I’m tired of being shot at by the church!

Tags

Church, Church for Men, Family, Father, Father's Day, Mother, Mother's Day, Parenting

I’m not going to lay claim to the following statement, but it certainly has some similar tones to thoughts I’ve had myself.

The following was taken from the Church for Men Facebook page:

“Have you ever noticed how pastors gush over the moms on Mother’s Day, but on Father’s Day the message is, ‘Straighten up, Bub!’ …”

Church for Men bills itself as a movement aimed “not (at) calling men back to church; (but one that is) calling the church back to men.”

I can certainly agree with that idea; after all, it seems like the church has lost its masculinity. If nothing else, the church sure looks and behaves a lot like secular society when it comes to praising moms and nearly ignoring dads.

Just compare the volume and tone of the television advertisements for Mother’s Day with those in the coming weeks related to Father’s Day. While mom “deserves” candy, flowers, food, nice clothes and the like, there may literally be a handful of commercials that suggest dad might like a cool pair of jeans for Father’s Day.

Christian media and similar organizations have even jumped on the sexist bandwagon. While mom is valued and praised in print and on the Web with things like “Seven Great Quotes in Praise of Mothers,” dad is given a list of “52 Things A Kid Needs From Dad.” Do I have to get this done this week?

Talk about legalism! If I can’t measure up to some impossible standard then I must really be a bad father!

I’m not diminishing the role of a mother. That’s NOT my point! My own mom, when she was alive, sacrificed herself for my sister and I. Moreover, I personally have a soft spot in my heart for single mothers who, through no real or significant fault of their own are left trying to raise their children with little to no help from friends or even the church. My point is, when men in general ARE diminished in society, such as we’ve been for decades now, there should be little wonder why we simply abandon our God-given role in exchange for the toys and other things that seem to give us meaning, or at least don’t repeatedly tell us how bad we are?

It’s certainly not difficult to see this in television sitcoms, where men are emasculated, belittled and essentially destroyed, while women are made to look smarter and the savior of the male dolts they graciously choose to hang out with (unless, of course, your evening television includes those shows that portray housewives as sluts in search of a better man, in which the premise remains the same: husbands are stupid).

Men mountain (Photo credit: @Doug88888)

We’ve got an uphill battle ahead of us gentlemen. Yes, we can do much to improve our attitudes and behavior, but it’s time we band together as brothers and battle the negative messages that our wives, girlfriends, para church organizations and even our pastors seem to have willingly bought into.

I’m in! Are you?

Related articles

• Clearly, they must be worth triple the love (theage.com.au)
• Churches honor moms on special Sunday (goerie.com)
• Dear Churches, Please Don’t Celebrate Mother’s Day (educatemoore.wordpress.com)

Let all that I am praise the Lord!

Tags

God, Good News, Job, Lord, Praise the Lord, Psalm

Praise God (Photo credit: GlacierTim)

It’s wonderful how we can be encouraged by a conversation and a simple reference to the Psalms.

I was sharing a bit of my story this morning with a good friend and a pastor at the church I’ll be attending again, once my relocation is complete. One of the points I wanted to make with my friend had to do with the clarity of hindsight in our lives, as well as the good news that came my way recently and how I feel because of it. But mostly I wanted to give voice to some specific things I now recognize as nothing less than the hand of God in my life these past several years.

Although it’s easy to rejoice in good news, if we simply leave it there and neglect to thank God as the source of all that is good in our lives and reflect on the lessons taught through the trials in life, then I believe we haven’t learned from the trials that God allows in our lives. Read the book of Job in the Old Testament, particularly the early chapters, for a lesson on how one man responded to a rather remarkable trial.

While I am in no way trying to compare the last several years of my life to that of Job’s, I am saying that there is comfort in Job’s story. But that’s for another time. Back to my friend and his words of encouragement from two of the Psalms he referenced: chapters 40 and 103.

Psalm 40:1-3 reads: I waited paitiently for the Lord to help me, and he turned to me and heard my cry. He lifted me out of the pit of despair, out of the mud and the mire. He set my feet on solid ground and steadied me as I walked along. He has given me a new song to sing, a hymn of praise to our God.”

Did you catch that last part? “He has given me a new song to sing, a hymn of praise to our God.” God is the source of all that is good in our lives, and He even gives us the praise that we give voice to when sharing our good news with others. It would be a shame for me to not voice that praise and the obvious source of it.

