Late Night Over Pancakes

2009-02-25T22:58:00.003-05:00

Some New Digs

I have recently started contributing to a great local newspaper based in Lauderdale-by-the-Sea which is a favorite locale for April and I. You can check them out at www.bytheseafuture.com

Below are my first couple of columns. It's kind of like the poor man's Dave Barry, or something like that....I'll hopefully begin linking them here regularly and not posting them in chaotic bulk like this...

Cleaning up the Streets

January 30, 2009

Lauderdale-By-The-Sea may not be the horn-blowing capital of the world, but its seasonal traffic is certainly not listed as a tourist attraction by the Chamber of Commerce either.

So as we continue to dwell in this abode with ever increasing traffic, I'm hereby proposing the federal government add one more stipulation to any bailouts they give to the automakers:

Car companies must add an "alternative horn" as a standard feature to all their production models.

Why? Well perhaps you have found yourself in the exact same scenario I was in the other day:

I'm routinely sitting at a red light, when the light suddenly turned green but the car in front of me failed to move. Working on my patience, I extended the few courtesy seconds - I'm by no means the guy who has his hand already on the horn waiting to honk a nanosecond after the light turns green, like some sort of wild west outlaw with an itchy trigger finger - and yet after the few seconds had gone by the car still wasn't moving and my patience was waning....

So I honked.

And I immediately felt like a jerk.

You see the normal horn - even if it is lightly tapped - sounds so belligerent and demanding. Granted, I drive a pickup truck and so the horn is more pronounced than it would be in say, a Mini Cooper. Even so, the problem is that the same horn is used for the jerk that cuts you off, the person about to back into you, the person drifting into your lane, and the little lady ahead of you at the light who you just want to gently remind, "Green means go."

But the horn says it otherwise.

It's like the Seinfeld episode where Jerry's uncle Leo gets his eyebrows waxed but in a slanted fashion - from that point on anything the guy says, no matter how nicely, comes across like he's angry because he appears angry.

The horn, no matter what, always appears angry. Like you're shaking your fist and cursing under your breath when perhaps it's one of the few times you're not.

We, the people, need an alternative horn.

Keep the standard horn and its confrontational reputation for when we really need it but give us another horn that communicates, "Hey I'm not mad, just wanna remind you the light's green." Or for those times when you’re moving down your street and want to say hello to that neighbor always turned around watering the lawn. Instead of trying to tap the horn in some kind of rapid-fire sequence aimed at sounding cheerful but really causes your startled neighbor’s heart to palpitate, what about a greeting horn?

The question is what would such a horn sound like?

Perhaps a chime of some sort?

Woodwind?

Sinatra?

I tell you what, a little “Strangers in the Night” blaring across Commercial and A1A during gridlock would go a long way in this town...

Calling Timeout

February 20, 2009

Earlier this month somewhere around 97 million people were reported to have watched the Super Bowl – America’s unofficial holiday –in which the tradition-rich Pittsburgh Steelers defeated the feel-good-story Arizona Cardinals. Lauderdale-by-the-Sea residents and visitors contributed to the 97 million figure as televisions glowed from condo balconies and fans flocked to the great watch party stationed along the street between 101 Ocean and the Village Grill/Pump.

As my wife and I strolled the street that night, I was reminded that the cultural entity known as “sports” is really a fascinating thing. First, it is the great social equalizer. Our society places high value on personal space and ways to secure it such as privacy hedges and fenced in yards, and yet somehow a sporting event can entice people to pack into a plastic seat laden stadium like sardines. Beer-guzzling, face-painted sardines, but sardines nonetheless. Our society is still at times very fragmented demographically as people of one race, color, creed or income level only associate with others of the same, and yet somehow a sporting event entices people to look beyond skin color or job title and congregate together in a diverse mass to root their team on. In this way sports fans are color blind, well, at least blind to any color but the one on a team’s jersey!

The cultural entity known as sports also serves as the great conversation piece. What is a business man to do as he rides the elevator to the top floor of a skyscraper surrounded by people and awkward silence? Mention last night’s game – a score, statistic, or highlight-reel play – and it is amazing how the elevator ride will suddenly be too short to accommodate the conversation. The same is true if you are waiting for the bus, or a table at a restaurant, or if you’re sitting on one of those couches in the middle of the mall with the other men waiting for your wife to “finish” her shopping.

Perhaps most humorously though is the realization that the cultural entity known as sports is also at times the great contradiction. If ever one begins to think that we third-millennium earthlings living in post-modern America are at the height of human sophistication and social progress, go and attend a major sporting event. It is one of the last remaining slices of life not bound by normal, civilized behavior. The person in your office who has never been to work on time a day in their life and says little throughout the day is the same person who will turn up to the event four hours early painted from head to toe, wearing a giant foam hand and singing fight songs. Give said person a $13 plastic bottle of beer or two and they will soon be saying more during one quarter to the referee on the sideline than they have in two year’s worth of budget meetings. Some who have never shed tears even at a funeral will get glassy eyed at the mention of that overtime loss in the playoffs last year. Sure, men often get a bad rap for not being emotional or in-tune with their feelings but that’s in relation to things like wives, anniversaries and births; when it comes to two-point conversions and walk-off homeruns a sports fan can often be found embracing the shirtless stranger next to them and exclaiming their feelings in a way that would make Dr. Phil proud.

Further, all of the above is only what one finds in the seats surrounding the game; let’s not forget about what transpires within the games themselves. Sure, it might be inappropriate for your boss to tear off his blazer and throw it on the ground in frustration during the next staff meeting…but not in a game. If it gets to halftime and your coach is still wearing his blazer and hasn’t yet trampled on it like a tantrum-prone toddler you just witnessed history. Sure, others might perceive you as crazy and pompous if after closing the next sale you rip your tie from your shirt and throw it into the Accounts Receivable department as you pound your chest and raise a number one in the air…but not in a game. Make that little rubber ball go through that big net and of course you have the honor of tossing your head band in the stands and pounding your chest. Sure, your construction career might be short lived if only three out of every ten buildings you built didn’t collapse or as an attorney you only won three out of every ten cases…but again, not in a game. Average three hits for every ten times your at bat and you’ll have to set up an off-shore account just to contain all your money…

Hey, I am one of the 97 million who have never met a single player on either team, nor could ever dream of affording a ticket to the game, nor will ever see a fraction of what the players make and yet was glued to the screen as I am every year not just for the Super Bowl but every major championship.

However I think…I just need a time out.

2009-01-16T17:51:00.002-05:00

Re-cession, Re-examination

The words “Change” and “Maverick” dominated the airwaves and rang in our ears in the weeks leading up to the Election. But over the last few weeks in the land of buzz words and pop-culture phraseology, there’s a new sheriff in town – Recession.

Ever since the polls closed in November with no hanging chads to be found and America named a new President, the word taking up residence in the headlines and bottom-of-the-TV-tickers starts with “Re” and ends with “Cession.” As America struggles to precisely define the cause of such a recession as well as its scope, many continue to sink deeper and deeper in despair. In the midst of such a desperate slide, people look back at the Great Depression and search for similarities while at the same time straining to look forward and speculate just how bad it will get.

While many continue to debate if this is merely the financial version of Y2K – all bark and no bite – or the real arrival of economic anorexia for our generation; let’s not panic quite yet.
First, we are a group of people obsessed with comparisons and with a passion for labeling everything as “the modern ________” or the “next _________.” Let’s wait to cross bridges if and when we get to them.

Secondly, while there are certainly some industries and groups of people who are hurting worse than others, and for those groups we mourn, for many this time is simply causing a return from complete and utter excess to a more normal existence. Maybe the yacht or the vacation home is lying a little more dormant than usual; maybe public transportation is now a more common occurrence; maybe dining in makes more sense than taking-out.

Not for all, but for many these times simply mean less “stuff” and Lord knows that might be good for you and I. Perhaps during these times, one will have to begin counting their blessings and riches that aren’t as tangible – things like freedom, family, health, and love. But when looked at that way – aren’t those things we can’t touch, can’t claim on our taxes, really what matters?

2009-01-11T09:18:00.004-05:00

Are you a good person?

There is a new game show on Fox called The Moment of Truth. The game show works like this: Prior to the show a contestant is hooked up to a polygraph and asked a series of 50 questions that get progressively more personal and probing. The results from the polygraph are documented but not shown to the contestant. The contestant then is placed on the show before the live audience, which will include family, friends, and spouse, and asked 21 of the same questions. If they answer the question in accordance to how the polygraph documented the truth then they win money and have a chance to keep answering more questions for increasingly more money.

Before reading the rest of this post you need to watch this 3 minute YouTube clip from a recent episode. It will be well worth your time.
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K76dtwA5kc4

This last question - by which Lauren lost all of the money - is profound on so many levels. First, the scenario implies that on the original polygraph she also answered "yes" to the question of whether or not she is a good person but the polygraph detected hints of dishonesty, meaning that deep down in her most honest gut she realizes she is not a good person but she suppresses the realization - only to be betrayed by a device that can measure physiological responses which trump what we may say. This is incredible because it echoes exactly what we are told in Romans:
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"For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth." (1:18)

"They show that the work of the Law is written on their hearts, while their conscience also bears witness, and their conflicting thoughts accuse our even excuse them on that day when, according to my gospel, God judges the secrets of men by Christ Jesus." (2:15,16)
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Secondly, the entire premise and appeal of the show would not even be possible if what our culture tells us true - that there is no moral absolute and no natural law. If there are no moral absolutes than 1) why is honesty prized? 2) why is it wrong, or at the very least socially frowned upon, to lie? 3)whose to say all of the things she fesses up to are wrong? 4) why is behavior such as adultery shocking? Adultery might be wrong for Audience Member A but its's right for her.

Further, if there is no such thing as natural law written on our hearts, no instinctual sense of right and wrong, why does Lauren know (albeit subconsciously) that there is some idea of a "good person" but that she falls short of it? Something about her behavior causes her to doubt her intrinsic goodness but that causes her to feel shameful and thus tries to convince herself and others that she really is good.

But Lauren's feelings, the feelings of her family, the entire premise of the show, and the uncomfortable response that it illicits from us should not happen if there is no God, and no moral standard, and no absolutes.
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But the game show had 23 million viewers in its debut.

And Fox has just ordered more episodes.
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I know its just TV and all that comes with that. But think about the premise of this show for just...a moment.

2008-09-28T10:41:00.003-05:00

All About the Benjamins

Outreach magazine just recently released its annual Special Issue featuring the list of America's 100 Largest Churches and 100 Fastest Growing Churches. Of course, people have many different reactions to such a statistical breakdown of spirituality. Some see numbers as the indisputable, tell-all indicator. Others feel that numbers are in no way indicative of overall health. Still others, like myself, are somewhere in the middle.

In either case, the issue is always a fascinating one. They define "fastest growing" as a church's membership increase by percentage and raw numbers in the past year. The fastest growing church in America this time last year was Iglesia Cristiana Segadores de Vida in Hollywood, FL. It originally started as a house-church system and has spawned into the 69th overall largest church in the U.S.

Here are the current top 10 largest churches in America:

1. Lakewood Church - Houston, TX

2. Second Baptist Church - Houston, TX

3. North Point Community Church - Alpharetta (Atlanta), GA

4. Willow Creek Community Church - South Barrington (Chicago), IL

5. Lifechurch.tv - Edmond (Ok. City), OK

6. West Angeles Cathedral - Los Angeles, CA

7. Fellowship Church - Grapevine, TX

8. Saddleback Church - Lake Forest, CA

9. Calvary Chapel Fort Lauderdale - Fort Lauderale, FL

10. The Potter's House - Dallas, TX

There is so much more to be said about all of this, so stay tuned. Also give your feedback on this concept. One thing that immediately hit me when looking at the list was the fact of Houston, TX featuring the 2 largest churches in America. As I noticed that, the comment that was made by some after Katrina hit New Orleans came to mind - remember when some misinformed Christians insisted New Orleans was hit directly as a result of the city's illicit sin? Surely in some way natural disasters are a result of sin's presence in the world at large and are a result of man's fall - but let's be honest all of our cities are deserving in that case. Further, if that is the criteria for where hurricane's make landfall it's interesting that Ike would choose Houston - home to the 2 largest Christian churches...

2008-06-16T09:12:00.002-05:00

Micah 7:18-20

Who is a God like you, pardoning iniquity and passing over transgression for the remnant of his inheritance?
He does not retain his anger forever, because he delights in steadfast love.
He will again have compassion on us; he will tread our iniquities under foot.
You will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea.
You will show faithfulness to Jacob and steadfast love to Abraham,
as you have sworn to our fathers from the days of old.

2008-05-07T08:24:00.003-05:00

The Dark Continent Shines

The United Methodist Church met for its General Conference last week in Fort Worth, TX. One of the hot-button issues that was addressed - as is happening in many "mainline denominations" - was the issue of homosexuality. Many leaders in the UMC - following the moral decline of many of their ecumenical brothers - have been pushing for the General Conference to revise its current stance on homosexuality in the church which states, "homosexuality is incompatible with Christian teaching." Many of the leaders are pushing for such a statement to either be removed entirely or adjusted to "refrain from judgment" on the issue.

Thankfully, the General Conference voted to keep it's stance on homosexuality in tact. That it is indeed "incompatible with Christian teaching." The margin was narrow, but nonetheless, decisive. The very telling factor though through all of this was that many of the American UMC leaders who desire for the UMC to change its stance on homosexuality, begrudgingly blame the fact that it didn't change on the ever-incresing presence of UMC representatives from Africa at the General Conference. Christianity in general is exploding in Africa, and the denomination of Methodism is no exception. As such, the African UMC sends more and more leaders to the General Conference each time, and such leaders are usually more conservative, dare I say more Biblically committed than many in the American arena. Their voice being heard in this important vote demonstrates this.

This fact only confirms the reality we as American Christians are progressively coming to terms with...we no longer set the spiritual tone. The Church around the world is surpassing us in its devotion, conviction and zeal. A place like the "Dark Continent" is being seen as a misnomer. The West may still be more technologically advanced but in the economy of Grace, a place like the Dark Continent is a beacon of light to the American church; calling her to a higher standard.

This fact only confirms that the next Great Awakening; the next great Gospel movement; the next Reformation of any kind will probably not originate on American soil where we shed blood in the Worship Wars (contemporary or traditional?) but in the lands around the globe where the soil is rich with the blood of the martyrs and yet the Gospel pushes on.

American Christianity...how much longer till this term is seen as contradictory around the world?

2008-04-15T21:11:00.004-05:00

What if God was one of us?

We're all familiar with the Joan Osbourne song from back in the day...

If God had a face what would it look like
And would you want to see
If seeing meant that you would have to believe
In things like heaven and in Jesus and the saints and all the prophets
What if God was one of us?
Just a slob like one of us
Just a stranger on a bus
trying to make his way home...

It was (still is) a catchy tune with simple chords and simplistic theology...

The other night I watched Evan Almighty - the sequel to Bruce - featuring Steve Carell as the man chosen to build an Ark ("the weirdo with a beardo") by "God" who is played by Morgan Freeman. I absolutely love both Bruce and Evan - they're by no means epic, award-winning films but they are tightly spun yarns that entertain for 90 minutes, make you laugh and if you notice actually make you think. I would by no means describe either as a Gospel film but it does make the average viewer think a little more of Biblical concepts - even if they are skewed - than one normally would.

What fascinates me about these movies is the fact that others, including Hollywood, are fascinated and entertained by the idea of God becoming man, in this case a black man who looks like he's in his sixties and is of average build and temperment. The movies would lack their punch and entertaining quality if this element were missing from the movie. If God was just a voice but was never seen in human form, the movies would be far less intriguing.

This is what I love about these movies.

It's our culture admitting that deep down the idea of God taking on human form and walking among us does resonate. The idea is woven into the fabric of who we are. Greek mythology takes it too far, humanizes it too much and created a system of "gods" that were immature, indesicive, susceptible to error and more "human" than humans. But the idea, the crazy notion of God taking on human form and coming down to us - to intervene and help us - resonates.

It's part of who we are.
We want to believe.
It's what caused us to whistle the Joan Osbourne song.
God was one of us...
Although He wasn't a slob...He is Savior...
And He wasn't trying to find His way home...but to show us how to get home...

2008-02-20T09:47:00.010-05:00

The Great American Race

This is me writing the first sentence of a blog about NASCAR.

And I can't believe it.

I have never been a racing fan. I do drive a pick-up truck and I did spend a good portion of my childhood in central Florida but I could just never get into a sport consisting entirely of left-turns.

The Daytona 500 though has always caught my attention every year. Growing up in Deltona (an unincorporated town that was in between Daytona and Deland, hence the creative name of Deltona) I witnessed the masses descend on Daytona Beach every February in all of their jean shorted glory. The interstate would be jammed with RV's descending on central Florida, stocked with cases of cheap domestic beer, on their way to pay homage to the tailgate mecca. The city would buzz - literally and figuratively - the week leading up to the race. I never did make it to a race but knew then and still hear now that even if you are not a racing fan that the Daytona 500 is one of the great spectacles in sport. If you can somehow make it to the infield (the grassy area in the middle of the track) with a camper it is supposed to be incredible. Well if you define incredible by consuming grilled meat and beer for a week.

Again this year's Daytona 500 - the Great American Race - in it's 50th anniversary caught my attention. First off, the top two finishers drove Dodge cars - in fact 6 out of the top 8 cars were Dodge, which makes me proud. But the most intriguing part of racing is the very complicated relationship between teammates. NASCAR in its structure is kinda like the English Premier League. There are a few elite, cash-laden teams backed by powerful, affluent owners who dominate the sport. Lately in NASCAR you have Joe Gibbs Racing and Hendrick Motorsports taking up much of the limelight due to their charasmatic owners, deep pockets, and signing of glamorous drivers. Then you have the manufacturer's who sign on - agreeing to produce a car to the right specifications and to the right fit for your driver's who will hopefully steer them to victory. Thus you have the conglomerate of people, money, egos, pride, power, and product all working together but also looking out for their own good in an attempt to hopefully generate a win and satisfy everybody - from fans to sponsors, etc.

But it is the relationship of drivers that is still most crucial. Your team's 4 or 5 main drivers must get along because their chemistry on the track is key. Drivers work together, blocking other team's drivers, drafting drivers, in an attempt to hopefully propel someone from their own team to victory. Thus, in the purest form of racing you will usually have to have one driver from a team take a "backseat" to a teammate if it is evident that on that given day the teammate's car is faster or he is driving better or in a better position to win. And so what is created - more so than sometimes what can be seen in other sports - is this unique relationship where men have to battle between their own desires to win and the chance to sacrifice themselves, and take a less glamorous position, for the greater good of their team.

