I have just seen news reports that Mike Huckabee has officially thrown his hat into the ring for the 2008 Presidential campaign. I have been anticipating this move for several months and I am glad to see that he is running. Much will be made of the fact that Governor Huckabee is an ordained Southern Baptist Minister, but I know from personal experience that ministering in churches might give him a great advantage in dealing with criticism that is leveled at the President of the United States! Here in the early stages, he has my support, but I will wait to see his over all platform before I go "all in." This man is certainly no Pat Robertson(this is a good thing) and has won 2 landslide elections in a Democratic state. This shows that he is able to work in a bi-partisan manner. He has also been a proponent of several issues that hit close to home like health care provisions for the working poor in his state and increased funding for schools. He also seems to have been a "fat preacher", lost 110 lbs and adopted a healthier lifestyle.

I have spent this entire weekend attending my "Freedom of Expression" class. This class dealt mostly with the First Amendment and the topic of separation of church and state came up more than a few times. It will be interesting to see the public response to the fact that he is a former minister. I will be paying close attention to this response and I will blog about the gulf between the general public's view of the establishment clause and the actual case law. I will also watch this campaign closely and try and decide whether or not it will affect my own run for President someday. If he actually gets elected then the question is: "Will the American people elect 2 Baptist preachers back to back or nearly back to back? I could potentially run for President in 16 years. If he does not get elected, then does this mean that a Baptist preacher is unelectable? What would be nice is to fall into the race like Obama. The guy has not done much of anything but has turned into a superstar overnight.

Who knows, maybe by 2024 the coffeehouse hipster vote will put me over the top. I would also depend on the Bald American vote. Who was the last bald president? For that matter, was there ever a German-American that was president? All my kids except Eleanor (She graduates in 2026) will be out of the house by then, so only she would get to live in the white house. Now Tracy as First Lady....that topic deserves its own entry!

I do a fair share of marital counseling and the story that I just heard from my father-in-law, Hugh Hughes will certainly make the archive of "what not to do as a husband" scenarios that I like to use for the education of young couples. As a matter of fact I have half a mind to interview Hugh at length for more of these cautionary tales. I am almost positive I could get a book out of it.

One has to know a little something about my father in law to appreciate this story. Hugh likes to buy things in bulk and get the best "deal" possible and he is never one to do anything in moderation. Whether it is buying his daughter some pants for school (5 of the exact same pants in different colors, one for each day) his 20 pop-cicle a day habit, the three identical silver Isuzu I-marks that he bought for his family to drive, the vitamins that he buys by the pound, and don't even get me started on Dad's affinity for the art of BUFFETS, Hugh never does anything small.

Recently, my mother-in-law commented that she liked a particular wrinkle cream and Hugh proceeded to buy Pam and ENTIRE CASE OF WRINKLE CREAM at the flea market. This is not the message that you want to send to your wife who approaching 60. To compound the problem and to demonstrate that Hugh just doesn't get it some times, he offered some to Pam's mother as well. Now he has both of them upset with him.

After a long time our church has finally started to illuminate the outside of our building. I was greeted this morning by the sight of our church after the year's first significant snow. The picture that I took is the best of a lot of more blurry ones, so forgive me. The picture does capture much of the sight and I am glad we finally got the light installed. Our corner is usually in total darkness and you could not even see that there was a church there (especially before our other recent addition, the steeple). Hopefully this will not be the last improvement that increases our visibility. The Body of Christ does not grow by worldly means, but surely this does not mean that we are supposed to hide or downplay our presence in the community.

My friend Dave Wisher was asking me about my nutrition plan last night and wanted to know what I eat. I told him that eat just about anything I want as long as they meet the principles that I state below. I believe that this list values moderation and variety and it has been very easy to follow and still feed the rest of my family. In a family of 6 we all have to be on the same page with meals or it gets out of control.

