fill in the rest

4) Many of us might need to look into a 12-step program for pharisees (myself included)

As an added bonus, I had the privilege of serving on a Saturday afternoon political panel with former Pennsylvania State Representative Jeff Coleman, Ron Hostetler (former candidate for U.S. Congress), and Steve Hoke (truly brilliant mind - knows more about Constitutional principles than most will ever hear about in their lifetimes). The discussion was moderated by Michael Geer, president of the Pennsylvania Family Institute.

The weekend was also awesome on a personal level -- as mentioned before, this was time spent with both my father and my son -- it was great to get a "guy's weekend" together. We got to talk, share, play Risk, and enjoy a great time meeting dozens of quality people together.

A quick note to the guys at Evangelical Free Church -- you guys put on an excellent event, every detail was well planned and executed, thank you for doing all you did to make this such an awesome experience!

To see several photos from the weekend (including the midnight dodge ball games, the lost hikers, and concert shots), click here.

About the school prayer thing...

I recently came across a great piece concerning the school prayer issue, here's an excerpt:

And now let’s add to that the attempts by misguided school officials to compose “nonsectarian” prayers that would pass constitutional muster (“We affirm our Supreme Being, creator of the Universe,” things of that sort), and you have to assume that we’re well beyond 100,000 attempts to circumvent the court’s unambiguous ruling that you can’t pray in school, period.

And by the way, that very first Supreme Court school prayer case, Engel v. Vitale, revolved around a 22-word “nonsectarian” prayer that’s perhaps the lamest one ever written. It’s impossible to write a lamer one or a less offensive one, so just stop trying! Don’t believe me? Okay, I’m gonna go ahead and quote it:

“Almighty God, we acknowledge our dependence upon Thee, and we beg Thy blessings upon us, our parents, our teachers, and our country.”

That’s it. That’s the entire New York State Regents’ Prayer. That’s the prayer that the Supreme Court struck down as a violation of the establishment clause of the First Amendment. Anyone who went to a New York public school in the fifties had to recite that every day, to the point that baby boomers, if reminded of it today, can’t get the annoying echo out of their head, like a bad Barry Manilow song—which is fitting, because Barry Manilow himself was actually one of those kids who had to recite the prayer beginning in the third grade and continuing through his graduation from Eastern District High School in Brooklyn. For all we know it’s the source of his lyrical inspiration.

I invite you to check out the whole piece here, then check back to share your thoughts...