And that is what happened in this year's race. JGR driver's led almost the entire race until on the last lap a Penkse driver by the name of Newman ("Hello Newman..."), who hadn't won a race in over 2 years recieved a push from behind by one of his teammates that enabled his car to gain the necessary speed for a pass into first place. "Kurt was the push from heaven that made it all happen," Newman said. "Without a doubt, he could have easily gone three-wide and split us through the center and made one heck of a mess there. But he chose to be a teammate, and that was the most honorable thing that he could do." (ESPN.com)

2008-01-26T20:37:00.000-05:00

Bono on the (really) Big Screen

If you have even the slightest hint of affection for U2 then you must do yourself a favor:
go see U2 in 3-D at the Imax theater downtown.
Even if you don't consider yourself a U2 fan you should still go. You just might come out one.
It is an incredible experience. They take footage from about 7 or 8 concerts on U2's South American tour and combine it incredibly seamlessly to produce one hour and a half concert that is incredibly life-like.
I can at times be a Postman-ian sympathizer who bemoans our complete and total addiction to newer and better technology especially when invention becomes a substitute for experience. Like when we buy a fake Christmas tree but also buy a Christmas-tree scented candle to simulate the experience. I have been guilty of this and when you think about it its kinda ridiculous.
This Imax experience though is one of those times where you just sit back in awe of what can now-a-days be packaged and sold for $12.00. This Imax concert experience is pretty darn close to being there - plus it's with better sound and plush comfortable chairs.

2008-01-17T00:21:00.000-05:00

Somewhere between 14th and 59th

I love the way, the way you carry on

You make me wanna sing,

you make me wanna sing another love song

Sing another love song

Bury my head for the shame,

you pick me up

Though it makes no sense to me

you make me believe that I could trust someone

that I could ever trust someone

Through flame, I touch the fire,

you know that I still burn for you

Flood water rain crash down,

soak the ground,

still I thirst for you

Sing another love song,

you make me wanna sing another love song

- taken from Jars of Clay "Sing"

2007-12-25T20:52:00.000-05:00

Coach

He'll still rock a full suit on the sidelines

He's kinda got the whole mad scientist look going on.
His name isn't always brought up when discussing Hall of Fame legends.
But, in his own way, he just may be the greatest college football coach ever.

He made "The U" what it is today and you may not know it but he's been in our backyard for a while now, working his magic again at...

FAU.

SCHNELLENBERGER

2007-12-05T08:53:00.001-05:00

No Country for Old Men

No Country for Old Men is the latest effort put forth by the heralded and somewhat cultic Cohen Brothers (directors of Raising Arizona, Fargo, The Big Lebowski, O Brother Where Art Thou, Blood Simple).

And what an effort it is.

The film's setting is West Texas in the year 1980, again displaying the Cohen brothers keen ability to master atmosphere on the screen. Texas is an iconic enough location to lend legitimacy, however West Texas is also remote enough to deliver the eerie feeling of unfamiliarity the film's plot requires. And 1980 - where the 70's can be overdone with nostalgia and retro-glamour, and the late 80's still a little too familiar and stereotypical- 1980 seems unassuming, almost forgetable and yet haunting when matched with the locale, characters and plot of this masterful tale.

The film is grim and gritty, filled with browns, greys, lingering shots of prarie life, stomach knotting dialogue, and coldsweat suspense. If you're familiar with the Cohen brothers, then my friend Rick's comment is well stated - No Country is Fargo minus Raising Arizona. Where Fargo hits hard at times, it also lets up and gives those moments of dark comical relief. Let's you catch your breath. No Country hits you from the opening scene and doesn't stop. The word I still haven't found a more accurate substiture for to describe the film is relentless.

"The story begins when Llewelyn Moss finds a pickup truck surrounded by a sentry of dead men. A load of heroin and two million dollars in cash are still in the back. When Moss takes the money, he sets off a chain reaction of catastrophic violence that not even the law - in the person of aging, disillusioned Sheriff Bell - can contain. As Moss tries to evade his pursuers - in particular a mysterious mastermind who flips coins for human lives - the film simultaneously strips down the American crime drama and broadens its concerns to encompass themes as ancient as the Bible, and as bloodily contemporary as this morning's headlines." (nocountryforoldmen.com)

Remember two things:

1) The Cohen bros. directed this film -enough said.

2) The film's villian is honestly worthy of being mentioned in the same sentence as Hannibal Lecter - not as grotesque but equally efficient and brilliant. The difference though is that when watching Silence and Hannibal, in the back of your mind you are always kinda thinking, Man, Anthony Hopkins is an incredible actor, thus keeping you somewhat tethered to the reality that you're watching a performance. In No Country, the villian is played by someone not as noteworthy (at least here in America) but played with such equal brilliance that you for several moments think he could be real.

I could say more...but just see this movie. But maybe not on a date. It's not the warm and fuzzy type. Then again Jerry Seinfeld did make out in Schindler's List...

2007-11-16T09:32:00.000-05:00

Costumes, Fun-Size Candy, and...God?

Halloween is behind us and we are fast approaching the next major holiday on the calendar, Thanksgiving. Before we totally trade in our bags of fun-size candy bars (by the way, never understood what was "fun" about eating a tiny candy bar, aren't the King Size ones more "fun?") and pumpkins though, I have been thinking about the idea of dressing up in costumes - the concept that so marks the most recent holiday of Halloween.

It's great.

The idea of dressing up like another person, or an animal, or a food, character, etc. The thought, money and time that can go into costumes is funny. And of course, that is what makes Halloween legendary, its what makes it arguably the most unique holiday. For a night, you can let loose, be whoever you want to be, fraternize with strangers AND get free candy - what's not to love? Granted, this year I was that guy who didn't dress up in a crowd of people who did, but that was simply for practical reasons - I love a good costume as much as the next guy.

But it is this idea of dressing up that I think resonates.

There are crazy costumes that we simply want others to approve of by laughing at, but then there are also costumes that while still humorous (there's always something a little comical about anyone dressed up) also have a hint of seriousness to them - maybe we dress up like someone or something we hope to be. When you're a kid you dress like a superhero because deep down, you want to be that heroic figure.

This is our nature.

We long for approval, we long to be more than we really are, we long to be that which we're not, we long to change. We long to cover up ourselves with something that people will see and upon seeing it, approve of. Deep down, we all can fear simply being ourselves.

And Halloween works because for a night, there are no restraints, no limits - you can be whatever you can conjure up and for that night be identified as that thing or person. And in that way, its liberating - socially, as we can laugh and be with each other, and psychologically as we're free for a time to step out of ourselves and all of the things we don't like about us and for a moment, change.

In a way, Halloween reminds us of the Gospel.

We all stand on our own, full of misgivings, full of doubts and fears, full of things about us that we're self-conscious of, full of stuff we would love to change but can't, full of wrong things and full of wrong things done to us and we long for something to put on that will cover us. And change us. And makes us that which we long to be but on our own can't be.

All humanity stands on earth in this manner, before God, and so he sends Christ to die and rise, making peace with God on our behalf. Why? So that we can put Him on, as the Bible says, "be clothed in his righteousness." We put on Christ and just like the lady at the front door, doesn't see the little kid but she sees Superman or a Princess, God looks at us and sees Christ. But unlike the costume, which can be taken on and off, in Christ we are truly changed. Slowly and sometimes painfully, but truly changed to become that which we long to be but on our own can never be.

Truly free to be ourselves, with all of our imperfections, all of our misgivings and yet know that God looks down and says, "it's allright." It's allright, because of Christ.

2007-11-07T09:05:00.001-05:00

Cleaning Up the Streets

I think every automobile manufacturer should now begin installing two types of horns in every car...

I was sitting at a red light the other day, when it suddenly turned green, and the car in front of me failed to move. I gave the obligatory few courtesy seconds - I'm by no means the guy who has his hand already on the horn, waiting to honk a nanosecond after the light turns green, like some sort of wild west outlaw with an itchy trigger finger - and yet after the few seconds had gone by the car still wasn't moving.

So I honked.

And immediately felt like a jerk.

See the normal horn - even if it is lightly tapped - sounds so angry and demanding. Granted, I drive a truck and so the horn is more pronounced than it would be in say, a Mini Cooper, but even so the problem is that the same horn is used for the jackass that cuts you off, the person about to back into you, the person drifiting into your lane, and simply the little old lady ahead of you in a light who you just want to gently remind, "Hey, I'm not angry - not even a little bit - just wanna say that the light's green."

But the horn says it otherwise.

It's like the Seinfeld where Jerry's bald, old uncle gets his eyebrows painted on but in a slanted fashion - from that point on anything the guy says, no matter how nice, comes across like he's angry, because he looks angry.

The horn, no matter what, always seems angry. Like you're shaking your fist and cursing under your breath, when perhaps you're not.

We need an alternative horn.

Keep the standard horn and its confrontational reputation for when we really need it but give us another horn that communicates, "Hey, I'm not mad, just wanna remind you the light's green."

The question is, what would such a horn sound like?

Perhaps a chime of some sort?

A melody? (Although people might think you're selling Ice Cream from your car and that's no good - unless of course you really are selling Ice Cream but that would involve getting a van, a mustache and a rap sheet)

What should the sound of the horn be?

2007-11-01T09:57:00.000-05:00

All

"Jesus paid it all

all to Him I owe

Sin had left a crimson stain

He washed it white as snow..."

-Elvina Hall, 1865

2007-10-24T16:08:00.000-05:00

TLG

"Could we with ink the ocean fill,
And were the skies of parchment made,
Were every stalk on earth a quill,
And every man a scribe by trade,
To write the love of God above,
Would drain the ocean dry.
Nor could the scroll contain the whole,
Though stretched from sky to sky."

- Frederick Lehman, 1917

2007-10-23T15:42:00.000-05:00

Willow

This is a very interesting article regarding some statements put out by Willow Creek Church, arguably the most influential evangelical church in America for the last couple of decades - for better or for worse. There is little debate regarding the influence of a place like Willow Creek over America's evangelical congregations, the question that is debated is whether or not such influence is a positive one. Willow Creek is preaching the Gospel, don't hear me wrong, its just Willow Creek pioneered and perfected the ultra-programmed, megachurch phenomenon that is finally beginning to be reexamined and this article brings some interesting insight into such a conversation....

http://blog.christianitytoday.com/outofur/archives/2007/10/willow_creek_re.html

2007-10-02T07:58:00.000-05:00

Drink Up!

There's a great little book worth your time entitled, "A History of the World in 6 Glasses" by Tom Standage. In a very original motif Standage traces the ebb and flow of human history by identifying 6 signature beverages that, as he sets out to prove, define one of the major epochs of our history - from Stone Age to Present.

This is a very unique idea and it got me thinking how in a microcosm kinda way the same principle applies to daily life. Now I am by no means comparing my inconqsequential daily life to the epochs of historical progress but, most of us throughout the day are accompanied by a beverage that encapsulates what time of the day it is and what we are trying to accomplish.

For me I begin every morning of every day with that steaming cup of coffee - the aromatic lifeblood for us nightowls who curse the daylight when it seemingly arrives earlier every morning.

Catch me at midday and you'll find some sort of carbonated beverage packed with the fuel of the working class - high fructose corn syrup and caffeiene.

It is the evenings, after work, that are accompanied by formented friends - wine or beer - to bid adue to the day and greet the coming night.

And through it all, redeeming our daily grinds and forty hour weeks, are those special occassions. Those uncompartmentalized moments where real, actual, soak-it-up, LIFE happens...

curled up in a leather chair, sipping on a warm mug, as the rain fogs up the glass of your favorite coffee shop...

a day's labor coming to an end, atop the tailgate of that beatup truck, reaching for that icy brew...

dinner with that someone, on a white linen table, accented by the pale yellow glow of moonlight and the sparkle of pinot...

And on and on it goes...from study sessions at Starbucks to toasts at weddings from wine in moderation at dinner to beer cans strapped to helmets at stadiums...Life is documented through the beverages we find clutched in our hands.

There is this fascinating remark by Jesus at the end of the Last Supper,

"...I tell you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it anew with you in my Father's kingdom..."

Won't that be a glorious day? As the final redemption occurs, our Savior breaking his fast from wine to welcome the fulness of his Bride, and us standing in our glorified bodies at that Great Wedding Feast, arm in arm with Christ - a chalice in his nail-scarred hand and a chalice in yours and mine.

2007-09-25T15:53:00.000-05:00

Fourth Floor Oracle

Hazy light begs it way
Through the grey lazy sky
As overstuffed cumulus droop
And hang in the air so thick
The sky resembling those forts made by children
Ones with dining room chair fortification
And downy-fresh blanket roofs
Grey has lately asserted itself
Barometric contractions
that signal the soon coming labor of winter
as summer will soon scurry to sabbatical
eloping to its solstice with the eternal daylight
and taking up residency will be winters pageantry

2007-09-18T20:59:00.000-05:00

Two Step

I attended the Dave Matthews Concert the other night in West Palm.

This yearly ritual was held in the underappreciated venue that is Sound Advice Amphitheatre. There's always something a little magical about making that drive out on Southern Boulevard - the eclectic surroundings of an airport, run-down houses and undeveloped property - an artery of a road that really is aptly named, much more closely related to old cracker West Palm than its upstart debutant sibling of guilded Palm Beach...turn back east and you can end up on that pristine and prestigious shore...keep heading west and you'll end up on the backward, haunting yet timeless banks of Lake Okeechobee and all its lore...but in between lies the amphitheatre and its there you'll be greeted by music carried on the wind, planes with their flickering lights roaring overhead, smoke billowing around you....

and thick crowds of people.

And it happens everytime I'm there for a big show that inevitably as the night thickens and the band carries on that I will look around, the music fading to the background for just a second, and I will think to myself, "Look at all of these people."

All different yet not without similiarities, all journeying through this life, all coming to the show for some intention of having a good time

All made in the image of God.

And it's times like that- under that endless sky and surrounded by those euphoric crowds - where I remember just how small I really am. That on the shores of humanity I am but a grain of sand.

And yet the amazing balance and tension of it all is that even in my insignificance and low stature in the height of history the Creator-Redeemer loves me. And He makes me significant and makes me have worth not of my own but because of his love for me.

That even though we are grains of sand on the shores of humanity, his waves of mercy and love wash over us.

"...my Love you came to me like wine comes to this mouth grown tired of water all the time. You quench my heart and you quench my mind..."
- "Two Step" DMB

2007-09-15T12:04:00.000-05:00

Psalm 118

1 Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good;
his love endures forever.
2 Let Israel say:
"His love endures forever."
3 Let the house of Aaron say:
"His love endures forever."
4 Let those who fear the LORD say:
"His love endures forever."
5 In my anguish I cried to the LORD, and he answered by setting me free.
6 The LORD is with me; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?
7 The LORD is with me; he is my helper. I will look in triumph on my enemies.
8 It is better to take refuge in the LORD than to trust in man.
9 It is better to take refuge in the LORD than to trust in princes.
10 All the nations surrounded me, but in the name of the LORD I cut them off.
11 They surrounded me on every side, but in the name of the LORD I cut them off.
12 They swarmed around me like bees, but they died out as quickly as burning thorns;
in the name of the LORD I cut them off.
13 I was pushed back and about to fall, but the LORD helped me.
14 The LORD is my strength and my song; he has become my salvation.
15 Shouts of joy and victory resound in the tents of the righteous:
"The LORD's right hand has done mighty things!
16 The LORD's right hand is lifted high; the LORD's right hand has done mighty things!"
17 I will not die but live, and will proclaim what the LORD has done.
18 The LORD has chastened me severely, but he has not given me over to death.
19 Open for me the gates of righteousness; I will enter and give thanks to the LORD.
20 This is the gate of the LORD through which the righteous may enter.
21 I will give you thanks, for you answered me; you have become my salvation.
22 The stone the builders rejected has become the capstone;
23 the LORD has done this, and it is marvelous in our eyes.
24 This is the day the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.

2007-09-06T01:24:00.000-05:00

two three and six

laying awake on my bed
another sleepless night
it's here that i am brave
it's here that i am cavalier
full of bright ideas and things i'd love to say
had this night come right before i saw you today

for when i am sleepless and alone
i am clever and smooth and downright eloquent
its when i see you face to face
under the sunlight, with life in your eyes
that i'm over-analytical and all together tongue-tied

2007-08-31T12:07:00.000-05:00

Matthew

Just a couple thoughts:

I was listening to the Gospel of Matthew today. That's right listening. A couple of years ago at Christmas I was given the Bible on CD by my uncle. It's awesome, it's like 200 CD's, it's crazy. And I've listened to it sporadically since then but this semester I am in a NT class and so I have resurrected the CD's and have been listening to them in order to keep up with the class. There is great power in listening to the Word of God. It really comes alive. We have done ourselves a great disservice by relegating the Bible to just being read in private devotional times alone and/or not having times in our church services or Bible studies where we simply read aloud the Word of God together and let it speak for itself. There is great power in the Word. We must remember that this is what would have occurred in NT times. When Paul wrote a letter to Corinth, chances are he only wrote one copy and thus the people would have to gather round and hear the Word read to them. May we remember to sometimes do the same. We must talk less and let the Word speak more. Try it if you haven't. Go grab the CD's or download tracks from Itunes (yes they have it) or better yet record yourself reading text...It's powerful.

Secondly, as I listened to Matthew I realized anew what a bad, bad, bad man I am. And I don't mean bad like the guys who own "Bad Ass Boys Drive Bad Ass Toys" bumper stickers. I mean it more like Babu, the Pakistani friend of Jerry's on Seinfeld who reminds him, "Jerry you are a verrry, verrry bad man..."

The sermon on the mount is sobering. Sure, there might be degrees of sin. Is speaking evil of your brother quite AS BAD as actually killing him...no...or at least that's the debate. But let us not pawn this off. Jesus is clearly telling us, "You're much, much worse than you even think." We are sinful to the very core of our being. We are so desperate for grace. The sermon on the mount must convict us. Let us not view it as a license to be "big picture" and lax with our conviction. Let us stop calling our Christian friends who possess much, much more conviction than we do pharisaical. Let us view the sermon on the mount for what it is...a reminder of how hopelessly sinful we really are...and how gracious Christ really is.

2007-08-22T14:33:00.000-05:00

Twilight

There is a house up on the hill
The yard is fenced and green
There are regal, shade giving trees and even a little windmill
The shutters are pulled back letting light in pristine

Walking up to this house up on the hill
With each step the gravel crunches under feet
With the sound ringing of birds chirping shrill
Wooing me with the escaping smell of something sweet

I am a guest in this house up on the hill
I am expected but walk slowly to the door
I crunch the gravel, bask in the shade, twirl the windmill
Inquiring to no one but myself why I feel I've been here before

Looking to the door I knock firmly but not too hard
Learning quickly audacity is rarely present here
Loved by that smile, welcome mat under feet, I enter and leave the yard
Longing to make the dream of this house a reality so clear

Inside this house up on the hill
I exchange pleasantries and make small talk
Indifferent to the scattered toys and table piled with bills
Inviting others in, growing the din of conversation, I excuse myself for a walk

Green too is the backyard of this house up on the hill
Graced serenely by twilight sky and aqua blue pool
Going down the patio steps taking it in, the night promises to chill
Giving my pockets hands to hold I walk to the fence as the sky fills with jewels

How do I feel welcome in this house up on the hill?
Hell, its more then welcome, its down right familiar
Hoping to find the journey’s end here in Pleasantville
Holding my life’s breath without the oxygen of her

Turning back to the door the twilight has matured to night
Taking my hands out of my pockets I retrace my steps
Trading night sky for lamp shaded light
This feeling is familiar but not mine quite yet

2007-08-22T10:09:00.001-05:00

Yahweh

Is Bono a born-again Christian or is he not?

