Randomness, randomness, it's what I long for

My friend Guy tagged me the other day. Apparently he did this in response to being tagged by his sister. I'm not sure who she was tagged by. My understanding is that now I'm supposed to post five random facts about myself. So, here goes:

1. I had kidney stones the day after my 21st birthday. I had just moved into a trailer - sadly, not a double-wide - and woke up with the most excruciating pain. I couldn't centralize the pain, so I was trying to crack my back and go to the bathroom - not at the same time - but nothing helped. When I started to have dry heaves, I thought I should go to the hospital, and stones were the culprit. So when Marcy finally gives birth, I can sort of empathize.
2. I have had several interesting experiences getting pulled over by police officers. When I was in junior college I was pulled over while riding my ten-speed because I didn't have lights, a bell, or a horn. I was once pulled over for drunk driving, which was unique since I have never had an alcoholic beverage. It seems I was a little tired and was swerving a bit. And while I was living in Toledo I got pulled over twice in a matter of two weeks...while walking! I still can't figure that one out.
3. Since Guy posted something about caffeine, I might as well, too. I, unlike Guy, love coffee! I have it every morning, and I get excited when I am in an area that has a Starbucks. But the reason I drink coffee is somewhat strange. In my dorm at Asbury we had a free table, which meant that if you put something on the table - books, food, whatever - it was free for the taking. One day, my friend Big Al Martin left a four-cup coffee maker on the table, and I thought, "Hmm, I could drink coffee." The rest is history.
4. I once turned down Indians playoff tickets - maybe even World Series - because I was convinced that I was a jinx. Prior to that, I went to one Browns playoff game that they lost due to a number of questionable calls by the officials, and later, I was at the game in which Michael Jordan hit "The Shot." You can see why I felt the way I did. But since Cleveland has still not won a championship, maybe there's a deeper curse than one simply attached to my attendance.
5. The titles of my top three favorite movies of all time involve death in some way, shape, or form. They are, in no particular order: Rosencrantz & Guildenstern are Dead, To Kill a Mockingbird, and Evil Dead 2. I'm not exactly sure what that says about me. I'll let you draw your own conclusions.

Now don't you feel more complete as an individual now that you have this information about me? I know I feel like a giant weight has been lifted...

Christmas Present Idea

Since Christmas is right around the corner, it makes me think about what might be cool to get for Christmas...while the Domino's guy couch would be pretty sweet to get, I may have found something better...there was a kid in my neighborhood while I was growing up that had a treehouse, but it was nothing like this...this one has a clubhouse, tower, and fort...it has a rope bridge and a straight bridge...it has a rock-climbing wall, fire pole, slide, and sandbox...and the best part, it has a sliding peephole in the front door so you can see if anyone is sneaking up on you...and all this for only $114,530.00...what a deal!...I'm not sure how it will fit under my tree, but I'm sure Santa will find a way...

And if that doesn't happen, just some cold hard cash for a laptop would be acceptable...

Baby Boy Fitz Is Growing Up

So the doctors tell us that the boy is looking good, that he has a beautiful heart, and that he has long fingers and toes (wide receiver? power forward? pianist?)...the first thing I noticed was that he doesn't look like a gummi bear anymore; he actually looks like a human being!...and because of his size and progression, they moved his due date up to April 1st...yes, that is April Fool's Day...this boy is in trouble from his dad if he is born on that day...he'll never hear the end of it...

Prayer Retreat

A couple of weekends ago, I took some of our youth on a prayer retreat to the YMCA Camp Lakewood in Potosi, MO...man, what a good weekend!...the centerpiece of the weekend was a prayer labyrinth that we set up for them, thanks in large part to John, Joyce, Barry, Mandi, Carrie, and Kim...it was cool to watch the students be affected in so many different ways, from letting go of their troubles, to recognizing their selfishness, to struggling with trying to forgive people that had hurt them...it was also fun getting to know some more students, including one that had never come to our youth group before...it was like he had been coming for years - much fun!...anyway, just thought I'd give you a brief update (especially since Jory gave me a hard time for not blogging about it yet)...oh, and by the way, if you see Jen or Brittney, tell them thanks from me for the abusive lip sync they directed at me :-)...it was pretty funny...

If you want to see what a labyrinth is like, check out this online version...

Youth Specialties

I'm writing this from the National Youth Workers Convention that Youth Specialties puts on every year...I'm in Nashville, specifically, standing at the digital lounge that they set up for such souls such as me that are unfortunate enough to not have their own laptop...I am here with 7,500 other youth workers from across the country and world, the biggest convention they have ever done...it's pretty amazing!...YS does such a top-notch job with this gig, and it's gets beter every year...each day has a couple of general sessions in the Gaylord Entertainment Center that feature some comedian or skit group (including The Skit Guys!), worship (which has been led up to this point by the David Crowder Band - WOW!!!), and a main speaker...there are also tons of seminars to chose from each day, but if you don't feel like going to one, you don't (like right now)...anyway, it's a load of fun, very renewing to my spirit, and it's good to connect with friends and family...and to let myself go like I have during the worship sessions just feels good...maybe I will have pictures to show you in the future...we'll see...just wanted to get y'all caught up...

Leaves...and other stuff

I love autumn...it is by far my favorite season...the cooler air is invigorating...Halloween, my favorite holiday, is in autumn...the scent and the visual display of the changing leaves is one of my most favoritest things ever...football season is in full-swing which, for a Browns fan, should be a depressing thing, but it still makes me happy...I love autumn...

But as much as I love the changing leaves, one thing I don't like is the fact that they actually fall from the tree, forcing me to remove them from my yard...this involves much raking, especially since our yard is longish...fortunately, on Monday, when I started raking, my 93 year-old next door neighbor popped his head out his door and asked me if I wanted to use his leaf-blower...I knew I liked Harley...

As I raked and blew the leaves, I started thinking about how so many people like spring as their favorite season...a good number of them seem to like that spring represents new life, starting over...but what about fall?...is it only about death and dying?...and if so, is that such a bad thing?...Jesus told us that we need to die to ourselves and to our desires...in order to receive the new life he offers, we need to die to our selfishness, and our greed, and our lust, and our idolatry, and our (fill in your vice here)...we need to let go of those leaves on a daily basis before we can hope to have new life and godly desires take their places...and maybe the coolest part is that we don't have to rake them up - it's taken care of...I love autumn...

A couple of other notes:

• We're having a boy...just thought you'd like to know
• What better way to screw up a kid for life than how UNICEF recently chose to advertise fundraising efforts for ex-child soldiers in Africa
• I still think Bud Selig is a horrible Commissioner of Major League Baseball and that my cousin's husband Stephan is the perfect choice to replace him, but I like what Selig got done on the issue of steroids: 50 games for a first offense, 100 for the second, and lifetime ban for a third
• Can't wait for this weekend...I am going to Nashville for the Youth Specialties National Youth Workers Convention...I'll get to hear great speakers and check out lots of seminars, I'll get to hear David Crowder and Chris Tomlin, and I'll get to hang out with my cousin Scott and lots of friends
• How in the HECK did Arrested Development get cancelled?!?...sign this petition if you're ticked off like me...now, if Prison Break goes anywhere, I might just get rid of my TV...not really
  
• Go Lebron James!
  

