General

Not Cracked

UPDATE
My foot is not broken. The ER doctor did not read the x-ray correctly. So, yeah….

I broke my foot.

Friday, the vice principal and I spent the day preparing a cookout for our Seniors. The day went very well. I think we cracked that I’m-a-Senior-and-I-hate-everyone armor. They had fun eating and we had fun doing for them them. Balance was brought to the Force. While cleaning up I offered to take the big grill to the baseball field so that the parents could cook for Friday nights game. Now, this is no little Webber hibachi grill. This is a behemoth, industrial size cooking machine.

I grabbed a handful of junior high boys to help me. The boys were great. Instead of griping, they argued about who got to help lift it. I carried one side while the boys took turns with the other. Our trip took us through the building, across the drive, and into the gates for a distance of roughly 200 yards. Somehow, someway the grill slammed into my foot. It hurt. I was just thankful that a) it was my foot and not one of the students and b) that the sharp corner didn’t rip into my foot. No one was to blame. No one was fooling around. It just happened. That was 3:45pm.

I finished cleaning up/ putting everything away, went home, took a shower and we went out to eat. I had a great bar-b-cue chicken sandwich. As we got up to leave the pain in my foot returned. I limped out to the car but the pain was bearable. We went to the bookstore to kill some time before the movie and I worked through the pain. No biggie. It was now 7:00pm.

“Fever Pitch” was really funny. Jimmy Fallon and Drew Barrymore had a real on-screen chemistry. It was one of the factors that made me sit through the entire film as my foot swelled and the pain become almost unbearable. The Soxs won in the end and the credits rolled. 9:30pm.

The emergency room was crowded but not full. My turn to be seen came at 12:45am. After x-rays, a nap, and a half hour sitting on a gurney in the hallway I was told that I had, in fact, broke my foot.

Monday morning I see the orthopedic. 25 years go by without a broken bone and a week into my silver anniversary and I get cut down by a cooking appliance. D’oh!

To be continued…

Books, Theology

Snappy Post Title

I just finished The Last Word and the Word After That.

It has been 4 years (to the week) since I first read A New Kind of Christian. This book wrapped up the trilogy. I don’t have time to post my thoughts right now. I am heading to Atlanta for a funeral at 6am so I will try and post a little something about it on Friday. If anyone has read any of the books and would be willing to discuss them with me, drop me a comment. Peace.

Popular Culture

Digital Music Revolution

Shnikes! I agree with Mark Cuban! Mark Cuban, owner of the Dallas Mavericks, has written a great tech triste on the death of the CD. Over the past year many have been pontificating about the death of the album. Cuban takes the argument and moves it ahead. His idea of “music kiosks” excites me and his vision of the music sections in Best Buy evolving to meet the needs of the MP3 player is dead on!

I am a frequent iTunes user. While I do miss the experience of heading down to the store, tearing open the case, and pouring over the liner notes and the disc art I enjoy this new digital experience. Both Jack Johnson’s “In Between Dreams” and the Complete U2 digital boxset came with liner notes (.pdf files). This may be just me, but I feel that on some level iTunes is a community. You see what others ar buying and listening to. You can browse user submitted iMixs of individual’s playlists. I loved the old experience and I am loving the new. Instead of complaining about the new medium, Mark Cuban engages it full steam. Maybe he’ll send me the seed money to start one of these kiosks.

Mark Cuban
Via Jordon Cooper

Ministry

Challenge of the Day

2 Comments

“I should not proceed by land to the East, as is customary, but by a Westerly route, in which direction we have hitherto no certian evidence that anyone has gone.” – Christopher Columbus from his journal (1492)

Travis Stanley posted a thought on his site last week concerning “change.” I loved how he summed up his thoughts on what true change is. it isn’t found in new songs, powerpoint, or new paradigms. It is is firmly rooted in Christ’s sacrificial life. He states:

Whether we consider ourselves modern or postmodern, older or younger, traditional or liberal, sin lies not in our particular positions but in our unwillingness to be hospitable to the other position. For Christ did not consider equality with God as something to be exploited, but emptied himself, taking on the very nature of a servant, and became obedient to death–even death on a cross.

This is the path of ministry–the journey of the cross. If change must occur, it occurs by disciples of Christ emptying themselves of all selfish desire and seeking the needs of the other. Change occurs when we are willing to change in order to make the other comfortable. The change a minister should bring is not simply changes in forms of worship and ministry, though these may be good and necessary at times. The change that should be brought by the minister is a change of life–a change into the likeness of Christ. For if we do not look like Christ, what good does our post-modern, missional, emerging, progressive, liberal worship styles do us? If we don’t act like Christ, what good are our innovative programs and ministry styles? To form people into the image of Christ–this should be the goal of all ministry.

Yes! That is what true ministry is. It isn’t razzle dazzle. It’s real. It’s relational. It’s love.

Books

Knowledge, Network, Compassion

In 2003, I read Love Is the Killer App: How to Win Business and Influence Friends by Tim Sanders. This book, by far, has had the greatest impact on me as a minister. Sanders has the uncanny ability to connect the heart with practical stories and practical solutions to helping you grow as a human being and as a professional.