1. I eat mostly whole foods instead of processed items.

I make a lot of stuff from scratch so I know exactly what is going into the food and can control the ingredients. I do almost all my shopping on the outside ring of the store and rarely buy things that are in a box or pre-made. This is cheaper and more healthy. Two birds with one stone. For those of you who worry about time, it takes about 60 seconds more to make the Soy Pancakes in the previous post instead of using Bisquick, etc. Whole foods also have more fiber and are fresher, in general. I still buy some cereal for the kids to keep them from revolting, but they only have it a few times a weeks. I usually do not eat cereal anymore because of the cost and the affect on my blood sugar.

2. I balance calories in my carbs, protein and fat. 40% 30% 30%

This keeps the blood sugar level and helps you feel satiated all day long. The protein and fat also slows the uptake of carbs so that they have less impact on insulin. I think the 80% carb diet that the Diabetes association recommends should be criminalized. The human body is not made to run off of the pure sugar that those 80% carb calories turn into. There are good carbs (whole foods), good fats (unsaturated) and good proteins (lean meats and soy). But even at that, I do not avoid anything other than the TRANS FATS which are a failed attempt to make our food more healthy.

3. I use organics when possible.

These items are becoming more and more prevelant at a decent price. I will pay a little more knowing that there are no chemicals used in the production of the food. Does this help me loose weight? Maybe, maybe not, but if given the choice to eat pesticides or not, I will pick not.

4. I eat 6 times a day

When I eat 3 times a day I have a tendency to overeat at those meals. The 6 times a day (300 calories per meal) keeps my blood sugar level and keeps my body from sending the I'm starving" signal. I noticed that the feeling I get when my blood sugar drops (from too much insulin produced in my body because I just had 2 bowls of Captain Crunch that hits my blood stream as if I shot it into my veins), that it feels almost exactly like it did when I smoked and had not smoked in several hours.

5. I said goodbye to McDonald's

80% of the food there does not meet the above principals and this saves me money as well. Eating out is necessary sometimes, but planning ahead saves you money and allows better control over what you eat. I have a little cooler that I took with me to class (that is ALL day on Saturday). I had not eaten at McDonald's for a bout a year after seeing SUPER SIZE ME, but I fell off the wagon about 6 months ago and I paid the price. You really start feeling addicted like Morgan Spurlock did in his film.

6. I count calories

I realize that this is not popular, but if you get a good calorie book or computer program, you quickly learn what is in foods and can do it in your head after a while. Losing weight comes down to CALORIC DEFICIT. If you burn more than you eat, you will lose weight. Like I said before, I do not avoid things like mayonnaise, but if I know how many calories are in a tablespoon of mayo, it will inform my sandwich making decision. I usually just go light on the mayo instead of skipping it. Once you figure out what a 300 to 400 calorie meal looks like, it will become second nature to seek out that amount. It might be a small amount of food, but you know that you will be eating just 2.5 hours from that meal.

These pancakes have a rich, nutty flavor and are much higher in protein and fiber than normal pancakes. If you leave out the high calorie syrup it become a much more balanced food with less impact on the blood sugar.

1 cup of all purpose flour

1/2 cup of whole wheat flour

1/2 cup of soy flour

5 tsp of Baking Soda (more if your baking soda is old and stale)

1 tsp of Kosher salt

2 tbsp of brown sugar

Mix up dry ingredients very well with a whisk (the soy flour gets clumpy)

2 eggs ( I use the high Omega-3 eggs)

4 Tbsp of oil (I use the Smart Balance high Omega-3 oil)

2 Cups of Vanilla Soy Milk

Mix the wet stuff well and then mix it into the dry ingredients. Do not mix too much or you will beat out the air caused by the baking soda reaction. My wife likes crepe like pancakes so she adds water to get the consistency she wants, but I like mine fluffy so I keep it thicker.

Ladle into a preheated skillet sprayed liberally (yes, I do some thing liberally!) with a PAM like substance and cook until bubbles form all over the pancake surface (the may or may not break open) and I like the edges to be slightly crispy. Flip and cook a few more minutes.