Vacation Update, Final Report

OK, the two or three of you that actually read my blog are probably getting sick of hearing about my vacation...fortunately for you, this will be my last report on it (there was much rejoicing - yay...)...we took a couple of days while we were away to get away by ourselves to go up to Victoria, British Columbia (that's in Canada, they tell me)...we had to take a couple of ferries to get there, which was kind of cool, especially the first one because it was so darn foggy that it felt like a cool horror movie...I half expected something to jump out of the fog at us with a machete or something...when we finally got there, we were verbally assaulted by the customs agent at the dock...OK, that is probably an overstatement, but he was very good at his job - very intimidating...he started firing questions at me, and when he found out that we were driving a car that neither of us owned - it belonged to Amber - we thought he was going to stop us right then and there...he wanted to see a letter from Amber saying we could use her car, which we didn't have...he explained that, as far as he was concerned, the car could be stolen...but he ended up letting us go anyway, maybe because I told him I was a youth pastor (I knew that would come in handy someday)...Victoria is a very nice city...it felt more European than the US does (not that I've ever been to Europe) and had a diverse population, or at least a diverse cross-section of visitors...we saw a lot of Japanese tourists, heard countless varieties of accents, and saw many Mediterranean restaurants...we stayed at the English Inn and Resort, which we got a great deal on through Hotels.com...here you can see our room:


You have already read about our food excursions in Victoria...we didn't only eat while there - really!...we also did a couple of fun things:

Butchart Gardens
These gardens are one of the big things to do while in Victoria...what started as a quarry site, Jennie Butchart turned into a series of beautiful gardens, starting in the early 20th century...they are a national hitorical site now, and well-deserved...while not everything was in full-bloom, thanks to us visiting in the fall, it was still quite stunning...the highlight was turning a corner and seeing the sunken garden spread out below us...it was quite a site!...the Japanese garden was also very beautiful...I can't imagine the amount of work that goes into the upkeep of the gardens...I have a hard time just mowing my lawn!...


Craigdarroch Castle
This was the other big thing we did while in Victoria...it is a castle built in the late 1800s by a wealthy coal guy, Robert Dunsmuir...the central focus of the castle is the staircase, which rises 87 steps up through the center of the castle...when you walk in, they make you look up the center of the staircase (which, by the way, is much better than looking down - queasy!)...the self-guided tour takes you through the 20,000 square feet of space and allows you to see how the rooms were decorated back in the day...the thing that stood out to me was the crazy amount of wood that was used in everything...the tour guide told us that five freight cars full of wood were used to build the inside of the house...that's a lot of wood!...while Butchart Gardens were a 30-minute drive from downtown, you could walk to Craigdarroch Castle from the harbour...do it, if you go...

Empress Hotel
This is a shwanky hotel, right on the harbour...we would have stayed here, but I'm not Bill Gates...we were going to do high tea here, but we couldn't afford it, and I don't own the right clothes...but at least we walked through it, and looked down our nose at the rich people...this is a pic of the Empress from the ferry...

A couple other observations about Victoria:

• There was lots of foot and bike and scooter traffic all the time, day and night...Marcy's comment was, "Does anyone work around here?"
• The city mostly shuts down at around 6pm...there are many cool stores in the downtown area, but if you want to shop after dinner, good luck finding anything open...this was surprising for such a tourist town...
• Smart cars...you thought the Mini Coopers were small...we saw many of these around town...they probably get great gas mileage, if they even use gas...wish I had one...when I wasn't using it, I could carry it around in my pocket...wonder if they'll be in the US soon...

That's enough of my vacation for you...thank you for putting up with the tedium...but if you ever head up to this area, you can thank me...

Vacation Update, Part 3

OK, now that you have digested what all we ate (nice play on words, eh?) while in the great northwest - or southwest, if you're looking at the Canada part of our trip - what did we do besides eat, you ask?...that's a fine question, so here you go:

The Underground Tour
If you go to Seattle, I highly recommend this tour...it is a history of Seattle told by some creative storytellers (if you can, request Gael as your guide - she is the poster child for ADD, and hilarious), but it isn't your everyday history lesson...they get into more of the seedy side of the history that maybe the visitor's bureau would shy away from...for example, the city was originally built lower that it is currently (that's why the tour is "underground"), but had to be built up, because every time the tide came in, it would wash throughout the city everything that was in everyone's outhouses...or, that much of the revenue in the city's early days came from taxing the "sewers" (code word for prostitutes)...it was very interesting, and very fun...you'll need to set aside about an hour and a half of your time...

Pike Place Market
This is an outdoor (under tents) market down on the waterfront...notable items were the abundance of flowers (and cheap!) and the throwing of fish...that's what the market is famous for...apparently, when you choose a fish from the ice up front, they pitch it to the back where it is wrapped and weighed, with lots of shouting back and forth...interesting...

Starbucks
Yep, the original one was here at the Market...'nuff said...

Microsoft
Since Amber & Jeff both work at Microsoft, we got to go there...it's huge and sprawling...we went to the Microsoft store and loaded up on software for the church (they have ridiculous deals there)...plus, I got to play the new Xbox 360...I was King Kong that kept getting mauled by a T-Rex (OK, so I'm no good at video games)...


Space Needle
You can't go to Seattle and not experience this...it was somewhat cloudy when we finally go to go up, but we could still make out the faint image of Mount Ranier in the distance...I was surprised to discover that the observation deck was only 100' higher than the tallest roller coaster at Cedar Point, the Top Thrill Dragster (man, I need to ride that coaster!)...

Without having my notebook in front of me, that sort of exhausts what I can remember about the entertainment options we experienced...if I come up with more, you will probably read about them here...boy, I hope you people are more creative with your comments this time around...

Vacation Update, Part 2

What Not to Eat...and What to Eat:
As you may have noticed from the above post, food has been a central focus of our trip...here are the yummy and the icky:

First Dinner - OK, so I forgot the name of the Tex-Mex place we ate the first night, but man, was it tasty!...I had some kind of enchilada with chicken and chorizo...I thought I was going to burst I was so full...














First Breakfast - we had breakfast at Lowell's at Pike Place Market...Marcy and I each ordered something so we could split each...big mistake...we should have gotten one thing and split it...the blueberry pancakes I got - three of them - were the size of hubcaps...isn't gluttony one of the seven deadly sins?...

Second Dinner - forgot the name of that one, too, but we got Thai take-out...had a spicy Pad Thai...yum!...again, thought I was going to die I was so full...

Pagliacci's - outstanding Italian food in Victoria...our first night there, we were standing outside the restaurant, and a woman walked past us, into the restaurant, and said, "It's fabulous!"...that was all we needed to hear...she wasn't kidding - it was great!...we had linguine with a red sauce, sausage, and pepper, but I think the highlight of the meal was the bread - WOW!...

Rosemeade Dining Room - this is the shwanky restaurant in the English Inn & Resort where we stayed...the only reason we could afford to eat there was because we got a voucher with our room...Marcy got crepes with granola and a berry sauce; I got eggs Benedict and hash browns - muy yummy!...

Wharfside Eatery - ate there for lunch in Victoria one day...the starter we got was very good, fries with a gorgonzola cream sauce...the pizza we got - four cheese with basil and tomatoes - was gross...I've had pizza with lots of cheese before, but this was overwhelming...four cheeses, all of which were strong - I don't recommend it...

The Garlic Rose - this is a Mediterranean seafood restaurant right across from the Wharfside where we ate dinner that same night...it was much better as far as I was concerned, but Marcy didn't really dig it...nor did she dig my garlicy breath the rest of the night :-)...

