a beautiful hermeneutic [hur-muh-noo-tik]

The brilliance of Sufjan Stevens

2008-03-28T17:58:00.000-07:00

Enjoy!

thirtysomething

2008-01-24T07:15:00.000-08:00

There was no way around it, no place to hide. 30 was coming and there was nothing I could do about it. Slowly it creped up on me over 12 months, and now it is here. I am 30 years old. I sure as heck didn't let it take me without a fight!

Wed night, Annie surprised me with a turtle pie during small group. She definately knows how to get straight to my heart. Thursday, I took the day off of work! I was able to catch up on some compilations I have been working on forever, wrote some music, drank several cups of coffee, went thrifting, watched Steve's keynote at Macworld, etc. Thursday night, Annie and I went to Pucket (awesome Thai place) followed by VIP seats at Monico. No one under the age of 21 was allowed in the theatre! Good times had by all.

Friday night, I had 12 guys over to play video games. We had 2 projectors (Wii, Gamecube), 2 TVs, a Genesis, an Atari, some Guitar Hero, a little Sam Adams, and some Chicken Mariachi from Denatos. I schooled Geoff in some NHL '94, while I simultaneously got schooled by Levi in Guitar Hero.

Saturday morning we went on a hike at Monte Sano with the Perigos. Levi got a little carried away on Stone Cutter. You can see the video.

On our drive back, I was thinking to myself how awesome of a birthday I have had. I was ready so sit back and relax the rest of the day until about 1 mile from our house, Annie's cell phone rings. It was Brinks security. Someone had set the alarm at our house off. The reason we got Brinks in the first place was due to a break in that we had in October of 06. I begin to freak out while Annie very calmly tells them that it is a false alarm and they don't need to send anyone. At this point, I am like, "What in the world are you doing?! Someone has broken into our house! Why would you call them off?" She calmly tells me everything is ok. I respond quite firmly with, "How do you know this? What is wrong with you?" She plays it off cool for a minute more, and then finally has to tell me that my family had come down to surprise me for my birthday and that they must have set the alarm off. I smile, we laugh, and then all sanity was restored. We spend the evening eating my sisters quite famous chili and watching a movie. They headed back to Indiana after church.

Many great memories from a wonderful couple of days. Turning 30 isn't so bad after all.

For the nerd in your life...

2007-12-21T07:33:00.000-08:00

It's almost Christmas and you haven't gotten anything for the mac lover in your life. You cringe at the thought of heading out to your local mac retailer, feeling completely inadequate as they ask you questions about what version of OSX you have or if you are using a power pc or an intel based processor, etc, etc.

Well, here are a couple of low cost programs that you can download for your favorite mac geek without having to leave the comfort of your computer chair.

I have always enjoyed journaling on my computer, but I have never liked all the digital clutter of word or other word processing programs. Writeroom is a program that gives you a full screen writing environment, similar to a typewriter. The config is simple. You pick a background color, a page color, and a text color. Nothing else is on the screen. I use a black background, a grey page, and white text. It creates a peaceful writing experience, and it saves on battery life for your laptop.

If you are a very busy person, you couldn't make it without your calendar. Annie and I use the calendar in our kitchen religiously. It's how we keep our week somewhat manageable. The problem with the kitchen calendar is that if I am at work and I need to know what is going on tomorrow night, I have to wait till I get home to find out. Since we switched to mac, I have been trying to convince Annie that we need to go digital and move to iCal, but really that is still a calendar that is centralized in one place; at least that was the case until Spanning Sync. With Spanning Sync, we can view, add, or change our home calendar from anywhere that we have an internet connection. If I need to add an event from work, Annie can instantly see it at School or as home. I can't imagine how useful this would be if we had kids.

what happened

2007-12-08T07:49:00.000-08:00

I made this video to show at Summit last week. While only 7 minutes, it gives you a very small taste of what we saw and did while in India. All of the people in this video affected our lived in some way. I have been trying to think of the right words to right on here to explain what the experience was like. It was nothing short of life changing. I think this video does better justice then my words ever could.

Turning 30

2007-12-06T11:04:00.001-08:00

Daniel Cannon is now 30. I missed his birthday while in India. He is my friend. I like him. We have fun.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DC!!!!

