Political Sanity Check: Chimpanzees

I recently saw an article on www.drudgereport.com entitled, “Activists Want Chimp Declared a ‘Person’”.

The chimp and it’s mate in Vienna belong to an animal refuge that recently went bankrupt and activists want it delcared a person so it can receive non-profit funds, own property and be awarded a guardian.  Laywer Eberhart Theuer said the chimp “is a person and has basic legal rights… the right to life, the right to not be tortured, the right to freedom…”  And Paula Stibbe, an English teacher in Vienna, commented about the chimp, “He can be very playful but also thoughtful….Being with him is like playing with someone who can’t talk.”  The case could set a global legal precedent. 

I’m not making this up.

Well, recently on the show Planet Earth I saw documented (on film) that chimpanzees regulary kill and eat each other in the wild.  So if the activists are successful I guess they’re going to have to round up all the chimps in the wild in Africa and throw them in jail. 

And who’s going to pay for that?

All Ten

So a while back I was surfing the internet and I came across a video of comedian Stephen Colbert interviewing congressman Lynn Westmoreland.  Westmoreland co-sponsored a bill to post the Ten Commandments in the House and Senate chambers and Stephen was asking him about it. 

At one point Colbert asked Westmoreland if he could name the Ten Commandments.  Westmoreland was shocked.  He could only think of three before he said, no, he couldn’t name all ten Commandments.

The video is pretty funny.  You can see it at:
http://www.colbertondemand.com/videos/The_Colbert_Report/Stephen_Colbert_vs_
Congressman_Lynn_Westmoreland__Aired_June__14__2006.

So after I saw the video I started to ask myself; could I name all Ten Commandments?  I could only think of seven or eight.  So I went back and found them in Exodus 20 and they totally came alive to me.  Jalene and I started keeping the sabbath and we went through a mini revival.  I started relaxing again after literally years of living on the edge.  Now Sunday’s my favorite day of the week.

1.  No god’s before Him.  I will not allow anything to be bigger in my life than He is, which includes my concerns about money and eventually finding an affordable home in the Maple Valley area.

2.  No idols in my life, including (as my wife points out) my 2003 Honda coupe and my Fender bass guitar.

3.  I will not take His name as powerless and ineffectual in my life.  The name of Jesus is powerful, and my God is more than able to move and work in my life.

4.  I will honor the sabbath.  Another cool thing is that as I started to relax and let go of stress I became more effective in my program manager position at Microsoft.  I was able to start looking at issues differently and I thought of a fix to a code issue that had been dogging the test lab for five months.  It just came to me.

5.  I will honor my mother and father.  I’ve been blessed to have both sets (Jalene and mine) be friends and counselors.

6.  I will not murder.  Even in my heart as far as cutting off people I disagree with.  How do I react when I hear Ted Kennedy speaking?

7.  I will not commit adultery.  With my eyes or with my heart. 

8.  I will not steal, which includes how I spend my time at work.

9.  I will not bear false witness.  And as Jalene reminds me, this includes how I talk about myself.  I am not a dork, or a ding dong.  And I’m not an idiot for failing to buy a house ten years ago (when I was busy serving at my church).

10.  I will not covet, especially when I have prospered in so many ways:  My beautiful and amazing wife; friends who are incredible; a warm home with internet, cable TV and lots of food; a great car; a custom bass, etc.  I have truly been blessed.

A letter about my testimony, some of my background, and a guy named Lonnie Frisbee

Hey Everyone, 

Part of my testimony is that I radically met the Lord when I was 16 years old and my life was changed forever.  Some of that came from an experience I had being baptized into the Holy Spirit under the ministry of a man named Lonnie Frisbee.  Lonnie was arguably the single most influential person in the Jesus Movement of the 1970’s.  He was also a very controversial figure, and died of AIDs in 1993. 

I found a message thread on MySpace that mentioned Lonnie and was written by a blogger named Chad Carter.  Chad was asking for information about Lonnie.  I wrote Chad back and told him about my interactions with Lonnie, and what my perspective is on the controversy surrounding Lonnie’s life.