Serve with real butter (none of that trans fat margarine stuff ) and sugar free syrup . There is also the jelly option that some people like and this morning K Elizabeth tried her pancakes with real Amish apple butter.

Sunday's sermon dealt with the issue of how to combat sexual purity issues. I preached this in anticipation of the four week series of youth group meetings on the topic but it was truly meant for all ages. I first made it clear that sex is good. Giving our children complexes about sexuality may have some short term effect in some people, but in the long term it diminishes sexual health once the children are in covenant marriages.

Another fruitless battle is the attempts to stop all provocative imagery and music from coming in contact with our children. I firmly believe that all due diligence must be taken to make the computer, TV and other devices safe for children to use, but at some point they are going to be exposed to sexuality in the wrong context and our focus has to be on preparing the mind and the heart to deal with it when they do come into contact

Tonight, Martin Hoagland and I started to got though "scenarios" with some of the young men in our church. We are doing so because it is much easier to make the right choice when you are in the right frame of mind than when you are all worked up in the backseat of a car with your girl. It is certainly "natural" for this to happen in those situations, but there are a wide variety of responses to these situations that are dependent upon the value structure and spiritual maturity that are developed long before.

We have been very frank with the youth about these issues and I hope that they are getting the sense that we have struggled with these issues since we were their age, sometimes we were successful and sometimes we were not. The times that we had failures were often minor, but other times have lead to serious consequences and great despair. I hope to lead the whole church through the process of thinking and praying through an ethical issues such as this one and show that it can be done for all dilemmas that we are faced with.

When I was 9 my father gave to me his stereo and record player. It was a classic high power amp from the seventies and Dad made a cabinet for the stereo and affixed speakers to the side of the cabinet. He also started me off with records from the Beach Boys, the Doors and the Animals and I listened to those records over and over again. I also listened to countless hours of WLS from Chicago back when it was a Rock an Roll station. Later, I found Pink Floyd and would spend many warm summer afternoons lying in my bed listening to Dark Side of the Moon while the breeze came through the room and into the whole house fan. Later still I paired a portable compact disc player to the stereo and Joined the Columbia House record club. Bob Dylan started to play on a regular basis through that stereo. When I graduated high school and went to college, the stereo came with me along with some huge Optimus speakers that I had bought at the Radio Shack in the mall. The stereo sat on Kevin's desk and we used his CD player and we used a Nine Inch Nails song "Down in it" combined with my 100 watts per channel and 15 inch woofers to drive the upstairs guys crazy (we did so just because they were the upstairs guys, all the cool kids lived on the 1st floor. Kevin wore out his Billy Joel CD's those 2 years and developed a taste for They Might Be Giants. I started to listen to things like Poi Dog Pondering and Edie Brickell and the New Bohemians. Still later I moved out to my own apartment and bought a CD from a little known band called Nirvana and Metallica finally made its way into my collection along with Live. My roommate Curt had a new amplifier from Sony (all black) and some Bose Speakers, but it just could not reproduce music like this 70's amp and big ole speakers. I finally moved out on my own and the stereo was my constant companion as I began to live alone in a trailer park south of town. I met Faith, we got engaged and moved in together and when that tragically ended it was Blood on the Tracks from Bob Dylan that was played over and over again. "You're an Idiot baby, its a wonder that you still know how to breathe..." and ' If You See her Say Hello." That album more than any other has just the right mix of anger, sorrow and regret to be the best break up album in the world. After she left I bought my own trailer and the stereo came with me. Now I was listening to Pavement and John Spencer's Blues Explosion. I met Tracy at the Corner Diner around then and before we got married I was robbed. In 1995 someone broke in to my trailer (follow this link for the story) and stole the CD collection, the Optimus speakers, they broke the record player and the MCS 3213 receiver that had been with me for so long.