Child's play

2007-11-26T20:11:00.001-08:00

I got to spend some quality time with the kids in Java Thanda on Tuesday. We taught them how to play "Duck Duck Goose", "Simon Says", and they taught us an awesome game where you have to guess who the leader is in a mob of kids and if you get it wrong, you have to either sing or dance in front of everyone. The mob gets to pick whether you sing or dance. I have some video of that somewhere.

This video here is just everyone being silly in front of the camera. I had them follow whatever I was doing. Good times were had by all. :-)

back home

2007-11-24T20:16:00.001-08:00

After 44 hours of travel, we are now back home. I look forward to posting more over the next couple of days. Thanks for all of your prayers. Many great things happened. We left our hearts with the people of India.

we are here

2007-11-18T03:03:00.000-08:00

i am posting this from a small room inside out hotel in Hanmakonda. We finally got here last night after 2 days of travel. My days and nights are still a little off (we are 11.5 hours ahead), but I think my body will be adjusted after another nights sleep.

Culture shock really doesn't do justice what we have experienced already. I have already taken 2 gigs of pictures/video so I will have plenty to show when we get back. We are staying right in the Hindu/Muslim political center. Mike said he has avoided staying at this hotel for 3 years for obvious reasons. We got out of our jeeps today and their were 6 muslim men, a couple holding uzi's. I can't say i will get used to that before we leave. As far as American standards go, this town is a dump. The bathroom and the dumpster are all the street. The roads are terrible and the building are all half finished. Regardless of the conditions in which these people live, they are some of the most amazing and kind hearted people you will ever meet. Everyone smiles at you, shakes your hand, wants to meet you. Perfect strangers eat meals together, become instant friends. Much more on that later.

The church here is very strong. The local pastors are putting everything on the line here daily. They have a faith that we as American's simply can't understand. Some of the people we met today have been kicked out of their families for their faith, yet their commitment to God hasn't wavered a bit. I will share a lot more on that later.

I am off to rest before another fabulous Indian dinner. The food here at the hotel is amazing. More to come....

On our way....

2007-11-15T07:17:00.001-08:00

Jesus paid it all
all to him I owe
sin had left a Crimson stain
He washed it white as snow

We are off. We pray for the Harvest, Peace, and reconciliation.

India

2007-11-04T16:24:00.000-08:00

Our trip to India is only 11 days away. God is already moving and doing some amazing stuff in our lives. When I have a couple of minutes to write more, I will. This is a video I edited from the last e3 trip to Banjara-land. This will give you an idea of where we are going.

For His glory

Man weekend update

2007-09-24T18:44:00.000-07:00

What can I say, we pick up right where we left off. I love these guys so much. Below is a little video tribute to the weekend.

Here is a quick synops:

I got to Minneapolis Friday afternoon and had some time to walk around downtown and just chill until Keith and Dan got there. Downtown Minneapolis is a great place to be, as I figured out last year at the Desiring God conference. There are lots of places to eat, bookstores, pubs, shops, music, everything. We went to an Irish pub Friday night once the boys got into town and we just talked and caught up for a couple of hours. Good times! Saturday, Keith and I went down to Caribou Coffee for breakfast while Dan stayed disciplined, running 5 miles in the hotel Gym. After that, we went over to Gameworks (like Dave and Busters) to watch some football, eat lunch, and play some games (you can see me schooling Dan in some Air hockey on the video. To be fair, he rocked us both in pop-a-shot).

After that, we decided to take the train to look for a bike shop that we heard about. Needless to say, we ended up being three white dudes walking through what looked like a Muslim neighborhood in what some would call a questionable area of town. I felt a little like Emelio Estevez in Judgment Night. It was good for us. What big city trip would be any fun if you didn't get a little culture in you?

Before the game, we ate dinner outside at another Irish place. The weather was perfect and made me miss midwest weather. We got the the game about an hour early and had plenty of time to get settled into our seats row 3 on the 25!! Best football seats I have ever had. We then watched the Purdue Offensive Juggernaut put it to the little Gophers. We had some Purdue fans sitting around us, so that added to the fun. After the game, we headed over to a British Pub and had a brew while discussing theology and the Gospel. Nothing better then that.

Sunday morning, we woke up and headed over to John Piper's church. As the anonymous poster in my previous post mentioned, Piper does the Friday night service live and then video all day on Sunday. At first it was a little disappointing, but it was John freaking Piper on a big huge honkin screen! Totally worth it. After spending about 20 bucks in the resource center, we headed out for some fried cheese curds before heading back to the airport.

