"Convert the Atheist" Reality Show?

Sounds like a great premise...in marketing terms.

What happens when you put a Muslim imam, a Christian priest, a rabbi and a Buddhist monk in a room with 10 atheists?

Turkish television station Kanal T hopes the answer is a ratings success as it prepares to launch a gameshow where spiritual guides from the four faiths will seek to convert a group of non-believers.

The prize for converts will be a pilgrimage to a holy site of their chosen religion -- Mecca for Muslims, the Vatican for Christians, Jerusalem for Jews and Tibet for Buddhists.

Click on the title for the link.

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On the Indulgence of Prideful Phobias

I have an innate fear of a lot of things; most notably of heights, rats and mice, and being buried alive in a small casket. Yet when I was at the top the Calgary Space Needle, I did put one foot on the glass balcony. I even put both feet on for a moment as I found a spot I could hold on with both hands.

My mouse-o-phobia is well documented, but I look at it with a degree of shame. Mice are ugly, true, dirty, no doubt, but they are small. And the truth is that I have dealt with them even if I jumped onto a chair when one initially ran past me. It's a simple process, really: see mouse, freak out and jump on chair, take deep breath, grab 38-ounce Louisville Slugger #3118...and kill mouse.

Being buried alive is another fear that is totally irrational. I once stayed at a hotel in Venezuela where the rooms were very small - they were aptly called "caves/ cuevas". I took a deep breath and took my glasses off. Making myself blind and relaxed works wonders for my mild claustrophobia.

Yet there is an insidious response to shameful phobias these days; folks are wearing them like a badge of honor. Phobias add interesting-ness to the inventory of the wanna-be interesting people. In an age when one's identity is a Book of Lists, phobias add flavor to the dysfunctional gumbo. Who hasn't heard, "Don't you know that about me?" The goal of the prideful is not to work through their problems but to seek indulgence from others for them.

This is even creeping into law. Men who say they are women may soon have the power of law behind them to enforce others to indulge their fantasy. Indulgence as a rule does not recognize the problem. It only embraces it.

A man who is afraid of a mouse has a personal problem, just as the man who thinks he's a woman, or the man who fantasizes that his surroundings are crushing him, and just as the man who fears heights has a problem with trusting God.

Phobias are not a cause for pride, nor a trophy of individuality.

All phobias are sin.

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Iran - Liberty and Death Revisited

The Iranians are right to not accept the "results" of a rigged election. Had John McCain received 62% of the vote last November, we would be justified in doing the same, rejecting the "results" we have been fed by the authorities. In our own Constitution, Thomas Jefferson made it clear that the government rules at the pleasure of its people, and we have every right to abolish it if we so choose.
I am encouraged by the people of Iran that a spirit moves among them that places freedom above all. Human life is fleeting, but freedom is something we must dedicate ourselves to long beyond our own expiration dates. We will never be citizens in our own country unless we persist for the sake of our descendants. If we live only for ourselves, what are we then but compost for the future?
"Give me liberty or give me death" still rings true today.
Are you listening Venezuela? Keep your eye upon Iran.

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Press Release for "13 Ways of Looking at a Blackbird"

Been busy with my book marketing.....

Local Writer Weaves a Nail-Biter



Fort Lauderdale, June 19, 2009



“13 Ways of Looking at a Blackbird” started as a nightmare ten years ago and evolved into a tightly wound thriller. Jim Jordan used a 9-month hiatus from his restaurant career to finish the story. Writing has always been his passion but a two-decade stint as restaurant manager and owner consumed most of his time.



“13 Ways” uses Wallace Stevens’ Pulitzer Prize winning classic as the lead-in to each of its 13 chapters. Stevens’s mysterious poem about the fear of death even plays a role in the storyline, which begins promptly upon takeoff. A stranger turns to young travel-writer Paul Thurber as the 767 rises over Miami Beach en route to Rio and tells him in an authoritative voice that the plane will crash but that Paul is one of the four survivors IF he stays in his seat buckled in and does nothing to stop it. When Paul pressures the man for more information, the man remembers nothing of the conversation, nor do the people surrounding them. Paul begins to see visions of the crash investigation hearings and receives details about each of the passengers that cross his path. After the events Paul predicts start to happen, the pilots and crew are faced with a grave dilemma, do they listen to this incipient psychic?