Starbucks - a trip up here wouldn't be complete without a mention of Starbucks...yes, I have had my share of Starbucks, and it's been wonderful...and being able to drink coffee poured at the original Starbucks was truly a treat...here's a pic...

Vacation Update

So, we're in the great northwest and having a great time...by the time it's all said and done, I will have gained quite a few pounds...but hey, what are vacations for, right?...some highlights and not-so-highlights:

Why you should never fly with an airline that has gone bankrupt:
We flew to Seattle on Northwest Airlines...not a great choice...because they are doing so poorly financially, we had to pay to get snacks on the flight between Minneapolis and Seattle...no joke, there was no bag with three pretzels or five peanuts to munch on during our 3 1/2 hour flight...we had the choice of paying a buck for a bag of trail mix, or three bucks for a snack pack...we chose the snack pack that included Ritz Chips, some dried fruit mix, a beef stick, chocolate Giant Goldfish, and some nasty cheese sauce...I think we'll be sneaking snacks on the plane for the ride home like we do at the movie theatre (crud! Was that out loud?!?)...

Amber & Jeff:
This is why we chose to come to Seattle...Amber, Marcy's sister, just married Jeff at the beginning of September, so we decided that it would be fun to see where they live and visit with them as they start their life together...it has been fun!...unfortunately, we haven't gotten to see their house yet, as they are waiting to move into it...instead, we are staying at their temporary corporate housing that Microsoft has for them...it's a pretty nice place, except for the fact that it takes a couple of days to do a load of laundry - literally...but we have had fun with them tooling around the city, getting rained on together, and eating entirely too much food...tomorrow we get to see their house, where they work - Microsoft (she works for the XBox division, and he works for MSN) - and eat more food...

More details tomorrow...time to go to bed now - after I get the popcorn shucks out of my teeth...

Fantasy Basketball

Just did my fantasy basketball draft with some friends...didn't get Lebron like I wanted (stupid Trey!), but here's who I did get, in the order they were drafted - your thoughts are welcome:

Tracy McGrady - F/G
Elton Brand - F
Mike Bibby - G
Rasheed Wallace - F/C
Carlos Boozer - F (I'm really unhappy with this because of what he did to the Cavs)
Kurt Thomas - C/F
Jamaal Tinsley - G
Jason Terry - G
Antonio Daniels - G
Wally Szczerbiak - F
Michael Finley - G/F
Mehmet Okur - C
Raef LaFrentz - F/C

This is my first foray in fantasy basketball - I've done baseball and football before...we'll see how it goes...

Seattle, and parts surrounding

It's been a while since I have posted much on this page, and it will probably be another week before I do so...Marcy and I are heading up to Seattle to visit her sister and new bro-in-law, and also just to get away...we will be in Seattle a couple of days, and in Victoria, BC (that's in Canada, eh!) a couple of days - we have to take a ferry to get there...the picture you see here is the inn that we will be staying at in Victoria; pretty nice, eh?...yeah, we're loaded - I'm a youth pastor, what do you expect?...seriously, it will be good to get away for a while...I'm pretty tired and it will be good to have some uninterrupted time with my wife, and some good, solid reading time...maybe I'll blog more from the coffee capital of America: Seattle (I definitely plan on checking out the first Starbucks - it will be like Mecca)...

What do we do?

Events over the past days have made me stop and think...as I've stated in the past, I hate it when that happens...it makes my head hurt...seriously, the recent earthquake in Pakistan and India breaks my heart...the report I read today said that they are estimating the death toll to be around 41,000 people...FORTY ONE THOUSAND!!!...I have a hard time comprehending that number...the whole city of Cape Girardeau has a population of around 35,000 people, less than the number of the dead in Pakistan and India...unbelievable...

Now, not too long ago, New Orleans was devastated by Hurricane Katrina...the Church was praised, rightfully so, because of how it reached out to those affected by the storm and its resulting flooding...the way believers banded together to serve was something to behold and to be proud of...the Church continues to minister to these individuals...but if we put the need in New Orleans on a continuum with the current need in Pakistan, it really doesn't measure up...I certainly don't want to downplay the need in our own backyard; it's a real need...but the question it raises in my mind is, what will we do?...the Church was Jesus in a real way to the New Orleanites; how are we going to be Jesus to the Pakistanis?...how will we serve them?...or perhaps the better question is, will we?...

Core Values

I am working on a list of core values that will help in the overarching direction of the student ministry that I lead...my thought is that there would be a series of images that would correspond to the various core values, so that it is not simply a series of words or sentences, but that they would be pictures that would conjure up certain emotions or thoughts...here is what I have so far; please let me know what you think or if you have other ideas that would communicate the values more effectively:

We Value:

• Wrecking balls, not mortar - (I don't have a one- or two-word phrase to go along with this one, but the idea is that we want to tear down walls between students, not build them up)
• Welcome mats, not deadbolts - Hospitality
• The path, not the finish line - Journey
• Sugar, not Sweet'n Low - Authenticity
• Potluck dinners, not TV dinners - Community
• Closets, not home theaters - Prayer
• M&Ms, not Hershey Bars - Diversity
• Flashlights, not darkness - the Bible
• The body, not the building - the Church
• The person, not the number - Individuals
• Marathons, not sprints - Longevity

Your thoughts?...

What Does It All Mean?

I have been pondering a lot lately...I hate it when I do that...it makes my head hurt and makes the formerly clear things quite muddied...I prefer black and white, but lately have been getting varying shades of grey (I like the British spelling of that word)...specifically, I have been wondering what it really means to be a Christian...how does that journey really start and what is the best way to communicate that truth?...here are some thoughts from my life and observations:

Fire Insurance: when I first got saved (I won't even attempt to define that word in the Christian sense - it's a book in and of itself), it was at junior high camp between 7th and 8th grade...much of the preaching and teaching done that week and in that day and age was about heaven and hell, that if you didn't want to burn in the lake of fire, you needed to get saved...I also remember a series of movies about the end times designed to scare the crap/sin out of you...so one night at camp, I thought, "If the guy next to me goes up to 'get saved,' I'll go too."...he did, so I did...I got saved that night mostly to make sure I went to heaven instead of having to deal with all the weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth...

Personal Relationship With God: this is probably the most tossed around phrase in evangelical circles these days, although I'm not sure the chapter and verse references of where it shows up in the Bible...we talk a lot about the God of the universe and how we can know Him personally and be friends with Him...but can we really 'know' Him...I mean, he's pretty big and all, so whatever we know about Him is scratching the surface at best...is this a way to make us feel all warm and fuzzy inside, like God is a really cool big brother?...almost the opposite of fire insurance; more of an emphasis on heaven, and less on hell...

Born Again or Sell Everything: Story #1: a religious leader is told by Jesus that in order to see the Kingdom of God, he had to be born again...Story #2: a rich guy is told by Jesus that in order to get to heaven, he must sell everything he has and give it to the poor...so which is it?...it seems that we - the North American, Western church - have latched on to the concept of being born again, but we rarely talk of selling everything we have and giving it to the poor (He also said that it is very difficult for a rich person to get into heaven in later in the story)...both were directives by Jesus, but we emphasize one over the other...granted, the Kingdom of God does not necessarily equal heaven...but is our emphasis a sign of our comfortable lives, that because we have it good here in America, we don't want to downplay the American Dream by talking of giving it away?...I remember a story about Rich Mullins: as he drove by a store with all sorts of stuff in the front windows, he started crying...when someone asked him what was wrong, he said, "The things of this world just don't satisfy."...do they satisfy us too much?...