All in all, awesome weekend. Lots of memories made. We need to do this again next year.

Men Man MEN mAn

2007-09-21T05:36:00.001-07:00

The first annual MAN weekend is here! The week started out with a trip to Houston, and is ending with me in Minneapolis with my bros Keith and Dan (otherwise known as the big show). I don't have words for how excited I am about this weekend. Saturday we are going to see Purdue pound on Minnesota in the dome, and then Sunday we are heading over to John Piper's church. I couldn't script this any better.

Let the smelly manness begin!

She went Skyyyyydivin.....

2007-08-27T19:21:00.000-07:00

I took Annie skydiving on Saturday for her birthday. Rather then trying to explain the experience, you can watch it here:

Saturday we kicked it old school with a small group slumber party. A little Balderdash, a few Saved By The Bell episodes, lots of candy and cake, and a few rip roarin games of Pit. It was like we were in junior high again, except with a few less zits. I will post some pics from that another day.

We are the champions!

2007-08-19T14:06:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was the big day of the Huntsville sprint triathalon. This years experience was much better then last year, largely due to the fact that we had a team of 12 from Summit doing the race with us! The heat and humidity were enough to drop a cow to it's knees, but not us! I did think that Paul was going to die in the pool, but we all managed to finish with respectable times. Afterward, a few of us went to ihop where we immediately gained back the weight that we had lost during the tri.

We already got a few more recruits for next years team, probably due to how cool we all looked sporting our Summit Crossing Trathalon Team t-shirts this morning at church :-)

Below are a few pics from the race. The rest can be found here.

Heat Wave

2007-08-17T13:20:00.001-07:00

This headline from Drudge says it all:

Alabama hits 100+ degrees for the 11th straight day; smashes previous record of 7 days...

home sweet home

2007-08-13T18:15:00.001-07:00

After a 3 hour delay in Cinci, I am back home in Alabama (otherwise known as Africa). The Milwaukie experience was a good one, although we weren't able to completely solve the problem we were sent up there to investigate. I was, however, able to go through 2 large Duncan Donuts coffee's! We don't have those down here, so I had to take it when I could get it. I also got myself a Usingers Polish Sausage while in town. You have to get something that an area is famous for and Milwaukee is famous for sausage (and beer).

After our first day of tedious testing and troubleshooting, Russ and I were ready to kick back and have a little fun. We hopped in the Camry and headed down to the river walk. I think we were both shocked with how safe and clean downtown Milwaukie was. There were a lot of young people out and about going to and from their downtown condos. We had a significant number of restaurants to choose from in the downtoan area.

When doing some research online, I found an interesting place called "the safehouse". Supposedly, the restaurant has a spy theme; from the food, to the waitresses, to the location of the restaurant. To get into the safehouse, you had to go down an alley to a building that said "international exports" and then figure out a way to get into the restaurant. Notice the red lettering on the sign to the left spells "safehouse". This sounded like fun, so we headed down to the Front street alley.

When you open the door, you are greeted by a women sitting in a chair against the wall of a small room. This definitely didn't look like a restaurant. In a French accent, she asked us for the password. Russ and I listed off various words in hopes of triggering some sort of reaction from her, but to no avail. She then threw Russ a Spanish cape of some sort and then told me to get down on the floor and charge Russ like a bull. I did this, figuring it was all in good fun. She responded with, "again". Once more, I charged Russ using my fingers as horns. Another "again" and I followed with another charge. She then told Russ to pull out his sword and finish me off. Russ pulled his imaginary sword from it's sheath, lunged my direction, and then I did my best play dead impression on the floor. That seemed to be enough for the women because she pressed a button that opened a bookcase to reveal a secret passageway. Cool! We headed down the hallway to a dead end, where another wall opened to reveal the hidden restaurant inside. When we walked in, everyone was cheering us with the fingers on their heads (indicating the Bull). I thought to myself, "wow, they must know what we did because they all had to do the same thing." Nope, not the case. I turned around to notice TV monitors everywhere pointing to the room with the girl that we were just in. Turns out that everyone has to do something different, and rediculous, to enter the restaurant (at the amusement of those already inside). We had a good laugh and then proceeded to watch all of the others do crazy things to get in. All in all, the food wasn't that great, but it was fun watching people do the Can Can, hula hoop, sword fights, and do come crazy dancing to get into the restaurant.