Most people would respond the way Paul does and try to save the plane at all costs. It is then that everything spirals out of control, leaving open a possibility that Paul never considered; he may have made matters worse (i.e. no survivors!). There are a number of mysteries running through the story, such as why Paul is receiving this knowledge, what is the significance of the shadow that crosses his visions, the glowing flags at the crash investigation hearings, and the nature of the God-like Being who keeps warning him through the other passengers.



While the premise sounds fantastical, each person finds themselves in the same situation, on a plane that they cannot get off of…called life. Each life is going to crash sooner or later, and we live in the shadow of that knowledge. Metaphors abound in the plot. In Paul Thurber’s case, he experiences a spiritual awakening along the wild ride and even meets the love of his life. Fellow “survivor” Sonia Petra is a beautiful community college professor sitting behind Paul on the flight. She is the first to believe his predictions and provides the encouragement he needs to make his stand. Unlike any woman he has ever met, in Sonia Paul finds his true love and, along the way, he finds his true self.



Bill and June Montoya are a loquacious, bon vivant couple who also are supposed to survive. They provide some comic relief on the bumpy flight. Tim Beautifort Jr. is the heroic co-pilot who sees it as irrational to ignore Paul’s predictions once the first has come true. The pilot, salty veteran Joe Strawsen, refuses to believe Paul regardless. Adding to the mystery, Tim’s father, Beautifort, Sr., co-chairs the crash investigation hearings in the dreary future that Paul sees. Can Paul stop it from happening?



Paul is an unlikely hero; shy, awkward, and ordinary. He is a great everyman through which the readers can best experience the story. “13 Ways of Looking at a Blackbird” is an artfully crafted philosophical thriller that plants the reader in the center of the mystery, making it a page-turning read that delivers a powerful ending. It’s on sale now at http://www.amazon.com/13-Ways-Looking-at-Blackbird/dp/1439227993/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1244475944&sr=8-1. The author’s blog is 13waysoflookingatablackbird.com

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Conversations on 13 Ways - Problem of Unnecessary Suffering Pt. 1

[This is a short essay from my 13 Ways blog. In the story, it is revealed to a young traveler that the plane he is on is going to crash and he receives visions of the crash investigation hearings providing details of what happened). The only problem is that he is told by a God-like Being that he is to do nothing.]

13 Ways of Looking at a Blackbird addresses the problem of unnecessary suffering. The Bible has two ways of looking at this dilemma. First, we are born in sin, not the world God intended for us, so suffering is necessary. Many will protest that view but I know no one who never needed negative reinforcement in their lives. Just try not saying a word of discipline to your employees for two weeks. Things slide out of control. It's a fallen world. Suffering leads us to desire the good that God has in store.

Second, God makes some strange promises in the Bible to Abraham. He grants him a land where God's people will live, but it won't be for another 400 years. Poor Abraham, Isaac, and even Jacob will never see the Promised Land in their lifetimes. They will live as strangers in their own land in their lifetime. Later, Moses meets the same fate; teased by the Promised Land but not allowed to enter in life. In Exodus 3, God reveals His "name forever" to be The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Is this God the God of three dead guys who never saw the Promised Land? No, that wouldn't make sense.

There is something beyond this life. It's there teasing us all the time with the question, Where did all this come from? What is beyond beyond, so to speak. Wittgenstein called this "the mystical" and concluded, "The mystical is that we exist" [Tractatus]. The Bible presumes that there is something beyond life; two things to be exact. One is ineffably sublime and wonderful; the other unspeakably horrible.

What if we draw the line at the end of physical life? We might have precluded a full understanding of what suffering is. If God picks us up when we die, what do we have to worry about? Without God and this life after death, we would live in a world of irreconcilable differences and infinite injustice. Ironically, the pivot point in our history is a moment in time when God died in our place and returned to life. The resurrection of Christ answers all these questions completely. Lots of people will protest that interpretation, but it is far more than mere coincidence that the Gospel of Christ sows together 1,500 years of scriptures and answers every question fully. Not even an educated group of people can conjure up something as flawless as Jesus. Look at the deviations within church organizations since that time. Flawlessness is not a human characteristic, but a divine one. Even to those who want to believe Jesus is a myth, they have to admit He exists on paper and, unless we deliberately distort His words, He's flawless.

