Not a Christmas Post

David Nasser and I went to high school together, and if he wasn’t the single-most unlikely candidate to become a minister, he was at least on the top ten list. Amazing what God can do, huh? He sent out this piece in an email over the weekend, and I felt like sharing it. Have no fear, I will be posting a couple of more traditional Christmas pieces of my own over the next couple of days.

Leave Britney’s Sister Alone???

Maybe you’re among the nearly 14 million viewers who’ve seen Chris Crocker’s part satire, part fan obsessed plea on YouTube entitled “Leave Britney Alone.” The now famous rant was all the talk on the web a few months back. If you haven’t seen it, consider yourself blessed. Chris Crocker’s 15 minutes of fame was, thanks in part to the once girl-next-door-turned-pop star, Britney Spears. Now again, on the coattails of Britney’s fame comes another headline grabbing story.

I don’t know if you’ve noticed lately, but there is a war going on in Iraq. America is gearing up for another presidential election. Our unstable economy is up one day and plummeting the next. Oh, yeah, there’s also a devastating genocide in Darfur, and a few other things that beg for the headline news top spot. But what is America talking about the most? Britany’s little sister. Isn’t it ironic that the most googled, most YouTubed, most blogged, and most popular watercooler story in the world today is the heartbreaking story of a 16-year-old involved in statuary rape. (Last time I checked a 19-year-old sleeping with a minor is considered a crime.)

This is usually the time of year when we focus on another young girl, who as a unwed, pregnant teenager found herself as a topic of conversation. The virgin Mary.

So what do Jamie Lynn Spears and the young virgin Mary have in common? A little more than one might think. Both, young teenagers, scandalously pregnant. Both, in view of the whole world to see. Both, afraid and in need of grace. Think of what it must have cost Mary and her reputation to be pregnant, out-of-wedlock, in those days. The looks, the whispers, the scandal of it all. Of course, with Mary, we know that her pregnancy was the favor of God. A blessing to a young teenage girl who with humility and purity found herself to be the chosen candidate for God’s amazing plan. What was that plan? To deliver to this world his son. The perfect and blameless son of God, born of a virgin. Mary was a young servant, whose pregnancy, was used for God’s glory.

Sadly, Jamie Lynn’s story is very different. What makes her a candidate for young pregnancy is the absence of humility and purity. Much of this comes from her own decisions and actions. But much of it is not her own fault. How hard it must be to be pushed by a profit earning mother to become just like her big sis: a star! Some of the blame must fall on Britany. In the last year, Britany Spears has found her shaved-headed self in such decay that her children were taken away. The children were given to the more responsible parent, Kevin Federline. Anytime a judge deems Kevin Federline as the more reliable parent than you, you’re in a lot of trouble. Jamie Lynn has seen her older sister model a life of self obsessed indulgence. But rather than learning from her sister’s mistakes, she imitates it and finds herself here.

Jamie’s mother is also to blame. Being on your child’s payroll makes it hard to parent properly. Not that there is much evidence that she desires to anyway. Selling your kids to the world as sexual objects has a high price tag and Lynne Spears is finding that out. The saddest part of her involvement is that she actually brokered and sold her daughter’s pregnancy story to OK magazine.

So, where is the hope in the Spears family saga? Well, first of all it’s not over. God can use all of this to get the attention of the Spears. They are valuable to God and He is in no way done with them. Second, there’s Jamie Lynn’s decision to keep the baby and not have an abortion. I am thankful that Jamie Lynn, the father, and all involved can model the principle that two wrongs don’t make a right. Third, there is the “man in the mirror” moment for me as an individual. I’d be the first to confess that I certainly have more in common with the Spears family than the virgin Mary. OH THE GRACE that we all need in the midst of our shortcomings. As a much lesser known public figure, this can serve as a reminder of the importance of accountability and conviction in my own life. Fourth, but certainly not last, is the lesson to learn as a parent. Where in my child’s life am I being a stumbling block rather than a stepping stone? Am I ever trying to live out my dreams through my kids? Maybe it would have been best, if as a selfish and ambitious parent, Lynne Spears had been the first to leave Brittany and her sister alone.

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My Jesus

A couple of weeks ago, I had the opportunity to hear Todd Agnew in concert. I will post more about that later, but for now, I offer the following lyrics for those of you who might be looking for something to read.

My Jesus

Which Jesus do you follow?
Which Jesus do you serve?
If Ephesians says to imitate Christ
Then why do you look so much like the world?

‘Cause my Jesus bled and died
He spent His time with thieves and liars
He loved the poor and accosted the arrogant
So which one do you want to be?

Blessed are the poor in spirit
Or do we pray to be blessed with the wealth of this land?
Blessed are they that hunger and thirst for righteousness
Or do we ache for another taste of this world of shifting sand?