After I wrote the letter I realized that very few people besides my closest friends are familiar with the early stages of my Christianity, and I thought it might be fascinating for some of you to read the letter I wrote.  Chad has graciously allowed me to post it here in it’s entirety. 

————————-

Hey Chad,

The man who led me to the Lord was named David Lee.  He had another friend in Western Washington who was close to Lonnie, Jon Johanson.  David was my youth pastor in early high school and knew Jesus.  That was part of what led me to the Lord; I’d grown up Catholic and it blew my mind that just a regular guy could know Jesus.  I recognized that and I wanted it.  One week we took communion and I prayed, “Lord, I want to give You my life and I want you to give me Your life for me instead.”  The next week Lonnie came and spoke to our youth group.  Several miracles happened that night.  One girl was imminently planning suicide (none of us knew that) and Lonnie spoke about it; pretty much addressed her directly.  She lived.  Another guy was torn up with guilt because his girlfriend had died in a car crash a year earlier when he was driving.   Lonnie called the guy out and spoke to the situation directly.  No way he could have known.  The guy wasn’t a regular at our group and he showed up on a lark.  When Lonnie spoke that night he would look at me and it was like he was looking right through me.  For the first time I realized the full weight of my sin.  Afterwards he invited people to stay for prayer and I was like, “yeah”.  About ten of us stayed.  Several of us were in a circle and Lonnie was going, “Some of you I feel are further from the Lord, and some I feel are questioning, and some…” and as he spoke he was looking at different people and I just knew inside that he was telling them right where they were at with the Lord.  And I thought, oh man, what’s he going to say when he gets to me.  He could have said, “And you young man, you’re going straight to hell for your sin” and I would have accepted it because I was so convicted.  But instead he looked me in the eye and said, “But some of you are a bit closer to the Lord.  You.  When I look at you I see Jesus.  Do you know Jesus?”  And I said, yes.  Because at that moment I did.  Because Jesus saw all the ugly things I had ever done and He still loved and accepted me.  Later that night during prayer I was filled with the Holy Spirit, just shaking and mumbling; it was like I could physically feel the presence of God, and I was letting it flow but I wasn’t out of control and it wasn’t subverting my will.  I was speaking in other languages, and I’d never even heard of such a thing or even of being filled with the Holy Spirit.  I was aware that I must have looked like a total freak to everyone in the room but I didn’t care because I was enjoying such sweet connection with the Father.  It was incredible.  Of course the event rocked my high school.  It was the talk of the student body for days.  People couldn’t believe that I was changed (I’ve always been a strong character; outgoing and known by most people wherever I go) and Jesus didn’t alter who I was; He saved who I was.  I walked powerfully with God for two or three years after that.

Dave Lee had a hard time being the youth pastor.  He thought the Presbyterian church we attended was pretty apostate.  He and Jon Johanson would say things like, “Who are pastors to think they have the word of the Lord?  Doesn’t scripture say when you come together two or three should speak and all should weigh what was said?”  Or, “Most churches in America today are apostate”.  And he would bad mouth the pastor to us youth.  Eventually he left that church and wound up at my new church.  The week after I met the Lord I started going to a pentecostal church across town (I’m still there after 22 years and involved in worship team, leadership team and intercessory prayer).  Dave stayed at the church for a year or so but had some questionable business dealings with another church memember and eventually blew out of town.  Two years later Dave and Jon Johanson went on a ministry trip in which they traveled to several churches independently.  At one of the churches, Dave met a 20 year old gal who he was convinced was the woman he was really supposed to marry (Dave was like 40 at the time).  He left his wife and family and the last I heard, several years ago, he was living with someone completely different in Wenatchee.  His family was devastated; especially his son.  I believe part of the reason this happened to David was because he always refused to be planted in a local church.  He didn’t walk with other believers besides seeing others like Jon every once in a while and talking about how cool the Lord is and how lost everyone in the church is these days.