And what more unnecessary can we get than the crucifixion? Jesus said He could have gotten a fleet of angels to rescue Him. He didn't. Did He suffer unnecessarily? I think not. He suffered for our sake to show us the way to eternal life. If you make a decision that Jesus is who He says He is, then you cannot believe suffering is unnecessary. Even, and especially, Christ's suffering was necessary to bring about the resurrection and answer this question for all time.

The folks of flight 1220 are afraid of the plane crashing. That is understandable. But it is the scares that warn us of the gravity of our situation. It might be a close call in an airplane, a disease that we have to deal with, or a death that shocks us. It's hard to say, but suffering is necessary. If God chose to suffer so we could believe in Him, who are we to say we don't deserve suffering? We ultimately cannot count on the material for support, it will always crash. We are forced by circumstances to look to the mystical. Reality is calling us to faith.

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"13 Ways of Looking at a Blackbird" Now available.

13 Ways of Looking at a Blackbird is now available on Amazon.com. What started as a nightmare 10 years ago has finally evolved into a suspense thriller with a philosophical and theological current. People with extensive Bible knowledge will recognize the multiple parallels hidden in the story. I welcome any critiques and questions on the story. I'm setting up conversations at the 13 Ways blog on the book's major morality plays. Below is the teaser from the back cover. Enjoy.

What would you do if you knew the plane you are in is going to crash? And you knew in advance how it will happen? Upon take-off, travel writer Paul Thurber suddenly finds himself receiving revelations about the destiny of his Miami-Rio flight, facts about the other people on the plane, as well as warnings from a mysterious Being who speaks sporadically through the other passengers. Paul finds himself in the hottest seat imaginable, having to choose between being seen as a liar, or a lunatic, or the one person who can save the passengers and crew of flight 1220. As his predictions start to come true, a response is demanded from the pilots and crew. Their reaction opens up a whole new danger; Paul may have made matters worse. The result is a perilous, unpredictable, and surprisingly spiritual roller-coaster ride through the stormy skies over Brazil.

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The Story of Amazing Grace

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Il Divo - Amazing Grace

More proof that God is the source of all talent. Click on the title to seethis amazing video.

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Sunday Devotional - Excerpt from C.S. Lewis's "Mere Christianity"

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Conversion Myths

[First posted February 13, 2006]

1) Some people are trying to convert others while some are not.

This is simply not true. As soon as anyone opens their mouth or hits "send" they are acting out a desire to convert others to think and act like they do. Whether this is conscious or not is irrelevant. A person who thinks of nothing but the Pittsburgh Steelers tries to convert others to their worldview when they open their mouth. Drug dealers are among the most successful at converting others. Conversion does not necessarily have to be a conversion towards enlightenment. One can be converted to darkness, drinking heavily, and drugs.

Call it the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle in human interaction. The reality of the observed is changed by the presence of the observer. Our influence precedes us in the way we act, dress, and what we choose to say.

2) Deathbed conversions.

It is sure nice when someone accepts Jesus as their savior on their deathbed. I'm not convinced that there is anything we can say with any certainty about the authenticity of such a faith. We can enjoy that little flutter of hope that our dying relative will be "saved", but one can never be sure where that flutter is coming from.

To use the hope for deathbed conversions as an excuse to exonerate evil people is ridiculous. I was shocked when President Clinton used this as his excuse for not taking out Saddam. "I've always believed in deathbed conversions." Ouch! Tell that to the Kurds and Shias.

3) Conversions to an absolute truth are not right because there is no absolute truth.
This seems to have been the pivot point in the excellent discussion in the previous post's comments; that point that would not give in to further examination. I have a view of the Bible. You have a different view, therefore we disagree. But if one person sees a loving God in it's pages and the other sees a bloodlust God, the debate is still far from over. I have a sneaking suspicion that "true for me" falls short of bedrock. In a court of law you have to prove your case beyond a reasonable doubt. Twelve jurors have to unanimously side with one side or the other. If we stop digging at "true for me", are we really done?