Cause my Jesus bled and died for my sins
He spent His time with thieves and sluts and liars
He loved the poor and accosted the rich
So which one do you want to be?

Who is this that you follow?
This picture of the American dream
If Jesus was here
Would you walk right by on the other side
Or fall down and worship at His holy feet?

Pretty blue eyes and curly brown hair and a clear complexion
Is how you see Him as He dies for Your sins
But the Word says He was battered and scarred
Or did you miss that part?
Sometimes I doubt we’d recognize Him

Cause my Jesus bled and died
He spent His time with thieves and the least of these
He loved the poor and accosted the comfortable
So which one do you want to be?

Cause my Jesus would never be accepted in my church
The blood and dirt on His feet would stain the carpet
But He reaches for the hurting and despised the proud
I think He’d prefer Beale St. to the stained glass crowd
And I know that He can hear me if I cry out loud

I want to be like my Jesus!
I want to be like my Jesus!

Not a posterchild for American prosperity, but like my Jesus
You see I’m tired of living for success and popularity
I want to be like my Jesus but I’m not sure what that means to be like You Jesus
Cause You said to live like You, love like You but then You died for me
Can I be like You Jesus?

I want to be like my Jesus

P.S. I want to believe that He would be accepted at my church.

Categories: Epiphanies, Faith, Me | Leave a comment

The Obligatory Thanksgiving Post

Things For Which I am Grateful

  1. The substitution, sufficiency, and satisfaction of the sacrifice of Christ. (Thanks, Jack!)
  2. I have a beautiful bride and two wonderful daughters… all three of whom are healthy, and all three of whom love me.
  3. My extended family, including my dad, are all doing well. Considering the health scare he had earlier in the year, this is reason for thanks.
  4. My family has found a church home.
  5. I finished my Master’s this year and began work on what I hope will be a doctorate.

And on a slightly less serious, but still important note:

  1. Battlestar Galactica: Razor rocked my socks off last night. Three simple words: Old School Cylons! (Warning: The link for BSG: Razor contains spoilers. Don’t click on it if you don’t want to know. Yes, I am talking about you, Pooch!)
  2. My Macbook should be delivered to the school tomorrow.
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New Mac Ad

So, apparently, the following appears only on a couple of specific websites (namely, News.com, Engadget.com, and PCMag.com.

Categories: Digital Media | 1 Comment

Should Teachers Blog & Use Social Networks?

I admit it: I am on both MySpace and Facebook. I joined MySpace first, and eventually I got around to using Facebook. I enjoy both of them. I have been able to reconnect with friends from high school that I literally haven’t seen or spoken to in more than a decade. I have been able to share pictures with those who have traveled with me and those who wish that they could. I learned that my cousin was going to be a father to his first child through Facebook, and some time later, I learned that they were going to have a daughter.

I have also been able to reconnect with many, many former students. Michelle found me and sent me an email telling me how fondly she remembers our trip to NYC and that she even has her husband addicted to the soundtrack from Aida, one of the Broadway shows we saw on the trip. Morgan, like many other former students, shares pictures of her son with me on MySpace. When a former student named Wendy was killed in a car accident, I learned about it through MySpace.

But if I were teaching in Ohio, I would have to reconsider my social network activity. According to this article, the Ohio Education Association has ” ‘strongly’ encouraged teachers against using MySpace, Facebook and other online social-networking sites.” The problem seems to be that some teachers have been publishing inappropriate content on the sites.

The article goes on to explain that the memo issued by the Ohio Education Association states, “”While this advice might seem extreme, the dangers of participating in these two sites outweigh the benefits. Because of the high standards placed on school employees and the risk of job and career loss, the OEA recommends avoiding even the appearance of impropriety.”

How incredibly narrow-minded and ignorant. I am glad that the Alabama Education Association has not seen fit to try to meddle in my online activities.

Yes, some teachers have used the technology inappropriately. Some teachers have used poor judgment, some have acted irresponsibly, some immorally, and some even illegally.

Does this mean that the technology should not be used by any teachers? What incredibly poor logic.

Mary Kay Letourneau met with her former second-grade student (who was nineteen years her junior) in her car. Other teachers have most likely done immoral things in cars, some even with students. Teachers probably shouldn’t be allowed to drive cars.

Other teachers have used cell phones to contact students to discuss illicit activities. Others have used email to contact students to discuss their inappropriate relationships. I suppose we should outlaw cell phones and computer usage as well.

The fact is simple: my use of technology, including but not limited to the use of MySpace and Facebook, makes me a better teacher. Social networking sites help me to better understand the world my students are living in. After all, it is a very different world than the one I grew up in. Heck, it is a different world than the one I woke up in this morning.