The next day, we finished testing and headed back to the airport. I would like to go back up there someday and spend some more time exploring downtown. It looks like a fun place to be.

mil-e-wah-que

2007-08-09T06:04:00.000-07:00

Today I awake to the dreary cool (68) that is brew town. Everytime I hear the word "Milwaukee" I think of that scene from Wayne's world where Alice Cooper explains it's origin.

A little nostalgia shall we?

Wayne Campbell: So, do you... come to Milwaukee often?

Alice Cooper: Well, I'm a regular visitor here, but Milwaukee has certainly had its share of visitors. The French missionaries and explorers began visiting here in the late 16th century.

Pete: Hey, isn't "Milwaukee" an Indian name?

Alice Cooper: Yes, Pete, it is. In fact , it's pronounced "mill-e-wah-que" which is Algonquin for "the good land."

Wayne Campbell: I was not aware of that.

:-)

Well, time to get to go find some crosstalk.

Perspective

2007-08-06T06:44:00.000-07:00

The following is from John Piper's Blog last week regarding the Minneapolis bridge collapse. His church is right down the street. He offers some sobering thoughts about our perspective during tragedy.

Putting My Daughter to Bed Two Hours After the Bridge Collapsed

At about 6 PM tonight the bridge of Interstate 35W over the Mississippi River in Minneapolis collapsed. I am writing this about three hours after the bridge fell. The bridge is located within sight of Bethlehem Baptist Church. Most of us who minister at the church cross this bridge several times a week. At this point I don’t know if any staff was on the bridge. Desiring God offices are about a mile from the bridge.

There are no firm facts at this point about the total number of injuries and fatalities. When we crossed the bridge Tuesday on our way out of town, there was extensive repair work happening on the surface of the bridge with single lane traffic. One speculates about the unusual stresses on the bridge with jackhammers and other surface replacement equipment. This was the fortieth anniversary of the bridge.

Tonight for our family devotions our appointed reading was Luke 13:1-9. It was not my choice. This is surely no coincidence. O that all of the Twin Cities, in shock at this major calamity, would hear what Jesus has to say about it from Luke 13:1-5. People came to Jesus with heart-wrenching news about the slaughter of worshipers by Pilate. Here is what he said.

There were some present at that very time who told him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. And he answered them, "Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans, because they suffered in this way? No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them: do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others who lived in Jerusalem? No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish."

Jesus implies that those who brought him this news thought he would say that those who died, deserved to die, and that those who didn’t die did not deserve to die. That is not what he said. He said, everyone deserves to die. And if you and I don’t repent, we too will perish. This is a stunning response. It only makes sense from a view of reality that is radically oriented on God.

All of us have sinned against God, not just against man. This is an outrage ten thousand times worse than the collapse of the 35W bridge. That any human is breathing at this minute on this planet is sheer mercy from God. God makes the sun rise and the rain fall on those who do not treasure him above all else. He causes the heart to beat and the lungs to work for millions of people who deserve his wrath. This is a view of reality that desperately needs to be taught in our churches, so that we are prepared for the calamities of the world.

The meaning of the collapse of this bridge is that John Piper is a sinner and should repent or forfeit his life forever. That means I should turn from the silly preoccupations of my life and focus my mind’s attention and my heart’s affection on God and embrace Jesus Christ as my only hope for the forgiveness of my sins and for the hope of eternal life. That is God’s message in the collapse of this bridge. That is his most merciful message: there is still time to turn from sin and unbelief and destruction for those of us who live. If we could see the eternal calamity from which he is offering escape we would hear this as the most precious message in the world.

We prayed during our family devotions. Talitha (11 years old) and Noel and I prayed earnestly for the families affected by the calamity and for the others in our city. Talitha prayed “Please don’t let anyone blame God for this but give thanks that they were saved.” When I sat on her bed and tucked her in and blessed her and sang over her a few minutes ago, I said, “You know, Talitha, that was a good prayer, because when people ‘blame’ God for something, they are angry with him, and they are saying that he has done something wrong. That’s what “blame” means: accuse somebody of wrongdoing. But you and I know that God did not do anything wrong. God always does what is wise. And you and I know that God could have held up that bridge with one hand.” Talitha said, “With his pinky.” “Yes,” I said, “with his pinky. Which means that God had a purpose for not holding up that bridge, knowing all that would happen, and he is infinitely wise in all that he wills.”