Can the subjective truth person even take their own advice? "This is true for me". Ok, are you sure. "Absolutely!" Absolute truth is a reality in our daily lives. We use it to get to work, eat meals, make money, go to the bathroom.

This idea of subjective truth got too much traction because of Rene Descartes' having too many glasses of wine by the fireplace. When he said, "I think, therefore I am!" he thought he had hit bedrock. He even thought he had made a good discovery for the Church. What he did was take the center of the universe from God's view and made it his, for him. Wittgenstein correctly pointed out that the only "I think therefore I am!" that matters to all is that of God.

For someone to ascribe to subjective truth they are by definition denying that there is a reality apart from their mind. Were anyone to actually practice this worldview, they would be pretty wierd, huh?

The truth is that absolute truth exists and everybody uses it in practice even if they reject it in theory. Collectivism of these little "I am"s is not much better. Yes, people can be converted to a reality outside of their mind, that is, converted to absolute truth.

4) External conversion itself is a myth.

Real conversion is not forced in any way. Noone can say that this one or that "converted" me. As Christians, we like to give credit to this pastor or that philosopher for their help (the way they were used), but we recognize that it was the Holy Spirit that converted (convinced) us. God can use us to give evidence, whether it's the example of our good character that we credit to Christ, or our own testimony, or evidence from the Bible and other books.

The peace the Lord gives is very attractive, but it is not coercive. The Holy Spirit does not use or need fear. It does not force itself. Often I have seen it plant itself and slowly grow. The Holy Spirit is patient. It doesn't HAVE to transform you overnight. When we discover God we find Him inside us. I pray that God may use me to help unbelievers find that Spirit hidden beneath the noise and the aggravation of daily life.

The other night I took my daughter to a father-daughter dance. During a couple of slow songs she gave me a big hug while we were slow dancing and I could feel her fill with emotion. Ah, yes, I thought, the humanity has taken root. The seed of love is beginning to blossom. Like any kid, my daughter has used emotion mainly to change an outward circumstance, up to now. Now, love is taking hold, and changing her from within.

When we find God within, then we can see Him in the reality outside our minds. That's why children drubbed with Christianity from birth still need a "conversion experience". Conversion is not when one person convinces another, but when God convinces the one person.

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Abortionist Tiller killed while volunteering at church

I have referred to Tiller as an "American Mengele" and I meant that sincerely. But this odd end for this church usher/abortionist and the cowardly fool who shot him in a house of worship is, well, an example of how stranger-than-fiction our sin really is. One man disassembled God's little creatures and yet was a frequent churchgoer, ushering on Sunday while his wife sang in the choir. The other man feeling (I suppose) that he was doing God's work. More than just a little confusion in the pews of Reformation Lutheran Church, but I guess that's anywhere. Tiller was a monster. So was the man who shot him and who now makes a villain into a victim, or worse, a martyr.

However, we are all monsters to some degree. We should pray not only for these two confused men, but for our sick nation. And know that our only hope is, as always, knowing Christ.

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Two Friends Who Died For Me

[A re-post from Memorial Day, 2006]

A Memorial Day Reflection
by Jim Jordan


In the photo he holds a rifle
A cigarette is in his mouth,
Rugged Korean mountains in the background.
I should never forget his name
But sometimes I do, casting aside
The memory of the man who took the bullet
That threatened the life of my father, fighting alongside.
Friends like him keep friendship alive
Even though they die trying.
What was his name? My father knows.

There was another friend with Dad
The One who kept him in one piece
On that foggy hill when the enemy
came face to face, hand to hand.
This Friend made sure through it all
my father would become a father,
That he would build a house for his family,
That he would not stop until
he had all four children
that he was sent to have.
And this Friend, this Jesus who laments
our tragedies and delights in our joys,
who steered that bullet away
from the father of four, this Friend
gave His life for us all, took our nails
and our thrashings upon himself
so that no eternal wrong need ever befall us.
At last He comforts the other friend
Who died the same way, giving life, his,
That I may live in peace on earth.
Indeed they both died to prove the eternal principle
That war is doomed to serve peace,
That hatred is doomed to serve love,
That death gives way to victory.

An old black and white photograph
Can speak a thousand words
Yet leaves me speechless.
As the memory of his name comes to me
Striking the deepest of chords,
Reminding me that I have no choice
But to remember those friends who died for me.
For the man who fell dead in the hills of Korea
So long ago in some forgotten war
Is my friend, too. His name was Jim.