A year after that I sat at the table with Jon and his wife at a restaurant and they asked me for help and said their marriage was failing and they didn’t know what to do.  I was 22 years old at the time!  I didn’t know what to say or do (I wish they’d have asked me now!)  The fact that I was the only one for them to turn to (I saw them once a year or so and they always associated me with Lonnie) speaks volumes to how isolated they were from other fellowship.

Around the time Dave was having problems, and a year before Jon and his wife sat at the table with me, I got an opportunity to travel to California and stay in the same house with Lonnie for a month.  I had just left college…

OK, a little bit of background.  I was on fire for the Lord all through late high school, and went to Washington State University full of zeal and ready to win the college for Jesus.  But, I didn’t really plug into any of the chruches or campus ministries and I just kind of floated around the different Christian fellowships.  I thought I was God’s gift to the college and didn’t need to be planted in any one group.  I got a girlfreind at the time and we were both just sure it was God’s will for us to be together and wouldn’t this all be great, going to school and winning the college for Christ?  My girlfriend and I started spending all sorts of time alone together, even at night.  And I thought, hey, I can handle this.  And the next thing I knew we’d fallen into sexual sin together.  I was devastated.  I couldn’t forgive myself.  I spent the next two years eating gravel, and the Lord had to sovereignly, slowly and gently let me know He still loved me and His grace still covered me, even when I thought I’d known better.  I was fallen away basically for most of 88′ and half of 89′.  Near the end of 89′ I still had a lot of stuff to work out, but I was back solid with the Lord again, and really felt I should look up Lonnie.

I called the guy whose house Lonnie was staying in, John Ruttkay, and John talked about possible ministry opportunities in Brazil and South Africa.  I could work for John’s construction outfit in the mean time.  So with that I loaded up my 76 Chrysler Cordoba (man I loved that car!) and headed down.  I stayed down there for about a month and then a real job opportunity ended up opening for me in Seattle.  We all (John, Lonnie and myself) agreed I should pursue it so I wound up coming back north.

My month in California was really more mundane than anything.  Daytimes I’d help John and night times we’d all watch TV.  (There were a couple of other guys staying there as well, one who worked for John and also Lonnie’s brother for a while.) 

I remember Lonnie painting.  He loved to do artwork and he was working on a portrait of the girl from Afghanistan on that famous National Geographic magazine cover from.. 1984?  1985?  He painted her very well and then used gold leaf to form a halo around her.  He loved gold leaf.

I remember Lonnie was very hurt because at some point a couple of years previously all of his earthly belongings (books, letters, paintings and memorabilia) were at a friend’s house, and the “friend” had burned everything because he’d felt like God had told him to do that.  That was messed up.  Lonnie was really wounded by that.

I remember watching the news and a story about Jimmy Baker came on.  It showed Jimmy in prison.  Lonnie was like, “The Lord still loves that man, and He’s still going to use him!”

I remember going to a farmers market in southern San Diego (John’s house was in Poway) and Lonnie talking about all the different kinds of stuff you could by.  We got a lot of fruit and then went back to the house and made Sangria for the night.  It was great stuff. 

I remember one time Lonnie borrowed my hand brush shaving kit.  It was a gift from when I graduated from high school.  I didn’t know Lonnie had AIDS at the time, but for some reason I never used the brush, soap and razor again.  I ended up just throwing them out.

Easter Sunday came near the end of my time down there and all of us ended up making a quick fifteen minute cameo in the foyer of Anaheim Vineyard, and then going to Set Free church in Anaheim.  Lonnie loved Set Free church.  While we were at the Vineyard I’d made a comment about being cold in the foyer and Lonnie was like, “Hah!  He think’s it’s cold in this building!”  (Kind of like Lonnie was implying the Vineyard was a cold organization.) 

Before I left to come back home Lonnie asked me to plant corn in his garden.  No idea why.  It ended up being a really busy time before I had to fly back to Seattle (I’d ended up selling my Cordoba when I was down there… it was a heart break) but for some reason I really wanted to get that corn planted.  I think it was symbolic more than anything.  The last two hours before I was driven to the airport I spent furiously getting the corn planted. 