That is the question that many U2 fans, especially Christian ones, continually debate.

My opinion is that there ain't no question Bono knows the Gospel and knows Grace - his lyrics and life tell of this - the question though in my mind always has been whether he believes in the exclusivity of Christ - does he believe Jesus is the only way?

That's where it all hinges.

I hope that he does.

I hope that the greatest front-man of all time will be singing in the choirs of heaven.

But I am not the judge.

But for a moment, regardless of all that and regardless of our position on Bono there is something amazing about the u2 anthem "Yahweh."

I was watching one of their concert dvd's the other night and there is something to be said about a band and a stadium, containing a sea of people, singing under the lights the holy covenant name of God.

Admitedly a lot of them probably don't give it a second thought...but some do.

And when the lights fade in and out and you hear the stadium echo "Yahweh...Yahwehhhh..." it's pretty darn incredible...

Take these shoes

Click clacking down some dead end street

Take these shoes

And make them fit

Take this shirt

Polyester white trash made in nowhere

Take this shirt

And make it clean, clean

Take this soul

Stranded in some skin and bones

Take this soul

And make it sing

Yahweh, Yahweh

Always pain before a child is born

Yahweh, Yahweh

Still I’m waiting for the dawn

Take these hands

Teach them what to carry

Take these hands

Don’t make a fist

Take this mouth

So quick to criticise

Take this mouth

Give it a kiss

Yahweh, Yahweh

Always pain before a child is born

Yahewh, Yahweh

Still I’m waiting for the dawn

Still waiting for the dawn, the sun is coming up

The sun is coming up on the ocean

This love is like a drop in the ocean

Yahweh, Yahweh

Always pain before a child is born

Yahweh, tell me now

Why the dark before the dawn?

Take this city

A city should be shining on a hill

Take this city

If it be your will

What no man can own, no man can take

Take this heart

And make it break

"Yahweh" -U2

2007-08-18T00:39:00.000-05:00

Angelsea

come here

you're so far away

and i can't take it

not tonight

not tomorrow

not anymore

for even though my life is young

its passing

with an ever coming consistency

thats terrifying

and i don't want to spend another day of it

without you

but rather I want to share it

every mountain

and ever valley

every high

and every low

every tear

and every laugh

with you

2007-08-14T14:12:00.000-05:00

gallow

"...stuck on the end of this ball and chain
and i'm on my way back down again
stood on a bridge, tied to the noose

sick to the stomach
you can say what you mean
but it won't change a thing
i'm sick of the secrets

stood on the edge, tied to a noose

You came along and you cut me loose
You came along and you cut me loose
You came along and you cut me loose..."

-"Amsterdam" by Coldplay

Christ has cut me free from the noose of sin and death. Although daily I find myself trying to slip by neck back into it...I don't want to...but my behavior and constant disobedience and constant entanglement in ridiculous sin that should be conquered by now seems to prove otherwise.

Cut me loose I pray and burn the rope. For all too often do I return to that tempting yet deadly twine.

2007-08-09T09:20:00.001-05:00

Changing Lanes

I've really rediscovered the joy of the Blockbuster rental lately. Don't get me wrong I thoroughly enjoy a good theatre outing - big screen, big popcorn - but the rental is great too. No lines, lower prices, no one kicking the back of your seat, not having your feet get stuck to the floor because there is a 10 year old layer of carbonation and candy on the ground - it's great. Furthermore if there is nothing worth paying the hefty ticket price at the theatre currently, you can always find something tucked away in the Blockbuster aisles.

Last night I picked up Changing Lanes featuring Ben Affleck and Samuel L. Jackson. Ever since Pearl Harbor I have never been able to look at Ben Affleck the same way but because of my unhealthy obsession with Good Will Hunting and the absurd amount of times that I have seen it I will forever give Affleck the benefit of the doubt and still watch his current movies. Samuel L. Jackson has played an incredibly diverse and sometimes random amount of roles in his career but usually can always be counted on to deliver a solid performance.

Changing Lanes revolves around these two men - Gavin (Affleck) is partner in a high profile law firm that deals with municipal finance while Doyle (Jackson) is an insurance salesman battling his past, alcoholism and battling for his marriage or at least joint custody of his children. On one fateful day the two men are speeding along on the freeway - Gavin on his way to a hearing where his law firm is being sued for the mishandling of a large charity's funds (of which they are guilty - they stole 3 million dollars from the charity) and Doyle is on his way to a custody hearing, the last and most important one of his life as a father, the one where he finally had the chance to prove he had gotten his act together (which he had) - as they speed along Gavin (Affleck)changes lanes and crashes into Doyle's (Jackson) car.

As this accident couldn't have come at a worse time for either man - Gavin's carreer and Doyle's family are at stake here on this day - Gavin tries to offer Doyle a blank check for him to fix any damage as he just needs to get the heck out of there whereas Doyle wants to swap insurance and do it the right way as he needs to not do anything to jeopardize his newly cleaned up image. Gavin doesn't have time for this, throws him the blank check and begins to speed off. As it begins to rain, Doyle asks him for a ride into town (Gavin's car is driveable still where Doyle's is totaled) to which Gavin responds, "Sorry, better luck next time."

The plot thickens when it turns out that Gavin had dropped the file on which his whole case pivots at the scene of the accident and Doyle managed to pick it up. After Doyle loses his custody hearing after being a half-hour late because of the accident - a hearing which he would have probably won for he really had become a changed man - he throws everything in his hands away in disgust, including the file Gavin needs. After another run-in with Gavin whereby Doyle learns of the importance of the file, Doyle salvages it from the garbage can and a battle of wills ensues. How far will Gavin go to get back this file - his inconsideration earlier already screwed Doyle over, will he now go even further to get what he needs? After learning how precious this file is to Gavin, how long can Doyle fight the seductive calling of revenge before he takes matters into his own hands and tries to make Gavin experience the same pain he feels?

I enjoyed this movie and chose to blog on it for 2 reasons:

First, it does a good job of showing the wavering moral compass man possesses - even sometimes for us as Christians. The Golden Rule, the Sermon on the Mount, the Fruit of the Spirit, etc. are all good and well on paper or in our lives when we are not tried. The question is does our moral compass or will our commitment to a certain ethic change under great duress? How rigid is the "Due North" line, so to speak, on the compass of our morality or Christian ethic? I know for me in my own life my commitment to the Lord, my appreciation of his grace, my desire for holiness is sky high when things are constantly falling into place, but as soon as one bad day comes along I all too often listen to that seductive call to abandon waiting on the Lord or seeking his face to instead take matters into my own hands or just simply grow bitter and jaded. Or what about our standards for life? The Christian life is great on paper but how committed are we to really live it out once we are on our own - living without the watchful eye of parents, teachers, roommates, etc.? It is said that character is what you do when no one is watching...so what are we doing?

Secondly, I enjoyed this movie because of the perspective it brings. There is a reason why "Crap Happens" attained bumper-sticker-status...because it does. All the time. We live in a broken world, full of broken people doing broken things and being victims of broken things. A lot of people have more bad days then good. The writer of this blog and most of you who read this don't fall into that category - we are blessed beyond belief - but so many people are not. So many people experience things and have days and go through stuff that we can't imagine. So many people when we bump into them on the street act in a way that makes us think they are a huge jerk and sometimes they simply may be that, but sometimes they may have been through things earlier in the day that we can't imagine and we must be sensitive to that. Especially in ministry - we must be able to look at people and see past the skin to the heart issues. People have wounds and scars and pasts that may cause them to act in certain ways and we must be sensitive and keen to that.

So pick it up if you haven't seen the movie - it was entertaining and also thought provoking and while I may have given away a lot there is more to see.

And while another bumper sticker tells us that "mean people suck" let's remember "unloving, insensitve and morally indecent Christians suck more."

2007-08-07T12:54:00.000-05:00

Searching Sheets and Circumstances

Eyes wide open pupils dilating to the dark they are adjusting
Light departs to its slumber giving way to this black hole of night and thought
Imagination wide open heart palpitates to the solitude its not adjusting
One of those nights where sleep fled with the light, left alone with a battle to be fought

A flickering chandelier casts shadows over soul and body
Shadows of over-analyzed pasts, discontent presents and paranoid futures
Searching sheets and circumstances for anything to hold me
Air condition rythym and rotating fans are the only things here of which I am sure

Accepting sleep’s betrayal it is now to daylight I turn my hope
Looking for the dawn’s fingers to pry through my curtains
For under blazing sunlight there is at least one less shadow with which to cope

Sleep starved eyes strain, adjusting to the sun
Feeling the warmth but being pained by the vision it brings
So my heart strains to have your vision, to let you be the only one

To understand that contentment will never come with the touch of someone

Take away this longing
Take away this longing
Take away this longing

“…Be thou my vision, O Lord of my heart
Naught be all else to me, save that thou my art
Thou my best thought, by day or by night
Waking or sleeping, Thy presence my light…”

2007-08-02T12:06:00.000-05:00

1 Corinthians 5

I am the immoral brother
Expel me from this place
I keep chasing after another
Scoffing at your grace

I read and yet must not believe
Words never reaching my heart but stopping at my face
"Twas grace that taught my heart to fear twas grace my fears relieved..."
Maybe the alarm failed, I missed the precious Hour, now disqualified from the race

I am the immoral brother
Expel me from this place
I keep chasing after another
Scoffing at your grace

What would Paul say to a man of my hypocrisy?
A man given double portion
And yet failing basic spiritual decency
Proclaiming the Bread of Life
Claiming to refute cultural fables
And yet would this man himself even be invited to the table?

I am the immoral brother
Deserving explusion from this place
Deserving disqualifaction from the race
For my continual scoffing at your grace
And my pathetic attempts to save face
Starting to wonder if my clay was designed for the noble and not for the base
For if you desire obedience and not sacrifice
How do I take confidence in a life filled with vice?

What a wretched man that I am!
Deliver me from this body of death!
All my life…take over!
Starting with this breath…

I am the immoral brother
But expel me not from this place
Stop my feet from chasing
And bind me to your grace

2007-07-30T14:20:00.000-05:00

Keeping Up With the Wangs: The Rise of the Middle-Class in China

This is a fascinating (and slightly frightening) article about the economic - and as a result massive construction boom - occurring in China.

Keeing Up With the Wangs

2007-07-25T11:55:00.000-05:00

Grandstand

The date of this post indicates that I haven't written in a while. It's not that I haven't had my usual dose of ideas, questions and doubts whirring through my head, I just haven't really known what to entrust to the keyboard and what to leave in my head.
On top of it all, I have been increasingly more busy in the real world.

The real world.

That idea is funny and in some ways accurate. I often feel that what I engage with and write about here on my blog is somewhat detached from how and what I live like day to day. I feel that I run to the real world and try and busy myself - hoping to find something that will ignite me and keep me occupied enough so as to escape my over-analytical tendencies - only to find myself in a couple of weeks returning to the keyboard and asking more questions.

I guess in that respect blogging is for me an unappreciated friend.
I rely on it and yet run from it and yet repeatedly return to it - all the while not knowing how I feel about it.

Perhaps the problem is that I expect to run through life and then return to the keyboard with daring adventures and determined answers and yet instead return with more and more questions.
But then again I guess thats was why my blog was named what it is: Late Night Over Pancakes

"danny and I spent another late night over pancakes
talking about soccer and how every man's just the same
we made speculations on the who's and the when's of our future
and how we're both lonely but still we just couldn't complain..."

During this period though I have spent a lot more time reading other's blogs (most of whom I have linked here) and listening to other's thoughts along their life's journey. I have enjoyed this very much. I'm often quick to speak, quick to decide and yet slow to listen or weigh out consequences and yet compared to what I once was I have made great progress and see myself in the future perhaps even getting slower to speak and write and slower to assert me. Me in the grand scheme is incredibly insignificant.

I am completely resolved on the Way out of here as well as being completely resolved on the Truth that guides and defines. But when it comes to the Life that such resolve produces...I am both student and spectator. Learning hard lessons but all the while thankful for just being at the game.

2007-07-01T16:10:00.000-05:00

rain drops and coffee beans

rain drops quench the thirsty ground
as the highway puddles and glistens
causing tires to spin round and round, grabbing when traction is found

a cup of espresso moistens my parched throat
and quickens my napping pulse as i sit
today the door of the coffee shop is propped - sign illumined, products to boast

the windows are fogged as the overcast sky breathes on the finger-smudged glass
the a/c hums overhead and sneaks out the propped door
offering its cool and the warmth of a mug to those who pass

how do you pass your sunday afternoons?
wrapped in the arms of a cat nap?
in a leather chair with book and brew?
or maybe with salt and sun on the beaches dunes?

i don't know you but can i tell you i miss you?
a kiss in the rain has been traded for a rain soaked afternoon
the anxiety of an evening once was enough to make this heart race
now its espresso, pastries and the nightly lager
until i see your face

until i see your face
until i see your face

2007-06-26T10:38:00.000-05:00

gated community gangsta

Walking the streets with my dreams
hands in my pockets, not a day past fourteen
Head high, jeans low
throw in the Ipod and I’m good to go
Suburbia is my home but I wish it was the ghetto
for in my MTV mind the ghetto makes sense
the native land of chrome, parties and rhymes by fitty cent
Buying the lie
not realizing worlds collide
When the cameras stop rolling
that for all the glamour - the ghetto they ain’t showing
So walk those suburban streets
cologne soaked and collar popped
for if you only knew you would surely be shocked
by the truth – food stamps, gunshots and incomes that are low
but walk those streets kid in your gated community
and tell yourself that the blowout and the cig makes you good to go

2007-06-20T12:05:00.000-05:00

magdalene

heart of the city
a downtown district
aluminum and leather cages – a sight to pity
red-eyed with a cup running over to restrict
the grasping hands of sleep and anxiety
all the while clutching a bone dry chalice
of my own honor and piety
decadence for despair; modesty for malice

heart of my heart
the divine existence
hands and knees scraped returning to the start
of it all, everything - obliterate my resistance
and make me whole, make me new
bleaching the stains of myself and all the wicked windows
erasing every trace of building brothers and make me like you
erasing every trace of the saint’s fortress and make me like you
erasing every trace of this Octavian oppression and make like you

Author of my heart
Can we start over?
unchain me from this false lover
and let us start over
let us start over

2007-06-18T14:38:00.000-05:00

victoria

brunettes in brokerage bought beemers blur bringing to life the brazen billboard boastings beckoning to a culture heralding false unions of utopian bliss and euphoric engagments of ecstasy masking the multitudes to what is really only an Octavian outlet of seminal singularity and covetous cupidity...racing the heart only to ravage mind and body

generic yet decidedly greedy glances from blondes in their bourgeosie thwarting boxters without careful effort become coins strewn from an economy manufacturing sex as its cash crop coins of which I horde hoping he who attracted the lightning was right when saying...
a penny saved is a penny i earn
all the while failing to learn
that the golden streets on which i desire to stride were paved with the bullion of blood and not the currency of cosmetics or the standard of silicon which ironically lays under both keyboard and knife - one under the shameful dark one under the licentious light

from you i flee

running trying to fix these craving corporeal lamps onward all the while fighting the feeling of salty eyes looking over plain-filled pasts and pillar doomed futures to fix them upon one who remains without face or name inhabiting a place of which i long to be so much closer...

epithet eluding you undoubtedly possess curves to replace these angles, tenderness to cover these calouses, an optimism to combat this conquering cynicism, eyes to wall in this wandering wretch
all aside...your alias i am awaiting
whispering it in the dew soaked mornings
writing it on holiday
laughing it over coffee in the overcast afternoon
cherishing it on the long nights of doubt and racing minds
vowing it on the steps of lovers and saints
clinging to it on the boulevards which are bursting with such brazen billboard boastings

2007-06-04T16:02:00.000-05:00

amber

alarm clocks and rippled sunshine invade the defiled sanctuary of silence, sheets and dreamscapes as another day begins with the ending of dreams and restless sleep as the mind encased in the cloudy head tries to process a reeling line of memories, fantasies, regrets and ambitions and packages it into an episode of late-night cable proportions
that is not interrupted by commercials but rather by the ebb and flow of a flickering consciousness and the routine intermission of a twilight porcelain trip as one chamber is freed from the burdens laid upon it by the round of ale that did flow hours before into the pint of polished glass, a pint that was born from the heat of a glass forge fashioned by flames into its shape so that it could house the age old nectar to some and poison to others but that cannot hope to dull the flame of my emotion but only temporarily reinforce the fragile glass of my own self perception
amber is grasped as a friend by one, clutched as a reluctant lover by another as both men sit upon islands identical in their structure but opposite in the journeys upon which they find themselves embarking a journey that is joy to one and jade to another as the former rides the high of doubtlessly hasty yet decadently heavenly decisions that the other had at one time experienced but resolvedly resigned from his fate in order to begin again and tonight wonders to no one in particular if it is a journey he would embark on again if one could return the sand to the hourglass the way amber seems to always find her way back to grasping friends and reluctant lovers

2007-05-24T09:28:00.000-05:00

...Oh to Grace How Great a Debtor...

In my blog "Time between Times" I referenced the fact that we (myself and all my friends my own age) are living in that phase of our lives where new beginnings are being forged - friend's getting married, having kids, buying houses, etc. - but at the same time endings are a reality as well - older family members passing away, etc. Thus we are in between two times - the time of beginnings and the time of endings.

The background of that blog was the weekend where I went away to a good friend of mine's wedding - a time of great beauty and vibrancy - only to return home and be informed of an old family friend's death. One more reminder of my feet being in two places at once. The elderly family friend who passed away was not some one who I was very close to but he knew me since I was born and he was close to some others in my family.

The weekend when all this occurred I dropped by my grandparents house to pick up some mail and ran into my grandfather who was in the garage. What was supposed to be a quick stop turned into an hour long conversation as I just stoood there and listened as my grandfather told story after story about this man who was no longer with us. A man who my grandfather had employed for over thirty years. A man whose only claim to fame was that he "could do the work of 3 men on a job site" so said my grandfather. An old alchoholic who came into my grandfathers office one day with a crumpled newspaper in his hand inquiring about the job opening for a simple grunt worker - a man who took the job and later became one of the best employees they had and earned some profit sharing. A man who took his profit sharing and moved to Tennessee and bought his own poultry farm only to lose it all in a record heat wave one year and came back to Fort Lauderdale to work the same construction that he had hoped to get away from. The man who lost his wife a few years back and lived in the part of town "on the other side of the tracks" - his creaky wooden house nestled between a Subway and a used car lot.

My grandfather was giving an impromptu eulogy for a man who few would remember - but it seemed right.

The best story went like this:

Lacy was poor. There's no other way to put it. Not only did he lack financial resources all his life but in the twilight of his life even his bodily resources had forsaken him. He was almost entirely blind and deaf, he had lost all of his teeth and could hardly walk. His wife before she died was about the same but tack on a severe case of Alzheimers to the list.
And like many people without resources they had succumbed to the lure of creditors. In fact they had accumulated so much debt they were dragged into court - bankrupt and without a prayer.
And so into the courts my grandfather went with Lacy and his wife - they couldn't afford an attorney and so they went in as they were. When the judge called Lacy up and asked him some questions - Lacy bellowed something back so loudly (since he can't hear himself) and incoherently that the judge was shocked and those few people in the courtroom couldn't help but laugh. The judge obviously realizing Lacy would be of no use asked if he had a wife or family member present. My grandfather had to inform the judge that Lacy's wife was present physically but most of the time didn't know where she was or even her own name due to the severity of her alzheimers.