Happy Memorial Day to all.

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Learned from the Life of Moses - Poem, Pt. 1

Forty is young,
Young enough
To start over again.
Moses
Did it twice.
I learned that God
Is no respecter of Pharaohs,
Raising up the man
In Pharaoh’s own house
On Pharaoh’s own dime
Who would bring Egypt
To the brink of ruin.
I learned that God
Is a holy fire
That brings forth life
And wisdom and power.
He will steady your stuttering,
turn the tool in your right hand
Into a powerful serpent,
And send you
To do the impossible
And do it well.
Remember Pharaoh,
Each one of his gods
Were exposed as rumors,
Idle superstitions,
His son’s life ended
By God’s angel of death,
His army crushed
By columns of water
In the Red Sea.
Principle for this division:
You can only oppose Him
That made you for so long.
God’s gonna cut you down.
God’s gonna cut you down.

Then there’s the good news –
God has found a way
To keep us from
getting cut down;
it involves a lamb
and blood
on a piece of wood
that saves us now,
and the Israelites then.
When the angel of death
Passed over Egypt
The Israelites were dressed
in the right clothes,
Their bellies full
From the body of the lamb,
And they were saved by its blood.
Year after year they relived
This odd supper with God,
This lease on life
Amidst the deaths
Of the Egyptian first-born.
And so they took
To the wilderness,
Barely escaping Pharaoh’s army
When at the shores
Of the Red Sea
they saw God’s power
As we often do
At the very crossroads
At the very appointed time
Where we need Him most.
There was no turning back
And no way forward
Without God’s help.
And the Lord told Moses
To raise his staff –
Moses obeyed -
And the waters parted.
So how about you?
Are your hands raised,
Or are they resting
At your side in unbelief?
Principle for this division:
God wants to raise you up.
God wants to raise you up.

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Evolution looking more and more like Windows?

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Shawshank Redemption - Last Parole Hearing Scene

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...gods their father had not known...

Deuteronomy 32:17 (NIV)

They sacrificed to demons, which are not God -
gods they had not known,
gods that recently appeared,
gods your fathers did not fear.

God cursed these kinds of people thousands of years ago, but the same truths ring true today. We are exactly the same as these wicked and confused folks. First, let's look at a few modern parallels to these sins.

"Gods they had not known...that recently appeared....gods your fathers did not fear."

Think of what someone 150 years ago would have thought if he was told about Political Correctness, or a Non-anthropocentric (humans are just another species - nothing special) worldview, or Global Warming. Indeed, these gods did just recently appear, and our fathers did not know them.

Note: I'm not saying we should go back to 1859, and embrace ridiculous gods like the idea of the "White Man's Burden"...or Evolution. They had made gods their fathers had never known just like we have. The only difference is that each century creates a whole new take on idolatry. Only God's Word shows that it is all the same; all they are are fleeting ideas conjured up by mere men.

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Tom Gilson on the Beauty of Jesus Christ

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What's wrong with politics in America

I am used to being in the political minority in South Florida; being the only Republican in the room...generally speaking. I've found a catch phrase that ends the conversation politely and immediately, though. "I'm a Republican for one reason: I love babies." Done.

But I've found it very fruitful to add that the two political parties are generally right half of the time. I disagree with roughly half of the Republican party's agenda. The problem is not right or left, but both sides of the spectrum.

What's wrong with our country is this:

Our political parties are right half of the time.

They get their way MOST of the time....when they are wrong.

That is our problem.

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Learned from the Life of Moses

The Word of God is of one mind, and it says:

He has showed you, O man, what is good.
And what does the LORD require of you?
To act justly
and to love mercy
and to walk humbly with your God.

Moses is a great man because his life was a great example of these applications.

He shows us that, in order to walk with God, you must first get on your knees.

He shows us that, in order to love mercy, we must fall face down before God and beg for the salvation of those we love.

He shows us that, in order to act justly, we must get out of the way - decrease to absolute zero

and let God be God.

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Vivir Sin Aire

Como quisiera poder vivir sin aire? Come me mandara a la asfixion?
Yes, life without love is futile.

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