I didn’t talk to Lonnie again after that time.  I found out from Jon Johanson in 94′ that Lonnie had died.  I’d gotten totally out of touch with that circle of people.  That was when I found out from Jon the history of Lonnie with Costa Mesa and Anaheim.

Even though Lonnie liked the Set Free church, Lonnie steered clear of any church membership or commitment.  I found out later from Jon that Connie (Lonnie’s wife in the 70’s) had taken offense when they were at Calvary Chapel because they were living on a pittance and the church was depositing literally thousands of dollars after every service Lonnie preached at.  That, the shock of going from the Jesus movement to the ultra-controlling Shepherding movement, losing Connie to an affair with another pastor, then the seeming rejection when he came back to Chuck at Costa Mesa and wanted to minister but Chuck wanted him to take a sabbatical and just work in the bookstore for a season… it all came together I think to produce the unwillingness to ever really be devoted to a corporate body again.

Lonnie was a man of God, and a prophet.  And it was hard watching men close to me be devastated in their personal lives (myself included) by the distance from the organized church which seemed to come from association with Lonnie.

In 1990 I was replanted in my church, and have faithfully attended and served there ever since.  I don’t think churches are the end-all, be-all of the Body of Christ on earth.  And I recognized that they are ususally secular entities as well as spiritual (with a secretary, treasurer, board of trustees etc.)  But they are a great tool for ‘not forsaking the assembling together of the bretheren’ (Heb 10:25)

Hey, thanks for asking about all this.  It’s good to write these things out and get them on paper.  Let me know if you have any other questions.

Bless you man,

Ted Cooke

The Hardest Cup of Coffee

So I woke up the other morning and tried to make myself a cup of coffee.  I went through all the motions of getting the coffee maker ready, fired it off, and went to sit down at my computer. 

A few moments went by and I heard the “beep, beep, beep” of the coffee maker.  I went over to pour myself a cup of coffee.  It was only hot water.  I’d forgotten to put in the grounds.

OK, no problem.  So I emptied the carafe, put in coffee grounds, and turned the coffee maker back on.  Then I went back and sat at my computer for a while.  “Beep, beep, beep.”  I went over to the coffee maker.  Empty.  I’d forgotten to add more water!

 OK, so fine.  I poured in more water and then went back to sit at my computer and waited.  A few moments went by.  Nothing.  I had forgotten to turn the coffee maker on!

(I finally did get it right on the fourth try.  I can only imagine how much I needed the coffee!)

Ted’s conspiracy theory

There is only one conspiracy theory that I have ever thought really might be true.  And I think I’m the originator.

 My conspiracy theory is that in the 50’s and 60’s the KGB seeded socialists and secular progressives throughout American higher education facilities in a long-term effort to weaken American society from within, or at least make it conform more closely to the society of the Soviet Union.

Think about it.  Socialism, inexplainable hostility towards Judeo-Christian expression, leftist ideology, and the sense that America is responsible for everything that’s wrong in the world - it’s all right there on our campuses. 

My conspiracy theory is probably not correct since the same naturalistic fallacy that spawned the Soviet Union has been at work in many intellectual circles for decades.

But it’s still fun to speculate.

The world’s ugliest car

I remembered seeing a story on Evening Magazine about the ugliest car in the world.  My co-workers didn’t believe me so I found the link.  It was called the Aurora and was designed in the 50’s by a Roman Catholic preist to be the safest car in the world.  It broke down 15 times on the way to it’s debut party.  It cost $30,000 in 1950 dollars.  It’s incredible.

