Six Degrees

Several years back, I heard about a great game called The Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon. In it, you had to be able to link any actor or actress to Kevin Bacon through working associations in movies or TV shows in six steps or less. It turns out that you can do this with anyone, even the dolphin Flipper. It also turned out that I was pretty good at this game. Today I discovered that Kevin Bacon is using this once-annoying-to-him game for good, as he has set up an organization that allows visitors to the website - www.sixdegrees.org - to donate to the charities of various celebrities. Or, someone can choose to be the 'celebrity face' for their organization and invite friends and family members to donate to their cause. I thought about setting one up, but it would be so hard to decide which cause I would want to put forward. Any ideas?

The Fitz Update

I am in Ohio, The Heart of It All, right now. I flew in last night with the single-minded purpose of watching the college football national championship tonight between The Ohio State University and some school from Florida. I'm very nervous about the game, but I think that's something that comes from being a sports fan in Cleveland - you can't imagine anything ever going well for your team. It will be a lot of fun to watch the game with my dad, cousins, and uncle. This was a plan by my brother who decided we should all come in for the game, and then backed out. What a goob! My best friend Joe said that it should be a Man Law that you can't plan something and then not show up. I agree.

My cousin Jason did something funny last night. I had reminded him of a time that we were up at 3:00am eating garlic bread and Breyer's chocolate ice cream. When I showed up, he had garlic bread in the oven and Breyer's chocolate ice cream in the freezer. Good times! It brought back fun memories and a not-so-good feeling in my stomach.

Christmas was good. We had fun hanging out with Marcy's family in Marietta, Ohio. I walked away from the holiday with an iPod charger/transmitter for the car and an Xbox, probably my two best gifts. We found out this Christmas that Colin enjoys all flavors of wrapping paper. He is so funny! He got all kinds of cool gifts for Christmas, but his favorite things at home are still the things he can't have: the dog's toys, the dog's food, the dog. Hilarious!

One last thing: Go Bucks!

A Whole Bunch of Randomness

• SABBATH: Marcy and I have been trying to be more intentional about observing the Sabbath. Since we are church-workers, it's really hard to do it on a Sunday because work calls. So, we have been starting on Thursday night at dinner - followed by date night - and continuing until dinner on Friday. We try to not watch TV, do worky kind of stuff, and instead we just hang out with each other and Colin and God, and rest. It's hard. Especially for Marcy. It's tough to sit around and do relatively nothing. Humans are so wrapped up in accomplishing and doing to create worth, that it's hard to shut down and not accomplish anything. It made me wonder: Did God get bored on His Sabbath? Heck, He just created everything that exists, and then He took a day to do nothing but rest. I wonder if He thought, "I need to get something else done today. I'll go over here and create another universe." Probably not...
• I AM THE MAN!: Time magazine recently came out with its annual Person of The Year issue. There were many worthy candidates, but they declared that I am 2006's Person of The Year. In their statement, they said, "The answer is, you do. And for seizing the reins of the global media, for founding and framing the new digital democracy, for working for nothing and beating the pros at their own game, TIME's Person of the Year for 2006 is you." OK, so they didn't mean solely me, but anyone that utilizes the world wide web for publishing and communcating (like blogs, MySpace, Facebook, YouTube, etc.). You can read the article here...
  
• BRAWL: Which was more wussy, Carmelo Anthony sucker-punching a Knicks player and then running away like a little girl (no offense to little girls, because most little girls are more manly than him), or TO spitting in the face of D'Angelo Williams? Both actions were incredibly unmanly...
• BRAWL II: Another Brawl at Madison Square Garden thought: Is it any surprise that the coach of the Knicks, the team that flagrantly fouled the Nuggets player, is Isaiah Thomas? He was a part of a team that was the biggest collection of thugs ever, the Bad Boys. Alongside him on that Pistons team were Bill Laimbeer, Dennis Rodman, and Rick Mahorn, just to name a few. You can take the man out of the fight, but you can't take the thuggery out of the man...
  
• COLIN: It's amazing how having a child allows you a little more insight into what God might be feeling and thinking. The latest realization of this was the other day when Colin was inconsolable, we think because he is teething. Man, was that difficult! I wanted to say, "Colin, I am so sorry for your pain. Here, let me take it away for you. I'll even take it on me so you don't have to deal with it." That's pretty much what God did in sending His only Son to take away our pain of separation from Him...
• COLIN II: Colin is crawling now, as you can see here. This is exciting, but also adds a whole new set of challenges: baby-proofing, making sure the basement door is shut, etc. But it also adds what could be hours of entertainment: Watching Colin chase Attie all over the house. She's still not too sure what to make of him..
• If I don't post again before Christmas, I hope you have a very Merry and Christ-centered Christmas...
  