The other Psalm my pastor friend referenced was Psalm 103. Let’s look at the first few verses: “Let all that I am praise the Lord; with my whole heart, I will praise his holy name. Let all that I am praise the Lord; may I never forget the good things he does for me. He forgives all my sins and heals all my diseases. He redeems me from death and crowns me with love and tender mercies. He fills my life with good things. My youth is renewed like the eagle’s!”

My immediate take-away from this Psalm of David, without getting too deep into David’s life, is the repeated refrain “let all that I am praise the Lord.” I certainly hope I did that during the dark times and I definitely want to do this in the times of joy.

As I shared some of the details of my story with my pastor friend, he encouraged me to consider sharing this with others in the church, particularly the new men’s ministry getting started locally. There is so much to my story not yet told that now, through the clarity of hindsight and God’s continued blessings I hope to share here too a means of encouragement to others.

Suffice to say our God is much bigger than many of us give Him credit for and is intricately involved in the detail and minuscia of our daily lives that I certainly don’t want to forget or neglect to thank Him for.

Prosperity gospel exposed in rhyme

Tags

God, Joel Olsteen, Paula White, Prosperity Preachers, Satan, Shai Linne, TD Jakes

Money Worship (Photo credit: ejmill28)

I recently came across a social media link referencing a rapper I previously never heard of, tackling an issue that has replayed in my mind over the years, particularly as I’ve watched friends praise various people the rapper berates in rhyme.

Rap artist Shai Linne managed to gather some press of late, taking on some so-called prosperity preachers for their lies and distortions in a rap called “Fal$e Teacher$”. I even saw where another rapper likened these charlatans to “motivational speakers” rather than preachers. I guess this just goes to show the wisdom in Ecclesiastes is true when Solomon writes “Nothing under the sun is truly new” as I’ve had the very same thoughts about the people Shai Linne names. Read here Linne’s response to Paula White, one of the motivational speakers (I simply can’t in good conscience call her a preacher), after her “ministry” responded to his rap.

Rather than write a critical review of Mr. Linne’s rhyme, I’ll key on a few of the statements he makes in his rap and share some of my own thoughts.

Linne raps:

Don’t be deceived by this funny biz
if you come to Jesus for money
then he’s not your God
money is!

Earlier in his rap he criticizes prosperity preachers for “treating Jesus like a lottery ticket!”

This has long been a problem of mine. And not just that, but the tentacles and premises that follow from the idea that all we need to do is pray to Jesus and ask him for stuff, and he’ll give it to us. I told a friend the other day it’s akin to rubbing the bible just right, as if we’re rubbing a jeannie’s bottle and making our wishes known.

I’ve actually has my faith questioned by people in church because of things they were aware of in my life, such as the loss of a job while I had a wife and young child to support. Thankfully, it forced me into the Bible, where I read the story about a guy named Job, whom God had some very praiseworthy things to say about early in the story.

Instances such as this must come from the foul fumes of the whole prosperity gospel mantra. How else can you explain the idea that all we need is to simply “believe” and God will pour monetary riches on us like we’ve never seen? All I know is that’s not been the case in my life.

Linne also raps:

And you’re thinking they’re not the dangerous type
because some of their statements are right
that only proves that Satan comes as an angel of light!

This reminds me of the story about the temptation of Jesus that is recorded in Matthew 4, Luke 4, and Mark 1 and how even Satan quoted scripture to Jesus in his ill-fated attempt to get Jesus to bow to him.

That’s why I’m so concerned about friends and others who listen to folks like Joel Olsteen, Paula White, TD Jakes and others. If, as the bible states in 2 Corinthians 11:14,  Satan masquerades himself as an “angel of light,” then there’s no wonder why folks like these, and many others, can be so attractive. As long as they pepper their motivational speeches with a few choice out-of-context quotes from the bible, people will follow them because, after all, they’re quoting the bible!

Look at how Eugene Peterson translates 2 Corinthians 11:12-15 in The Message Version and see if this idea was possibly on his mind too (and that of the Apostle Paul’s) as this was written:

And I’m not changing my position on this. I’d die before taking your money. I’m giving nobody grounds for lumping me in with those money-grubbing “preachers,” vaunting themselves as something special. They’re a sorry bunch — pseudo-apostles, lying preachers, crooked workers — posing as Christ’s agents but sham to the core. And no wonder! Satan does it all the time, dressing up as a beautiful angel of light. So it shouldn’t surprise us when his servants masquerade as servants of God. But they’re not getting by with anything. They’ll pay for it in the end.