"So let me get this straight," the judge rumbled, "this couple owes tens of thousands of dollars to the creditors and he can't hear a word I'm saying and she wouldn't even remember any of this?"

"That's right your honor," my grandfather answered on their behalf.

"And they have virtually no recordable income and are both on disability?"

"That's right your honor."

The judge sat in silence surveying the situation.

"I have no choice but to cancel the debt of this couple," the judge ordered.

"Two men owed money to a certain moneylender. One owed him five hundred denarii,[d] and the other fifty.
42Neither of them had the money to pay him back, so he canceled the debts of both. Now which of them will love him more?"
43Simon replied, "I suppose the one who had the bigger debt canceled."
"You have judged correctly," Jesus said.
44Then he turned toward the woman and said to Simon, "Do you see this woman? I came into your house. You did not give me any water for my feet, but she wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair.
45You did not give me a kiss, but this woman, from the time I entered, has not stopped kissing my feet.
46You did not put oil on my head, but she has poured perfume on my feet.
47Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven—for she loved much. But he who has been forgiven little loves little."
48Then Jesus said to her, "Your sins are forgiven."
49The other guests began to say among themselves, "Who is this who even forgives sins?" (Luke 7)

Are we not all like Lacy?
Standing before the judge deaf, dumb and blind - with a debt far greater than we could ever repay?
Our only hope being the mercy of the Judge?

I love the way the passage ends. Lacy's story is not totally unique. I'm sure there have been other instances of such legal mercy, perhaps even those in Luke 7 had seen or heard of a judge cancelling monetary debt. But who was this man who could cancel spiritual debt?

"Who is this who even forgives sins?"

He is Jesus.

2007-05-22T10:26:00.000-05:00

Sermon Jams

Ok, so this website is the coolest thing I have stumbled upon in quite some time. Do yourself a favor and go to www.relevantrevolution.com you will NOT regret it

Some genius has taken popular sermons from such giants as John Piper, Ravi Zacharias and others and placed a hip-hop beat underneath them - you may be scoffing right now but its freakin' awesome
.

Go to the website.

Enter the revolution.

Click the Sermon Jams tab.

Go to the archives.

Click on Top 3 tracks.

Listen to Ravi's sermon called "Lord" on Volume 1

Incredible.

2007-05-12T22:44:00.000-05:00

Time Between Times

Celtic mythology and lore often features a phenomenon known as the time between times. The time between times is basically exactly what it sounds like – in the twilight of the day, that period where the sun is setting and it is really no longer daytime but not yet nighttime – was to them the time between times. This was the time where the earth began to slumber, the sun began its descent of rest into the earth and the governor of the night – the moon and stars were about to take the stage. Thus during this time one was caught in a loophole of time and space, beginning and endings, death and life.

This was often the gateway for supernatural or extraordinary activity – any spell or incantation; any dream or endeavor would take on more of a magical nature during the time between times – the gap between time and space, beginning and endings, death and life.

I realized the other day that as I approach my 23rd birthday I am living in a type of time between times. This is the time of my life where friend’s weddings become almost a weekly occurrence. It is the time where many people are embarking on their life’s journey and they found the companion with whom they wish to traverse the path. Upon finding that companion they come together in holy matrimony, joining their two lives together and birthing one, new and solitary life.

It is the time of new beginnings.

However as I near 23 I have realized that this is also the time of my life where the passing of elders – death – also becomes almost a weekly occurrence. I returned from a wedding last weekend – a celebration of new life – only to learn that an old family friend had passed away. The friend was not someone with whom I was particularly close but some in my family were and seeing their grief I felt much of my own. The friend was not someone with whom I was particularly close but a day will come one day where the passing of loved one’s with whom I am close – a day I pray is far off.

This time in life is also a the time of endings.

And so at 22 I have come to learn that I live in a type of time between times. It is a time where new beginnings are being forged – including my own – as those of us who are young set out, embracing, enjoying and engaging the life before us. But it is also a time where endings are realized as the generations before us come to the twilight of their journey.

And through it all the hope is that when we are in Christ – when His righteousness covers our rubbish – the ending is merely a new, and perhaps the first and most glorious of beginnings. For even in the pillars of the Gospel we learn of a time between times. We as Christians recognize that we are descendants and participants of a rebel race – a race that plunged itself into sin and darkness but a race that has received the Light of God. And yet even as we have had the Light of God shone into our hearts and our sin forgiven we have not yet left our bodies of sin, we have not yet reached the heavenly city. We are on our way but we aren’t yet there. We have one foot in this time but we long for the time where there is no more darkness.

I suppose the fulfillment of the Celtic times between times is the Christian one – where the darkness and night give way to the never ending light of day found in the face of Christ.

2007-05-09T00:34:00.000-05:00

What a Song

I have climbed highest mountains
I have run through the fields
Only to be with you
Only to be with you
I have run I have crawled
I have scaled these city walls
These city walls
Only to be with you

But I still haven't found what I'm looking for
But I still haven't found what I'm looking for

I have kissed honey lips
Felt the healing in her fingertips
It burned like fire
This burning desire
I have spoke with the tongue of angels
I have held the hand of a devil
It was warm in the night
I was cold as a stone

But I still haven't found what I'm looking for
But I still haven't found what I'm looking for

I believe in the kingdom come
Then all the colors will bleed into one
Bleed into one...Well yes I'm still running
You broke the bonds and you
Loosed the chains
Carried the cross and
All of my shame
All of my shame
You know I believe it

But I still haven't found what I'm looking for
But I still haven't found what I'm looking for
But I still haven't found what I'm looking for
But I still haven't found what I'm looking for...

- U2
"Still Haven't Found What I'm Lookin' For"

2007-04-24T12:20:00.000-05:00

Herald-Guardians of Heaven's Light

"I turned around to see the voice that was speaking to me. And when I turned I saw seven golden lampstands and among them was someone...His feet were like bronze glowing in a furnace, and his voice was like the sound of rushing waters. In his right hand he held seven stars, and out of his mouth came a sharp double-edged sword. His face was like the sun shining in all it's brilliance...He said, "the mystery of the seven stars that you saw in my right hand and of the seven golden lampstands is this: The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches..." (excerpt Rev. 1)

"Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place..." (excerpt Rev. 2)

"After this I looked, and there before me was a door standing open in heaven...and there before me was a throne in heaven with someone sitting on it...from the throne came flashes of lightning, rumblings and peals of thunder. Before the throne, seven lamps were blazing..." (excerpt Rev. 4)

In Return of the King - the third installation of Lord of the Rings - there is a great scene preceding one of the final battles. The scene features the Beacons of Gondor - also known as the Lights of Minas Tirith (stay with me here) being lit ablaze one by one in order to signal impending war. The Beacons of Gondor are like alpine lighthouses hewn from stone and sitting atop many of the mountain peaks that traverse the region and they would be lit only in dire emergencies and as a way to spread word over the region of Gondor in a swift manner. These lights had not been set ablaze for hundreds of years. And only such a thing as existence-threatning war could warrant them being lit - but such a thing threatened and so as the first beacon was lit it was only a matter of moments before the region which was cast in the shadow of impending war - perhaps the war to end all wars - had flickering lamps of hope sitting atop its mountain peaks. It was such fire on high that brought hope - small as it may be - to the darkness of Gondor.

I am wading through the swamp that is the book of Revelation.

Yesterday I left chapter one - which gave us the image of One who holds the keys to Death and Hades - and have paused on my journey in chapter four. The above quotations are from such chapters. I have absolutely no idea if my coming observations hold merit, or if they have been postulated before. Nevertheless...

Revelation 1 comes to a close with John encountering the Son of Man standing among seven lampstands. This Son of Man is magnificent. He is robed in radiant white and gold. His face was as bright as the Sun. When he spoke it was like the sound of cascading waters. Even his feet were shod in precious metal. When he looked at John it was like staring into the brilliant heat of a blazing inferno. Furthermore, this Son of Man was not empty handed - out of his mouth came a sharp double-edged sword and he clutched in his right hand seven stars and in his other the keys to Death and Hades. At the end of the chapter we learn that those seven lampstands in which he stands around are his churches - the houses of his worship, adoration and proclamation. The stars are the angels of these churches.

Revelation 2 and 3 takes us away from this room of holy light and brings us into the midst of the churches themselves as John relates to such churches the decrees of this Son of Man.

When we come to Revelation 4 we are once again confronted with this radiant Son but this time upon a throne. From his throne rumbled thunder and lightning and before it sat a host of crowned elders and fantastical "living creatures." Also in front of such a throne were 7 burning, beacons of light...

What struck me is that each of the seven churches that we learn of in chapters 2 and 3 are guardians of the lampstands. The light does not originate with the churches - they simply possess and guard the lampstand. The lamp - the lightsource itself - is burning before the throne of Heaven and it is such light from Heaven that comes down and fills the lamps of the churches. Thus what we find in chapters 2 and 3 is the Son of Man - the one from whom the Light comes, dare we say the Light Itself - bringing accusation and admonishment upon those who are the guardians and trustees of such light - the ones who keep the lampstands, the sevenfold churches. The charge that the Son of Man brings is that it is the utmost privelege and responsibility to be a guardian of the light, to be a beacon and thus they must be faithful to shine that light diligently and to give warning and hope to the world.

The Beacons of Gondor were lit from the fire on high in order to be heralds - to signal to the world of impending war, to signal to the world of one who will come.
We as churches are the Beacons of Heaven - we are the stands, the vessels that hold the fire from on high, that hold the ignited Spirit of the Living God, the Light of the World. We are the beacons that are to herald to the world that there is One who has come and is coming again and who is worth knowing.

And our cry is the cry of those elders and creatures who sit next to the lamps of heaven:

"Holy, holy, holy
is the Lord God Almighty,
who was, and is, and is to come."

"You are worthy, our Lord and our God,
to receive glory and honor and power,
for you created all things,
and by your will they were created
and have their being."

Let us set ablaze the beacon that is the church and herald to the world He who is the "Alpha and Omega, who is and who was, and who is to come the Almighty" giving hopelight to a world shrouded in darkness.

2007-04-23T21:49:00.000-05:00

A-Rod 2007 HomeRun Count: 14

(and we've only played 18 games)

*First player in ML history to hit 14 in the first 18 games of a season*

*Currently tied for most HR in ML history in the month of April (14-Pujols, '06)*

But notice there is still a lot of April left...

What is amazing is the fact that I was in the process of writing this blog, setting the HR counter to 13. While I was setting it up I checked over again to ESPN and was informed that A-Rod had hit another HR in the 9th...changing my blog to 14.

This guy is ridiculous.

Keep swingin' yourself into the record books A-Rod...

2007-04-21T09:14:00.000-05:00

Key

"When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. Then he placed his right hand on me and said, "Do not be afraid, I am the First and the Last. I am the Living One; I was dead and behold I am alive forever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades." Rev. 1:17-18

In my entertainment-dominated youth pastor mind there are a couple of things that popped into my head when reading of the One who holds the keys of death and Hades.

The first is the KeyMaster from the Matrix movies. The fascinating yet obscure character who held the keys to different doors within the Matrix that would awaken one to different levels of consciousness and possibilities - at one point in the series he was necessary for the plans of Neo.

The second thing I thought of was when the Miami Heat acquired Shaq-Diesel three years ago from the Los Angeles Lakers. In glorious Shaq-fashion, he arrived in downtown Miami for a celebration in his honor at the AA Arena - only he arrived in an all-black 18 wheeler that had Shaq-Diesel painted on the trailer. Walking through the throngs of raucous cinnamon-tanned fans he went to the podium whereby he was given the honorary keys to the city of Miami from the Mayor himself. It was in this moment when Shaq made his famous gaurantee to bring the party turned city known as Miami their first world championship.

Now I concede the fact that John didn't have either of these in mind when writing his Apocalypse but I do love that image of Christ clutching the keys of Death and Hades. I love that image of the ferocious Lamb. The one who was sacrificed upon the altar only to take up his life again in victory over death.

Many action movies feature a scene or two where the protagonist and antagonist engage in some sort of hand to hand combat - usually over a weapon or classified file or some object that one possesses and the other greatly desires - perhaps a key to something. And inevitably one will gain the upper hand, overcome the other person and upon securing the object - while the other is perhaps lying on the ground defeated - wave it front of the other person demonstrating their victory.

It is not a perfect picture - nor does our Lord swagger in arrogance. But that picture of Christ holding the keys to Death and Hades speaks volumes.

Death is mastered.
Hades is dominated.
The case has been closed.
The bell has been rung.
The door has been slammed shut.

Christ is victorious and dangles the keys of Death and Hades in front of the Evil One showing him - and us - that in the words of Cash, "the Man has come around."

"there's a Man goin' round takin names
and He decides who to free and who to blame...

hear the trumpets hear the pipers
one hundred million angels singin'
multitudes are marchin to that big kettle drum
voices callin', voices cryin'
some are born and some are dyin'
it's Alpha and Omega's Kingdom Come"

-Johnny Cash

2007-04-20T23:44:00.000-05:00

Revelation

I don't understand the book of Revelation.
I do think that its presence in the Bible suggests that it indeed has bearing on our lives and indeed should be able to be understood to a point. Where that point is drawn or what precisely it is I do not claim to know. In fact bold as it may sound - I am weary of anyone who claims to have a complete understanding of Revelation. I just don't think it is a text that can be mastered.
Calvin pretty much refused to comment on the book.
Luther thought the Whore of Babylon - one of the books central characters - was the Pope.
The Eastern Orthodox church pretty much threw it from the Canon.
Thus, the thought of one person mastering it and claiming to do so is a bit bold.
I think the Holy Spirit does come to reveal and guide into truth. I hope He will give insight on this book specifically - but at the end of the day I think it is still quite allright if we don't understand the book entirely.
I am quite certain Tim Lahaye hasn't mastered it - he may climb the NY Times bestseller lists but that was never a plumb line for proper hermeneutics.

With that being said lately I have been drawn to the book of Revelation.
I enjoy sci-fi and fantasy literature and such and while Revelation is certainly not fiction it reads like sci-fi or a fantasy epic - in fact it is probably feesible that in some ways it and other Apocalyptic literature laid the original groundwork for modern fantasy language and story telling.
The imagery and vivid language throughout the text are simply jaw-dropping. It is hard to make it through a single chapter without getting chills or putting the book down and staring off into the distance.
Or both.
I think regardless of whatever the text was originally supposed to convey (which I would love to know don't get me wrong) one thing that is apparent is the way it lays out the majestic holiness of God. Revelation may be an end-times intenerary. It may be a blueprint for the future. Then again it may have been simply a fantastical letter to some Asian churches.
Maybe its all of the above.
But one thing that is plain is that it speaks of the God who is incomprehensibly majestic and holy. The God so tremendously infinite and glorious that human language breaks down miserably in relating an iota of his splendor.
John fumbles for words that are adequate like we fumble to pick up a wet watermelon off of the floor. He says the word "like" ("I saw something LIKE...") more than a 10th grade girl who wears a shell necklace...simply because he cannot put words to the outrageous magnitude of his vision.
All of this is to say that I am going to continue my reading of this most marvelous and yet most confusingly controversial of books. I am not going to crack a commentary (yet), nor unfold a chart, nor buy any best-selling novels that feature an eastern european anti-christ who sports a three-piece suit (and dispensationalists claim to be strict literalists?). I am simply reading through the book devotionally and with admiration for its beauty. What I am going to do is simply make a few comments regarding some of the jaw-dropping, distance staring, chill-giving and ultimately inspired images that arise along the way and that will shape some of my upcoming blogs.

2007-04-20T23:21:00.000-05:00

2007 A-Rod Homerun Counter: 12

(and we've only played 15 games)

2007-04-19T22:09:00.000-05:00

2007 A-Rod HR Counter: 10

(and we've only played 14 games)

2007-04-16T23:02:00.000-05:00

The Chase

This is an extremely well written article that any sports fan should read.
Showing once again why there ain't no place like Florida
And there ain't no one like Florida athletes.

Awesome article.

2007-04-12T08:56:00.000-05:00

The V-Neck

I have recently discovered the beauty of the V-neck undershirt.

Now for as long as I can remember I have always been an undershirt guy.

First, being as skinny as I am the extra layer (though infintessimal as it may be) always helps.

Second, the lack of any formidable chest hair presence makes for an open collar not so impressive.

Third, it safeguards from the unsightly armpit stains that can gather on a dark dress shirt.

(Remember those sport coats that were uber-popular in the 70's that feature a colored patch (usually brown) on the elbows? That's kinda the look one gets when not wearing an undershirt with a dress shirt. Except the colored patch is under your arms and its not a brown patch of fuzzy cloth, it's your own man-sweat puddle.)

Not cool.

And so for those reasons I have always been friends with the undershirt but it was always the crew neck. But with the crew neck came some worries of its own...

For example many a times the collar of the crew neck would be tighter than the t-shirt you were wearing and thus it would be exposed above the t-shirt creating a bit of a poor-man's priest collar.

Or the collar would simply ride up too high causing you to constantly be tugging at your neck.

Enter the V-neck undershirt.

Same protection as the crew neck and yet it hides itself below the neckline...its like a well-kept secret.

How have I gone this long without discovering the beauty of this thing?

Now I think just wearing the v-neck alone without another shirt is still a social no-no.

Well unless you got a Natural Ice tall-boy in hand and a dip in your mouth.

Hey, who says I dont?

2007-04-07T22:15:00.000-05:00

Lucky 13

We all have dreams of one day accomplishing that one great feat whatever it may be. That one desire or challenge that beckons to us. We desire to be a certain type of person by a certain time. The reality is that in order for that to come to fruition it starts now, one day at a time. One day we don't just wake up and become who we wanted - it starts with small daily steps.

For Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez his desire is to throw the 9 million member Monkey of NYC off his back. To overcome the demon of having gaudy regular season averages deteriorate into postseason failures. The greatest baseball player on the planet who has endured many sleepless nights desires to have the that great city which never sleeps embrace him for the excellence that he is. To turn the boos into curtain calls, to become clutch, to become the best hitter to ever wear the pinstripes.

A-rod took one of those small steps tonight:

Yankees trail one run to the Orioles...

Bottom of the ninth...

Bases loaded...

Two outs...

Two strikes...

And when A-rod would usually choke - even though every person alive knows such choking is not telling of his gross talent - leaving him always falling short of Jeter...

A-rod smoked a high fastball over the centerfield wall for a walk-off Grand Slam.

And the man who he is so often compared to, the man whose friendship with has deteriorated over the years, the man who plays the position A-rod naturally plays and is not as talented as A-rod yet A-rod in his team mindedness took a backseat to - this man Derek Jeter pushed him out onto the field for a curtain call that had to be one of the sweetest of his career...even if it is only April.

Small steps remember?