Apparently, they don't watch college football in Salem, Oregon...

The Heisman Trophy award ceremony is tomorrow night, recognizing the most outstanding college football player of the year. Most pundits say that Troy Smith, Ohio State's quarterback (67% completions, 2,507 yards, 30 touchdowns, five interceptions), will not only win the award, but some predict that he may win with the highest percentage of first-place votes (Reggie Bush is the current record-holder at 84.9%), and could come close to the highest margin of victory ever (O.J. Simpson currently holds that distinction). The other finalists invited to the ceremony this weekend were Notre Dame QB Brady Quinn, and Arkansas RB Darren McFadden. But, according to one less-than brilliant fellow from the great northwest, none of these players even deserved a mention on his ballot. I guess he knows more about college football than the rest of the country combined. Or maybe he is simply trying to make some sort of silly statement or trying to arouse a controversy. Or maybe, he wants to be known as the guy that didn't vote for Troy Smith. Whatever his motivation, his Heisman voting privileges should be revoked.

Friends, real friends, are hard to come by.

Friendship doesn't happen overnight nor does it come easy. Usually it takes time and it takes sacrifice.

It takes treks in the woods, time spent fishing, time enjoying a cup of coffee, time spent at some volunteer project, time spent praying, time spent around the table eating simple foods, etc. It takes time like sitting in front of a TV watching the A-Team with popcorn. Or maybe it will take times like sharing a baloney, onion, cheese and tomato sandwich.

I guess for me it was the time spent together, and not what we were doing.

Friendship is one of the most valuable commodities in the world today.

Your friend,
Rennie

This was written by the Maintenance Guru at La Croix. I thought it worthy of publishing...

Are You a Racist?

Ran across a series of tests that are part of Project Implicit at Harvard while reading Malcolm Gladwell's blog. Try one of them out to see if you have any subconscious preferences based on race or other factors. Go here and click on Demonstration and choose a test to take. Interesting stuff...

Ugliness, Ugliness, It's What I Long For...

Fox Sports has posted a list of the Top Ten Worst Sports Uniforms. I can't disagree with any of their choices, but how can the old Houston Astros uniforms be exempt? Seriously. Not to mention the fact that The Astrodome's colors reflected the uniform colors also. Ick!

I'm back...

OK, again it has been a long time since I have updated. I know there are those of you out there that pay attention to this blog - all two of you - that have been concerned. Sorry about the lack of communication. Life has just been really busy. I will try to be back and better than ever (to steal a line from Mike and Mike in the Morning).

This morning, I woke up a little cranky. The weather "professionals" were calling for 1-3 inches of snow for Cape Girardeau overnight. But, as should be expected by now, there is no snow. Just grey and cold outside. I like the cold, but I like it better when there is snow on the ground. I didn't particularly care for snow when I lived where we got a lot of it, but now that we never get it, I sure miss it.

Our trip to Ohio for Thanksgiving was very good. We visited my family in the Cleveland area. It was a great visit and much fun to see how much all of the kids have grown. My nephew Matthew is very scary because he is so big. I made sure that I was nice to him and didn't pick on him. And Kaylee and Mikey are getting so big and mature as well. We got to see cousins and their kids as well (except for my cousin in Arizona). It was insane at times, so it was good to get home to relative quiet and normalcy. And we discovered that Colin travels like a champ. He took three good naps, and only got really fussy once. But when Marcy climbed in the back seat with him, he calmed right down. Ten hours, fifteen minutes total, and that includes getting lost once.

Before our trip to Cleveland, I was at the other end of Ohio - Cincinnati - for the National Youth Workers Convention, put on by Youth Specialties. As always, this was a great time of refreshing, rejuvenation, and reeducating for my job as a youth pastor. The main stage speakers this year were especially good. Donald Miller, Brenda Salter McNeil, and Mike Pilavachi all hit home runs, as far as I'm concerned. The worship leaders were excellent: David Crowder Band (of course) and Starfield. It was great to catch up with some good friends, Trey and Jonesy in particular. But the highlight of the weekend had to be Ohio State laying the smackdown to Michigan for a trip to the national championship game in January. It was a great weekend, and I am already longing for my next conference. Marcy called me a conference junkie. She's probably right, but I'm not ashamed. Only ten months 'til Catalyst!