Follow Me: it seems that the most popular way that Jesus referred to becoming a Christian (which of course is a term he didn't invent) is in terms of following...He told his disciples to follow Him...Peter, Andrew, Matthew, Philip, and the rest...so they did...and according to Rob Bell, this meant that Jesus saw something in them that made Him think, "These guys (and girls) have what it takes and can do the things I do."...is the Christian life merely a journey in which we make a decision to follow Jesus and, with His help, do the things He did?...and if so, what did He do?...He fed people; healed people; looked out for the overlooked and downtrodden; He served; He prayed; He sacrificed; He stood against injustice; He forgave; He refused to be pigeonholed; He taught about truth; He loved life...and that's just a short list...am I a Christian, if this is the definition?...

Some Sports Figures Are OK

Charlie Weis gets my vote for being one of the good guys in sports...they are sometimes hard to come by, but the Notre Dame football coach stepped up big time this past weekend in their game against Washington...apparently, he visited a 10-year-old boy with a brain tumor in the days leading up to the game...after talking with him, he asked the boy what play he should call on the first play of the game...the boy said, "Throw right."...the boy ended up dying the day before the game...on the first possession, Notre Dame got the ball on the 1 yard line, so no one would have blamed Weis if he had bailed on his promise, because there are just too many things that can go wrong throwing from your own end zone: your QB can get sacked, you can throw an interception, you can get flagged for holding in the end zone resulting in a safety, etc...but instead, when Weis was asked by his QB what they were going to do, he replied, "We have no choice. We're throwing it to the right."...they did and gained 13 yards on the play, with the young boy's mom watching the game from home...Weis is OK in my book...you can read the full article here...

P.S. I still don't like Notre Dame...

My Pirate Name

Today is Talk Like A Pirate Day, matey...so, for the rest of the day, I shall be known as Mad Tom Flint, my official pirate name...I found that out when I took a Pirate Quiz online...I also learned this about me: "Every pirate is a little bit crazy. You, though, are more than just a little bit. Like the rock flint, you're hard and sharp. But, also like flint, you're easily chipped, and sparky. Arr!"...who knew?...

The Ultimate Guy Furniture

Ran across this couch at a blog that features strange new products...I'm not sure why this is featured at this site, because it certainly isn't strange...it is what every guy has been dreaming about their entire lives:

The new "man couch" boasts the following features...

• Two Domino's Heat Wave hot bags


• A mini refrigerator


• A Coca- Cola beverage cooler


• Remote control caddy and bottle opener


• Built-in Xbox with three controllers


• Built-in MP3 player


• Built-in XM Radio


• Built-in NEXTEL cellular phone and a NASCAR headset


• Built-in DVD player and two flat screen televisions


• And a megaphone to complain about bad referee calls

The couch can recline back, and the head rests double as paper towel holders. The white cabinet fronts at the bottom of the couch pull out to reveal the Xbox consoles.

Christmas is only a few short months away...man, I hope Marcy reads this...

Thank God For Sports

On ESPN Radio this morning, Mike & Mike In The Morning read a portion of a column by John Seracino...in this column, Seracino suggests that the NFL is wrong in going ahead with the first week of the NFL regular season in light of the devastation from that evil woman, Katrina...he suggests that it is somehow disrespectful to those that have suffered and are suffering...I couldn't disagree more...when I heard them speaking about this, I tried feebly to put myself in the shoes of those that have lost everything...I imagined myself living back in Cleveland, Ohio and having a massive tornado or a freak tsunami on Lake Erie come through and wipe out the city and surrounding areas...my house has been flattened and I have been forced to relocate to another state...and now, the NFL is getting ready to start the season...what would feel better to me: for pro football to take a symbolic week off, or to escape for a while at a sports bar watching the Browns play (and probably lose)?...the choice is easy...sports are ultimately meaningless, but for those of us that are sports fans, they become the fabric of our lives, the blood that runs through our veins, the air that we breathe...what other activity allows grown men that have never met each other to hug and high-five each other or cry together depending on how 'their team' does?...sports is transcendant and lets us step away from the horrors of real life for a few hours...let the games continue...

I Guess It's True

We officially have visual confirmation...in case you haven't heard yet, Marcy and I are expecting our first child on April 4th, 2006 (although I'm hoping it comes on April Fool's Day)...it's one thing when your wife tells you through tears that she is pregnant...it's yet another when you start going to the doctor and they take the blood and urine - from Marcy, not me - to confirm what you think you know...but when you see a picture of the little critter - who we are lovingly calling 'Flipper' at this point - and hear it's heartbeat, it takes on a whole new level of realness...I'm pretty sure it still hasn't hit me full force yet, but when it does, YIKES!...I don't know exactly how I'll react...but for now, it's just pretty cool...

The Porch

We had our first youth group meeting of the year last night...it is now called The Porch, based on Acts 5:12...there was a lot of change that went into this year, all in a couple of week's time...we changed the name from The Deep End...we changed the meeting room (we now meet in the former auditorium that the Big Kids used to meet in)...and we changed the structure...now, both junior and senior highers meet on the same night for dinner, hang time, and worship...then we split them up for large group teaching and small group discussion times...all in all, I think it went quite well...there were a few bumps in the road, but that's bound to happen with anything new...we'll work out the kinks as we go...but I think overall, for the 70+ kids that were there, it was a good experience...but man, does my throat hurt today...

My Youth: What Did I Do With It?!?

I was talking with Kat Renfrow the other day, and she told me all about her summer...it only consisted of about 14 week-long camps over a ten-week stretch...I think she was home a grand total of seven minutes this summer...then I heard an 18-year-old St. Louis kid on the radio who landed an interview with O.J. Simpson through mere perseverance (not to mention his other interviews with Muhammad Ali, Pete Rose, Jim Brown, and George Stephanopoulos, among others)...these two incidents made me pause to think about my own youth...I have to say, their stories and mine sound remarkably similar...if you consider sitting around my town home, running up my mom's electicity bill because I had the air conditioning set at 60 degrees, eating all the food, watching lots of MTV and VH-1, while dreading the start of soccer season to be similar to the kind of work that Kat and Graham have put into their youth...probably not, though...

Another Black Eye

And we are puzzled by the fact that some people won't come to church because there are too many hypocrites there...here is yet another example why I sometimes cringe to be lumped together with others who claim to be Christians...whatever happened to taking care of the least of these in the name of Jesus?...of course, I'm sure there are things in my own life that make people shake their heads and say, "He's a Christian?"...so who am I to throw the first stone?...I'm just glad that God still takes the time for us no matter how big of a jerk we sometimes are...

No More Indian Mascots

Word came out today that the NCAA has banned all Indian mascots from postseason tournament play...this would mean that teams such as the Florida Seminoles and the Illinois Fighting Illini would have to cover up their names and any references to their mascots during the tourney...my question is: will they be brave enough to enforce the same rules with the Notre Dame Fighting Irish...I, being Irish, have hated that mascot for some time and think it should be banned...I'm Irish, and I'm a lover, not a fighter...