On the A-rod case...You either love him or hate him - in my case its the former - but you have to respect him. The man who signed the largest contract in MLB history is worth every penny. Contracts in general are all so ridiculously inflated - to get down on A-rod for the ridiculousness of his is unfair. The man is not slowly but methodically swinging his way to the all time HR record. Sure, we all hate for the walking chem-lab Barry Bonds to break Hank's record but the truth is if we can just stay patient and if he can stay healthy A-rod will realistically make the Bonds conversation irrelevant. Bonds will hit 755 this year in his 22nd season. A-rod is currently sitting on 467 averaging 36 HR a year (including his rookie year where he hit zero). At the same pace he will hit 755 in his 20th or 21st season and thats if he only hits 36 a year...in the last 9 seasons he as only hit less than 41 twice. This is the man who has hit 57 in a season and who should he relax again is capable of having more monster years.

The man has a perfect swing, is not just average in the field but is a perennial gold-glover, gave up his position as league's best shortstop to come play 3B for the Yankees who haven't made things easy on him, carries himself well, is clean-cut, never is in trouble off the field and would be the best player on any team in the MLB with the exception of perhaps St. Louis with Pujols.

What's not to like?

Keep swinging yourself into the record books A-rod.

2007-03-31T22:28:00.000-05:00

If you and I were to swim across the Atlantic we would surely drown
I may get past the buoys
You may get farther chasing the horizon into the midnight blue
But in the end it such an endeavor would be the death of me and you

Such is the state of sinful man
Having rebelled against God
In an ocean of despair without a plan
Kicking and paddling toward a land he can never reach in his own strength

So caught up with ourselves
Were you to ask a description of our environment we wouldn’t even name “water”
It had become our home
The only thing we knew of
And how to do

“…Far too easily pleased…”
the kid content with making mud pies
not understanding the offer of holiday

Like Lot
Knowing things weren’t right
Knowing a judgment must be coming
Yet so stuck in the ways of sin – unable to move

It took your Hand forcefully leading
Severe mercy

“Flee for your lives! Don’t look back!”

Fix my salty eyes forward
So prone to wander
So prone to betray

May they remain ever forward

2007-03-27T21:12:00.000-05:00

Hans, Frans and the Man with Arms for Legs

If being lanky, pale and Protestant was the "sexy" that Justin Timberlake thinks needs to be brought back then I would be on top of the world.

But it's not.

And even though as far as I know I am in top health, I don't come anywhere close to having a weight problem, I don't have any glaring physical shortcomings - I like many others feel the need to throw gobs of money at a gym membership and containers of protein powder which are used for a couple of days and then resume their place as a dust collector on the shelf.

God has made me in His very image, breathed life into my nostrils, loved me enough to die for me.

But I don't have huge biceps or bulging calfs and so I was beginning to doubt my self-worth and get down and in such a mood I ventured to the gym the other day- brushing aside other responsibilities and intending to focus entirely on making my chest and arms bigger.

Bigger is better right?

I mean on the judgment day I'm gonna have to give an account of my life and also report my bench max right?
The woman I marry one day is gonna wonder how many burnout sets I can do with a dumbbell right?

And so as I walked into the gym...
wishing my arms were bigger
wishing my feet were smaller - gosh these shoes look ridiculous
wishing God made me just a little different -

I mean sure I have family and friends and a great job and an education and a new truck and good health and great weather and every opportunity to succeed in life and food on the table and a bed to sleep in and every ammenity under the sun and citizenship in the greatest country on earth and freedom and safety and not to mention forgiveness for my sins and the great God of the Universe providing atonement for me - I mean sure I have all of that but I mean come on God if you did all of that for me whats it gonna hurt if you had just made me naturally tan and with a permanent six pack and 20 inch biceps?

And so as I was glancing in the mirror at the gym - working on my second set of curls I saw in the reflection a man awkwardly laboring up to the weight bench and it wasn't until he was closer that I began to understand why he looked so funny getting to the bench and why it took him so long and why he had a trainer already setting up the weight ahead of him...

His legs didn't work.

As far as I could tell he wasn't injured or sick, they probably never worked from the day he was born - he had become quite accustomed and skilled at getting around with the crutches that were attached to his arms with metal rings - the kind that you don't really ever not use, except maybe to sleep.
And it was this man who came to the bench - crutches, cursed legs and all - and after unattaching the cructches began to do a few slow curls

one after the other
slowly
one after the other

I found myself losing count of my own repititions and instead concentrating on the pattern of his breathing - admiring the strength of a man of his stature
I don't remember if I finished my set. I put the weight back on the rack, grabbed my bag and walked out

perhaps with slightly bigger arms
definitely with a greatly enlarged perspective

I went in there that day full of complaints and discontentment - wanting to make my body bigger, more muscular, more desirable

This man went in there to strengthen his arms so he could "walk"

He went in there that day I'm sure full of his own complaints and discontentment - going there to strengthen the arms which for him have become legs

and suddenly my motivation didn't seem so great and my body not so bad

and my complaint and discontentment oh so grievously sinful

I wonder how people's perspective would change if they always worked out next to a man or woman like this, instead of the silicone, sunbed, steroid, spandex clones that inhabit most of our South Florida gyms.

but then again those half empty protein containers have become great bookends...

2007-03-19T22:41:00.000-05:00

Isaiah 46:8-10

"Remember this and stand firm, recall it to mind, you transgressors,
remember the former things of old; for I am God, and there is no other,
I am God, and there is none like me,
declaring the end from the beginning
and from ancient times things not yet done,
saying, "My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose."

2007-03-08T19:51:00.000-05:00

Factory

One restaurant that I end up eating at quite often although I am not really that fond of it is Cheesecake Factory. Remember a few years ago when Cheesecake Factory was sort of the craze? The official restaurant of High Schoolers birthday dinners, the official place parents took their kids when they came to visit them at college, the official place you could take a first date and the girl wouldn't be too upset that you took her to a chain and didn't think of something more creative.

Cheesecake Factory's always anchor shopping plazas built in middle to upper class suburbia.

Well to such a restaurant I ventured the other night and once again upon eating I wasn't dissatisfied but I wasn't in love with what I had either. And the reason I have never been in love with Cheesecake Factory even when it was the craze was because they just try and do too much. I can read a John Grisham novel quicker than I can read their menu and when a place has that much to choose from you always wonder how fresh all that variety can really be. I don't think the word "Factory" helps either - doesn't really scream "freshness."

The restaurants that I love are the ones that do one or two things and do it very well.

Cheesecake does a lot of things good but really doesn't do anything great.

And the other night as I was just cracking the Table of Contents for their menu I realized that I - along with a lot of my fellow stressed out friends - have become living Cheesecake Factory's. We're running around doing a million things at once just to get by and in hopes of finding that one all consuming passion and in the midst of it all I wonder if I am doing anything great.

A lot of the time we run around and do a million things at once out of necessity and I would like to think I'm still in that necessity territory of life but at the end of the day I hope it all slows down. I hope I reach my goals. I hope at the end of the day I am doing one thing greatly and not doing too many things at once and in the end not really being effective at all.

2007-02-27T17:42:00.000-05:00

"And let there be condominiums"

I'm a city slicker.

I did the larger portion of my growing up in the city of Fort Lauderdale, went to college in downtown West Palm and currently work back in downtown Fort Lauderdale - the yachting and road construction capitol of the world.

But I'm not really a city slicker through and through. I definitely enjoy a lot of what city life offers - the at the fingertips entertainment; the plethora of restaurants; the energy and nightlife and the diversity of people...all in all Fort Lauderdale is a great place to live.

But I do often long for slower pace, less traffic, less concrete and more soil, friendlier folk, less Honda's with custom exhaust and more pickup's.

I don't plan on spending my whole life here.

But lately I have realized that the same lesson can be learned in the city or in the country...and that lesson is that we are oh so small.

As the Psalmist says, "What is man oh Lord that you are mindful of him?"

What I mean is this: we often here that when you're out in the open country and you're faced with that big sky or all those stars that you really begin to realize how small you are in the grand scheme of things. With such an observation I definitely concur but I think the city teaches us the same lesson. The city is like a human anthill. I may not frequent mountains in the city but each day as I pass the peaks of the endless condos I always think two thoughts:

1) Man, I can't afford a single one of these

and

2) Think about how many freakin' people live here. This is just one city in one state in one country on earth and look at all the people. I am merely one of them...life is definitely not about me.

Now I am not so sure we as humans were meant to be sardine packed into condos but they certainly do put things in perspective the same way a mountain or a big sky does (although not as beautifully - and Moss Construction built the condo whereas God the mountain).

There are a lot of us here.

All made in the image of the living Creator God.

What is man oh Lord that you are mindful of him?

2007-02-25T23:35:00.000-05:00

Some Kinda Kingdom

I work with Junior High students.

(Reader insert sympathetic grimace here)

No, I am not in search of community service hours I actually have a college degree and believe it or not am actually working on a Masters degree.
.

But, yes I still work with Junior High students.
.

Now for the record I also work with College and High School students and as a youth pastor I love my job - but Junior High work encompasses a host of things:

I am becoming very skilled at Xbox.

I can't use words with many syllables.

I eat Pizza at least once a day.

I have learned to hold a conversation that consists entirely of me asking questions to which I already know the answer.

I have stains on every good dress shirt I own.

I give over 100 high fives daily.

I eat tylenol like its skittles.

And for anyone reading this who has any youth ministry experience you know that there are those nights where you've mopped up the soda puddles, picked up every last pizza crust, dealt with every hurt feeling, and watched your well prepared lesson go in one ear and out the other and you sit on the counter after every one has gone home and all is quiet and you think aloud, "What's the point?"

Then you recall...Jesus said, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these."
.

Really Jesus?

The kingdom?
.

Middle schoolers?

I mean is the kingdom of heaven like a pediatricians waiting room - complete with a pastel wall mural, out-dated Fisher Price toys and Antibiotic infomericals flickering from the TV in the corner?
.

We all know the answer to that - but what then is it really like?

I think the words of Jesus in this case are not hinting at what the kingdom will have - but what it will lack.
.

I think by telling us the heirs to the kingdom are children we are told that it is a kingdom that lacks pretense.

Have you ever heard a child read a Bible verse? Believing without a doubt everything it says even if they mispronounce a word here and there.

Have you ever heard a child sing Amazing Grace? Almost being able to see the smile that must illuminate the Son's face.
.

Have you ever aimed to teach a child a Biblical principle only to discover that they understood it as well as you - they just used less fancy words and get this - actually lived it?

Have you ever had a child call you on a Saturday night and say the words, "Can you pick me up for church tomorrow?" And they thought the line went dead due to your overjoyed and choked up silence.
.

See when we become adults we all of a sudden don't believe the words in our Bibles as readily. We all of a sudden start skipping church because we don't have the right shirt clean. We all of a sudden forget about Amazing Grace and instead focus on the woman sitting behind us who sings off key or the guy in the choir who we saw over the weekend in line at the grocery store with a 12 pack- what does he think he's doing in church? We learn bigger words and get bigger muscles and get bigger boobs and drive bigger cars and yet hide behind these things while our faith and concern with thats really important grows smaller and smaller.

.
We care so much about what others may think and not about what God knows.

(insert rolled eyes and "thats such a childish cliche" remark here - and you have proven my point).

When you look at the faith of a child it's so...

simple...

unpretentious...

innocent...

Jesus-endorsed...

There is a husky, glasses-wearing, clumsy, sweaty seventh grader in our church who lives for french fries swimming in ketchup and dodgeball. This gem of a kid has tackled me during the middle of a message, spilled more soda than anyone alive, and must be put in at least one headlock until he taps out and promises not to fart during prayer per night.
.

And yet the other night as I drove him home there was one of those "Rudy!" "Rudy!" goosebump moments where the conversation steered from WWF and water ballons and instead came up on God. My friend had just gotten his first girlfriend (which in 7th grade consists mainly of water fountain dates and sweaty palms but when you're that age its earth shattering) and after a pause he told me,

"I know God has a plan..." (at which I did a small, discreet fist pump)

and due to the overwhelming evidence of her 1) riding the same bus as him and 2) living one street over,
.

"she must be the one he is going to marry..." (at which I almost drove off the road)

Now as I avoided swerving off the road I gently told him that she could be the one but she also may not be and thats ok too because one way or another we can be sure that...
.

God does have a plan

and a kingdom
.

and I just may find out one day that the kingdom is a lot less like my seminary classroom and a lot more like those times I'm with seventh graders.

2007-01-28T22:42:00.000-05:00

Asking for the Ancient Paths

"This is what the LORD says: Stand at the crossroads and look; ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is, and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls."

These are words that God spoke to his rebellious people through the mouth of Jeremiah, his prophet. They were words uttered in the twilight just before the looming exile of the people of God into a land not their own. A land full of "gods" that they ran after instead of God Himself, gods who betrayed them, gods who could not answer, gods who were made of wood and stone. Not the God of the Universe. Not the God who created the sea and later parted it on Israel's behalf. Not the God who made a cameo as a pillar of fire.

One of the defining characteristics of the prophets is the pattern of Judgment and Redemption, over and over. The Lord will thunder judgment, he will rightfully admonish his people, confront their wrongdoing but then always offers the soothing rain of redemption. When Israel had adulterated their relationship with God and become overwhelmed with distraction after distraction God beckoned to them.

He said when you are standing on the ash pile that is your life - when your feet are blistered and dirty from your sojourning down the paths of sin and you have arrived at a crossroads - ask for the ancient path. The path of a right relationship with God, the path where you once walked but may have strayed oh so far, the path where others have gone before and now reside in the celestial city with the King.

We are all members of a rebel race on a journey. We have found ourselves on a long, long road full of endless streets branching off and leading out into the darkness, puddled from the poison rain. There is the street of lust, the street of riches, the street of hate, pride, unfaithfulness, complacency, coldheartedness, deception and selfishness and on and on and on they stretch.

But when we come to these crossroads we are to stop
and ask for the ancient path
ask where the good way is

where Jesus is

and walk in it

for only there will we find rest for our souls.

"I want to feel the sunlight on my face
I want to see the dust cloud disappear without a trace
I want to take shelter from the poison rain
Where the streets have no name..." -U2

2007-01-17T23:33:00.000-05:00

Heaven

Stereotypical images are funny - especially religious ones.
The classic horned devil in red tights weilding a pitchfork that represents Satan, which undoubtedly pales in comparison to the actual terror of who he is.
The image of God as a giant, beared man in the clouds, once again falling miserably short.
Heaven also has its own stereotypical images which are associated with it. There is the portrayal of it as a shiny, flashy city of gold - looking as if it were built with Mr. T's jewelry that had been melted down.
There is the image of it as the city of clouds where we all have wings, rosy cheeks and wear togas.
Some take the words of Christ ultra-literally and portray us as each owning our own suburban mansion, complete with multi-car garage and a lawn service.
Some religions advocate carnal paradises where along with the mansion one also gets eternal conjugal visits (if such a thing doesn't scream "I am a religion that has been made up" I don't know what does).

I am a Christian who thinks that there is only one Heaven and only one means of getting there - Jesus Christ - but the point is that even for us Heaven is a little unclear. There are passages in Scripture that give some clarity but we don't have a blueprint.

But it will be glorious.

And the older I get (I was going to say mature, but thats up for debate - I'm definitely getting older) and the more of this world I see and touch I am reminded more and more that Heaven will be glorious for many reasons but the one I am so looking forward to is the abolition of sin.

I am worn out by sin.

I'm tired of looking it in the eye every day.
Tired of biting, clawing, scraping my way against it.
Tired of it knocking me down again and again.
Tired of seeing its effects in the lines of my face, in the streets of our city.
Tired of being afraid.
Tired of guilt.
Tired of lust.
Tired of worry.
Tired of funerals.

And I wonder in heaven how much we will recollect of our earthly life, for I think now that the bitterness of the world is what makes the grace of heaven appear oh so sweet.

But whatever it looks like, whatever we do when there, one thing is for sure:

Jesus is there.

And sin is not.

2007-01-15T21:37:00.000-05:00

Board Games, You-Hoo and the Bible (wow I'm a Jr. High Youth pastor)

Something ironic happened the other night. As I was playing Scrabble with my family (and dominating - sorry had to throw that in there) there were a couple times where someone's move or a scoring issue or something would come under question and without fail someone would loudly say, "look at the rules!" and grab for the Scrabble box cover which contains the rules printed on the inside. This happened time after time and each time the rules would be consulted, taken as law and then unquestionably adhered to. The inside flap of the Scrabble box cover was final. You did not argue.
And for some reason right there at our dining room table that struck me as so ironic. I will listen to the printed rules of Scrabble which were made by Milton Bradley or something in the 1930's and unflinchingly obey as will millions of others who play the game and yet how many times do we go to the Bible - the holy, inspired, life-changing, living, active, double-edged, divine, God-breathed - Bible and when confronted with the "rules" kinda scratch my head in doubt (is that really whats best for me?) or worse yet - blatantly disobey?
It is such an elementary observation but it struck me as so powerful. We will religiously obey the Scrabble instructions, the Dry Clean Only labels, the Do Not Remove Tag from Mattress labels, the Shake Well Before Serving suggestion and yet it's like pulling teeth for me to live the Word of God.
But all of these things have the same root - they offer the law for ultimately whats best for us even if we don't realize it - the question is do we really believe that?
I wholeheartedly believe that if I shake the bottle of chocolate milk before serving it will taste better and will ultimately be whats best for me.
Do I believe that no eye has seen nor ear has heard what God has prepared for those who love Him and who follow after him and that is why I should obey Him and not run after the fleeting things of the world?
God take my shifting sand faith and solidify it on the Rock who is Jesus Christ.

2007-01-07T23:15:00.000-05:00

Pray

The world that we live in is busy. The lives that we all live are chaotic, messy, hectic and complicated beyond the reach of any adjective. To all my friends who read this (all 4 of you) I hope you are doing well. I hope that you have started 2007 off how you had resolved to - if you're like me than you did not. It's amazing how fast days go by before we know it and we are left saying, "Hey! Wait a second, I was just about to..." Thankfully the Lord's mercies are new not every year or every decade but every morning - we need them oh so often.
As you start off this year, please remember Dr. D. James Kennedy of Coral Ridge Presbyterian in your prayers. While many of us are kicking off what is hopefully another year among many, he may be on one of his last. He suffered a heart attack a little over a week ago and is still hospitalized but is supposedly improving - this is another episode in a slew of health problems he has suffered recently. Whether you know the man or not, whether you agree with him politically or theologically or not really matters very little. Before we think too highly of ourselves and think about how we may be different, let us applaud one of this century's valiant saints. Disagree idealogically or not, there is little doubt that Dr. Kennedy served the Lord with all his might as best as he knew how. Let us pray that God's will be done and that his mercy be evermore shown to Dr. Kennedy and his family in this time of need.

2007-01-05T23:05:00.000-05:00

A Disturbing, Violent Trend

This is a link to a recently written article on the latest spree of violence in pro sports, culminating with the death of the Denver Broncos Darrent Williams. Check it out:

A Disturbing, Violent Trend

2006-12-31T15:43:00.001-05:00

There are two songs about New Year's that come to my mind when its this time of year. The first is by Semisonic, the other by Switchfoot. Check em out...