A poem for my wife

Jalene,

Less than one in ten-thousand is so lucky to find
A mate from the Father, a gift Divine
A lifetime of dreaming, of wanting the start
Of storing up treasure in heaven and heart

Our paths crossed quite often, but the Father had planned
A joyous unveiling He held in His hand
So the broken road ended, and soon I had found
With a smile and a wave, my world turned upside down

From the snows of Deer Lake to the May Valley rains
To the long road to Arizona, and my father’s death’s pain
To the deserts of Castle Dome and Joshua Tree
We were holding each other; I lifted you, you lifted me

Then you said in your letter, and I believe in my heart
What the Lord’s put together, let no man tear apart
You said you always want to be by my side
So I’m thanking you now for being my wife

I love you honey,

Ted

The Holidays!

There’s a huge windstorm going on right now and I’m surprised the power hasn’t been knocked out.  We woke up and the trailer was rocking from the huge initial blast of wind when the storm showed up.  Jalene was concerned about the huge amount of wind and lightning but I got up to go out on the porch and watch it.  In the ten minutes it took me to get squared away and out on the porch most of the wind blew past.  But the power is still flickering a little every now and then.

OK, bring you up to speed on what’s been happening with Ted and Jalene.  It’s been an incredibly busy fall.  The band deciced to go into the studio to record a demo.  Shortly after the decision was made I found out that with one week’s notice I could get into a very desirable class for Project Management to get my first certification.  I jumped at the opportunity.  And so November became the month of recording, being in class every Saturday and Sunday, and traveling to Spokane for Thanksgiving with the Well’s side of the family.  Wow!  Talk about being slammed.

The class finally got over last weekend and we were able to unwind Sunday night hanging out with the Crafts and playing Spades.  Gideon is the greatest.  He’s a little bundle of joy and energy.  The cards were entertaining, and so was watching Almost Live re-runs with Jim.  But for sheer entertainment you can’t touch a 9-month old.  It was a great time.

I got the tree up a couple of weeks ago.  Jalene let me pick out these big beautiful lights with LEDs and the purest color you’ve ever seen.  Then we picked up a tree and put it up in the living room.  I put on the lights and then we pulled out Jalene’s boxes of Christmast decorations..  (I love being married; Christmas decorations take care of themselves.)  Together we decorated the tree and it turned out so classy!  Jalene is totally on it.  She had gold french horns, violins, musical notes, crystal violas, angels, little trees… and this incredible ribbon she wound to and fro through the tree.  It looks so good!  The only problem is the tree decorations are now a little too classy for the lights!  Next year I’ll experiment with all white and red small type lights, or maybe those little flower shaped ones (the small light with the plastic thingy around it…)

Marriage is beautiful.  A lot of adjustment but a great idea on God’s part.  The other day I was cuddling Jalene and I went to quote Proverbs 5:19.   I was trying to say, “A loving doe, a graceful fawn… may you always be captivated by her love”  (I don’t even think “doe” and “fawn” are the words Solomon uses, but that’s what I was shooting for.)  The words came out, “Honey, you’re a loving foe and a graceful don…”  I immediately caught myself and we both busted up laughing. 

A long awaited story…

It’s 6:15 on a Sunday morning and in 20 or 30 minutes I’ll need to start getting ready for church.  I play bass on Sundays.  I sit here eating a home-cooked cinnamon roll that is perhaps one of the finest I have ever eaten.  (I now know the secret to Cinnabons - a little cream cheese melted into the frosting along with the confectioner’s sugar).  The house is quiet- Jalene is sleeping in.  And as I enjoy the peace of the moment I’m taking a moment to reflect on all that has happened in the past year.

Wow.  One year ago today, October 22nd 2005, was my first date with Jalene. 

We met a week before that on a Sunday evening.  Todd Fisher was having a homegroup at his house and before the meeting he looked at me and said, “OK, Teddy, you have to ride it.”  I said, “Sure”, not having any idea what he was talking about.  It turned out to be a small omni dune buggy he had in his garage.  Todd’s property is large and split level; on the lower half is a single-wide trailer he rents out to friends.  As I crested the hill over the lower half of the property I paused from my driving to wave at a beautiful woman standing on the porch of the trailer.  I sped down the hill and started to do donuts on the lower property.  The traction was too strong on the tires and during a tight turn the vehicle flipped over.  The engine stalled and all I could hear was the sound of laughter- my laughter, the laughter of the guys overlooking the hill, and the laughter of this beautiful upside-down girl on the porch of this now upside-down trailer.  The guys flipped me over and I continued to ride for a few minutes and then it was time for the next guy to ride.  Back at the top of the hill I asked Todd, “Who is that girl that was on the porch of the trailer?  Do I know her from somewhere?”  Todd grabbed me and walked me down to meet Jalene.  We talked for about fifteen minutes and I ended up asking her out for coffee. 