I even have current students as friends on both MySpace and Facebook. I make it a point not to seek out current students, but if one requests to be my friend, I generally allow it. Doing so has prevented at least one student from making a horrible mistake. A former student was planning on meeting up with a guy she had met only online. When I learned about it, I encouraged an older student to talk with the younger one. When the younger student would not listen, I ended up giving her an ultimatum: either she told her parents or I was going to. The next day, I spoke with the father of this young lady. He handled the situation beautifully, and his intervention prevented her from making a horrible decision.

Yes, I am an an unapologetic user of MySpace and Facebook who firmly believes that the Ohio Education Association needs to remove their collective heads from their collective arses.

Now, if the OEA would like to discuss the responsible use of technology, I am completely on board for that. In fact, if someone at the OEA would like, I could probably arrange for professional leave to come and conduct some workshops. Shoot me an email, OEA, and I will see what we can work out.

Categories: Me | 3 Comments

Family Update

Miranda did this a month or so ago. I suppose I am allowed to do so as well, just from my point of view.

Chloe:
For no particular reason, I will start with our youngest. Chloe, or Coco as she is apt to be called, is in her second year of preschool, and she absolutely loves it. She is truly a social creature, and preschool gives her an outlet for that. She usually runs in each morning, greeting her friends by name. She has many of the traits of a leader, and I have jokingly said that we need to make sure that she uses her powers for good instead of evil! She is strong-willed and very independent, but at the same time, she has an incredibly sensitive heart. Her laughter is one of my favorite sounds.

Jordyn:
Jordyn is in the first grade, and she is truly excelling academically. She has developed a true love for learning, and I hope we can continue to build upon it. She loves to read, and is often found with a book in her hands. (Come to think of it, Coco has an affinity for books as well, and she can’t even read yet! I wonder where they learned to love the written word?) Of the two, Jordyn is more shy, but she is apparently overcoming this. In fact, when I asked her teacher about her shyness, her teacher looked at me like I was talking about another child! I suppose she really has come a long way, but it is hard to see when you have a child as naturally gregarious as Chloe is. Jordyn usually shows a true servant’s heart; she truly enjoys helping others.

Miranda:
My bride recently experienced her second promotion less than a year. She is now the manager of the lab at LensCrafters. She has worked in the optical field ever since we married almost eleven years ago. She started with Wal-Mart Vision Centers and was with them for three years. She started as an optician, and was promoted to management a short time later. When we moved to the Montgomery area, LensCrafters began to recruit her pretty heavily. They had a pattern at that time of recruiting Wal-Mart Vision Center managers. When she joined the company, she was one of three former Wal-Mart managers working at her LensCrafters location. She worked retail for a while, but eventually moved into the lab. She truly enjoys what she does, and I think she is excited by the challenge of making the lab her own. When she has spare time, she is often found constructing a scapbook page of one sort or another.

Blair:
I am now in my sixth year at SEHS and my eleventh year in education. I finished my Master’s at the end of the summer, and somehow or another, I was able to pull it off with a 4.0. I didn’t even slow down – I enrolled for fall semester to begin work on my Ed.S. (Educational Specialist). At my current pace, I will finish it by the end of fall semester next year. Hopefully, I will then transfer to Auburn’s main campus where I will complete my Ed.D. I am not sure how long that will take, but I have been told anywhere from a year and a half to two years. At that rater, I will cease to be “Mr. A.” and become “Dr. A.” before my fortieth birthday.

So that is pretty much it. Anything that I forgot to mention, feel free to ask.

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Why Deeper Water?

Recently, I was asked about the title of this blog. “Why Deeper Water? What is it supposed to mean?”

The title of this blog originally came from a monthly worship service that a church in Montgomery used to hold. Donald Butler was the worship leader at Christ Community Church at the time, and once a month the church hosted an evening of worship. There was no teaching, no preaching… nothing but Donald and the band.

For some reason, the name of that service resonated with something within me. Months later when I was on staff at a different church, a much more traditional church, I approached the lead pastor about beginning a contemporary service once a month. I brought in various worship leaders over the next several months as we began our own Deeper Water services. Eventually, I left that church, but Deeper Water stayed with me.

Maybe Deeper Water reminded me of the way that I had once heard the Bible described. Someone once told me that the Bible was like the ocean because it is shallow enough in parts that a toddler can wade in but deep enough in parts that we will never fully understand it. The problem is that most people stay right along the shoreline, never daring to venture into the deeper water.

I think the greatest reason that Deeper Water stayed with me is because it strikes a chord deep within me. One of my greatest passions is authenticity. Miranda and I both feel passionately about trying to live life as honestly and openly as possible. In a world where facades are the norm and masks are worn more often than not, we find ourselves attracted to something deeper, something real. Though shallow meaningless relationships are the norm, we long for something more.

The shallow water will not satisfy. Only the deeper water will do.