Today, Tim Sander’s The Likeability Factor : How to Boost Your L-Factor and Achieve Your Life’s Dreams is released. During my lunch break, I am going to run down to Books-A-Million and snag me a copy. I would recommend Tim’s books to anyone who wants to succeed at life.

UPDATE: Book in hand!

General

Looky-Loo

Last night, I was messing with some code and… well, I’m not sure. So here we are back at the default scheme. I still haven’t officially moved over from Blogger yet. Hopefully by May 1st, I will make this my permanant home. The look will change so hang on!

I’ve been so busy that I haven’t had time to breathe (not good). We had a retreat this past weekend that went very well. God blessed us with some great weather too. I made a few “youth ministry nuts and bolts” mistakes but I learned some lessons and next time I’ll do even better. It is amazing how God can use us inspite of ourselves. I saw firsthand his strength in my weakness. Anyways, have a great day!

Theology

Just a Thought

Jesus With Dirty Feet
Don Everts

Jesus walked.
Jesus was a man with dirty feet.
He spent most of those three years walking around with people.
He invited folks to become his intimate followers.
Everywhere he went great crowds gathered around to listen to him, to be with him, to see what he would do next.
As Jesus led his twelve closest followers they would walk along the dirt roads together.
They went to parties together.
They ate meals together.
They worked together.
Jesus walked as a human among humans, brushed elbows with politicians and outcasts, went to parties with sinners and criminals, and embraced as his own family those he met on the street.
Jesus floated on no pristine clouds.
Jesus was no aloof elitest.
Jesus was no odd hermit.
He preferred the world of dirt and friends and handshakes.
He embraced this relational life on earth more passionately than anyone ever had.

Popular Culture

Interesting

1 Comment

This morning, RelevantMagazine.com posted this story:

The formula worked for Johnny Cash, so why not Neil Diamond. Producer Rick Rubin was responsible for reviving Cash’s career with the American Recordings series, and is trying to do the same for veteran singer Neil Diamond.

Last Christmas, my wife gave me the Cash: Unearthered boxset. The set was pure genius. The liner notes spoke extensively about Rubin’s involvement and vision. He sounds like the kind of producer that you want working for you. Tough, fair, committed, and interested in making a killer album.

As long as Rubin can avoid any Neil/Babs duets, I’m sold on this idea.

RELEVANT magazine :: Slices: Daily News and Opinion

General

Freedom!

Mick Brown a specialist remover prepares to pack William Wallace's sword at the Wallace Monument in Stirling, Scotland Wednesday March 30, 2005. The sword will leave Scotland Wednesday for the first time in more than 700 years, travelling to the United States as part of the country's Tartan Day celebrations being held in April. Members of Stirling Council met earlier this month to decide whether to allow the national treasure make the trip to New York, where it will form the centerpiece of an exhibition. (AP Photo/Andrew Milligan, PA)

It has been five years, since I spent 6 wonderful weeks in the country of Scotland. For me, just stepping one foot in Scotland made me tingle with excitement. Like many Americans, my love for scotland came from an Australian. Mel Gibson’s epic Braveheart had turned every American into a blue faced, kilt wearing Scotish lord (well, at least in their hearts). I was no exception. Around the time that the movie was released on VHS, my grandmother passed away and we were forced to move into her home near downtown Dallas for about 3 months. I felt far way from my friends and although the house was tiny, I felt removed from my family. I played high school football under Texas friday night lights. To get pumped up, I would watch Braveheart every Thursday. Every Thursday. Widescreen. Both tapes. All the way through. I tried to live the motto “Every man dies, but not every man truly lives” to the fullest extent that a dumb 17 year-old boy could. I loved it! When I went off to university, the campus ministery offered me the chance of a lifetime. Six weeks serving churches in Scotland on a mission trip. I jumped at that chance. When we arrived, I fell in love with the country and her people even more. I’ll never forget traveling to Stirling and climbing the steps in Wallace Tower. In the tower, hung the sword of William Wallace. The sword was much taller than I am. It didno’t look like the movie sword. This weapon wasn’t beauitiful. it was striking. The AP photo above is of William Wallace’s sword. 700 years after Wallace’s execution, the sword is traveling to New York City as the cernterpiece in the Tarten Celebrations. If you live in New York, try and get over to GCS and take a peak at this peice of history. If you miss it you might one day find yourselves dying. And lying in your beds, many years from now, would you be willing to trade… Sorry. I get really passionate about some things.

Ministry

Double Take, Doubled Over

I ran into Lifeway tonight because a) I was on that side of town and b) I like walking around bookstores. I was in the Pastoral Helps section when I saw some book with a title like Church Out-Side the Box or Out-Side the Box Church. Something along those lines. I never pick up those books because they all espouse the same “wisdom.” I kept walking down the aisle but quickly took a second look at the book’s cover.

“Forward by Rick Warren.”

For what it’s worth.

The Goal Is Soul