"This Will Be My Year"

Thursday's crush is a Friday night rush
And a Monday morning cry
It's the tail that you keep chasing
And it gets away every time

New Years Eve and it's hard to believe
Another Zodiac's gone around
While you drank yourself high on hoping
And watched the ceiling spin from the ground

Counting down from ten it's time
To make your annual prayer
Secret Santa in the sky
When will I get my share

Then you tell yourself
What you want to hear
Cause you have to believe
This will be my year

Pound your fist and cross it off your list
But you know you're not that strong
When the man at the stop light catches you
Singing along to a brand new song

Well maybe it's
Trash or the overnight smash that brings a
Ship crashing through your wall
So you can make your grand departure
From a world getting way too small

One wheel in the ditch another
Spinning in the air
Put your pedal down to the floorboards but you're not
Getting anywhere

Then you tell yourself
What you want to hear
Cause you have to believe
This will be my year

"The Blues"

Is this the New Year or just another night?
Is this the new fear or just another fright?
Is this the new tear or just another desperation?

Is this the finger or just another fist?
Is this the kingdom or just a hit n' miss?
A misdirection, most in all this desperation

Is this what they call freedom?
Is this what you call pain?
Is this what they call discontented fame?

It'll be a day like this one
When the world caves in
When the world caves in
When the world caves in

I'm singing this one like a broken piece of glass
From broken arms an' broken noses in the back
Is this the New Year or just another desperation?

You're pushing till you're shoving
You bend until you break
Till you stand on the broken fields where our fathers lay

It'll be a day like this one
When the world caves in
When the world caves in
When the world caves in

There's nothing here worth saving,
Is no one here at all?
Is there any net left that could break our fall?

It'll be a day like this one
When the sky falls down and the hungry and poor and deserted are found
Are you discontented? Have you been pushing hard?
Have you been through and down this broken house of cards?

It'll be a day like this one
When the world caves in
When the world caves in
When the world caves in

Is there nothing left now?
Nothing left to sing
Are there any left who haven't kissed the enemy?
Is this the New Year or just another desperation?

Just as I could find you, do the wicked never lose?
Is there any honest song to sing besides these blues?

And nothing is okay
Till the world caves in
Till the world caves in
Till the world caves in
Until the world caves in
Until the world caves in
Until the world caves in

2006-12-14T19:21:00.000-05:00

Indian Food for Thought

Complaining is my trade mark move.

I complain about the noises my car makes when I brake.

I complain a lot about being tired.

Usually once a day I complain about being single.

I'll even complain about the ministry I am doing sometimes - does it really matter? Am I really gifted? Do people really care?

The other day in the midst of me feeling sorry for myself I had picked up a magazine and bolted to Zona Fresca to get a bite. While eating, I began to read about some of the stuff going on in India. The country with the 2nd fastest growing economy in the world but where still more than half the population lives in abject poverty. The country home to New Delhi - a metropolis where on any given day you might see a 4 year old doing a cartwheel in the street, narrowly missing traffic, in an attempt to get a few coins from a passerby so that child can eat. The country home to such a rigorous caste system that you have an infintessimal chance of being born into happiness but a pretty sure bet to be born into a living hell.

The country home to one-seventh of all humanity.

And I read about a pastor in the backwards land of India - the place where cows are king, where Hindu's make the rules, where Muslims are gaining a foothold, and where Christians hold on for dear life.

This pastor went to spread the Gospel in a heavily Hindu village and his first day there had his ears mutilated and his teeth kicked out.

But he kept preaching.

The next time they tried to burn him alive.

But he kept preaching
And loving.

No ears. No teeth.

That village is now home to a church.

What's sad is that this great man of faith and I are both labeled "pastor."

But I started the day complaining and ended it eating a burrito.

Lord have mercy.

2006-12-04T15:36:00.000-05:00

The Psalter

I have rediscovered the Psalms.

It's not as if they were lost - they have been that huge book in the middle of my Bible for a while - but they had been lost on me.

The reason is because if you are at all like me than the Psalms have sort of been relegated to "the book you read when you only have 5 minutes to spare for devotions or aren't really in the mood."
Maybe you've done the classic "open the Bible at random and see where it lands" devotional time - if so, you had a good chance of landing on a Psalm.

Now I think the largest book in the Scriptures being relegated to such a role in many of our lives is a direct betrayal of our society's mindset. We herald "facts" or pragmatic rational knowledge as the end all, be all.
All too often I carry the same approach to my Bible - I want to read a book where afterwards I possess "knowledge," some historical or theological "fact" that I can recite back to someone.

Give me the book of Romans or a Gospel.

Psalms?

It's like reading a Chris Tomlin lyric booklet from thousands of years ago.

You see the Psalms don't systematically teach about given topics, rather they are honest, raw, poignant, sometimes offensive hymns, journal entries and prayers.

But they are beautiful.
And they are inspired.
And they constitute more space in our Bible than any other book.
And Jesus often quoted from them.

And I have discovered them anew.

2006-12-04T14:23:00.000-05:00

In But Not Of

"Blessed are those who speak in cliche for they shall be called evangelical..."

This is not an actual quote from Jesus' well known Sermon on the Mount (beginning in Matthew 5) but in the minds of many of us who call ourselves Evangelical Christians it might as well be. We love such statements as:

"God helps those who help themselves" (really?)
"...we've always done it that way, thats why!"
"Eternity...Smoking or Non?" (wow)
"It was Adam and Eve not Adam and Steve..." (true but maybe a tad abrasive)
"With all eyes in the room closed, If you prayed that prayer today raise your hand"

All of those statements might not fall into the "cliche" category, though some are available as bumper stickers, but many times I as a Christian will ascribe validity to a statement that sounds great but might not hold water. A phrase that is often heard as frequently as those above is: "Christians are to be in the world but not of it." Now this may have attained cliche frequency but actually does originate in the Bible - both Jesus and Paul talk a lot on this topic.

The question then is what does this truth (not cliche) mean?

Does it mean I can only listen to radio stations whose call number is preceded by "Spirit" "Way" or "Dove?"
Does it mean I have to trade in my mainstream breath freshening products for TestaMINTS?
Do I pull out of society and simply xerox the cultural things I need and "Christianize" them? (see local Christian bookstore for example)
How am I to engage those outside the church?
How do I demonstrate the hope I have within me without being flat out weird?

Or should I be weirder? I mean that seriously. Where is the line drawn on being the village idiot? You look at a guy like Noah - called to build a prehistoric cruise ship in a place where there were no major bodies of water and in a world that had not yet experienced rain - and you wonder if anyone at all who knew him thought the word "normal" and "Noah" could be mentioned together. Maybe thats the problem - maybe I look too much like the world - that is entirely possible but all I am asking is for us to think about it, to question. Before we wear the WWJD bracelet lets stop and think and read and REALLY find out what Jesus did - what he looked and acted like - before we wear something that reminds us to do that.

If you haven't seen The Village (2004), a movie directed by M. Night Shyamalan (Sixth Sense, Unbreakable, Signs, Lady in the Water) rent it when you're done reading this even though I spoil the ending. The movie revolves around this isolated village of townspeople who are very closely knit due to their commitment to never stray outside the village into the surrounding woods. One does not stray outside the village, especially after nightfall, because of this mythical sort of creature cloaked in a crimson robe that will overtake you. The people continually hear that evil lies outside the village, evil lies outside the village. However as disapperances begin to increase, people get curious and eventually someone discovers the crimson cloak hidden away somewhere - the creature did not exist but was an apparatus wielded by the powers that be; indeed there was evil outside the village but not just outside the village, it also lay on the inside - in the townleaders plan of deception - as well.

The world is full of increasing wickedness and evil and the above is not a perfect illustration nor is this a call for us to partake of what the world offers indiscriminately but we must understand the evil does not lie "outside" our Christian villages/bookstores/bands/conferences/etc. Evil lies in the human heart, and if you are a human and if you have a heart it is inside our camp. We have been redeemed from it but we have not yet been completely purged of it - that day is coming but is not yet here. As Luther notes we are simultaneously saints and sinners. So understanding we are a redeemed community of decreasingly evil people who have been given a new nature, living in an increasingly evil world - we are in it but not of it - what does this look like?

2006-12-03T16:15:00.000-05:00

noinummoc

the cracker - hard and brittle as it is - leaves my mouth drier than before
my throat already mildly parched from sitting in the drafty air-conditioned room
fidgeting slightly but incessantly
not from boredom
not from anxiety
postmodern man is simply a restless creature of movement
sitting still requires contentment
and i do not possess her

the cracker is chased with too little grape
too little to fully quench my thirst
just enough to ever so slightly swell my tongue
and make that spot behind my ears sting faintly but assuredly
this upper room ritual is as old as Christendom
in fact it inaugurated it
not the ritual but the act which the ritual then foreshadowed
and now commemorates
i have just partaken of the communion table
and as I stand up and see the crumbs on my lap fall to the floor
i am reminded of the fetters which long ago fell from my soul to eternity's floor
i am connected for a moment ever so brief to saints and sinners, apostles and parishioners
from the upper room until now

my mouth may not be satiated
but this table is not for it
it is for my soul
and my soul has feasted and been refreshed

2006-11-27T10:42:00.000-05:00

I Wrote This During a Class I was Bored In

We don't like to talk about death.
It scares us. But I think it also perplexes us.
This notion (better yet, this fact) that one day it all just stops. Those of us who are still in some sort of school may feel like there is no end in sight for our degree; those of us who are single may see no light at the end of of the tunnel; if you're a Detroit Lions fan the crappy seasons don't seem like they will ever stop. But life doesn't fall into the same category. It will end - we can be certain of that.

So what the heck are we doing?
Why do we live our lives as if there is a reset button? Kinda like when you're playing a football video game and if you're getting demolished you hit the reset button before the loss can be saved to the memory card.
There is no reset button in life.

Stop pretending like you're gonna live forever.
Stop pretending like this world is all there is.

Make decisions for eternity.

It sounds cliche but maybe one day we'll all wake up and realize that most cliche's we were so afraid to find on our lips were right. Sentences don't become universal mantras unless there is at least an iota of truth in them.

If you have read Tolkien then you know that his stories feature elves and elves live forever. And in one of his works he writes that the Creator gave to elves gifts that men envied - strength, tireless energy, beauty and not the least of which was immortality. But to men the Creator gave what Tolkien called a strange gift - it was the gift of death. Because when men looked to the elves they thought of immortality being associated with eternal pleasure and experience and failed to realize that it also meant eternal sorrow and pain. Where there is no death there is no escape from the world and all of its sorrows and mess. The elves may live forever but they were bound to an earth that decayed and didn't age with the same grace they did, whereas man had the hope of one day escaping it all.

Augustine in the City of God poses the question of why men who have been saved by Christ from sin and its ensuing curse which was death still must eventually be subject to death. Why aren't believers in Christ conferred with the gift of immortality upon conversion? Augustine's response is interesting. He says that such a reward would nullify faith. The gratuitous gift of instant immoratality would make faith like some sort of lottery jackpot - who wouldn't become a Christian? But having to still be subjected to death and having the reward of eternal life lay behind the curtain of death requires great faith - it is a reward you can't see and a reward that may lie at the end of a road paved with suffering.

Just throwin it out there.

2006-11-16T09:33:00.000-05:00

Keepin' It Real

One of the most rewarding aspects of youth ministry (especially Jr. High) is taking the big, grandiose spiritual concepts and reducing them to their most basic form, making them manageable for the adolescent mind. Let’s face it – so often we get caught up in trying to so intellectualize our faith, to state it in the largest theological term possible, to make it so big and lofty that it loses its original potency or at least doesn’t resonate the way that it used to. Sometimes we try and slice and dice an aspect of our faith so much that we lose sight of its original simplicity and beauty. The great thing about working with kids is that even if you wanna do this, which I am usually inclined to do, you just can’t. Jr. Higher’s aren’t impressed with fancy words (unless they’re four-lettered or describe a body part) - keep it simple and don’t apologize for it.

The last couple of weeks I have been teaching through John 3 and 4 with our Jr. High students, really hammering home the simple gospel due to the fact that many of our kids are lost or unchurched, and it has been most refreshing. Tonight I talked on John 3:16. That’s right, John 3:16. The verse that Christians and non-Christians alike know, the verse that we have known since the womb, the verse spray painted on posterboard in the stands at football games. I kinda actually forgot it is in the Bible – and that not only is it in the Bible but that it is remarkably beautiful and remarkably simple. God…World…Sacrificial Death…Belief…Life…it’s the Gospel. I hope I never tire of talking about the Gospel – the plain, life-changing Gospel. There is a balance though as in all things. We can make the Gospel over practical and lose sight of its original intention and power reducing it to self-help or therapy or feel-good positive thinking but we can also over philosophize, over theologize, over lexicon-ize, over analyze, over rationalize and forget that at the end of the day Christ came into the world to simply save sinners and that’s what people need to hear.

It’s funny when you look in the New Testament – Jesus didn’t give any preaching seminars to his disciples, they obviously observed their master and picked up things along the way but Christ doesn’t really ever sit them down and say, “…so Pete, after the 5 point outline remember three things: make sure all of your points start with the same letter; make sure you throw in at least one fancy word to impress the audience; and always preach for at least 30-45 minutes.” Maybe he gave them a crash course and we just don’t know it but you’d think it would be recorded – I mean these were the people who had been entrusted with founding the universal Christian church from the ground up – seems preaching would be important. Instead we see Christ speaking pretty matter of factly with people, we see Christ use a lot of word pictures and stories, we see the apostles in Acts preaching unbelievably directly and simply. We do hear of a really long sermon given by Paul at one point but a kid fell out of a window and died during it – I’ve had kids point to their watches while I speak before but someone falling out of a window would definitely be interesting.

I dunno. Just throwin’ it out there. I think a lot of times preachers just like hearing themselves talk and I’m guilty of this. I think a lot of times we unintentionally but also sometimes intentionally try and make the Gospel more dressed up than it is – we put the Gospel in slacks when I think it really wore jeans. I think sometimes the most powerful sermons are the most simple. Sometimes the most lingering are the shortest. The Gospel is simple and powerful and wonderful and Christ said that the kingdom which the Gospel was building belonged to little children.

2006-11-14T09:51:00.000-05:00

Rutgers, Foam Fingers and the USA

One of my favorite ways that fans respond in sports is the frantic waving of the index figure into the camera. We all know what it means: "We're Number One!" The funny thing though is that in most collegeiate sports where there is a rigid ranking system their is only one team who can technically claim to be number one at a time, thus really only they have the right to frantically wave that index finger. However, this hasn't stopped other teams from doing it and continuing to do it forevermore. The other night I was watching Middle Tennessee State play and after scoring a touchdown every person on their sideline who the camera did a close-up on was jumping up and down, yelling and frantically waving that figure into the camera: In their mind MTS was Number One...In reality most people don't even realize MTS is a school, let alone a school with a football team.

I think all too often we bring this type of thinking into our politics. We as Americans are so eager to raise that index finger, wave it around and loudly proclaim: "We're Number One!" We are so used to having that powerhouse, undefeated, championship type attitude that we are the best and most untouchable nation on earth. And quite honestly we have been the most powerful and dominant nation on earth for the majority of our history and still could probably claim to be "Number One!" But we must remember two things. First, we flat out have not really stood the test of time yet. We are a young nation when compared to the scope of history and so far no nation has ever been able to claim the title of invincibility. It's like when Rutgers upset Louisville last week in football - sure Rutgers proved to be talented, pulled off a huge win, but there are still a lot of games left, you haven't been in the spotlight all that long - be careful how brazenly you wave that finger in the air.

Secondly, while America may be the last remaining "superpower" on earth, the gap may not be what it once was. Once again lets look to the sports world (hey, I'm a guy - I fish, hunt and drink beer from a dixie cup - actually none of that is true except the first part). The gap between the bigtime universities with bigtime sports programs and smaller "mid-major" universities has steadily closed each year. Gonzaga U (a Jesuit school in Washington with less than 5,000 students) is a perennial basketball powerhouse; George Mason university went to the Final Four last year; just this week in college football Wake Forest blew out Florida State at home; teams like Rutgers, Louisville and Boise State are some of the nations best teams - the point is made: the talent pool in sports has begun to level off, the term powerhouse may soon become obsolete.

Can the same soon be said of world politics?

I have no doubt America is still the "powerhouse" in the arena but could we maybe admit the gap is closing? It was just reported that our naval technology isn't what it once was - at the end of October a Chinese submarine had tracked one of our aircraft carriers in open water for days, being dangerously close before our ship even picked it up. The submarine had no ill intentions but the point was made - even our military may not carry the invincible tag any more - the technologies we once boasted above everyone else may soon be commonplace.

It is trendy in evanglicalism right now to put a liberal slant on things and to criticize the conservative right so don't misunderstand me. I am proud to be an American. I have no desire to live anywhere else on earth. I love this country and want to see it defended and to succeed. Furthermore, I believe as Christians here in America we have privelege and freedom not to be taken for granted. A democracy truly is the most condusive form of government in allowing the spread of the gospel. But as the war on terror continues to rage, as political power swings back and forth between parties, as leaders come and go let us always remember our hope, security and faith ultimately do not lie in a country or in a political party but rather in a heavenly city and in a king, who has indeed prepared a house with many rooms for us, but such a house is not found on Capitol Hill.

2006-11-12T17:47:00.000-05:00

All Aboard

Stop this train
I wanna get off and go home again
I can't take the speed it's movin' in
I know I can't
But honestly won't someone stop this train

There are many sublime qualities about music. One of them is the way your psyche grabs certain songs during certain periods of your life and clings to them as an anthem. Another is the way a good lyricist can say a lot with only a few words.

John Mayer in the song mentioned above accomplishes both in my mind - truly this song has become an anthem for me.

I am on a train that is speeding into the night.
Where is it taking me?
Do I want to go there?
Does it have to go so fast?
Can't it slow down a little?

I just need time to think.
Does life allow that?

I'm not living I'm reacting.
I stepped off the platform and jumped onto the end of the train because thats what I was supposed to do

gaining speed
going faster
going somewhere

2006-11-01T10:25:00.000-05:00

Fastball

Sometimes Life tells us to throw a curveball.

But if you're a fastball pitcher throw the fastball.

The fall of 2003 when the Marlins won the Series was so much fun for me. I went to games that year all season long and so when the Marlins made the Series I felt like a true fan because I had been there when they looked all but dead just a few months prior. That October was phenomenal. I remember leaving work early to make the game on TV, sitting up late into the night with roommates anxiously watching every pitch, calling friends across the country and saying, "Can you believe this?" I yelled at the TV, wore a rally cap in my living room, laid in bed after games analyzing, played catch in my yard between innings.

During this year's Series I thought back a lot to the Year of the Fish in '03 and once again revisited in my mind one of my favorite memories:

A single at-bat between Josh Becket and Sammy Sosa in the NL Championship series.

I don't remember all the details but any baseball fan will recall that this was when Sosa was still one of the game's most feared hitters. He had cracked the 60 homeruns in a season mark 3 times in 5 years. Between 2000-2002 he had hit more than 150 homeruns. '03 was another 40 homerun season for him. He was rapidly swinging himself into the Hall of Fame. Beckett was the Marlin's young fireballer. Beckett had no big league experience but was making a name for himself with his fastball and his gunslinger attitude. Sosa had made a living hitting fastballs out of the park for years.