Steroids and Moral Relativity

OK, it's one thing for Rafael Palmeiro to get busted for doing steroids, even after denying it...it's much worse that he lied and said he did it unintentionally, when in fact, it was revealed that it was a hard-core steroid he took, so he had to have known about it...but what really bugs me is that it now comes out that Major League Baseball and the Players' Union actually found out about his failed test long ago but held onto the information - and the suspension - until after Palmeiro had reached 3,000 hits...come on, MLB!...if you are going to make a stand on drug testing, do so all of the time, not just when it is convenient and works for your timetable...just because Raffi is a good player and future Hall of Famer (although, maybe not anymore), he gets a pass for a while, while other not-as-good players get busted right away...nice message you are sending to baseball fans, and especially kids: if you are good enough at hitting a ball with a stick, it doesn't matter what you do - it will still work out in your favor...

Fashion Rant

First off, allow me to apologize to my loyal readers for my lengthy absence from this space...both of you must be getting quite fed up :-)...my summer has been a little insane to say the least...I just returned from Xtreme Camp at Blue Mountain, at which I had a great time and got to see kids' lives changed...however, the downside to that was that it meant more time away from home...counting this past week, I have been away from home close to an entire month this summer...needless to say, it is good to be home for a while...of course, my next trip is just five weeks away for my sis-in-law's wedding (which I am co-performing - how crazy is that?)...I will enjoy home while I have it, I guess...

Now that I have gotten my excuses out of the way, I should probably say something about fashion, since the title of this entry is Fashion Rant...I have recently become more aware of a fashion trend that simply bothers me...maybe it has been around a long time and I'm just clueless, but I doubt it in this instance...the trend is that more and more youngish people of the female persuasion wearing lingerie as regular, wear-around-town clothing...and I don't mean under other clothing, either...I mean, that is their clothing...they will wear a lingerie top or two, layered, with jeans or shorts or a skirt...check out this picture of a recent American Idol contestant if you need a visual (she was famous for this fashion trend)...

whatever happened to modesty and certain things being saved for the privacy of one's own bedroom?...it's just that it is difficult enough for men to control their minds when it comes to sexual thoughts...we are bombarded by sexual images, from television to magazines to movies to advertising...experts say that men are more visually stimulated than are women, so this trend of sexual imagery will likely never go away because it is clearly making people money...but have we come so far that lingerie is now common wear?...if it is, what is being saved for the bedroom?...the intrigue, excitement, and curiosity that would normally be experienced on a couple's first night together - hopefully their wedding night - is slowly being stripped away (no pun intended) so that nothing will be a surprise when they get to it...I guess this is my way of saying, "Ladies, before you put something on, regardless of how fashionable it may be, simply think about it first."...at least, that's the way I see it...

Reflections in New Orleans

I am finally started to get rested up from our senior high mission trip to New Orleans...it takes longer and longer to do so the older I get...man, what a great week!...I couldn't have been more proud of our crew (Drake, Art, Trevor, Jen, Lauren, Brittany, Emily, Taylor, Christine, Julianna, Paige, Caitlin, Kelsey, Karen, and Marcy)...they worked hard, were excellent examples for the people we ministered with as well as for the other youth groups that were there...it was especially rewarding to see the growth that occurred in each of them as the week wore on...the hope and prayer is that they will be able to make the mountaintop experience last as they come down off of the mountain...a few reflections on the week about random stuff:

• Our kids dealt with disappointment much better than I did...I found myself getting disappointed with such non-important stuff...I was really excited about the possibility of working with the people at ARC, which was a center for people with mental disabilities, but I found out that I would be working at Teen Challenge instead...it turned out really well, as we were ministered to probably more than the Teen Challenge residents were (and not just because we ate really well - Strawberry Shortcake Sneaux Balls!)...but the point is, our youth accepted whatever assignment they were given without even the slightest hint of disappointment...they didn't even complain about the VW-sized roaches - they just killed them and went on...they taught me a thing or two about contentment...
• I found that as the week went on, I was becoming more OK with being sweaty and sticky...if you know me, you know I like to be clean and I hate sweating (unless I'm exercising or mowing, etc.), which makes New Orleans a bad place to be...you can't avoid feeling gross there...but as the week progressed, it wasn't as big of a deal...it was still a deal, but not as big of one...living in Cape Girardeau is not a lot different that New Orleans, so this is a step in the right direction...
• As we toured the French Quarter, we came across a basilica that the Pope had preached from in the 80s...we all stood in front of it and had our pictures taken while I waved like the Pope...the interesting thing about this was the number of psychics/fortunetellers/palmreaders/etc. that were set up right outside the front doors of the basilica...it was like Obi Wan Kenobi squaring off against Darth Vader, the ultimate in light standing toe-to-toe with the ultimate in dark...I don't have any conclusions, just the observation...
• I simply lost my mind last week...along with everything else...every time I turned around, I had misplaced something else...my water bottle, my coffee cup, my man purse, my notebook, whatever...I spent half of my time on the trip looking for stuff...man, I really am getting old...
• The cockroaches in New Orleans were quite impressive, as alluded to above...I killed two of them...I think I caught them off-guard, because on a normal day, I don't think I stood a chance...
• Yummy beignets at the Cafe du Monde...apparently, it is the world-famous coffee joint in the French Quarter that has these French donuts called Beignets...essentially, it was the same thing as a funnel cake but in a different shape with LOTS of powdered sugar...it was yummy, but I don't know about world-famous...
• We visited an African-American church for a worship service on Wednesday night...it was a great, energetic service...before the service started, we came in and had a seat while they were praying...but then, when the actual service got started, an usher came to us and ushered us into the balconies to make room for the regulars, I presume...it felt a little weird...I wondered if it was how the black individuals felt decades ago when they were banished to the backs of buses or to a different restaurant altogether...I am not likening this church to those that promoted segregation...it just felt a little strange...the Pastor, Lester Love, had a great line that I wrote down...when speaking about being treated badly by people, he said, as if speaking to God, "They have not been as bad to me as You have been good to me."...nice...

This is probably not what you expected from my summary of New Orleans...we did the usual stuff: French Quarter, trolley ride, hike through the bayou...but these are the things I wrote down...go figure...

Randomness, Randomness is What I Long For...

This link was sent to me...apparently Darth Vader can read your mind over the internet...I managed to stump him, but probably because I didn't know enough information about the emu:

http://www.sithsense.com/flash.htm



Went to see an exhibit a couple of weeks ago in Paducah...it was a traveling exhibit of the Dead Seas Scrolls...it was fascinating to hear the history behind these artifacts, and to hear how much work went into reassembling the pieces...they compared it to taking a bag of Lays, a bag of Ruffles, and a can of Pringles, crunching them all up, mixing them all together, and then reassembling them all and putting them in the right bags...200 TIMES!!!...WOW!...now that's patience...there was also a chunk of Colossians that was worth $7 million (I stole it)...but the highlight was seeing a portion of the original Egyptian Book of the Dead (pictured above), featured prominently in the classic movie Evil Dead 2...I almost cried...

Some people have too much time on their hands...

My dad just moved back to Ohio...he should be getting in today sometime...this makes me happy...ever since he moved to Florida, he really hasn't been happy...he hasn't really made any connections there...so now, he will be back in The Heart of It All, lucky guy...he has a couple of jobs lined up already and will be staying with my aunt and uncle until he finds a place to stay...this is not only a plus for him, but for me also, as I will get to see him more regularly than when he was in Florida (which mean maybe once a year instead of every other year)...

Ally, thanks for the ice cream yesterday...very yummy...