Talitha said, “Maybe he let it fall because he wanted all the people of Minneapolis to fear him.” “Yes, Talitha,” I said, “I am sure that is one of the reasons God let the bridge fall.”

I sang to her the song I always sing,

Come rest your head and nestle gently
And do not fear the dark of night.
Almighty God keeps watch intently,
And guards your life with all his might.
Doubt not his love, nor power to keep,
He never fails, nor does he sleep.

I said, “You know, Talitha, that is true whether you die in a bridge collapse, or in a car accident, or from cancer, or terrorism, or old age. God always keeps you, even when you die. So you don’t need to be afraid, do you.” “No,” she shook her head. I leaned down and kissed her. “Good night. I love you.”

Tonight across the Twin Cities families are wondering if they will ever kiss a loved one good night again. Some will not. I am praying that they will find Jesus Christ to be their Rock and Refuge in these agonizing hours of uncertainty and even loss.

The word “bridge” does not occur in the Bible. There may be two reasons. One is that God doesn’t build bridges, he divides seas. The other is that usually his people must pass through the deadly currents of suffering and death, not simply ride over them. “When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you” (Isaiah 43:2). They may drown you. But I will be with you in life and death.

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? As it is written, "For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered." No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life . . . will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:35-38)

Killed all day long. But not separated from Christ. We go through the river. Not over it. He went before us, crucified. He came out on the other side. He knows the way through. With him we will make it. That is the message we have for the precious sinners in the Twin Cities. He died for your sins. He rose again. He saves all who trust him. We die, but because of him, we do not die.

Jesus said, "I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die.” (John 11:25)

Talitha is sleeping now. But one day she will die. I teach her this. I will not always be there to bless her. But Jesus is alive and is the same yesterday today and forever. He will be with her because she trusts him. And she will make it through the river.

Weeping with those who weep, and those who should,

Pastor John

Psalm 71:20 You who have made me see many troubles and calamities will revive me again.

PVT'ers

2007-07-31T20:27:00.000-07:00

Last Friday was crazy Hawaiian shirt day on the PVT team. Only 4 of the 9 participated. You can tell who the really cool ones on our team are.

BTW, the guy next to me (Mr. Geoff Calrson) just had his second baby yesterday. Congrats Geo!!

Catching up

2007-07-23T20:28:00.000-07:00

It's been a good couple of weeks. Annie and I got to spend a significant amount of time in Evansville over the 4th. It was a relaxing time of sleeping in, lounging around at my sister's pool, and more sleeping in. We were able to get a couple of donut bank runs in, as well as a stop by GD Ritzy's, a trip to Schnucks to load up on Ski, and a late night run to Lics. We had a massive family cookout on the 4th, highlighted by the "patriotic" desert that Annie made. We weren't really using our brains with the sparklers on that one. Feel free to enjoy our family stupidity on the youtube link.

Laurie followed us back to Huntsville to spend some alone time with her brother and sister in-law. That's right, she actually got away from her kids for a few days. We took her to Victoria's for lunch, Nothing But Noodles for dinner (which recently closed in Evansville), and hung out watching a bunch of episodes of Lost.

I am realizing now that many of the highlights from the past couple of weeks revolve around food. Is that lame?

Laurie headed back on wed of last week, just as we split for Chattanooga to celebrate our three-year anniversary! Crazy huh? We only went up for one night, but it was well worth it. We both fell in love with that city. Saturday night there was a music and food festival downtown (again with the eating). They have this brick pavilion that the city owns, built right in the middle of downtown. Usually when you go to a city sponsored "concert in the park" type thing, you expect to see some cover bands, maybe a washed up band from the 80's if your lucky. Chattanooga surprised us both bigtime! We were blown away by the fact that they brought in the particularly eclectic / indie sounds of Mr. Bobby Bear Jr. He put on a phenomenal show and once we got back to the hotel room, I headed straight over to emusic to download his latest album. We then went back to "the Foundry" jazz club attached to the Chattanoogan hotel for some music, dancing, and shuffleboard (yes, we played shuffleboard. It was fun!).

The next day we ventured over to Aretha Frankenstein's (featured on Racheal Ray's 40 dollars a day) for breakfast. The guy who started the restaurant took this house in the middle of the neighborhood, filled it with junk off ebay, and turned it into an eclectic little nook to get some Breakfast. See the video link for a quick tour.