That is not the end of the story however. last week on EBay I found a MCS 3213 receiver for a mere $40 dollars from a guy in Michigan. I quickly bid and was actually the only bidder, but I won the auction and now this receiver sits on my desk hooked up to some Bang and Olefson speakers and instead of a CD player, my MP3's now play through this stereo as it gives off its pale green light and looks at me with that 1 red LED indicator that tells me that the FM reception is coming over loud and clear. Everything that I listen to before is still played (almost) and now bands like Wilco and Midlake have joined my other albums. Hopefully my wife will now understand why I was so giddy when it arrived by UPS. It was like I found an old friend.

I really upped the ante on the exercise this week. I got 8 workout sessions in 5 days and I took the entire weekend off to recover. I like the extended rest period (48 hours) and in those times I try to get extra sleep to help in my physical recovery. The nutrition side went very well this week as well. The Body for Life system suggest having a "free day" in which you eat freely, but not out of control. I have decided that it is better suited to my life to have "free meals" instead. For example the pizza that I eat on Thursday with my family (although I had only one piece this week, I usually have more)

Tracy and I went to McDonald's while we were on the road this week and before we ordered I grabbed a calorie list. I was shocked to find that the "snack" that I would eat between lunch and dinner on many occasions amounted to 1600 calories! Considering that I am eating about 1800 calories right now this means that I was eating almost a days worth of food in between meals. This should clear any mystery about why I gained so much weight. Tracy and I ended up getting the supreme salads and went light on the dressing.

I had one of my all day classes yesterday and I could feel the benefits of eating right and exercising all week. I was not sleepy and as a matter of fact my brain was hitting on all cylinders all day. I cut back on the calories for the non-workout days, but not consciously. I just was not as hungry as I usually am on a high stress weekend. I think my blood sugar is finally coming under control.

I have begun the readings in my human rights class and the first article is a discussion of the fundamental philosophical underpinnings of modern human rights law and practice. The article discusses religious systems, utilitarianism, Marxism, human positivism and cultural relativism. The author seems to come to many of the same conclusions that I did in my previous post on Christian ethics.

First, the essential issue of any philosophical foundation of human rights is dealing with the issue of unalienable rights. From whom or from what do our rights flow from and what objective truth makes them unalienable? Marxism and the Utilitarianism of Bentham both tend to emphases the individual rights. Utilitarianism reduces individual rights to a function inside of the social calculus and Marxism's Specie Being is a poor replacement for the rights of the individual over and against the state. Cultural relativism is perhaps the worst of all in that there is no objective truth other than the truth of a particular society at a particular time in history. Cultural relativism, by definition, must allow for horrific rights abuses in the name of "culture." This is the macro equivalent of what I hear in the church when someone says "That is just how they are."

The first system the author dealt with also gives the best foundation for universal human rights, A Supreme Being that imbues rights to his creation. Granted, the discovery of what those inalienable rights are is the subject of great debate and I would of course favor Divine revelation in the scriptures, but my main point here is this: What gives man worth and from what source do his rights come from? A human positivist is dependent upon the State to grant rights by law, but it is the State that is in need of restraint in the protection of human rights. A right that comes from the State can be taken by the State (usually in the name of security)

Finally, one of the articles that I have been reviewing states that one of the most pressing current problems of human rights is the activity of non-governmental organizations operating within the sovereignty of another country. Many governments around the world are so weak that they are powerless that they must bend to the will of powerful (and almost always armed) interest inside their own country. Legal protection is extended to these groups by the weakened state in exchange for continued support or, as is often the case, the protection comes from forceful extortion. Somali Warlords, Hezzballah, the Taliban and national militaries that are conditionally loyal to their government are all sources of human rights violation that traditional rights enforcement organizations must learn to deal with in new ways.