As an aside, I have long appreciated several of the pastors I’ve had over the years, who continually prompted me and other congregants not to merely believe their words, but to search it out in the scriptures for ourselves.

While I hope that through Shai Linne more people will begin to discern the truth and not be attracted by the facade, the sad fact remains that we’re in a spiritual battle for our eternal lives and we must be ever vigilant to the false teachers among us.

Social media and single Christians

Tags

Christian Dating, Christianity, Religion and Spirituality, Single adult

Sometimes life is not about the ease of the path but the direction of the journey. (Photo credit: nist6ss)

Social media, for its various ills, does have its shining examples worthy of notice, particularly by the Christian community. No longer are the large Christian media and outreach organizations the sole purveyors of issues that the church ought to, but still sadly, isn’t talking about.

My purpose here isn’t necessarily to criticize the larger Christian organizations, but to illustrate how something seemingly small is worthy of greater attention.

Lately I’ve found myself reading several blogs geared towards single Christian adults. Not all of them have that demographic in mind. In fact, one blogger, in her apparent desire to reach women in particular, has developed two blogs — one aimed at the single girl and the other the Christian wife.

While this is not an exhaustive list, it is a short list of ones I’m following, including one with a very provocative title:

• http://justinmcampbell.net/
  
• http://jasonpiecuch.wordpress.com/
• http://destinationvirtuouswomen.com/

In each case I’ve found myself learning more from these independent bloggers and their readers than I do from the more popular Christian organizations, though that’s not to say I’ve not not learned anything from the larger Christian organizations such as Focus on the Family or similar organizations with their tabs and pages highlighting a few of the predictable issues single adults face. Still, it seems as if the larger organizations, and even the church, have single adults as an afterthought rather than begin to realize that single adults make up a large percentage of the unchurched population in America and for one reason or another, are not the central focus of attention by churches and their various programs.

My discovery started with a keyword search in WordPress related to Christian dating and wound up with several sites that seem to have struck a chord with other single adults and the issues we face related to dating in an ever-changing world. As a guy, I’ve managed to mine some interesting and educational nuggets of information, as well as some tips, that I can hopefully and successfully put into practice.

Who knows where this quest for knowledge will wind up for me. But, I’m certainly learning some valuable communications skills along the way… and isn’t that, for all of us, a valuable skill to possess?

How not to treat another man’s wife

Tags

Adultery, Christian, Marriage, Religion & Spirituality, sex, sin, singles, Wife

(Photo credit: tanakawho)

If ever there was a glaring example of inappropriate intentions in an otherwise every-day event, this would have to be near the top of the list.

Rather than find a clever transition to jump into this, I’m just going to say it: Gentlemen, we have NO BUSINESS hitting on other men’s wives! If we’re married We have NO BUSINESS hitting on other women! Period!

The following is a story shared by a woman as an example of what NOT to do. She was bold enough to share this story on her Facebook page. Judging from her tone I’m thinking she was trying to be somewhat humorous in light of what was likely an embarrassing and nervous situation. I think there are a few more things to be said here, so I’m going to use them as examples, admonishments and encouragements.

I was working at the pharmacy and a 49-year-old man came in for the first time to get his prescription. He started talking about how I reminded him of his 20-year-old daughter — my smile and my eyes. He bragged on his daughter for a while. She was doing really well in college.

Then he talked about how pharmacists much make so much money.

I said, “well, I only work one day a week and I’m home with my children the other days.”

He looked shocked that I could possibly have children and I told him I am almost 40. He said “NO! You look 25! There is no way you are 40! That’s amazing!”

Then he said, “I would ask you if I could take you out to dinner, but I see you are married.”

I said, “yes. Very happily married.”

And he said, “Oh, I’m married too.” (Thankfully his wife was not there to hear all of this).

Then he said, “and I am a Christian and I love Jesus with all my heart. He means everything to me.”

Yikes!

If I wasn’t a believer in Christ, what message did this man just send to me?

Let’s add this to the list of ways NOT to witness for Jesus, and to the list of ways NOT to treat our spouses/significant others.

Some of you may have had some of the same thoughts I did when reading the woman’s story. But before I get to them in order, let’s jump ahead to the man’s admission late in the story.

“I am a Christian and I love Jesus with all my heart. He means everything to me.”

STOP!