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So, We Bit the Bullet

Those of you who know me well at all know that the spiritual journey that my wife and I have traveled over the past few years has not been an easy one. The story includes hurt at the hands of the children of God, disappointment in those in leadership, and general disillusionment with the American church as a whole. If you really want to know the whole sordid tale, you can always read about it here, here, here, here, here, here, and here.

Back in May, my bride and I took the girls to visit another church. Miranda actually posted that day, and her words pretty much summed up the experience.  Two weeks later, she really poured her heart out.

That first Sunday, the pastor spoke about bitterness in relationships. I realized something that morning, and I shared it with Miranda that afternoon. The fact is I am a forgiving person by my very nature. I am not bragging or anything – it is simply the way I am wired. Bragging about it would make as much sense as bragging about my having blue eyes… I never chose to be a forgiving person, God just made me that way. I am not one to harbor resentment toward a person. That Sunday, I realized that I had grown very bitter with the church as a whole. I had been repeatedly hurt by the church,and I was sick and tired of dealing with it. I have proven myself adept at forgiving people, but how the heck was I supposed to forgive the church as a whole?

As I shared all of this with my bride, she listened patiently before responding. “You know, if God used Jack to show you all of this, maybe Jack is the one that you need to talk to about it. Why don’t you call him?” I agreed it was a good idea, but I wasn’t really gung-ho about it.

It turned out that I didn’t have to be. The next night, Jack called me. (I guess that is what I deserved for filling out a visitor’s card, huh?) We ended up getting together for breakfast, and he listened to me as I poured out my heart, my hurt, my frustrations. Rather than critically point out my obvious flaws and shortcomings, he just befriended me. That first breakfast, Jack told me, “You know what I think you need? I think you just need to go to a place where you can be loved… where you and your family can just have a positive experience in church for a change. I would love for our church to be that place, and maybe it can be. If it can’t be, maybe I can help you find it.”

That first breakfast lead to another, and each Sunday, my family kept going back to that church. It has turned into weekly thing now, and Monday mornings are one of my favorite times of the week because I get to have breakfast with my friend.

This past Sunday, we bit the bullet. Six months ago, I was almost ready to blow off the institutionalized American church for keeps. I had had enough, but Jack was right. We needed a place where we could have a positive experience, and we found it.

Thanks, Jack.

Categories: Epiphanies, Faith | 1 Comment

Reasons Why I am a Dork

So, I am totally stealing this idea from my bride. Frankly, I may be opening a Pandora’s box by even posting something with a title such as this one. For crying out loud, I teach high school students who would gladly accept a writing assignment with a title “101 Reasons Why I Think Mr. Andress is a Complete Dork.” For those of my students who choose to visit this dead end street off of the information super highway, let me remind you that I have two things: 1) editorial control over your comments here, and 2) complete control over the gradebook!

  • I don’t own this shirt, but I do get it… and I think it’s funny. (FYI… my brother totally owns it, and he wore it to dinner tonight.)
  • I would get really excited about a gift certificate to this site as a Christmas present.
  • I was not only on the math team in junior high school, I was on the computer team. I actually missed school to compete for these two teams, and in the computer competitions… I won. At the state level. I would try to make myself sound cooler by explaining that I only competed to get out of school, but that would just make me sound pitiful. Instead, I will embrace my junior high nerdiness, and be thankful that I didn’t receive more wedgies.
  • I am 36 and I am still in high school. Even the special kids get kicked out at 21.
  • I think the blonde Cylon is hot. (For the record, if you understand this one, you totally need to be writing your own list of reasons about why you are a dork. And, in my defense, she was a Victoria’s Secret model before she became a toaster.)
  • I have startrek.com bookmarked.
  • I own all of the Lord of the Rings dvds. And the extended versions.
  • I laugh at my own jokes. Loudly. Sometimes, alone.
  • I am a grown man with a Master’s degree, which places me in the top 8.9% of Americans (educationally speaking), and I still sometimes refer to my bride of almost eleven years as my “baby mama.”
  • In seventh grade, I faked sick and ended up having my appendix removed. That is commitment to a lie, boys and girls.

For the record, the shirt shows a Mac keyboard shortcut for saving a file. Thus, Jesus Saves. Ah, esoteric humor.

Categories: Me | 1 Comment

New From NBC

As many of you know, NBC pulled its titles from iTunes after extended negotiations broke down. Their new offering, Hulu, is currently in private beta testing.

The videos will be flash formatted, so we won’t be able to save them on iPods or other portable players. We will, however, be able to embed in our own sites. The shows will all be supported by embedded advertising.

Below, you will find a complete episode of the Office. My source says that this won’t work outside of the US, but who knows?

Added November 5, 3:45 p.m. – Well, it worked on here for about 18 hours. I wonder how long it will be before Hulu goes public? For that matter, I wonder if iTunes and NBC/Universal will work out their differences.

Categories: Digital Media, Web Stuff | 7 Comments