I went to the gym twice yesterday. In the morning I did a leg work out and in the afternoon I went to the newly formed "Challenge" class taught by someone named Missi. One might think that a class taught by a "Missi" would be a pushover and I can tell you that you would be very very wrong. This class is 90 minutes long and I have not had that sort of workout since I was in South Carolina, wearing all green and getting yelled at by a pudgy Jewish Drill Sgt. named Siegel. I was the only man in the class and I was amazed at some of the women in this class. They were really tough. I am going to get Tracy to take the class if only to see her face turn that shade of lavender it does when she is being overworked.

I will go back next week and will continue until I get that class conquered. Besides, it is really good training for Survivor. And yes, if reach my goals I am going to apply for the show. We middle aged guys do pretty well on that show.

The Inferno starts on January 15th but we had a meeting yesterday to kick it off and did our weigh-ins and body fat analysis.  I tipped the scales at 247, which is actually 5 lbs down from my tops weight of 252 2 weeks ago at the doctor's office.  My prediction in the previous post about body fat was pretty close.  The electric impendence tester at the Fitness Center put me at 32% body fat and I had guessed 30%.  Those numbers mean that I have 79 lbs of fat on my body!  No wonder my blood pressure is averaging 160 over 85.

My goals for this recent attempt at fitness are exactly as they were on my last attempt this previous summer.  My goals then and now are to be 185 lbs and 11% body fat.  This means that I need to lose 59 lbs of fat and maintain my muscle mass at present levels.  The only difference is that I am at a different starting point than I was then!  I look back at my before pictures in July and think "hmmm, that is not so bad compared to now."  It is all about the perspective. 

Crunching the numbers on this one puts my goal date at August 6th.  This date is 30 weeks from January 15 and it is assuming that I lose about 2lbs of fat per week.  I may put on more muscle mass than I anticipate (I grow muscle very well) so my end weight my change, but not my fat loss goal of 60 lbs of fat. 

Last year the fitness club that belong to had a contest called Inferno that was for losing weight and body fat percentage over a certain period of time.   You entered the contest and received a certain amount of points for participation in group fitness classes,  personal training (could not afford that one), reading fitness articles and bringing in healthy recipes.  I did not go very far in the contest last year and got quickly discouraged at how many points one guy was racking up.  This guy was a machine! 

This year Rene, the administrator of the contest, has changed up the contest a bit to make it more equitable and I am going to take another shot at doing this contest.  The timing is perfect for my own fitness program and maybe it will add some always needed encouragement.  I am also trying to encourage the other participants to start their own fitness blogs.  I think that blogging is perfect for tracking fitness goals and dietary changes for many different reasons.

1. Blogging holds you accountable to an audience of readers

2. Blogging is a way to express emotions that you might be dealing with while trying to get into shape.  Proper nutrition  and exercise is much more than just putting down the fork and taking a step aerobics class, there are always other issues that affect the likelihood of success.

3. Blogging is a great way to track your progress

4. Blogging can create communities of people that provide mutual support and encouragement

5. Blogging is a great way to share recipes and fitness tips that you have found useful

To start a blog on MSN spaces, just click in the right hand corner of the screen where it says "Create my space."  It is absolutely free and also a great place to post pictures for your friends and family to download after the holidays.  If you create a space, email me and I will put you in my friends section.  If we could get 5 to 10 people in the fitness center with Blogs, it would be fantastic.

In my previous post I finished my entry with a discussion of Christians ethics and the presuppositions that I have as a foundation for those ethics. The last presupposition that I make is that the revelation of God is prepositional. This prepositional revelation removes divine revelation from the grip of a pure mysticism. God's revelation is supernatural to be sure and the reception of that revelation comes through the mediation of the Holy Spirit, but God also employs plain language as the medium of His revelation. When I say that the revelation is prepositional I mean that God employs sentences in human language to communicate truth and this stands in opposition to those who would depend upon "feelings" or emotional states of various kinds to judge right and wrong.