This conversation should NEVER have taken place in light of this admission — certainly not if he’s going to be honest with himself. At the very least, he should have kept his thoughts to himself, paid for his prescription, and left the store.

Why on Earth would he say such a thing after propositioning the woman in the first place? I guess I’ll never know.

Some other thoughts…

While recognizing another woman may have similar appearances to your daughter may seem tame or just “making conversation,” we don’t have to ponder his motives in context of the story as told. As the father of a daughter, there’s a huge “ICK” factor in finding another woman attractive based on the attributes of your own daughter! The dude needs help!

But our friend apparently didn’t stop there.

In short, it’s safe to presume from the woman’s story that this guy was fishing for a date (to put it kindly).

Kudos to the woman for the way she apparently handled the situation. While I applaud her for this, the other side of me would like to put up a pay-per-view opportunity for her husband to deal appropriately with this guy. Then again, the better response for me would be to encourage the guy to get the help he needs and pray for him.

But the crux of the issue remains, and should serve as a lesson about how our actions impact others and how we need to guard not only our tongues, but also our minds and hearts. His actions in this story mirror the admonishment we read in Psalm 1:1.

Oh, the joys of those who do not follow the advice of the wicked, or stand around with sinners, or join in with mockers.

Do you see the progression towards temptation and sin in the passage? First we see someone agreeing to follow. Then we find the person standing with other sinners. What follows is an active participation with them.

Think of it like window-shopping. You see something that attracts your attention inside the storefront. You then stop and look; then you want it. From there your whole mentality becomes one of figuring out how to get it. Same too with things like the sexual sin our man in this example seeks.

Even so, while this guy didn’t achieve his goal on this particular day, at least with this woman, he did manage to negatively impact someone else’s life. Moreover, he set an incredibly bad example for the Kindgom of God, which he professes. He not only made someone else’s wife rather nervous and likely offended her with his conversation and its sexual undertones, but his actions here will — if left unchecked and allowed to progress — wind up hurting his wife and family, and perhaps the family of someone else after the adulterous affair he’ll end up having with someone is eventually discovered.

Related articles

• How to be a Christian Husband (calltoprayerministriesblog.org)
• One way to love your spouse better – Robert Martin [Sacrificing Self] (brettfish.wordpress.com)

The value of good friends: Priceless!

Tags

Bible, Christian, Faith, friendship, God, HolySpirit, Relationships

The value of good friends and people genuine in their sympathy and empathy is beyond measure. You quickly discover who these people are when someone close to you dies.

This happened for me this week with the death of my mother. It wasn’t a surprise; in fact it was expected, but it was nevertheless a kick in the stomach for my father, my my sister and myself.

While the death of loved ones is a natural part of life — painful as it is — the antithesis of this pain and grief is a blessing beyond value, and can only be found in the people with whom we choose to surround ourselves. Sadly, not everyone has the ability to offer these blessings.

I was explaining this to my best friend on the phone, and in part to another friend this afternoon over lunch. The value of their friendship cannot be measured. Neither can the value of those working in our local hospice. Those folks are truly remarkable in their compassion and for what they do for the patient and the families. I have no words sufficient to thank them.

Most importantly has been my faith in Jesus Christ through this period, as well as the years leading up to this moment in my life. I’m sure there is a time in every Christian’s life where they must decide for themselves if the faith and trust they placed in God is real and tangible for them. For me it’s been a journey punctuated by extreme lows and the exhilaration of life on the virtual mountaintop. This amazing reassurance and faith doesn’t come through osmosis, but by studying and reading the Bible, through the teaching of a good pastor, and the relationships developed through the church. There are no short-cuts, and certainly no cliff notes available to achieve this level of assurance.

I’m no expert, but I think that circumstances such as divorce, the death of a family member or someone close to you, and other human tragedies are those circumstances used by God as a means to test our faith and resolve in our decision to follow Him and obey His direction for our lives.

That’s why it’s rather troubling and somewhat unnerving to hear people gleefully proclaim that simply exercising our faith is somehow an antidote to life’s troubles, as if our Bibles are nothing more than a genie’s bottle to be rubbed and the Holy Spirit some sort of magical being whose sole purpose it is to grant our wishes. That’s why I prefer to avoid certain motivational speakers pretending to be pastors — because their advice runs counter to what I see and read in my Bible.