Our summer youth programming kicked off this week...not too many people showed up for H2T, but we had 30 at 6:57, which is very good, considering we haven't really had summer youth group before...I know a lot of our students have band camp and soccer and stuff, which makes it a bummer that they can't come too...we sure miss them...

Pray for us next week as we (Me and Marcy and another adult leader and 13 students) are in New Orleans for a mission trip...dang, it's gonna be hot!...next year we're going north...

My beloved Tribe is going for the sweep today over the first place San Diego Padres...in a word, "WOO-HOO!!!"...

That's all for now...have a great day...

Cookout

For those of you that didn't make it to the cookout last night, you missed a pretty good time...the place we had it - Shelly Stone's pond - was beautiful...we had yummy, high-fat burgers, grilled by yours truly...lots of chips and soda, not to mention the cookies that Shelly made - YUM!...sure, it rained and we got a little wet, but by the end of the night, most everybody was drenched from either getting thrown into the pond of jumping in voluntarily, so the rain didn't matter much...I was going to throw Logan in, but I showed him grace and mercy...he wasn't so lucky with the others...I had fun kicking the soccer ball with Cole and Lauren and Kyle, even though I wasn't wearing shoes...it kinda' hurt after a while, but I survived...overall, it wasn't a huge turnout, but I think those of us that came had a good time...I think...

Come on! It's just a prank!

Ran across this article on another blog: http://www.local10.com/education/4529035/detail.html...apparently, a Christian school principal canceled graduation after the seniors pulled a prank on the school...now that is what grace and forgiveness is all about (tongue planted firmly in cheek)...there is something to be said for tough love, but is cancelling graduation love or "showing them who's boss"?...I think the principal got his feelings hurt by this class and dished out far too harsh of a punishment...we pulled a similar prank when I was a senior in high school - at a Christian high school - and the principal was not real thrilled...but I still got to graduate...that's grace...

The Worst Invention Ever

Mankind has the uncanny ability to devise implements of evil...history has proven this time and again...the rack, thumb screws, even the handgun; each of these, along with so many other so-called 'advancements,' have proven how dark the mind and soul of man can be...these types of inventions were not developed with good in mind, but instead with negative intentions...but today, I came face to face with what could be mankind's greatest black eye, the one invention that rises in its evilness above all others...it was (insert ominous music) the plastic encasing that my new lawnmower blade came in...are you familiar with the kind of plastic wrapping I am referring to?...I don't mean basic cellophane that you simply crumple up and put in the trash...this stuff is far more sinister...just to open the package, you need a blowtorch or small explosives...OK, so that was an exaggeration, but you do need a fairly stout pair of scissors or a sharp knife, which is dangerous in and of itself...then, if you are able to get into it, to peel it back to remove the contents is nearly impossible due to its lack of pliability...it ranks up there with steel in that category...then, as you are pulling out the contents, be very careful, as the freshly cut edges are razor-sharp...I discovered this as the casing for the lawnmower blade sliced my finger open...not bad enough to require stitches, but bad enough to send a trail of blood running down my finger...if I had to remove one invention from the history of mankind, it would be this plastic encasing...

Raising Teenagers

Next weekend I get my semi-annual (or is it biannual? I always get those two confused) chance to use my preaching chops in Big Kid Church, as we youth and children's ministry-types like to call it...we are in the middle of a series called Extreme Makeover: Family Edition, and I get the task of tackling the Kid's Room: Raising Teenagers...this strikes me as quite funny...sure, I am the youth pastor and I studied youth ministry in seminary...plus, I read quite a bit on the subject of ministering to teens...but the closest I have ever come to raising anything is my dog Attie - who is still shy of one year old (human years) - and my jade plant that is a few years old...what do I know about raising teens?!?...it's pretty intimidating...the last two times I have preached, I have had someone write to complain about something nitpicky that I said or did in the course of the sermon that they didn't like...I can't wait to read my e-mail after this one!...but you know what?...it's like JD said when he preached here in February...he told the story of a four-year old that got in his parent's car and drove to the video store in the middle of the night, and finding it closed, drove home again...he then made the analogy that preaching the word of God feels kind of like that, trying to navigate this huge thing and feeling like you are four years old...I feel that way as I preach to parents on how to do their job...as a little child I come to God and ask Him to direct my driving skills...or lack thereof...

Returning Home

Currently, I am in Wilmore, Kentucky, home to Asbury Theological Seminary...this is where I spent four years of my life getting prepared for a life in full-time ministry...I ran into a friend at Subway, and I think he put it best as I gave him a hug...he said, simply, "Welcome home."...it does feel like home...I feel so comfortable and known here...the number of people that really do know me grows smaller and smaller each time I come back, but it still feels like running into family...I am supposed to be working on the sermon that I will be preaching in Big Kid Church the weekend after next, but it feels too good to stop what I am doing - visiting with people - to sit down and write...the number of hugs, smiles, and warm comments I have experienced have felt like what Red Bull must feel like to a teenager...I feel energized and refueled...thank you Wilmore and Asbury for providing me a place to come home to...I know it's not perfect and a lot has changed, but it's still home to me...

Star Wars III: Revenge of the Sith

I went to see the new Star Wars movie and midnight-oh-one this morning...here are a couple of thoughts from this experience:

• The main reason I went to the very first showing was to see the freak show...I wanted to see the real fans dressed up as Darth Maul, Chewbacca, and Stormtroopers...that being said, I was quite disappointed...I only saw one guy dressed up as Darth Vader, and Chris was wearing Yoda ears...that's it!...where are all the freaks?...I guess I needed to go to the convention to witness that...
• Quick disclaimer: I am not dissing anyone by calling them freaks...I have dressed up and painted my face for football games...it's just that I am a fan of a different thing...we are all freaks of one kind or another...
• I'm getting too old for this kind of thing...maybe it's because we had a very high-energy Splash meeting that night, or maybe it's because I haven't been sleeping well, or maybe just because I am too old, but I was a Fitz bobblehead during much of the movie...I was doing the nodding-trying-to-stay-awake thing...I was awake for the majority of it, but it sure wasn't easy...
• I liked the movie...Marcy asked me when I got home if it was a 10...I am not a huge fan, so I didn't think so...I liked it quite a bit, but it was no Evil Dead 2...but if I were a big fan, I would probably give it a 10...there was a good plot line, excellent action scenes, and the big question of how Anakin turns into Darth Vader was answered with satisfaction...Nate said that he may have a new favorite Star Wars movie, so I guess it was pretty dang good...
• Judging from crowd reactions, Yoda is far and away everyone's favorite Star Wars character...he had a couple of pretty sweet Jedi moves that resulted in loud applause and laughter...he's pretty cool for a 900 year-old Muppet...

Hope you get a chance to see the movie...I recommend it highly...just not at midnight...

His Master's Voice

While I was in Memphis, Marcy and I stopped into a gift store to look for snow globes...side note: in case you didn't know, I collect tacky, cheap snow globes...the next time you go on vacation, you now know what to get me...anyway, back to the topic at hand...I saw a metal sign that had this logo on it from the RCA Victor Corporation (they made record players - records were CDs before there were CDs)...I read the caption: "His Master's Voice."...I grabbed it and showed it to Marcy and said, "This'll preach."...boy, will it ever...look at the dog...see how attentively he is listening for what his master has to say through the speaker...he is hanging on every word, just waiting to hear if he should stay, sit, or roll over...or maybe he is just listening to the master's voice because it is a familiar, calming sound to his ears...what he is listening for I don't know...but what I do know is that he is listening intently...just look at the tilt of his head...what if we listened to our Master this attentively?...Scripture tells us that God speaks in a still, small voice, so in order to hear Him amidst the clatter of everything else that is going on around us, we need to be intentional in clearing out all the other stuff so that we can hear the whisper...there are exceptions to the rule, but most of the time, God is whispering through a phonograph speaker, not shouting through a stack of concert speakers...are we listening?

