May the Farce be with you...

Libyan leader Moammar Gaddafi denounced the UN as ineffective. He threw the UN charter over his shoulder in disgust, something that would warm the heart of even the grimmest conservative. Further, he propounded exotic conspiracy stories, and called for a fresh investigation of the assassination of John F. Kennedy. He complained about New York. He even stayed at Donald Trump's place... Just when one thought that he had identified himself as the ultimate right wing conservative, he did an about face.

Gaddafi tried out liberalism's tenets... he embraced racial progress in America ""Now the black man doesn't have to sit in the back of the bus," He praised the new Obama administration. The self-proclaimed "King of Kings" (modest, we are not) labeled Barack Obama as "my son." He eschewed military power (not his own of course). Is he a liberal?

But Mo-bi One showed he was unlike any other. He wore a copper and black ensemble (prompting a future appearance on "What not to wear--Dictator week?") in which no Ivy Leaguer would be caught dead. He drew protests from victims of Pan Am flight 103, who named him "Murder of the Year." He complained in one breath about the veto of the Security Council, and in the next about jet lag. He offered to house the UN in the Libyan desert, to spare the US the expense. He pretty much just RAMBLED for over 100 minutes...in a speech designed to last barely thirty. Mo was out in FARCE sporting a haircut that Laurel and Hardy would be proud of...

Mo-bi one...may the FARCE be with you.

Watch this video if you need a good laugh!

Admiral Clark is Landing!

Each time I hear from our distinguished professor from the Robertson School of Government, Admiral Vern Clark, (Ret.) I gain a fresh appreciation of his singular gifts. The depth of insight, the breadth of experience, the stark challenge of leadership brings me to the edge of my seat every time! Join us online or in person to hear Admiral Clark elucidate the leadership challenges of becoming community at a religiously diverse institution, such as Regent University.

For an added bonus, hear the exciting mission of Students Involved in Free Enterprise (SIFE) and their "Can Hunger" drive. If you are attending in person, be our guest for a free lunch following chapel, provided by our friends from SIFE.

Be blessed today!

Getting my Fill of Dentists...

I'm guessing that I'm not alone in getting a little nervous about dentist visits! Don't get me wrong, I have the best dentist in the world (I only go to see him once every two years, after all!) How bad can he be? [Jerry or Cindy, if you're reading this, don't take it personally]

So what is it about the dentist that touches a nerve in me? (other than he is one of the few people in my life who could literally touch a nerve in me) After all, Jesus himself included dental pain as one description of hell, "Where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth..." (Mt. 13:42) For me it's a couple of things. First, when I was growing up I had terribly crooked teeth. Apparently the Kidd gene included coding for being slow, preferring bananna pudding, and having the same bite pattern as a saber-tooth tiger. So I had four "canine incisors" pulled when I was an impressionable 12-year old. I can still feel that needle and the novacaine going into my gums, all the while the dentist telling me it wouldn't hurt a bit. I wanted to jab him in the knee with a sharp implement.

Second, I really didn't feel like I needed the dentist thing. After all the mess of braces (and yes, I lost my retainer in Jr. High and had to dig through the trash...it was a rite of passage!) I made it through my childhood and entire adult life without a cavity. Of course, being the proud human being that I am, I took my strong enamel as a commentary on my moral superiority. Who needs a dentist? All they do is get me down in the mouth.

During my last visit to the dentist, they warned me that one spot on a tooth looked weak, and put it on a "Watch list." (Sort of like North Korea?) But that didn't slow me down. Sure of my superior dention, I ignored the warning for two full years. But two weeks ago my fantasy of dental perfection was shattered. "Dr. J" let me know that decay had penetrated the outer wall of enamel in one tooth, and he was going to have to repair it. That's where I'm headed today... to have a hole in my head filled. I'm dreading it...

So it made me wonder, what other warnings are we ignoring? What other weak spots in my life have I received notice on, but haven't done anything other than schedule a visit to de-nial? Going to the dentist, of course, is a good thing. It is part of being a well person, to respond to the inevitable problems that plaque and Double stuff Oreo's bring my way. Today, I'm going to get my fill of dentists. What weak areas need filling in your life?

Never Forget!