And so when the two faced each other one night in Wrigley late in the game something had to give.

Beckett threw fastball after fastball and Sosa hadn't yet caught up but he had been here before.

Sosa had 2 strikes against him.
Sosa was the face of the team.
Sosa at this point was one of the greatest living hitters.

The crowd was rallying behind their feared slugger.
The hopes of a city rode on this man's bat.

Surely Beckett had been lucky, he now would throw an off-speed pitch and get Sosa off balance right? Beckett's good but in the Major leagues you gotta mix up your pitches - the hitters are too good. This young pitcher wouldn't challenge such a devestating hitter in a game this big right?

Sosa did his batter's box ritual.
Beckett took a little more time than normal glaring at the batter.
It was a battle of wills.
Neither man uttered a word but you could see in Sosa's eyes he wouldn't be outdone on his homefield by some young punk.
You could see in Beckett's eyes he had no fear.

And so when convention would tell him to throw a curveball,
throw something out of the strike zone,
don't press your luck with a hitter like this,

Beckett threw a fastball right down the middle.

Sosa swung and missed.

Beckett is a fastball pitcher.

This world and this life tell you and me to be a lot of things.
To look a certain way.
To like certain things.
To have a certain job.

Be yourself.
Be no one but yourself.

If the world tells you to throw a curveball but your a fastball pitcher.

Throw the fastball.

If you get burned who cares?

At least you were yourself.

2006-10-09T16:06:00.000-05:00

Still Got It

"They say prayer has the power to heal,
so pray for me mother.

In the human heart an evil spirit can dwell.

I am trying to love my neighbor and do good unto others,

But oh, mother, things ain't going well."

"Ain't Talkin'"
from Bob Dylan's latest release "Modern Times"

2006-10-08T14:00:00.000-05:00

Octoberfest

Let me start by saying that my blogging frequency has decreased as of late and probably will only continue to do so until October ends. Why?

Baseball playoffs.

Baseball is not my favorite sport to play but it is to follow. I absolutely love all the stats - ERA, batting average, OBP, slugging percentage, WHIP, etc., etc. Hearing two baseball fans talk is like listening to another language - its great. Secondly, I LOVE pitching, thus 1-0, 2-0 games are still exciting for me where others hate them, plus TV baseball is fun for me because TV baseball is pretty much just staring at the back and sometimes intense face of a pitcher in between plays for 3 hours. I love it when fans post K's on the stadium walls. I love the history of the game. I love that every stadium is unique - outfield fences aren't all the same distance or even shape. Some have monster green walls, some have waterfalls, some have hills that centerfielders trip over. If you play for the Marlins, your outfield fence is located in the next county. I love that they play games everday.

And I especially love the playoffs. What's not to love? They still play virutally every day, except the games all matter, and they don't play Black-eyed Pea's songs during the broadcasts and take 3 months to complete like the NBA.

One jewel I have rediscovered is playoff baseball on the radio. If you're driving in your car there is nothing more dramatic than hearing a hometown announcer say things like, "and here's the 3-2 pitch..." or "and that ball's hit hard to deep right field..." all while there is the faint hum of AM static through it all and the crowd has worked itself up into a fanatic din. During Game 3 of the Tigers-Yanks when Kenny Rogers pitched the game of his life, I was listening to it on the radio and over Boog calling the game I could hear the crowd chanting "Ke-nny, Ke-nny" as he fanned the "lineup that couldn't be beat."

I'm not even a Tigers fan and I got goosebumps.

2006-10-02T22:15:00.000-05:00

Everyone has heard of J.R.R. Tolkien and Lord of the Rings.
You probably have read at least one of the books or The Hobbit at some point in your life.
Maybe you were that guy who dressed up like Frodo and went to the midnight showing when the movies came out.

But have you read The Silmarillion?

The Silmarillion is to Lord of the Rings as Rocky Balboa is to Tommy Gunn in Rocky 5. Normally I refuse to acknowledge that this movie was ever made because I am a proud Rocky fan and Rocky 5 is just an all out embarrasement - there is no way around it. The budget was too low, the timing wasn't right, Stallone was too old and the plot was too ridiculous. I spend a lot of the movie looking down at my feet in akwardness. The movie never should have been made, they should have stopped with 4.

But it works for illustration.

In Rocky 5, Balboa can't fight anymore because of brain damage he suffered at the hands of the giant Russian he beat in the epic fight of Rocky 4. But Rocky can't stay away from the ring and he agrees to train the upstart boxer Tommy Gunn and eventually turns him into a world champion but in his success Gunn never gives any credit to Balboa and eventually turns his back on him which leads to the showdown at the end.

It's a stretch but Enter the Silmarillion.

LOTR is the greatest fiction series ever written - its an awesome epic. The movies made millions. Millions have read the books, but often people haven't even heard of The Silmarillion. The Silimarillion explains how everything began - it explains the lore of middle-earth, the origin of all the races, it explains the language Tolkien invented when writing the series (by the way who invents a language? Amazing). It makes LOTR. Without it's history, LOTR doesn't come to life. Without Balboa there is no Tommy Gunn.

It's time the book gets it due.

If for no other reason, read the book out of respect for one of the world's greatest writers. This is my second time through and there are times still where I have to put the book down and think to myself: this is a masterpiece written by a man of unparalleled genius. People simply don't write like this anymore.

And the thing with good art is that ultimately it gives credit and points right back to the Artist whose fingerprints are upon us. The beauty of the book moves me and ultimately makes me more impressed with the God who molded the genius of a man like Tolkien and allowed him to fashion his art.

In our fast food, pragmatic-knowledge driven culture we should all more often just stop and read a book - not to learn so that we can spit off facts and feel smart but just to appreciate beauty and the God whose handiwork it ultimately harkens back to.

I recommend The Silmarillion as a good way to start.

"The Silmarillion is both Tolkien's first book and his last, and the core of his imaginative work that underlies all his writings about Middle-earth. Tolkien began The Silmarillion in 1917 and worked on it, changed it, and continued it throughout his life. Edited by his son, Christopher Tolkien, the book finally appeared four years after the author's death, in 1977. "

2006-09-22T14:10:00.000-05:00

Does God Want You to be Rich?

Cover story for TIME this week - read it

2006-09-17T16:10:00.000-05:00

Sunday

"The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath."

I live in a city knee-deep in bloodshed, fornication, poverty and vanity.
I long for the city where there will be no more tears.

Today I find myself in the terminal between the two.

I have not yet left my city
I can still feel its heavy, unpacked bags on my shoulders.
I am not yet to the new city
But I have my boarding pass.

I don't always but today I love the terminal.

It's far from perfect.
There are even some here who will miss the flight.
There are many who will board ahead of me.

But in the terminal I hear the Captain's voice.
In the terminal I see the bright lights.
In the terminal I am reminded the runway is long but does have an end.

In the terminal I am not home.

But I'm close.

2006-09-12T20:58:00.000-05:00

To Be A Kid Again

I often hear people much older than me say, "Ahh to be a kid again." When someone says this it is usually the innocence and ease of a child's life to which this person is reminiscing. The life of an adult in our world is a life of mortgages, car payments, monitoring cholesterol intake and traffic. One often longs to return to the days when you didn't worry about what you ate, where you lived, what you drove and if there is someone out there for you.

It's funny though because the older I get not only does my life get more complicated but so does my Christian faith. When I was a kid I first believed that Jesus died for my many sins and that because of him I could have a relationship with God. As adults we try and figure out if we believe in limited atonement, supralapsarianism, amillenialism and the JEDP theory of Pentateuch authorship. And I will be the first to say that I often start these type of conversations. Theology is a calling and a passion of mine and I am a firm believer in its value. But as of late I have realized that while my knowledge continues to grow, my theology continues to form and my appreciation for the complexity of the Bible deepens, my simple obedience to God's commands doesn't always follow suit.

I can explain Anselm's view of the atonement.
But do I take up my cross daily and follow Jesus?

I can explain theogony.
But am I daily captivated by the God of the Universe?

I lie.
I lust.
I steal.
I chase after idols.
I do not love my neighbor as myself.

But I can explain infralapsarianism.

Why did Jesus welcome children to surround him?
Because children trust and obey.
Some call it naieve.
Jesus called it faith.

When Paul called me to be a man and put away my childish ways I don't think my simple faith and steadfast obedience was what he had in mind.

May our knowledge of God be a supplement rather than a substitute for our simple obedience and pure love for God.

2006-09-10T22:52:00.000-05:00

A Friendly Game

If you play professional golf or professional tennis whatever slim chance you did have of becoming the world's number one just went out the window.

Why?

Because Tiger Woods and Roger Federer were already only competing against one thing: history.
But now they have a new competitor:
each other.

Tiger and Roger have mutually admired each other from afar for some time as they both have dominated their respective sport and in turn been endlessly compared to one another. They also share the same agency and are both endorsed by Nike.

Both men have won 8 titles this year. Both men are number one in the world in their sport. Both look bored in the face of pressure. Both are chasing history.

But the scariest thing is that they now are friends.

Roger said he roots for Tiger and always wanted to meet him. Tiger said he is a big tennis fan always admiring Sampras and now pulling for Federer. At Sunday's U.S. Open final the two finally met and Tiger ended up watching the game from Federer's box. After Federer dealed out his most recent tennis lesson to Andy Roddick, Tiger and Roger celebrated over a bottle of Dom Perignon in the locker room [ESPN].

And on the night where Federer - who has won 3 straight U.S. Open's, 4 straight Wimbeldon's, finished his third straight year as the world's number 1, who has been called "a genius with the racket," "an artist," and has already been heralded at 25 years old as the best to ever play the game - won his 9th Grand Slam, it was his new friend Tiger Woods who playfully reminded him that he was still 3 behind his 12 major titles.

Tiger has 5 years on Federer and yet it is still just a matter of time until either man becomes officially the best to ever play their sport. Tiger is only 6 off of tying Jack's record of 18 majors. Roger is only 5 off of tying Pete's record of 14 grand slams. Fans in both sports project that either man could win an unheard of 20 major titles.

Thus, what we have here is a colossal game of "anything you can do I can do better" between two of the world's elite atheletes. And it leaves all of us who are fans of dominance and dynasty's salivating because the biggest concern with all dominant superstars is: can they sustain the level of competition, self-motivation and not grow bored after so much success? Tiger and Roger were probably already an exception to that rule but now the question can officially be buried.

Not because they have anyone in their own sport to challenge them but because they have bragging rights with each other at stake and when was the last time either man liked to lose?

"He [Tiger] says I'm three behind," Federer said. "I wouldn't be surprised if I get a message next time he wins. I wouldn't be surprised at all. [ESPN]"

We already got the message: Everybody else in tennnis and golf is playing for second place.

2006-09-07T16:41:00.000-05:00

R-E-S-P-E-C-T

It's time to put an end to the complaint that Miami/South Florida is not a SportsTown. Miami is a SportsTown, just simply a unique one. Think about it. The Florida Marlins won 2 titles in their first 10 years as a franchise. The Heat have just come off of their championship run. The Hurricanes have won 5 NCAA football champtionships and are perennial qualifiers to the College World Series. The Miami Dolphins have struggled more in recent years but have won a Super Bowl, hold the only undefeated season in history, touted one of the top 3 greatest QB's ever and have a much larger fanbase than are often given credit for. It's not that Miami/South Florida isn't a SportsTown they simply battle a few factors more traditional sports towns do not:

1) With the exception of the Dolphins (even they are recent comparably) South Florida franchises are still new enough where a tradition has not yet developed. For example in places like Boston, New York and Chicago people have followed baseball teams for decades thus leading them to raise their kids as fans. Here in South Florida a team like the Marlins has just turned 13. Although South Florida can boast numerous pre-teen mothers, 13 years isn't enough to build a pseudo-religious fan following like other cities have.

2) South Florida is one of the largest immigration destinations on earth. What this means is that South Florida is a transient place. It is home to tons of people who didn't live here yesterday and might be gone tomorrow. Not only are there countless illegal aliens who don't share an American sports mindset and/or can't afford a game ticket, it is also home to tons of snowbird types who have migrated here from traditional SportsTowns where they were indoctrinated and thus will not pull for the local Miami franchise. This explains why games such as Dolphins/Jets and Marlins/Mets do not feel like home games for us native Floridians when we attend them. It't not just that no home fans have bothered to come. There simply are not that many home fans - check the license plates on your way out of the stadium. Quebec. New York.

3) There is actually other stuff to do. I know I know places like Boston, Chicago, and Philly have things to offer as well but will someone freaking be honest and admit none of it compares to South Florida? How many times can you eat a steak sandwich covered in cheese whiz and visit the Liberty Bell before that gets old? Why not go catch a Phillies game? What don't you have in South Florida? Beaches, great weather, bars, clubs, etc, etc. A pro sporting event really doesn't fall on the top of the list in South Florida especially at the prices tickets go for now a days. For sixty bucks I can have an awesome night out and not even think twice about a game score.

4) Everyone brags on how awesome a place like New York's fans are. There are almost 9 million people there! How can you not fill a baseball stadium that holds 30,000 plus have left overs thus the need for a second team - ala Yankees/Mets? Trust me I haven't forgot that Miami is huge but it is a fourth the size of New York plus it battles the previously mentioned factors.

All I'm asking for is a little respect. This is not a traditional SportsTown. But it is a SportsTown But if the goal of sports is to win (and it is last time I checked) the Marlins average a chamionship per decade, the Heat are your current NBA champs, its only a matter of time before the Canes return to glory (although they have hardly "fallen") and the Dolphins are poised for a breakout season. Throw in the fact that you don't have to wear parka's to home games and there is actually stuff to do after and between games and let me know if there is a better place for a sportsfan to live in the country.

2006-09-01T13:06:00.000-05:00

Kirk

"...its been a long December and there's reason to believe maybe this year will be better than the last..."

At the concert I couldn't focus.
My head couldn't stop swiveling
Back and forth and all around.
Back and forth and all around.
I thought, "there are so many people here."

An amphitheatre.
A band whose lyrics make little sense but haunt you.
An abundance of alcohol.
A crowd forming one voice:

"...if you think that I could be forgiven...I wish you would..."

I began to understand.
Instead of swiveling I stared straight ahead.

I was in the midst of a great escape.

The amphitheatre with its social elixir,
The amphitheare with its family of strangers,
The amphitheatre with its familiar anthems

Was a church for the unforgiven.

The church of the unforgiven lacks pretense.
The church of the unforgiven shares a brew and a song with strangers.
The church of the unforgiven doesn't ask about yesterday it embraces the night.

Listen, Learn, Love O church of the forgiven.

"...I can't remember all the times I tried to tell myself to hold on to these moments as they passed..."

2006-08-30T23:38:00.000-05:00

Third

Sleeping requires faith.

I think thats why it scares me.

I know the nightly routine of toothpaste, prayers and alarm clocks - and yet I prolong it.

Under the cover of darkness and linen sheets I am confined in an eight hour prison where I am left alone with my thoughts. Left to wonder in the fading glo of consciousness if I have lived life well.

Pillow.

Is it all true?

Do I believe?

Life.

Grant me faith as small as a mustard seed Lord.

Not for mountains.

For sleep.

2006-08-29T18:14:00.000-05:00

My Name is Adam and I Approve This Message

When it comes to politics I am definitely rather apolitical (as Phil likes to say). Don't get me wrong I think there is value in politics and I do my best to try and know whats going on but I'm probably not going to slap a bumper sticker on my car or participate in a political rally anytime in the forseeable future. I vote and care who wins but I spend far more time thinking about if I crashlanded in a jungle would I be able to eat my own shoe to survive than I do about elephants and donkeys.

For instance, once I finally realized that Charlie Crist and Tom Gallagher were BOTH Republican candidates for the upcoming Florida gubernatorial election I wasn't immediately pondering where each man stood on what issue but rather, "what is the deal with the sign placement of politcal candidates?"

Has anyone noticed this?

It seems like the campaign manager for all the different candidates is the same person - a sophomore from Lauderdale High who helped get his girlfriend Becky on Student Council. It's as if from the months of August to Novemeber the city of Fort Lauderdale turns into one big hallway of lockers that candidates can just plaster their crap all over. But even in high school you try and be strategic with your flyers and bake sales. Not these guys. Any vacant lot in the city is full of wooden stake signs. Construction site fences are plastered with red, white and blue signs as if any of the workers who go on break talk about anything other than the Dolphins. You can even find them taped to the sides of the portable toilets on these construction sites. The other day I drove by an abandoned Denny's that looked like it had been fire-bombed and yet every single window contained a candidates sign. I don't know about you but if I am headed to the polls and am not really sure who to vote for I can assure you I will vote for whoever my mind does NOT subconciously associate with fire-bombed Denny's and construction worker poop.

As long as political candidates literature is slapped to the sides of building right next to gang graffiti it may take these guys a lot longer to shed the stereotype that all politicians are crooked and have no class. If any of these candidate's platforms promises a city beautification project - that would be the ultimate irony.

2006-08-26T22:15:00.000-05:00

His Hot Airness

USA basketball's last game against Italy featured a lot of trash talking and physical play - mostly on the part of the Italians - as they apparently took notes from their World Cup team on how to look totally classless in international competition. Only difference is in basketball Italy doesn't have the talent to back up their dirty play, whining and acting jobs that earn calls.
One thing worth mentioning though is that Matteo Soragna of Italy (pictured right) while attempting to guard Dwayne Wade chided to him, "there is only one MJ." Hey, Dwane Wade might not be MJ (although the argument could be made) but I got news for you buddy - it certaintly ain't you.

2006-07-07T13:53:00.000-05:00

Unplugged from the World

So I officially made the move from living with my parents to my own place (although my own place is actually the guesthouse of my grandparents - so make of that what you want.) But the independence such a move provides is wonderful, the only thing though is that now on my own I am without computer and internet, and it was then that I realized I may have independence but I have become extremely dependent upon things such as computers and internet. Thus, until I can afford to purchase a computer (which will be at least another week or two) I will be unable to update my blog, incapable of emailing, unplugged from the world.

I realize that all three of you who read my blog will suddenly find yourselves struggling to pass the time without any new posts (kidding) so in the meantime here are some suggestions:

Watch the World Cup Final on Sunday
As an American, who has been told to eat "Freedom Fries" at fast food chains I never thought I would pull for France in an international sporting event until now. France is an exciting team to watch play, features an aging superstar making a John Elway type run at a title, and is the only European nation which actually features numerous black players - a refreshing sight - since we do afterall live in the year 2006. Combine that with the fact that the Italian team features worse, more dramatic actors than a late-night Cinemax flick and is mired in a massive referree fixing scandal back home (although you might want to ask Australia how it feels to play an Italian team who has the refs in their back pocket at the WC also) and I just simply cannot root for Italy and manage to fall asleep at night. Either way its a tough choice though. Root for a blantantly scandalous, dirty team with zero integrity or root for a team whose nation can't stand us. Oh well, aren't the World Cup games really just a 3 hour excuse for me to drink beer in the mornings?

Watch Seinfeld re-runs on TBS from 6pm-7pm
The hands-down best American comedy ever created runs every week night on TBS from 6-7 and is also found on other channels real late at night. Everyone needs more Seinfeld in their life - I suggest watching it while eating a Drake's Coffee Cake.