OK, I think I'm caught up now. Have a great day, and thanks for reading...

Funny Stuff

Last week at The Porch we had our usual "Dress Up Because It's Halloween" night. There were several creative costumes, but my highlight of the night came from Logan. He had a Grim Reaper hood and a scythe, and yet he was wearing his usual Hawaiian shirt and shorts. I told him I liked his outfit, to which he replied, "I'm on vacation." I laughed so hard I had to sit down! I can just imagine the Grim Reaper sitting under a beach umbrella sipping a pina colada. Now that's one funny kid!

Repentance

New York Mets pitcher Guillermo Mota has been suspended for 50 games by Major League Baseball for testing positive for a performance-enhancing substance. In response, he made this statement:

"I have no one to blame but myself," Mota said in a statement that did not explain how he ran afoul of baseball's drug rules. "I take full responsibility for my actions and accept MLB's suspension. I used extremely poor judgment and deserve to be held accountable."

"To my teammates and the entire Mets organization, I am sorry. I truly regret what I did and hope that you can forgive me. To baseball fans everywhere, I understand that you are disappointed in me, and I don't blame you. I feel terrible and I promise this is the first and last time that this will happen. I am determined to prove to you that this was one mistake."

How refreshing! An athlete that comes out and says, "I did it, and I'm sorry. Forgive me." Compare this to some other recent athletes when faced with the same issues :

• Rafael Palmeiro, in front of Congress: "I have never used steroids. Period." - He tested positive five months later, and claimed that he took the steroids unwittingly.
  
• Mark McGwire, in front of Congress: "I'm not here to talk about the past." - Maybe he never used stuff, but that lack of a statement sure is condemning.
• Barry Bonds: Claims he unknowingly used steroids that he thought was flaxseed oil. Seriously.

Granted, Mota made his admission after he had been caught, but it was still nice to hear an athlete own up to their failings, instead of trying to make all sorts of excuses.

Shouldn't we follow that example in life? Instead of making excuses for the way that we are and the ways that we screw up in our relationship with God and others, shouldn't we just say, "I screwed up. I'm sorry. It will be the last time"? Isn't that what repentance is all about?

Time to Vote...or Not

You can tell when it's election season. The leaves are starting to change colors, there's a chill in the air, and mud is getting slung all over the television. As a result, I hate election season. No, I like the colorful leaves and the chilliness in the morning, but the negative political ads make me a little puky. It's a shame that no one running for office has stances on any issues anymore; they only know every thing that their opponent has done wrong in their lives...or at least it seems that way to me. "Vote for me because that other guy/lady is a moron with no ethics whatsoever. Here's exactly how bad of a person he/she is." And so on. One particular set of ads have been running for months and months for someone named Judy Baar Topinka, and the tagline, "What's she thinking?" Not, "Vote for me and here's why," but, "You can't vote for her because she's that stupid. (paraphrased)" And I still don't know who she is or what she is running for. These types of ads - and the ones for prescription drugs - almost make me want to stop watching TV...but Prison Break keeps bringing me back.

We did a teaching last week at The Porch. We are in the midst of a series we titled GodSpace: A Space for God (modeled after the popular MySpace website). The idea is, what does it look like when you give God space in your life. The focus last week was on the Comments section, specifically, when you give God control of your life, how is your tongue/speech/comments affected? We found ourselves in James 3, where the tongue is compared to a bit that controls a large horse, a rudder that controls a large ship, and a spark that can start a huge fire. It can do a lot of damage, and it can do a lot of good. If you can control our tongue, it makes controlling the rest of you that much easier.

As I thought about this teaching, I thought back to my repulsion for political ads. I had this thought: What if we chose to not vote for anyone that ran attack ads on their opponent? By voting for the individuals that "approved this message," are we not saying, "I condone your methods of advertising"? I would have a hard time looking the attacked opponent in the eye and saying, "I agree with all of the awful things that [my candidate] said about you." If we made that kind of a stance, with massive support behind it, we might actually have some ads aired that were helpful and informative, instead of nasty and dirty. Granted, that kind of movement is more than this lowly blog could ever generate. So the more applicable question is, if we each made that stance, to not vote for anyone that ran negative, attacking policital ads, would we have anyone to vote for? Or have they all gone over to the dark side?

Catalyst Conference

This isn't so much an update as it is a question. I am heading to Atlanta next week for the Catalyst Conference. Anybody else going that would want to hook up for a cup of coffee? If so, let me know. I will also try to blog when there...