Picture I snapped at Ground Zero

I suppose I may be a day late and a dollar short, but then reflection and thought takes time. I have been thinking about 9-11 after the remembrances and celebrations of the last few days. In a strange twist of fate, a Virginia Beach native like me ended up right in the middle of the recovery efforts in New York City. Through the efforts of my church to assist Operation Blessing International in their relief, I traveled to NYC and in response, started an organization to mobilize resources in this area to assist. It was called the First Fruits Crisis Response Team.

What we found in NYC amazed me. People from all over the country just showed up, without plan and without thought to their own needs, in order to help a city in pain. I formed life-long bonds with folks in Operation Blessing, especially Jim Esposito. My friend Jim was here in Virginia Beach this weekend, and seeing him reminded me of the amazing camaraderie that existed among the relief workers those first few days after the towers came down.

The Operation Blessing Gang (Jim in blue shirt)

In that spirit, a friend posted the following comment on my Facebook page on 9-11...

Kimberley Jenkins

You are right. We will never forget the day. However, I wonder how we are to remember the community that was shared at that time, to me it seems to have been forgotten. My point: are we only to be in community doing tragedies or is it to be our way of life.

It is of course a great question. In those first moments, we were all New Yorkers. In those first moments, the area around Ground Zero became a sanctuary to the fallen, and complete strangers grew silent to approach the hallowed ground. The world community gathered behind the United States, in testimony to the audacious, undeserved attack. What happened to that sense of solidarity?

First, danger always focuses us on the crucial, critical issues of life. It is abundance and comfort that enables our indulgence in individualism. In crisis we realize anew that we desperately need each other, and discover that which unites us is greater than that which divides us. I remember one man, Antonio Nino Vendome, opened up his restaurant as a relief center for any uniformed personnel. It stayed open 24 hours a day. Seeing the dizzying spectrum of law enforcement patches from all over the country burned into my mind then that boundaries could be crossed for the greater good of the community. (Law enforcement groups are notoriously territorial) I pray we could experience that again.

What do you think? Are crises the only things big enough to remind us of our common needs as humans, our common cause as Americans? I pray not...

Meeting Joel Rosenberg Tomorrow

Tomorrow I'm meeting Joel Rosen

berg.

According to his weblog,

Joel C. Rosenberg is the founder of The Joshua Fund (www.joshuafund.net) and the New York Times best-selling author of The Last Jihad (2002), The Last Days(2003), The Ezekiel Option (2005), The Copper Scroll (2006), Epicenter (200

6) and Dead Heat (this year) with more than 1.5 million copies in print. The Ezekiel Option was named by the ECPA as the Gold Medallion winner of the “Best Novel of 2006.” Joel — whose mother is Gentile and whose father is from a Jewish background –previously worked with several U.S. and Israeli leaders, including Steve Forbes, former Israeli Deputy Prime Minister Natan Sharansky, and former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

I got hooked on Joel through his best-selling fiction, starting with The Last Jihad. By way of confession, I don't read Christian fiction (I like good fiction and think that Christians should just

write good fiction, instead of pandering to a niche market...but I guess nobody asked). I exclude on principle folks like Ted Dekker and C.S. Lewis, who in my opinion, write good fiction that happens to include Christian themes. But I digress.

Joel will be on the 700 Club tomorrow, then over to the Regent side of the house to spend time with students, share with the Law/Government schools during chapel, then off to the airport. (I think he has an interview on the West Coast in the evening!) I particularly love his crisp, snappy style of narrating enormously plausible global intrigue. It makes me feel like all those years in

history and political science classes weren't wasted!

So as I get to meet one of my heroes, I'm wondering if you have any questions for him? He's an expert on Middle East Politics. His latest work Inside The Revolution documentary film on DVD is now in documentary form. He is an amazing writer, and active on his blog.

Any questions you may have...shoot 'em my way, and I'll ask them!

Peace y'all.

The Birthrights of Community

Every time I hear this guy (Dr. Carlos Campo) speak, I think "Man, he's awesome!" He's intense, he's scholarly, he's funny, he's erudite! Why wouldn't you want to come hear him? Ok, so if you're an online student, you can log into the Campus Ministries My Regent portal and hear him online. Any other excuses?

Good! We'll see you tomorrow for University Chapel at noon in the Moot Courtroom . Be there, or be elsewhere.