Imagine then how refreshing it is when friends display true sympathy and empathy and, rather than Job’s three friends who spent an inordinate amount of time suggesting how bad a person he must have been to deserve God’s wrath (you can read this story in the Old Testament book of Job), avoid the trite Bible verse citations and simply say “I’m sorry, how can I help?”

We’re all going to be there at some point in our lives. We will all suffer human losses through death and we will likely all be witness to others going through similar circumstances. Knowing this, we can all purpose to extend proper sympathy and empathy, and be grateful when others extend it to us.

Where is the masculine role model?

Tags

boys, Church, Family, Father figure, God, Parenting, Religion, Single parent, sports

I just read a single mom’s blog. She writes about a number of things I find interesting.

While sharing some more personal issues about her life — it’s what first attracted me to this woman through her radio voice and her blog — she raised an issue that I’d like to see addressed by the local church.

the boy (Photo credit: egarc2)

In her blog she shares about watching her young son learn the art of baseball, including which direction to run after hitting the ball. While I’m sure the boy has a coach who can teach him the basic points of the game, he’s without a dad to reinforce what he’s learning on the field.

David Murrow, author of Why Men Still Hate Going To Church, has addressed the dearth of men in the local church — at least those young enough and with the energy to work with youth. But this isn’t a review of his book inasmuch as it’s an example of a recognized fact.

While that’s not to say there are no men at all active in the local church, here’s an example of a young mother with children (particularly a son) who could use some help with her son.

While I can only speculate as to her needs, what I see is this: there’s a young boy without a father figure in a home who needs a masculine role model — someone to look up to: figuratively and literally, who can throw a baseball with him, teach him how to hold a baseball bat and how to get in front of the ball when fielding a grounder. I’m sure he could also use someone to mentor him on what it’s all about to be a guy and to grow into a man.

While men with families might seem the “safe” alternative within the local church to incorporate these boys into their families, there are other men in the church — single men — who could be tapped and utilized for their abilities to coach and mentor young men as well.

In Acts Chapter 2 we read about the early church and how they formed a community of believers. While the Bible specifically addresses their devotion to the teaching of the apostles, it also mentions the phrase in the NLT (vs. 42) “and to the fellowship.” In other words, they gathered together to enjoy each other’s company. While it doesn’t spell out every detail of what they did together, I can imagine that there may have been some who gathered to enjoy the particular sport of the day.

So gentlemen, what are we doing to help the single moms in our community of believers when it comes to helping coach and mentor their children, particularly their sons? These boys are absent a father figure in the home and in desperate need of one, if for nothing else, to throw a baseball and a football with them and teach them how to field a ground ball. What a great opportunity and introduction then to teach them about God’s purpose for them as they grow into men.

Can you hear this woman’s cry for help in her blog? What about the single mothers in your own church? Can you hear their cries for help in teaching their sons what a man of God looks like?

Will CBS be flagged for vile commercials

Tags

CBS, entertainment, Facebook, GoDaddy.com, Super Bowl, Super Bowl advertising, Television, Television advertisement, Twitter

Show of hands: how many people were physically uncomfortable with, or simply nauseated by many of this year’s SuperBowl commercials?

Do we need a rating system on SuperBowl commercials now, and will parents be able to block them? (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I found it a bit ironic that the network that aired the SuperBowl this year, and sold all those pornographic commercials, was the same network that several years ago was blasted for its halftime show featuring a woman who’s top magically came off at the end of her performance. Never mind Beyonce’s performance this year that should have carried an R-rating.

It’s sad that a television program with as wide an audience as the SuperBowl needs to demean itself by allowing the kind of filth that it did in this year’s commercials. Then again it’s not entirely the SuperBowl’s fault. Let’s look deeper into a culture which sadly promotes the kind of debauchery that we saw (or tried not to see by muting the sound and walking out of the room) in this year’s line-up of commercials. Certainly CBS bears the brunt of the responsibility for agreeing to air this trash.

Remember when SuperBowl commercials were a thing to watch and be lauded for their creativity. Now they were nothing but a venue for pornography and sick ideas. How many people, for instance, will NOT use the services of GoDaddy.com now because of this year’s set of commercials? I saw several comments on Twitter and Facebook that lead me to believe it will be a significant number. Let’s hope so.

As an aside, we need to thank Pepsi, the national milk board, e-bay and the various car companies for not denigrating their brands by crawling around the gutter with the rest of the advertisers in this year’s line-up.

So now, instead of gathering the family for an afternoon and evening of good television and good football, rather than enjoying funny and entertaining commercials, concerned parents will need to either usher the kids out of the room or simply turn off the television for a couple minutes when they break for commercials during the SuperBowl.

