The tradition continues…

Recognize the song? Yes, it’s Blessed Be Your Name. This time Levi’s taking the lead. Sorry for the poor quality video. My camera was on loan and I took it on my phone.

 

Big Announcement!

A little fun for the political season.  I thought you would like a look.

 

The Homecoming

Nathanael James comes home to some brotherly love.

 

The Baby Nate Story

Here’s Baby Nate’s birth story via video.

 

24 on Campus

Here’s a sneak peak @ the 2007 DC Metro Chi Alpha Dinner video.  It’s our take on 24.  A big thank you for Dave Clark, media pastor @ NCC for putting it together.

 

Praise Overkill?

I’ve been a little light lately in my blogging. The end of the semester is always a bit crazy, but I thought I would pass along an a few pieces pass on by friends. Seems like the news media is very interested in research being done to determine the effects of the self-esteem building tactics of today’s parents. This article in the April 20th edition of the Wall Street Journal looks @ how it effects the workplace. It’s interesting stuff. Maybe you’ll see a “celebration assistant” at your workplace soon.

Here’s another link to a video on this same topic from NBC Nightly News. Our Chi Alpha president, Bethany was featured as a dissenting voice. Some nice exposure in the middle of unflattering commentary. All the outdoor shots were taken on campus @ American University so it will give you a quick glimpse of my favorite place to do ministry.

 

6 minutes of Mexico

We’re back in the states and the trip couldn’t have gone better. For a day by day report check out my brother’s blog. Here’s the video I put together for the report @ our worship meeting this past Thursday. Enjoy!

 

Merry Christmas

Enjoy the music from Sam and the rest of the NCC kids as they celebrate Jesus’ birthday.

Merry Christmas from the Godzwas!

 

For Your Viewing Pleasure…

It’s been awhile since I’ve posted a video of the kids. Here’s Levi (aka “The Tongue”) showing off some of his developing talent and Sam jumping into the fun.

 

Come see the violence inherent in the system!

Do you remember the movie “Monty Python and the Holy Grail?” In it there’s a scene where King Arthur and his men come upon two peasants and are given a lecture on political theory. The basic premise is that the common person is being repressed by the current “dictatorship.” Why am I thinking about this? I was out running today and I passed by the AU parking lot where Jen was robbed. My thoughts strayed to the past 2 weeks of dealing with the justice system. Needless to say there are many times I wanted to stand up and shout like Dennis the peasant, “I’m being repressed!”

The main reason for my frustration is that our systems are designed to add to the victim’s distress and allow the perpetrators to go free. For example, AU’s campus is wired with video cameras almost everywhere you look. Part of the current security upgrades this year is to install new blue light security points. These blue lights are highly visible distress signals with video surveillance in each. There are probably more than a dozen of these going up on a fairly small campus. Sounds like a good system for a safe campus right? Well, if you pull back the curtain and see who’s operating the system you’ll discover a very large flaw. The entire camera system is operated by 1 university employee who works from 9-5, Monday through Friday. This fall, our family has been the victim of 2 crimes where video tape evidence could have been useful in bringing the thief to justice. My laptop was stolen on a Friday night and Jen was robbed on a Saturday morning. The employee in charge of the surveillance equipment wasn’t able to view the video on the laptop theft until Wednesday. In Jen’s case, where a violent felony was committed, he didn’t view the tapes until Monday. THAT’S PRACTICALLY 4 FULL DAYS AFTER THE CRIME!!! I addressed the situation after my laptop was stolen and all I got was an apology and an assurance that they would look into it. Obviously, nothing was done.

The DC police isn’t any better. The thief was an idiot! As he ran away, he left the knife he used to threaten Jen lying behind our car. The CSI unit was on the scene immediately bagging the weapon and fingerprinting the car to get a positive ID on the perpetrator. In all the crime shows, the technicians go back to the lab and then run the fingerprints against all known criminals. I assumed that the same would happen here. Makes sense doesn’t it? I was wrong in my assumption. The detective (who was given the case 5 days after the incident) told me the only way they would use the fingerprint information is if they had a suspect (I guess the crime lab is too backed up to just run fingerprints). How do they get a suspect you ask? The same person needs to commit another crime in the same part of the city and get caught. Then they will try to pin this crime on him too. What is the chance of that? Slim and none. Do you feel the repression yet?

I’m feeling a little passionate about this. I find it difficult to be comfortable with the idea that someone else needs to be victimized to bring a criminal to justice. I’m in the process of working within both the university and the city’s policing policies to see change happen. It’s the right thing to do. Pray for us and pray for an advocate within both systems to bring about the justice that all people deserve.