After a strole around the park and a stop by some eclectic little shops in the art district, we headed over to the Chattanooga choo choo with one goal in mind; find the worlds largest train set! We did just that. Rather then try to explain it, you can just watch the video. I felt like a little kid again in that room with all those little trains. My mom used to take my brother and I there on trips between Evansville and Atlanta. I could stay in that room for hours.

On Wednesday of last week my mom came down for a visit. Not a lit of down time for us since the 4th is there? She actually showed up just in time to come to our small group. It was awesome getting to see my mom involved in the discussion, sharing wisdom and personal stories from her life. We didn't do much while she was here other then hang out with the animals (Geno and Duncan love their mimi) and eat.

I think that is enough of an update for now. There is more, but I shall save that for another date.

2007-07-19T20:19:00.000-07:00

Mom is in town visiting. Geno and Duncan are very happy about it.

I have a ton to blog about, but I can't seem to find the time.

More to come.....

iphone

2007-07-03T05:13:00.001-07:00

After much hype and anticipation, Apple's experiment into the celluar market has landed. I am sure everyone has heard something about the iphone by now. To this point, I have been sceptical. I do think the ipod is a revolutionary product and worthy of market leadership, but a cellphone from apple that cost $599? Is it worth paying that for a phone that only works on AT&T's network (rated around 128-30kbps)?

Well, the verdict is in. One of the guys I work with brought his in yesterday and I have to say it is quite impressive. The touchscreen interface is unlike anything I have ever seen. It is about as thick as 2 nano's stacked on top of each other and it weighs only 4 ounces. Crazy. When someone leaves you a voicemail, the phone automatically downloads the messages on your phone. You can play them in the order you wish to listen to them (instead of listening to the latest message first). When typing a message or an e-mail, the screen turns into a keyboard. If you flip the iphone on its side, the keyboard expands to take up the entire widescreen. The maps functionlity can find the closest steak and shake to your locations and give you the option to call ahead for a carryout order. When walking through the building here at Adtran, it automatically detects wifi networks and pops up a screen that gives you the option to switch to them with the touch of the screen. When in ipod mode, you can flip through your artists list like you would on a rolidex. Turn the iphone on its side, and watch an episode of 24 or lost in widescreen.

In the end, it's just a phone. It isn't going to cure cancer or relieve the national debt, but i do think their is a huge market of people that hate their cellphones and would jump at the chance to stop carrying around their ipod and their cell phone. If Apple is smart, they will cater to this market with stripped down versions of the phone (like the ipod mini, nano, etc). They will come up with smaller ones, more inexpensice ones, and the higher end models will also drop in price. I can see it now; a white, an orange, maybe a green iphone?

While I still don't think it is worth paying that much for a 1st gen product, the iphone does indeed live up to the hype. I believe that everyone will have an iphone, just like they do an ipod, within 5 years.

Finnys

2007-06-19T12:55:00.000-07:00

Right on par with all of my Adtran travels, my flight is delayed. Thanks to Ameritech, uh, Indiana Bell, err, SBC, uhh, AT&T, I am able to get caught up a bit on e-mail while waiting.

Last night I went to the Irish pub Finn Mcools with Emily, my dear dear friend of something like 15 years. It's in Fishers, which is quickly becoming the place to be in Indy. I had bangers and mash with a smithwicks Irish ale, followed by some key lime pie. In the annoying words of Rachel Ray, "Yummo!" The service was slow, but we were outside talking for quite a while so it didn't really matter. Emily, good luck at the wedding this weekend and whatever you do, read that Walt Whitman poem! Oh, and also don't wear white.

This weekend my sister is coming to town. Annie and I are going to put her to work on the yard. I put some latice up last weekend, but it despirately needs to greenage growing on it. We finally finished staining the deck on Sunday. At first, we were petrified that it was turning orange until Sarah Roberts told us that it was, "Tuscan and very trendy." Whatever, as long as we don't have to stain it again.

Well, time to spend some quality time with my friends Paul and Timothy. Catch you on the flipside.

iBahn

2007-06-19T04:39:00.000-07:00

No more free internet at Courtyard Marriot. They have this new policy in place where you get one free day, and then they charge you. So instead of posting from the freedom of wireless on my laptop, I am banished to the business corner on the iBahn desktop they provide. Sweet.

It's raining. Haven't seen rain in a while. Good to know it still exists (in case any of my alabama friends were wondering).