Related articles

• Game Over: Twitter Mentioned In 50% Of Super Bowl Commercials, Facebook Only 8%, Google+ Shut Out (westudymedia.wordpress.com)
• The Trash And Victorious: The Best Super Bowl 2013 Television Commercials [POLL] [ALL THE VIDEOS- WATCH HERE!!] (oldschool955.com)
• Jeep, Oprah the big winners among Super Bowl car commercials (roadloans.com)
• Best Super Bowl commercial: ‘Farmer’ (mnn.com)
• Car commercials creating Super Bowl buzz before the game (roadloans.com)

Stay curious my friend

Tags

Dating, God, Learning, Men, mentoring, proverb, Reading, Relationships, women

I like to read. I read more for information and learning than I do simple pleasure because I like to learn.

I’ve found myself reading blogs lately that relate to relationships, both marriage and dating. It has me thinking: where are the blogs aimed at helping men become better husbands, leaders, fathers, etc? While there are many written by women — some are actually pretty good and have much to teach men — I did discover one titled Unspoken, which I am now following.

One I’m also finding quite intriguing, written from a women’s point of view, is actually two different blogs written by the same woman. Peaceful Single Girl, and its companion site, Peaceful Wife’s Blog, have their obvious target audiences, yet, as someone interested in learning, may I encourage you men to consider them both as they offer a rich amount of insight into the feminine mind. After all, we’re always joking about “if I only knew what she was thinking!” Well, this might help!

On the flip side to these two blogs is one I just discovered, which is written by the husband of the Peaceful Wife. I find its title interesting: The Respected Husband. I look forward to digging into it to find learn about its title and more.

Another good resource is Focus on the Family. They seem to be bending over backwards (in a very good and positive way) to reach out to men and to singles as never before.

To borrow from a recent post in the Unspoken Blog, men can do well to seek out godly counsel and advice in all areas of our lives, including our relationships with our wives and girlfriends (hopefully not both at the same time!). Read this particular blog post because it utilizes some great wisdom from the Proverbs.

May I also suggest that your journey with Christ include several key relationships with older men in your church. These are difficult, I know. We’re all busy and have many things going on in our lives, but the rewards of finding a mentor are rich. In the words of God, as penned by Solomon in Proverbs 2:2 “Tune your ears to wisdom, and concentrate on understanding.”

Or, to borrow a phrase, “stay curious my friend.”

Has social media made us antisocial?

Tags

Facebook, friendship, iPhone, Relationships, Smartphone, Social media, Social network, Technology, Text messaging, Twitter

Free Train Station Girls Talking on Cell Phones Creative Commons (Photo credit: Pink Sherbet Photography)

Remember the good old days, when you could have a conversation with your friend, and they actually listened and participated?

I still remember the days when we’d gather at the park, or somewhere else, and pop in our favorite Eagles or Styx tape in the portable 8-track player that someone brought. The tape would cycle over and over as we sat and talked — or just sat while the music played. Still, the point of the gathering was conversation.

Now it seems as if those conversations don’t happen at all, or at least not with each other.

I was recently eating dinner in a popular restaurant with a friend. Every so often my eyes would move across the room to the couple eating dinner nearby — or at least she was. His smart phone consumed him. It made me think aloud to my dinner companion that technology has made us more available, or arguably more accessible, but it certainly hasn’t made us friendlier.

So much for the term “social media.”

This though reoccurred to me the other day as I tried unsuccessfully to call someone on the phone. It’s amazing that with text messaging, Facebook, Twitter and the like, nobody seems to answer their phone anymore. Then again I was reminded this is apparently not the case as many of the drivers in cars around me had cell phones held to their heads.

The grand irony is that I’m somewhat of a techno-geek: I go nowhere without my iPhone. Still, I’m becoming more and more aware of how this little gadget, with all its positive attributes, is nothing more than an excuse to be rude.

How is it that people can send umpteen text messages over the course of a couple minutes, but when you try to call them to actually have a CONVERSATION, the call goes immediately to voice mail? How rude?!

Amazing isn’t it: many of us have hundreds of Facebook friends and tons of followers on Twitter, but nobody to talk with.

Related articles

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• Textamacy – How Social Media is Accelerating Relational Intimacy (kellerdating.com)
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• My addiction to my cellphone! (vishal4nw.wordpress.com)