Author: Bob

Although having grown up in Tucson, AZ, I’m an upper Midwestern guy at heart having spent most of my adult life in Minnesota. I recently entered the "Buick stage" of life and have migrated to Florida. This blog is an attempt to explain the deconstruction of my Christian faith and better understand what I perceive as the discordant aspects of Christianity. Things which make life more enjoyable include rough-housing with the grandkids, strong black coffee, charcoal grilling, cutting wood on a table saw, playing chess, a good orthopedic surgeon and an occasional IPA. Please feel free to poke around and comment as you wish. I welcome cordial discussion and the insights of others with a different perspective and understanding.

Faith Matters

Over the next few days I hope to post some items related to the will of God in the life of the believer.  This has truly been an area within my faith in which I have struggled for some time.  I’m currently reading a couple of books (“Is God Really in Control?” by Jerry Bridges, and “Is God to Blame?” by Greg Boyd) that take different perspectives as to whether or not there is a divine reason for the things that happen and also that each event in one’s life happens because God willed not to prevent it.  Please stop back if this is an area of interest.  Also, I’d welcome comments and references to any good books that anyone has come across that relate to this topic.   

Musings about a lawsuit related to the death of Amanda Jax

searchHow sad and tragic that Amanda Jax died from alcohol poisoning last October while celebrating her 21st birthday with friends at a Mankato MN bar. I’ve sympathy and compassion for Amanda’s mother, Jenny Haag, because I’ve two college age daughters.  Now I read that Jenny Haag is suing the bar owner along with the friends who bought the drinks that Amanda consumed.  I’m not a lawyer and perhaps don’t understand the issues related to liability. Still, it’s readily apparent from a 2/29/08 Minneapolis Star Tribune newspaper story that Amanda Jax had an obvious drinking problem that had been going on for a long time.  One of the defendants, Hannah Becker, 21, is quoted as saying that Amanda “used to drink all the time”. Another defendant, Kathryn Lensing, 21, told police that she had seen Amanda drunk about 100 times in the past year.  Per this same article, relatives of Amanda thought, “Jax had her life under control”.  In addition, Amanda’s mother is quoted as saying, “I’m not going to say that she (Amanda) didn’t drink, but it wasn’t the hundreds of times that they said.” 

I can’t help but think that this lawsuit is a poor attempt to suppress the lack of personal responsibility that Amanda Jax exercised and maybe even some guilt that Jenny Haag feels from overlooking obvious alcoholic tendencies in her daughter’s more formative years.  I personally don’t see how this lawsuit will prevent others intent on binge drinking from suffering a similar fate.  Rather, this lawsuit has the appearance of greedy lawyers coaxing a distraught mother to make things “better” with a large lump sum of cash. 

American Pro Audio

A couple of days ago I received a postcard indicating that American Pro Audio is going out of business.  Even though the store caters more to a live-sound, church, and studio recording clientele, Lee Windsperger, Dick McCalley, and Kent Stevenson have always been gracious to me when I would wander around the store looking for a used or consigned something that a “living room” player like myself could be interested in.  I always preferred to give what little business I could to them instead of Guitar Center or the now long gone Marrs Music.  APA has been in business for twenty years and I’m sad to see them go.  Good luck and best wishes, guys.   

Hello world!

Thanks for stopping by.  I welcome the opportunity to write about and discuss a variety of topics from living in Minnesota, politics, music, faith, family and whatever else may come up.  My intent is to post on something each and every day.  But the best laid plans sometimes go awry – so, we’ll see how things work out.  Feel free to leave comments.  I welcome diverging points of view and hope to respond with a some candor, a little intelligence, and respect.