If there is one thing that I have learned since my conversion it is that I cannot trust many of my "feeling" since they are a direct reflection of my natural tendency for self preservation and advancement. God's revelation in the Holy Scriptures then give me a objective truth by which I may make judgments. A solid rock in which to stand, you might say. There can be no ethics or morality without objective truth that is not dependent upon man. When a person makes statements such as "I should do action x or y" there is an appeal to this objective truth that is transcendent of us. Despite the claim of many to be devoted to cultural relativism, when these relativist fall prey to the cultural norms of another group of people they cry foul and appeal to right and wrong in an objective sense.

My point of these two post on Christian ethics is that individual Christians and local churches must do a better job making judgements based upon the revealed revelation of God in the scriptures. The outsider might look at the modern evangelical church and say that they are "judgemental" but when rhetoric clears, the evangelical churches will swallow pretty much anything or any activity in the name of "love." Most churches have very immature and ineffective positions on most social issues. Marriage, Divorce, Remarriage, drug and alcohol use, the death penalty, abortion (and other reproductive issues), sexuality, financial ethics, and a host of other positions seem to be well represented in the teachings of the church but when the surface is scratched on most Christians you will find that their opinion on these various issues are knee-jerk reactions based upon cultural norms rather than well reasoned Biblical positions. This shallowness of thought is what leads to the paralysis of the church to actually affect these issues through our ministry.

My dad got a whole hog and a whole cow that we split three ways with my sister's family. We got the meat down in Chesterville just a few blocks past the used buggy lot ( I am not kidding, its Amish country) As a matter of fact a few of the Amish folk gave me some second glances and I could not figure out why. My brother-in-law then informed me that with my stocking cap and beard with no mustache I looked like someone that they probably ought to know.

I picked up some locally made polish sausage and summer sausage and I was reminded of the butcher that my Grandma Kroencke used to go to in Belleville, Illinois named Wolf's meats. The place was filled with great delicacies such as blood sausage with tongue which, as the name implies, was sausage made with blood and cow tongue strips running down the middle so that when you sliced it you got cross sections of tongue in your sandwich meat. My Grandmother also made brain sandwiches in which she would take cow brains, mash them with egg and crackers and fry them as patties. Hmmmm boy!

Back to the original topic... The meat was enough to fill the freezer outside in the garage and I imagine that this will last us through the summer at least. I also started the process of building up food reserve for an emergency. We have already altered our cooking style last year and started to cook things by scratch instead of preprocessed items. This allows us to use up 50 lbs of flour before it goes bad. It also gives us the freedom to alter recipes to suit our dietary needs. For example, I developed a pancake that uses some soy flour, whole wheat flour and soy milk instead of 100% white flour. They taste even better than a regular pancake and have this rich, nutty taste to them plus the fact that they are much higher in fiber and have a decent protein content that makes them a more balanced food

I have already talked about my poetry class and I have just received the syllabus for my Politics of Human Rights course. I am excited about being in a class that fits my former major of Political Science and as I read the requirements, I do no think I will have any problem meeting the standards. This professor requires 5 papers of only 1000 words (3 to 4 pages) about a list of provided readings from human rights political journals. We are supposed to write a "reaction" to the readings! I can write a 1000 words on what I had for breakfast!

Another weekend class that I am taking is Freedom of Expression: Dissent, Hate and Heresy. On the topic of freedom of expression I have been thinking about the incredible asset to democracy that blogging can potentially be. When individuals have the power to publish to the entire Internet connected world, there is real democratic power at work. This class should provide many post as well since I am sure that my constitutionally protected religious speech will come under attack as "hate speech." It is almost inevitable.

My last class is just a one day seminar on the topic of Resistance in Nazi Germany and it is taught by a Lutheran women so I anticipate an emphasis on Dietrich Boenhoffer. After watching a documentary on this man and reading two of his books, I am excited to be in this seminar and discuss the failure of the mainline churches to resist the Nazi rise to power. I am currently reading Life Together, a book on the communal life of the local church.