The Weekend in Sports

OK, so the Browns are still really stinky. And my fantasy team showed that I don't have a clue about drafting a good team (congrats on the big win, Oral). But it was still a good sports weekend, as far as I am concerned, as my Ohio State Buckeyes laid the smackdown to #2 Texas on Saturday night. Go Bucks!

Fantasy Football

Our fantasy football league had our draft tonight. Here's how my team played out:

1. Lamont Jordan - RB
2. Clinton Portis - RB
3. Reggie Wayne - WR
4. Donovan McNabb - QB
5. Reuben Droughns - RB
6. Anquan Boldin - WR (keeper from last season)
7. Javon Walker - WR
8. Jason Witten - TE
9. Jake Plummer - QB
10. Tampa Bay - Def
11. Wali Lundy - RB
12. T.J. Duckett - RB (handcuff pick for Portis)
13. David Akers - K

I think I did OK, especially since my good friend Brian Jones isn't in this league, so I might have a chance. But knowing how things go for me in fantasy sports, Portis' arm will fall off completely, and Boldin will come down with a rare virus for which there is no cure. But I'm not a pessimist. Your thoughts on my team?

Urgency

A couple of weeks ago, we introduced cereal into Colin's diet. For those of you that aren't yet parents, allow me to educate you for just a moment. When I say "cereal" I don't mean Fruity Pebbles or Honey Bunches of Oats (or Cheerio's, which seems to be a popular little kid cereal choice). When a child is Colin's age - closing in on five months - cereal means a tasteless, pasty white mixture. It reminds me of the paper mache mix we used in elementary school to make maracas out of light bulbs...tastes pretty similar, too...don't ask how I know. Colin is at the point of his development where he gets two 1/3 servings of this each day. And daddy - me - is often called upon to make the delivery. What an adventure that is! Colin treats each bite as though it were the most amazing stuff on earth, and as if he's afraid each bite will be the last. Even before he has swallowed the previous bite, he is already grunting and whining for the next one. He has an unbridled sense of urgency that I have never before witnessed. "Daddy, I know I haven't swallowed yet, but if you don't get that next bite near my mouth for me to eat, I don't know what I'll do. I might just blow a gasket, even though I have no idea what a gasket is yet. So let's go Dad, step it up and get me that pasty white food stuff!" It's really a site to behold. And last night was an even greater adventure, as he was so excited, that both arms and both legs were flailing while his head swiveled from side to side. It was like target practice, and quite frankly, I'm not good at target practice. Thank God for bath time.

As I fed him last night, I started to think about my life. I have the tendency to live life with this same sense of urgency. I do a lot of sitting around, until push comes to shove, and then I shift life into urgent mode. I have often said that I work really well behind the 8-ball. The problem is that it doesn't work so well for those that have to deal with me. And it's not a great way to live. So many important things get pushed aside for the urgent things. Sometimes the urgent is the most important, but oftentimes it just seems that way due to its, well, urgency. The challenge for me, and for any of you like me, is to fill and focus our lives on the important so that stuff doesn't get pushed to the side in favor of the urgent. How to do that? I'm not sure, but one day, when I absolutely have to do it, when it is urgent, I hope to figure it out...

New Video

Check out the new video I just posted on YouTube. You can see it on the sidebar to the right. Enjoy! And remember, Old Guys Rule...

Trees and Tag, You're It!

The big Bradford Pear tree that adorned our front yard is officially gone. What was left after the storm was cut down and removed over the weekend. Now there is a great big hole in our view where once was a nice-looking tree. We will especially miss it in the spring when it was known for it's beautiful white blossoms. It's departure made me reflect on the brevity of life. If I was counting the rings correctly, it was in the neighborhood of 16 years old. Granted, this is not old when you think about Oak trees and the like, but a 16 year old Bradford Pear tree means it is a pretty big tree. And the majority of it was gone in a matter of a half hour. All that time and effort on the part of the tree and Mother Nature reduced to a pile of sawdust and leaves in minutes. What a bummer! Our life is no different. We work hard and long at whatever for however long God gives us on Earth, and then one day, we are reduced to a pile of sawdust and leaves. But hopefully, we have done something in our lives to leave a hole when we are gone, to know that we will be missed. What have you done that will be missed when you are gone?

On to the tagging. A buddy of mine from seminary, D.G. Hollums has tagged me, meaning I have to - actually, I chose to, because it's fun and interesting - answer a series of questions. This particular tagging focuses on books, so here we go:

1. One book that changed your life: (We'll assume the Bible is asssumed) The Ragamufin Gospel by Brennan Manning - If you still have a hard time grasping grace, read this...

