BudapestAlive

Mark Driscoll, Deepak Chopra, Bishop Pearson, and Annie Lobert debate whether Satan is real

This debate ranges well beyond the initial subject and is very telling of the popular mindsets of our day. I’m glad that Mark was in this. I’ve seen many debates where a token Christian is included, and usually one whose lack of education is matched only by their unchecked emotion. It was also very well moderated, another rarity. I think Jesus was glorified through Mark’s points and responses, and that’s an answer to prayer.

Watch it at abc’s site

Happy Birthday Harry

I grow more intrigued by Hungary day by day. I read up on it’s history, culture and such as a break from the 18″ deep pile of spiritual classics I’ve been going through for the last month. Don’t get me wrong, I deeply love those early writers. Their words articulate the ebb and flow of spiritual life with a vividness and depth of understanding seemingly untouched by modern authors. But after sitting with a desert father, mystic, or puritan for several hours it’s refreshing to read some contemporary history, if for no other reason than that I can understand it with more ease

Today I learned that Harry Houdini was Hungarian. He emigrated to America with his family at age four. Quite an interesting chap. He was a champion track runner in his youth. He was also a risk taking pilot. And of course, he was the greatest escape artist the world has ever known. Now that I think about it…that sounds a lot like my half-Hungarian daughters…fast, high-flying, and always getting away!

I wonder how Hungarians perceive Houdini. Do they embrace him? Is he an outcast for leaving or a hero for his success? Do they care that he denied his Hungarian roots for the last twenty years of his life, claiming he was born in Wisconsin?

Now if I can track down a copy of “The Man From Beyond“…

When your 900b tax shuffle doesn’t work…

A world leader has just offered his resignation. This comes while his country is it’s worst recession in 16 years. It follows an attempt to shuffle around 900 billion of his nation’s currency in an effort to boost growth.

Is it Barack Obama you ask? Nope. Ferenc Gyurcsany, the premier of Hungary.

In a remarkable move, he’s resigning right in the middle of the whole mess. I still know embarrasingly little of Hungarian politics, but I do know a thing or two about leadership. If you recognize that you’re not competent to get the job done, your best form of leadership may be to get out of the way.

I don’t know if that’s the case with Mr. Gyurcsany, but it does set an interesting precident…

The Blues Left Budapest

Let me introduce Little G. Weevil. I just found out about him today. He’s from Hungary and plays the blues like an 80 year old dude from place where muddy water turns to wine.

I’ve played guitar my whole life and I gotta say I’m a bit bummed that this cat isn’t still in Budapest. His site doesn’t seem to even mention his Magyar roots. But perpahs that’s common. My wife’s father was a great painter and I’ve been told that he didn’t want anyone to know he was Hungarian, preferring to say he was from Vienna.

I’m always wondering what the live music scene will be like in Budapest. If we end up moving there I’ll be playing as much as I can around town…with Little Weevil gone perhaps there’s more room for some Texas/Red Dirt music.

Lastly…gotta put a face-melting solo pic up

Are Hungarians the “saddest people in Europe”?

Found this gem of an article on one of the Hungarian blogs I follow. There’s a classic line, “Hungarians just hide their happiness well.”

Water From a Deep Well

My my, this is a gooood read so far. The author has two stated purposes which I’ll summarize this way:

1. To honor those faithful saints of the early church who suffered martyrdom for no other reason than being called “Christian” – to honor them by telling their stories.

2. To connect the present-day church to her spiritual roots, her glorious heritage, being rooted in the those same saints.

quote: “Christian still die for their faith, now more than ever. Martyrdom is as terrifying today as it was then, if not more so. In some parts of the world Christians disappear from their homes during the night; they are beaten and dismembered by hostile mobs. Missiologist David B. Barrett estimates that 160,000 Christians were martyred in the year 2000 alone. They died in that year for the same basic reason they died in the year 155, when Polycarp was martyred, or in 202, when Perpetua was martyred. The early martyrs believed that if Jesus is Lord and the only Savior, then he accepts no rivals – no person or religion or ideology or empire. They affirmed that the Christian faith requires nothing less than a firm and joyful commitment to this conviction. Jesus came as God in human flesh to show us the way to God and to be the way to God for us. This is the only Jesus there is. A lesser Jesus is not the real Jesus at all, at least not according to the testimony of the martyrs, from Stephen to the present.”