Buy "The Office" (BBC version)
I had to qualify my statement above by saying that Seinfeld was the flat out best American comedy because my eyes were opened to the sweet brilliance of The Office, which originally aired in 12 parts on the BBC. It is the pinnacle of British comedy and even though the American remake airs on NBC on Thursdays it comes nowhere close. Do yourself a service and get your hands on this and remember David Brent is not your boss he is a chilled out entertainer.

Drink a Bodington
Bodington is an ale brewed in Manchester which has worked its way onto my "Ambrosial Nectar" list. It possesses virtually no aftertaste, has one of the coolest looking taps around, and features that velvety creaminess akin to Guinness but without the smack you in the mouth heaviness and color. Visit your local British pub for more details.

Eat McDonald's Ice Cream
Thought that the best Ice Cream was only found in an Edys carton or in a Coldstone store or at Jackson's? Wrong. Everything else at McDonald's is artificial so there is little reason to believe that their ice cream is actually ice cream but the stuff that they sell on top of a cone or covered in hot fudge is darn good - and it is only around a dollar - you could pay for it with the change in your cup holders (and I frequently do). Word of advice - the hot fudge sundae is actually cheaper than the plain vanilla cone. Both are dynamite it just depends on your mood. I eat probably three to four of these a week. And after the whole Bodington thing you thought I was a man of fine tastes.

2006-07-04T00:21:00.000-05:00

Life in a Wooden House

As Coldplay gains more popularity, continues to get compared with U2 and produces amazing albums I began to ask myself what it is about their music that makes me sit in the car long after I have pulled into the driveway and stare into space until I either get cotton mouth or begin to smell the exhaust of my own car coming into the air vents. At least for me, their music has this possessing ability to it - which I think is the defining characteristic for quality music and also a testimony to the overall affection our minds simply have for the strange yet beautiful practice we call music - and as I thought about it I came to the conclusion that Coldplay's music has a haunting simplicity to it. They are able in their lyrics to capture grandiose images and emotions in simple, concise yet lingering statements.

One such statement is found in the song entitled, "We Never Change" and it says,

So I wanna live in a wooden house,
I wanna live life, always be true,
I wanna live life, and be good to you,
I wanna fly, and never come down,
And I live my life, and have friends around.

The melancholy tune of the song adds to the effect but it is the simplicity of the lyrics that I appreciate so much. The author of the song expresses the most basic of desires: to live in a secure dwelling with the one whom he cherishes, surrounded by people who care for him. And I truly believe that in that short unimpressive paragraph Chris Martin sums up a desire which resides in the heart of every man - to live, love, and be loved.

(Click here for discussion on another great Coldplay song - Politik)

In the very first few pages of Scripture, after God has made the world and made Adam He makes a simple yet resonating statement:

It is not good for man to be alone (Gen. 2:18).

We have been ingrained and created intentionally to need the fellowship of other people, to need the community of friends and lovers. And in a day and in a society that has so heralded the prominence of the individual the words of Chris Martin and more importantly of God are needed now more than ever. As members of a Western, suburban, self-help culture we have been saturated with the doctrines of individuality and led to believe that any need we have for another only evidences weakness in ourselves. But the cry of Scripture is that such a desire and such a need is not weakness but design. That we are a people of whom being alone does not always, but can lead to trouble, temptation, loneliness and despair. We have been created to reach our true identity as an individual only within the confines of community.

And I think it is for this very reason that when it is all said and done, after the music fades and the lights go out, after every one loses the pretense and is honest our deepest longing is that of Chris Martin's - to live in a wooden house (simplicity), to live life and be good to a beloved, and to have friends around (community).

Furthermore, I think it is for this reason that you rarely see bars go out of business and why a bartender can be one of the most liked people in a community. A bar is a place where everybody knows your name and I think people crave and thrive off of that - the bar offers community that so many places, including a lot of churches, simply do not for whatever reason.

I struggle to end this article poignantly, but just am haunted by that lyric and verse. We don't need more money, more technology, faster cars or computers, bigger houses or success - people just need other people to love them, live with them, and be there for them.

We never change, do we?

2006-06-30T17:12:00.000-05:00

Putting My Money Where My Mouth Says My Heart Is

Usually one of the biggest complaints against the church today is that all preachers ever do is ask for money. Whenever the sermon on tithing rolls around (actually we try and make it more palatable and sophisticated by calling it "stewarship sunday") people are looking for the exits and tuning out. On the one hand I do not blame people for thinking that the church is just one big holy money-laundering scam. Thanks to the Benny Hinn's; Tammy-Fay Baker's; Peter Popoff's (yes he is a real guy - you can find him selling viles of holy water on late night TBN paid-programming, when I first saw it I honestly thought it was an SNL sketch) and Dr. Dollar's (also an actual person - there is absolutely no way that his last name is Dollar and he also happens to be a cheesy, heretical, prosperity theologian - I think a comical coincidence of that scale would tear a whole in the universe - but you can find his books in the Christian bookstore) of this world it is no wonder that many people think all we do is sing breathy worship songs in dim lighting and ask for people's paychecks.

And so although TBN and that lady with the purple-Marge Simpson--shaped like one of those termite nests they find on the African plains on the Discovery Channel-haircut may have ruined any opportunity for Christians to talk about money, the truth is that much to our chagrin Jesus actually talks a whole heck of a lot about the subject. It has been said that Jesus actually spends more time addressing the issue of money than any other topic when he was on earth. I do not know if this is true but I do know that when reading the Gospels it does seem to come up more than I like to admit and he speaks far more bluntly on the subject than I tend to realize.

And the thing is it wasn't like Jesus gave Christian Businessmen seminars or busted out a pie-chart during the Sermon on the Mount that told us how much money we should put where in order to be Godly, it just came up all the time in conversation. The disciples ask him about it, the Pharisees ask him about, he hung out with tax-collectors so the topic was never far off and he engages with rich people over the topic. And to me this indicates that the statement "money makes the world go round" may not be entirely true but it certainly carries some merit. For thousands of years, money has been at the focal point of kingdoms - it was in the Roman empire of Jesus' day and it is true in the American democracy of our day. For some reason - and I don't claim to know why and I don't even think Jesus explicity addresses it in the Gospels - money, more than almost anything else on earth besides maybe sex, has this all-consuming, addictive, powerful allure over our psyche's. And I think Jesus addresses it because since it is such an integral part of the kingdoms of the world, he wants to clue us in - as citizens of His kingdom - on how exactly we should view and handle this stuff that makes the said world go round.

The passage that made me begin to ponder all of this was the end of Matthew 6 when Jesus is in the middle of his Sermon on the Mount and after addressing weighty topics such as adultery, murder and vengeance he touches on finances and materialism and warns us not to store up treasures on earth- where they will only one day decay - but to store them up instead in heaven. From there I began to think of other passages where Jesus addresses these issues and I was reminded of the story in Matthew 19 where upon dialoguing with a rich young man who is too wrapped up in his wealth to follow him, Jesus exclaims, "It is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven...it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of God..." And as I thought about these words I was reminded of two things. One was the sermons I have heard where people try and tell me that there was a gate in Jerusalem at that time called "Needles Eye" and that it was so narrow that a person could barely enter through it into the city, let alone a camel. Second, I pictured all of those TV preachers, sweating and yelling and maybe even getting choked up for effect, in their $1000 suits and on their million dollar sets informing me that if I gave to their ministry and sent it to the P.O. Box on the screen that God would make me indepenently wealthy, healthy and wise.

I am fairly sure that neither one of those applications can be taken from such a passage. What I am fairly sure of is that I don't think God in his Word gives us a set income bracket to stay within. I am fairly sure that I don't think Jesus hates the rich, and I am fairly sure that we all need to search our own hearts and convictions when it comes to this matter but I do think that in Matthew 19 and other places God issues us a warning. And the warning is not that we must live in ghetto's and starve in order to be spiritual but that in many ways those who live in such situations are more likely to see the truth of the Gospel. See, when we have every luxury, comfort, appliance, automobile, vacation home, watch, gadget and desire that money can buy and we pursue more and more and surround ourselves with such things it becomes increasingly more and more difficult to hear the cry of Scripture that we are broken, sinful, helpless, weak, inept, defunct, lifeless, poor people who are in need of a Savior. And the reason that in America and Western Europe the Gospel has become an afterthought while in places like Latin America and Africa the kingdom of God aquires members daily is because in places where there is less stuff and more soul the promise of the Gospel of becoming spiritually alive and provided for in Christ is the greatest thing ever heard. But here in America we must turn off our TV's, unplug our iPod's, get out of our cars, turn the radio down, wash the makeup and self-tanning cream from our faces, dock the boat and cancel the reservations at the club sometimes before we hear the invitation of Christ to seek his kingdom.

Oh, that I may not be caught running after money when Majesty is before my eyes. May I not seek clothing of every new trend when I can be clothed in righteousness. May I not run after that which is fleeting when the eternal lies ahead. May even the places where I put my money indicate that I have been bought, not with silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ.

2006-06-26T19:27:00.000-05:00

E-brakes, Donuts and the Christian Life:
More random thoughts as I read 1 Peter

Sometimes living the Christian life feels a lot like driving a rental car. When you drive a rental car its like stepping into a fantasy world - not that the cars places like Budget and Enterprise offer are that fantastic - its because you can do things that you never would in your own car. In your own car you're telling people to dust off their shoes before entering, go easy when closing the door and to finish their food outside. As soon as you get behind the wheel of a rental car you're hopping medians at red lights, poppin' the E-brake sliding into the driveway and doing donuts in the parking lot all while your buddy's eating baby back ribs in the passenger seat. And the reason for all of this is because it's not your car, its only temporary, at the end of your trip you'll give it back and return to your car where once again you'll insist people watch the paint job and clean their shoes.

As Christians we hear all the time that we are special people. We hear that we are loved by God, that we are saved, forgiven, redeemed, sealed, sanctified, justified, bonafide, revitalized, reborn, bought and liberated. That we are the people of God, the sons and daughters of God, the children of God, the elect of God, the chosen of God, the flock of God, the sheep, a holy nation, a royal priesthood, a people formerly in darkness but now in light. We hear that we are aliens, strangers, not of this world, temporary residents, called to citizenship of another kingdom.

All of this is entirely true, completely amazing and should be preached - but because we are still sinners sometimes I think this unwittingly goes to our head and we lose sight of the hear and now. We subconsciously think that because we are driving these rental car bodies and that one day we'll be outta here and in heaven that the here and now is kind of a wash. We forget that what we do hear on earth does matter. That how we live here, how we treat people hear, where we put our money here, who we date here, what we consume here, what we endorse here, what we say here - it all matters.

And it matters because how we live is the direct indicator of what we really think about the God we claim.

I think Peter speaks to this in 1 Peter 2:11-12. Peter basically spends the previous 35 verses uber-encouraging a distressed people that they are the wonderful people of God who have recieved the marvelous salvation of Jesus Christ. He has boosted their spirits to the clouds but as he ends his train of thought he brings them back to earth by reminding them:

"Dear friends I urge you , as aliens and strangers in the world, to abstain from sinful desires, which
war against your soul. Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing
wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visit us."

Living a Godward life is our weapon in the war for our soul and the Godward deeds are our most effective evangelism to a lost, dying, finger-pointing world.

Watch the paintjob would ya?

2006-06-25T18:23:00.000-05:00

The Enduring Story

St. Columba of Scotland was recorded as saying, "Since all the world is but a story, it were well for thee to buy the more enduring story rather than the story that is less enduring."

This quote begins one of my favorite novels, The Paradise War by Stephen Lawhead, but I cannot help but apply the wisdom behind such a quote to the timeless treasure of Scripture as well. We've all seen or heard at one time or another the many arguments to support the validity of the Bible. History Channel documentaries featuring beared British men in dusty khakis roaming around in the desert looking for Biblical city locations; fragments of manuscripts that look like ancient treasure maps; the Dead Sea Scrolls bit; the whole nine yards. Now I am not knocking anyof these methods, they are fascinating and heaven knows the Dead Sea Scrolls discovery to this day is still one of the milestones in the legitimizing of Christianity. But for me there are more practical arguments, that may seem ignorant (too bad), but speak to the validity of the Bible.

One, the Bible is simply too ridiculous, honest and unappetizing to have been some sort of prophetic propoganda. If I was making up a "god" and a "religion" it would certainly probably feature the classic carnal paradises and the whole shebang. There is a reason why all of the wacko's who start cults and move to the midwest write somewhere into the doctrine that as the leader they must sleep with many women very often. It evidences the fact that some dude who was a little unstable and a lot horny one day decided to make up a religion. Not so with the Bible. The God of the Bible does things like loving an entire race of beings unconditionally and when they screw it all up and need to be saved - he pays the debt for them with his own life. Some egomaniac looking for people to follow him so that he can sleep with the women doesn't make up stuff like that.

Secondly, the Bible is too honest and unpalatable. The Bible is a collection of books, written about thousands of people, over thousands of years that tells one central story: Human beings while created perfect, screwed things up royally, defiled themselves and their planet, sinned against their perfect Creator and are in dire need of salvation that is found in the Christ. The Bible paints a picture of the world and of mankind that is simply too uncomfortable, too personal, too revealing, too unnerving, too convicting, too pride-shattering, too counter culture, too un-MTVish, too humbling too...doggone accurate...too real...to be made up. Think about it, if you were to go to the trouble of making up a religion and a god and the whole deal wouldn't it be more like those Coor's Light commercials where the silver train comes out of nowhere and delivers a frigid-cold, unlimited supply of free beer to everyone and they all instantly begin back-slapping, high fiving and enjoying life like they are millionaire supermodels? Isn't that more palatable? If you were to make up a religion and a holy text but you actually wanted people to come into it would you throw in the whole blood-sacrifice, atonement, take up your cross and follow me deal? Would you tell people to deny yourself, to not look at women lustfully, to turn the other cheek, to treat others like you want to be treated, to not talk about religion but live it, to hate your father and mother in comparison to your love for God, to be happy and joyful when people ridicule, mock and exclude you for your beliefs?

Then on top of it all, taking all of the above into consideration, when you actually live as the Bible teaches, it actually works and is in the best interest of every person alive. Because, the truth is many of the aforementioned things regarding made up religions and true religion could also be said about Islam or Buddhism, etc. Neither Islam or Buddhism are like the Coor's Light commericals, in fact in some ways they may be more rigorous and unappealing than Christianity but the honest truth is that they don't work. None of the other religions completely and without exception improve upon the identity and self worth of every individual. None of the others across the board make society a better place when lived out to their fullest extent - somewhere someone is left out or marginalized. Christianity as the Bible teaches is the only religion that when lived out restores the God given identity to every man, women and child. Period.

The story of Scripture is the enduring story, there is no other. The story of God redeeming man through Jesus Christ is the mother of all epics. It is the story, the stage, the setting of which we all are apart of. The greatest apologetic for Scripture is Scripture itself. It speaks, it teaches, it changes lives and instructs lives.

As cliche as it sounds, it simply is and always will be the greatest story ever told.

2006-06-24T15:42:00.000-05:00

U2, the Florida Marlins and Good Works:
What Dolphin Stadium taught me about 1 Peter 1

I am one of the six actual Marlins fans in existence. This is for good reason. First, I didn’t start following baseball until the end of high school so I didn’t have to suffer through the years when the Marlins wore the turquoise uniforms that made them look like Miami Subs employees. Secondly, I was born in south Florida so I don’t have a history with any other team and therefore don’t know any better.
I tell you this because at Marlins games I have experienced some interesting moments. The first was in 2003 when they won their second World Series. It was the year where out of nowhere the Marlins went from typical “I think my high school team could beat these guys” to “Holy crap they might make the playoffs” and like everyone else I jumped head first onto the bandwagon. I watched every playoff game and even got to attend a game from each playoff series as the fan attendance went from 16 (including 12 popcorn guys) to like 25,000. The crowning moment for me was when they were playing the Cubs in the second round and at one of the games they showed a highlight reel of the seasons best plays but the kicker was that “Where the Streets Have No Name” by U2 was playing in the background and they timed it so that just as they showed Pudge make the tag on JT Snow at the plate, Bono went into his trademark "screaming passionately and somewhat incoherently but still hitting notes" voice and right there in Outfield Reserve seat 109 I actually shed real, salty tears. I kid you not. It was a moment that every sport fan lives for. We’ll return to this in a moment.

As Christians I think one of the biggest subconscious, yet daily, practical struggles is why exactly do we live holy lives? If we truly adhere to justification by faith alone as so adamantly preached by Paul how do we live holy lives without a) growing legalistic and prideful or b) falling into a works-driven salvation whereby we rely on our good deeds?
1 Peter 1 is one of my favorite passages in all of Scripture. As Peter writes to a scattered people who are undergoing persecution and are in need of encouragement he begins his letter by laying forth a beautiful description of salvation. Jesus Christ has come in “great mercy” (v.3); “he has given us a new birth into a living hope” (v.3); an “inheritance that can never perish” (v.4); “ a faith greater than gold” (v. 7); in Christ is “inexpressible and glorious joy” (v. 8); the salvation in Christ is so great that prophets of old longed to see it and even angels longed to have a peek (v. 12). Peter’s goal is to remind the people of the magnitude of their salvation, that Jesus Christ was such a great gift that he overshadows any trouble we encounter. But Peter goes a step further, while the magnitude of salvation is indescribable, the price is too precious to neglect. Such a salvation was bought at a hefty price – the blood of Christ. After Peter describes the great salvation he reminds them of the cost. In verse 18 he says, “For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed…but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect.”

Price Tag Living

We are a people motivated by price. Just look around. Thing that we own that are expensive we treat with much more care. I also learned this at a Marlins game. For a short time last season I had the privilege of sitting in the owner’s box (you should have seen the look the owner’s bodyguard gave me when I tried to tell him my U2-outfield-highlight reel-crying story). The bottom line is that these tickets were really expensive, way out of my league (pun intended) and I knew how much they cost the guy who let me use them. So during those frequent times when the Marlins were getting pulverized I was tempted to duck out early – but I didn’t – and the reason I didn’t was because I knew the cost of the tickets and the message it sent to the guy who gave them to me regarding my gratitude. And it was right there – in a turquoise plastic chair, covered in peanut shells, drinking a $13 Heineken, and watching overpaid athletes that 1 Peter 1 clicked. Our motive for Godly living is not found in our pride, our sense of self righteousness, our motive for Godly living is found in gratitude. And it’s not that we are trying to repay Christ (for that cannot occur), its simply that we understand the cost of our great and glorious salvation and we live in response to it. Peter wanted to remind his discouraged flock that salvation through Christ is a mind-blowing experience to which all else pales in comparison, and that when we truly grasp the cost of such a salvation our lives will scream it. When we don’t pursue obedience – when we duck out of the game early – we show contempt for the precious blood of Christ that purchased us from our sins. As Peter exclaims – it’s not like we were bought with gold or silver (we ain’t sitting in the upper deck) we were bought with the divine currency of Christ’s shed blood (we’re sitting in the owner’s box baby) and we should live accordingly.

For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed…but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect…For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God…Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy and slander of every kind. Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, now that you have tasted that the Lord is good.
(1 Pet. 1:17-2:3 in part)