Memphis

That's where I'm heading this weekend...taking Marcy there because she's never been there, and I've only been there on a drive-by...not a shooting, mind you...we just need to get away for a little bit...so we're going to check out the ducks at the Peabody, eat some BBQ at Rendezvous, and check out Mud Island...should be fun...if we have time, we will peer over the wall at Graceland, but probably won't pay the $15.00 to get in...if you haven't been to Memphis, you need to go just to see Elvis Presley Blvd....it is the ultimate in tacky junk...which means I fit right in...lata...

Getting Closer

Well, we are getting closer to figuring out what our summer programming and events will look like for youth group...what's that you say?...you want to know what we will be doing?...sorry, you will just have to wait to find out just like everyone else...just because you read my blog doesn't give you the right to have privileged information...and if you do read my blog, WHY AREN'T YOU VOTING IN MY POLL?!?!?...or maybe I am truly only one of only four readers of my blog...how sad is that :-(

I'm thinking about getting some cardboard standups to hang out around the youth area, but I'm not sure which ones to get...they don't make Napoleon Dynamite ones yet, so that's out...what do you think?...maybe Chewbacca?...maybe James Dean or Elvis?...Homer Simpson?...or maybe someone else?...let me know what you think...

Today has not been very productive...AAAARRRRGHGHGHHHH!!!...maybe tomorrow...

Lots of Random Stuff

I haven't had a bunch of time to blog lately...there have been many things that I have wanted to post about, but time has been a commodity that has been hard to come by in recent days...so, here are many of the things I wanted to make posts about, all wrapped up in one post, Reader's Digest condensed version:

• I saw an interesting fellow at Ichthus...he was obviously a veteran as he was dressed in military-looking garb...as he listened to the bands he walked around holding two things in his hand...one was a cross, about 12-18" high...the other was an American flag that was huge, like one you would hang from your porch on July 4th...while I admired this man's dedication and love for God and country, I wondered if he - and many of us - had the order mixed up: Country and god...how often do we get wrapped up in the concept that this is a "Christian country," and as a result, put the flag up there - or above - the cross?...why don't we carry a huge cross - as Jesus told us we must - and simply have the flag as a patch on our shirt, if at all?...
• Went and saw our local junior high's production of Annie...in a word, "Wow!"...they did an outstanding job...when I was in junior high, I was too busy drooling over Olivia Newton John to develop the kind of talent that they displayed...I was very pleasantly surprised at how well these students could sing...if any of you are reading, "GREAT JOB!!!"...
• Just when I thought I could have optimism about the Browns chances, it blows up in my face...I felt pretty good about their draft and the moves they made in free agency...I thought they had some good weapons on offense in their running game - especially with the addition of Rueben Droughns - and some good receiving threats with rookie Braylon Edwards and with Kellen Winslow, Jr coming back from injury...then I hear Droughns holds out for a new contract - I curse thee, Drew Rosenhaus - and Winslow screws himself up bad in a motorcycle wreck (which is, incidentally, a breach of contract)...alas, the life of a Cleveland fan, destined to be disappointed...
• We just finished up out fundraiser for our youth mission trips...so glad it's over...it was a major amount of stress, not to mention the majot amount of junk we sold...mad props to Carrie, Jill, and Marlene for heading it up...thanks to them, and to lots of volunteers both old and young, we raised close to $3,000.00!...praise God!...He is so good to us...
• Got my new Palm the other day, the Zire 72...although the desktop software is giving me headaches, I love the Palm itself...I got to take it to church and use it as my Bible, thanks to the software Marcy got me a while back...it also had an MP3 player and camera on it...yeah, it'll make me more productive, that's why I got it :-)...much fun...

I think I'll wrap is up there, and not just because I have to go to the bathroom, although that is foremost in my mind right now...have a great day...

Man, we have work to do...

It seems that a judge in Florida recently approved an abortion for a 13-year-old girl that has been in state custody for four years...how can we possibly expect our teens to make wise choices when they have so many people being poster children for unwise choices and calling it OK?...youth pastors, unite!...we have work to do...

42

That's the answer to life, the universe, and everything...if you have ever read any of the five-part trilogy by Douglas Adams known as The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, then you have a good idea what I'm talking about...if not, well, you probably don't...now, there is a long-awaited feature film in theaters based on the book...my good buddy Oral and I went to see it on Friday night, along with his daughter Madison...we really liked it!...it did the book justice because it contained much of the same style of humor as did the book...however, there were a couple of other people from our church at the same showing, Garrett and his dad Bart...I asked them at church what they thought of the movie, and they didn't so much like it...it turns out that they were not at all familiar with the book series...that explained it...if you like Douglas Adams and appreciate his style of humor, you will love the movie; if not, prepare to be confused...overall, I give it a 7.5-8...

To help you determine if you would like this movie, here are some memorable Douglas Adams quotes:

• I love deadlines. I like the whooshing sound they make as they fly by.
• Human beings, who are almost unique in having the ability to learn from the experience of others, are also remarkable for their apparent disinclination to do so.
• The ships hung in the sky in much the same way that bricks don't.
• Arthur Dent hoped and prayed there wasn't an afterlife. Then, realizing the contradiction, he merely hoped there wasn't an afterlife.
• In the beginning the Universe was created. This has made a lot of people very angry and been widely regarded as a bad move.
• On the way back, they sang a number of tuneful and reflective songs on the subjects of peace, justice, morality, culture, sport, family life, and the obliteration of all other life forms.
• A common mistake that people make when trying to design something completely foolproof is to underestimate the ingenuity of complete fools.
• For a moment, nothing happened.Then, after a second or so, nothing continued to happen.
• Life... is like a grapefruit. It's orange and squishy, and has a few pips in it, and some folks have half a one for breakfast.
• Space is big. You just won't believe how vastly, hugely, mind-bogglingly big it is. I mean, you may think it's a long way down the road to the drug store, but that's just peanuts to space.
• There is a theory which states that if ever anyone discovers exactly what the Universe is for and why it is here, it will instantly disappear and be replaced by something even more bizarre and inexplicable.There is another theory which states that this has already happened.
• Time is an illusion. Lunchtime doubly so.

May your day be filled with laughter...

Annual Ichthus Awards

Just got back yesterday from the Ichthus Music Festival in Wilmore, KY...took my youth group again this year, 12 students and 5 leaders total...we had a great weekend, judging from the grades that everyone gave the weekend...now here are my own random awards from Ichthus 2005:

Needs Less Caffeine Award
This one goes to the drummer for Mute Math...when he came out on the stage with his headphones duct taped - literally - to his head, I thought, "Here's another one of those rocker-types doing something weird to make a name for himself."...boy, was I wrong!...the dude never stopped moving, to the point that I thought his head - with the headphones attached - was going to fall off...the lead singer was pretty energetic, too, but nothing compared to this guy...after watching Mute Math play, all the other drummers looked pretty boring...