2. One book that you have read more than once:
Put Me In The Zoo by Robert Lopshire - Colin loves this one!

3. One book you would want on a desert island:
The Ultimate Hitchhiker's Guide by Douglas Adams - Makes me laugh out loud every time, which brings me to...

4. One book that made you laugh:
Anything by Bill Bryson - Hilarious and educational

5. One book that made you cry:
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

6. One book you wish had been written:
The Answer Book for Being the Best Husband and Dad Ever

7. One book you wish had never been written:
The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown - Could there be any more hype for a below-average book? I think not

8. One book youÂ’re currently reading:
Pour Your Heart Into It: How Starbucks Built a Company One Cup at a Time by Howard Schultz and Dori Jones Yang

9. One book you’ve been meaning to read:
The Challenge of Jesus by N.T. Wright - I'm actually in the middle of it...for the third time

10. Tag 5 others:
Brian Jones
Guy Williams
Jennifer Schenkelberg
Jason and Jeni Russ
Scott Russ

A Lot to be Thankful For

So, Saturday night during a bad storm, a tree fell on our house. And in the past week and a half, our ministry has lost five SIMYs (that's the acronym for our adult leaders). So why the title, "A Lot to be Thankful For"? Well, with regards to the tree, everyone is OK, and the damage could have been a whole lot worse. It just clipped the corner of the front porch. And with regards to our ministry, we still have many good, solid, committed leaders in our youth ministry, so I have that to be thankful for. And, I talked with my aunt the other day, and she told me of the problems they have had with bitter youth leaders that have gone so far as to leave their church (they are the junior high youth leaders) because they don't agree with the direction that the new youth pastor is taking the ministry. As near as I can tell, and from what those that have left our ministry have told me, we are not experiencing that sort of bitterness at all. It is simply a matter of people trying to scale back their lives or God taking them in a different direction in their own ministries. So praise God for that!

On a different note, I am looking for some good quotes. We are nearing the end of the renovation of our youth space at La Croix. There is a company that sells lettered wall decals. I would love to get some good, meaningful quotes that would appeal to youth to add to the walls in there. So if you have any, please pass them along. And, part of the renovation is a prayer room. If you have any quotes that specifically pertain to prayer, please pass those along as well. Thanks in advance...

I'm Back!

It's good to know that two of you have noticed my blogging absence and have been concerned about it. That's more than I figured it would be. To return, I thought I would present my On Notice list of things / people that are dead to me:

• Turn signal non-users: Nothing drives me battier than someone who is driving in front of me and they slow down for no apparent reason...and then they turn! That's what the little stick on the left of the drive shaft is for!
• Prescription drug commercials: When did they start advertising for prescrip drugs? Sure, they have always advertised for Bayer and such, but a drug for Restless Leg Syndrome? Come on!
• On-air talent shows: OK, so I watch American Idol, but do we need America's Got Talent? If you judge it by that show - which I admittedly have not watched, but have seen a few clips - no, we don't have talent. And are David Haselhoff and Brandy the ones that should be determining it?
  
• Chuck Norris: Why is he popular? Are people trying to make him the next Kevin Bacon? It will never work.
• Fox Sports football coverage: Just show me the dang game, don't make it sound and look like a blasted video game.
• Sweetest Day: Just a holiday invented by Hallmark to sell cards. Love you, Marcy!
• Neckties: The only time I have worn one in the past several years was to preach at my sis-in-law's wedding. Can't stand 'em.
• Mike Shane: He is the local news anchor in Cape. Marcy and I laugh at him most of the time, because he is ridiculous. His time of usefulness as an anchor is long gone. Yesterday he was commenting on the ears of the Humane Society dog of the day saying that, wouldn't it be great if humans had ears like that? Huh?!?

It's good to be back...

Schlemiel, Schlemozzle, Hossenfeffer, Incorporated!

Tomorrow morning at 8:00am, 27 teenagers, 6 SIMYs (adult leaders), and I will be piling in 15-passenger vans and hitting the road for our annual summer mission trip. This year, as hinted at by the title of this post, we are heading to Milwaukee, WI. Please pray for us. Pray that our teenagers and adults get a glimpse - or another one - of what it means to serve the way that Jesus talked about and demonstrated. Pray that our leaders are able to establish good, strong relationships with the students. And pray that I don't screw anything up...and that I'm able to deal with missing my wife and baby for the week. I hope to give updates on a regular basis this week at The Porch's MySpace site and upload pictures at Flickr. Don't hate on me if it doesn't happen, though...