I remember struggling inside while Jalene and I were talking on the porch, thinking maybe I should wait to ask her out later.  See if I could angle some group events and get Todd to invite here along.  Try to get to know her slowly over time (that’s literally what I started debating in my mind as we were talking on the porch!)  But in the end it ended up being a direct, ”Hey, would you like to go out for coffee sometime?”  I’m soooooo glad I was up front with her.  I’m so glad I didn’t try to do the clandestine I’ll-act-like-a-brother-and-a-friend-to-her thing.  I did end up acting like a brother and a friend.  But right from the start there was nothing veiled or surreptitious about my intentions.

She said yes to coffee but made me get the phone number from Todd because she trusts Todd and if I was a creep he wouldn’t have given it to me.  So I got the number but decided to wait a few days to call her.

 I was going to call Thursday but she beat me to the punch.  Around noon Jalene sent me an email.  It turns out Todd forwarded her an email about my band’s website and she got my email address from that.  The message was titled, “Jalene says Hi!” and was a quick note to say it was nice to meet me the previous Sunday and she was looking forward to going out for coffee.  She included a cute picture of herself in the email. 

 

I called her immediately and set up the date for Saturday at 2:00.

And so, a year ago today I had my first date, coffee and square dancing, with a beautiful and wonderful woman who dropped into my life out of nowhere and went on to become my loving and amazing wife.

It’s now 6:50 and I need to make some more coffee, jump in the shower and get ready for the rest of my morning.  Man, life is good.

Wedding and Honeymoon

Here are some pic’s of the Wedding and Honeymoon:

Jalene and I the day of the wedding behind the church near the reception area. She looked so beautiful.

This is us running the gauntlet to the getaway car. There’s still bird seed in my car from when we switched over from the geataway vehicle to the Honda.

We were blessed to get to borrow a 29′ Ford pickup with a Chevy 327 as the getaway car. The engine came from a 60’s Corvette. It performed flawlessly. Man that’s a fast truck.

This is a picture of us on the first day of the honeymoon. We stayed at a hotel in Tacoma on Commencement bay near the RAM Brewery. It was so beautiful. During the day we went to the Pt. Defaince Zoo and Aquarium (above).

I took a picture one night of the view from our hotel room. It looks like a post card. We stayed at the ResortQuest Islander in Kapaa on Kauai and we loved it.

This is a picture of us at the view point overlooking the Waimea Canyon. They call it the Grand Canyon of the Pacific and it was amazing. You can’t beging to catch a sense of the scale by looking at our picture. The canyon is HUGE.

One morning at breakfast I threw a piece of pop-tart to one of the two birds on the awning below me and instantly about 30 birds flocked to the awning from all around the hotel. It was amazing. I thought it was great. Jalene thought it was like having a bunch of birds invade our breakfast.

These guys are in Kapaa and they had great burgers. I love the small print on their sign.

We went to a Luau in the Wailua River Valley near the Fern Grotto. They roast an entire pig by making a fire on volcanic rocks, heating them up, then pulling out the fire and putting in the pig, wrapped in bannana fronds and covered with a tarp and earth. The heat stored in the rocks is so intense they could roast several pigs in a row if they wanted to. It tasted so incredible.

On the South side of Kauai is a private beach near Poipu and it was the most spectacular spot we went to on the island. For some reason the waves here were three times larger than anywhere else on the island. Twenty footers would tumble through each other a quarter of a mile off the coast. It was insanely cool.

Here is a picture of us at a waterfall overlooking the beautiful Wailua River Valley