Sybil Award
This award goes to the one that shows the most sides to his/her personality (see the IMDB listing for the movie Sybil)...easily, this goes to the weather...we were expecting rain the entire weekend, as we got last year causing a ridiculous amount of mud...instead, we ran the gamut...it was nice on Thursday and most of Friday...then Friday night, severe storms and tornado warnings blew in, forcing us to run for our lives...then Saturday, it was windy and cold and it eventually snowed...I think Jordan put it best: "This is the first time in my life that I have gotten a sunburn, run from a tornado, and been snowed on in three days."...how true...

Jughead Award
Has to go to Trevor...I knew he had never been to Ichthus before, so I asked him, "Have you ever been to a festival before?"...to which he replied, "A peach festival."...I almost dope-slapped him right then and there in Wendy's, but I was laughing too hard...

Jughead Award Runner-Up
Has to be Jordan...a group was playing Catch Phrase...the word was "honey"...the clue given was, "What is sticky and inside a bear?"...he replied with, "Gummi? (as in Gummi Bears)...dope-slap...

Overcoming Fear Award
Studies show that public speaking is always at the top of people's worst fears...there were several people who showed that this fear can be overcome...Duffy Robbins was great and very funny as he spoke about taking the leap for Jesus...Mike Breaux from Willow Creek was my personal favorite as he spoke about saying, "Whatever and Wherever" to God and making ripples in the world...but the award goes to Adrian Despres as he really shook the worlds of a lot of the people in the crowd - including some that came with us - as he challenged them to sit in the first seat, the seat of being sold-out for Jesus...

Making Us Feel Like Family Award
This one is a tie: Fran and Nina...they let us invade their homes and stay with them this weekend, going against every possible common sense that they might have had...thanks big time Fran and Niner!...

I Think I'm Going To Puke Award
This year, it's not going to Hannah...she steered clear of Fazoli's, thank goodness...she still got a little sickly, but nothing compared to last year...this year, the award goes to GattiTown...where else can you eat enormous quantities of pizza and then spin in circles on the bumper cars?...pretty fun...

What Were They Thinking Award
Michael W. Smith as the festival closer...come on!...is it still the late 80s/early 90s, or is it 2005?!?...heck, two of our students had no idea who he was!...I know I didn't go see him, but I'm pretty sure they could have done better...actually, most of Saturday's lineup was pretty weak...that's why we went to GattiTown...

They Didn't Gargle With Thumb Tacks Award
Many of the artists at Ichthus are know for their screaming: Pillar, Kutless, Thousand Foot Krutch, Skillet, etc...for a vocal purist, it must have been painful...but then along came Saturday afternoon, which featured Watermark and Selah...very smooth vocals with great harmonies...they brought some nice balance to the festival...

Put Him On The Board Of Trustees Award
We took a tour of Asbury College on Friday before heading over for the shows...Drake could have done the tour...he had most of the answers for any question brought up on the tour, including some that the tour guide didn't know...I think he knows where he's going when he graduates...

Colgate Poster Child Award
Peter Furler of the Newsboys had the most unique singing style...it was like he just got hired to promote Colgate's latest whitening toothpaste...he sang the entire show through his teeth, like he was some kind of creepy ventriloquist...I just wish he had some chunk of parsley stuck in his teeth...now that would have been funny...

Show Of The Year Award
I have to go with Mute Math...I know most of our students will get upset with me over this pick, as they all seem to drool all over themselves about Relient K...but their show was pretty normal compared to the originality and energy that Mute Math displayed...maybe next year they'll be on main stage...

We Missed You Award
Definitely goes to tobyMac...no one in Christian music puts on a show like him, so we were all quite excited about seeing him on Friday night...sadly, thanks to the severe weather, his show was cancelled...I want a refund!...

I think that's quite enough awards for this year...overall, we had a great time...if you missed it this year, make sure you save up the days you can miss from school for the festival next year...

Pray for J.

The coolest thing happened to me the other day...I was in the middle of my Saturday morning ritual: eating donuts and drinking coffee while reading at the local donut shop...one of the girls that works there - we'll call her J. - approached me and asked if she could interrupt me...I told her to go ahead and have a seat, which she did...she said, "I know I don't know you very well, but I can tell you are a strong Christian, so I want to know if you would pray for me."...that about blew me away!...I don't know that anyone has come up to me, relatively out of the blue, and told me that they could tell I was a Christian, let alone a strong Christian...I feel pretty humbled by that...anyway, to continue with the story, J. filled me in on a lot of crud that she is having to deal with right now, which I won't get into...I told her I would pray for her and check in with her in 2 weeks (I won't be at the donut shop next week, as I'll be at Ichthus)...so if you are reading this and are the praying sort of person, please pray for J....she could use it...

My Kids Are Cooler Than Yours

I only have a few minutes before I have to head out the door for D-Group...last night at Splash - our junior high program - I told the utes how much I liked them...I really think they are cool, along with our senior highers...seriously...I love being able to work with them and just hanging out with them...after Splash, I was outside with them waiting for their parents to come pick them up and Brianne and Toni were acting completely ridiculous, like they had injected Mello Yello directly into their veins...it was hilarious!...my face hurt from laughing and smiling...and on Sunday, our senior highers did such a great job giving their input about the future of our youth ministry...I have the best job, and the coolest kids...yes, they're cooler than yours...

I Sorta' Know What He Feels Like

I don't know how many times I have heard - or taught on - the story of the Prodigal Son...if you are unfamiliar with it, it is about a man who had two sons...one day, the younger of the sons tells his father, "I wish you were dead! I want my inheritance."...the father concedes and gives him his share of the money...it doesn't take long before the son has bottomed out, spending all of the money on wild, sinful living...he decides that he needs to go home and apologize to his father and ask him if he can live as one of his servants...when he does, the father does something surprising...instead of punishing the son or making him apologize, he runs to him (he was looking for him), throws his arms around him, and throws him a huge party...his son, presumed lost and dead was now found and alive!...the father didn't care about all of the things his son might have done to waste the money and destroy his life...the only thing that mattered right now was celebrating the return of his son...

My dog ran away yesterday...Marcy and I were exhausted from a weekend with family and not much sleep...I was pretty excited about sitting in the recliner for a couple of hours between the SIMY meeting I had that ended at 3pm and the Vision Parties that I needed to be at by 6:30pm...as I was drifting off to sleepyland, I was startled awake by Marcy's voice: "Mike, Attie's gone!"...I had put her on the leash in the yard, and apparently she saw something that caught her eye because her collar was still attached to the leash and broken...we ran around the house calling for her...I then ran to the garage and got on my bike while Marcy got in my car and we began the search...I rode around calling her name trying to figure out where she might have gone...I asked every person I came across if they had seen her...some had, and they helped to narrow down our search area...finally, I saw Marcy walking across a field pointing in the direction that she saw Attie...I rode across the field, and when I got near the train tracks, I dropped my bike and began running...then I saw her!...I would have run to her, but I didn't want to scare her...so I called her name, and she stopped and looked at me...then when she recognized my voice and my face, she came running across the jagged rocks...she reached me and buried her head under my legs...I had no thought about punishing her or yelling at her...I was too overjoyed that we had found her...she had been lost, out on some great adventure, while I - and Marcy - was frantically searching for her, wanting her to come home...when at last we found her, the joy far overwhelmed any anger or disappointment that potentially could have been there...my dog was lost and dead, but now she is found and alive!...

I sorta' know what the dad felt like now...