I am here in Indianapolis training some folks on IADs. I have a new found respect for professional public speakers (ie Teachers). I talked for almost 8 full hours yesterday, a stretch even for me. I yearn for my desk at the tran, where IM can be the primary form of communication. I look forward to the airport. People watching is far more fun, and less exhausting.

Time to fight rush hour traffic.

Go Spurs Go!!!

2007-06-07T18:00:00.000-07:00

Debaser

2007-05-23T21:06:00.000-07:00

In the past 3 years, the number of shows I have attended has drastically decreased. There are various reasons why, mostly due to the fact that I am older, I don't want to drive to Nashville or Atlanta, and I don't like staying up much past my bedtime. In college, weekend trips to the Fireside Bowl, the Metro, or the Emerson were a regular occurance. Now, I would rather just stay at home and watch the bands on youtube. Also the older I get, the pickier my taste in music has become. I have turned into that old guy at the back of the crowd complaining about how much better the scene was in his day. Every generation of indie snobs goes through this and I am no exception. Even though I have only been to 1 show in recent years, I sure as heck made that one count. It was worth every minute of the drive from Huntsville to Chicago to see the band responsible for saving rock in America. It's hard to imagine today's musical landscape without thinking of the Pixies. Every time I get a call on my cell phone from Keith, Dan, or Kevin, I am greeted with Kim Deals pounding bass line from debaser. Almost 25 years later, they still sound as great as they once did (although they have gained a few pounds in the process). Hopefully they will keep their past feuds aside and stay around long enough to create one last masterpiece before gracefully bowing out.

time for a conversation

2007-05-22T18:39:00.000-07:00

Our mormon brothers will be dropping by our house in a few weeks. They are following up after a visit a couple of years ago. Their is a new group of missionaries in town and they would like to come by to follow up. It should be fun. I feel like I am in a much better place to discuss theology with them then I was 3 years ago.

Josh, if you are reading this, you know I have nothing but love for you. As much as we differ in our beliefs, I will always respect you as a friend and as a brother.

Btw, the Spurs are kicking your Jazz's butts!

:-)

Oh, the controversy

2007-05-17T12:48:00.000-07:00

Before the last 30 seconds or so of Monday nights game 4, this Spurs / Suns series had shaped up as one of the all time classics. Being a spurs fan for the last 18 years or so, I have seen a lot of great playoff games and these I consider to be near the top. On one side of the ball, you have the explosive, high octane offense of the Phoenix Suns. On the other side, you have the methodical, fundamental, swarming, wear you out defense of the San Anotnio Spurs. Game 1 set the tone of the series with the deciding basket coming down to the end of the game. No team led by more then 8 points. The excitement continued in Games 3 and 4, that is until the last 30 seconds.

The 3rd quarter of game 4 was probably the best quarter of basketball I have ever seen the Spurs play. They were unstoppable, scoring 35 points! Duncan was banking shots 4 feet off the glass while double teamed. Finley and Barry were hitting 3's from well beyond the key. Tony Parker's teardrop layups were unblockable. The defense was swarming and confusing Steve Nash, creating turnovers. At the end of the quater, it looked like the Spurs were a sure thing to head back to Phoenix up 3 games to 1. Well, as they say folks, "Thats why they play 4."The frustration of the 4th Quarter was about as much as I could take as the Spurs went completely cold. The Suns offense exploded, scoring 32 points to San Antonio's 18, taking the lead for good in the final 18 seconds. The Spurs couldn't hit a shot to save their lives. You could tell the players were upset and frustrated. I was upset and frustrated. It took me several hours to finally calm down and go to sleep. Robert Horry, in his frustration, gave a forearm to the chest of Steve Nash. It wasn't premeditated. He wasn't sent in by Popovich to "take him out". It was nothing more then a stupid, bush league move, done out of frustration by Horry. He deserved to be suspended. After the forearm, two of the players from the Suns rushed off the bench over to the site of the mele. The next day, the league suspended both players (Amari Stoudemire and Boris Diaw).

The real controversy stems from whether or not Stoudemire and Diaw should have been suspended. It is as clear as day to anyone who follows the NBA that if you leave the bench during an altercation, you will be suspended for a game. David Stern has enforced that rule for 10 years. The players know it, the assistance coaches know it, the refs know, and the ball boys know it. Is it fair that the Suns were penalized for what Horry did? No, but they knew the consequences of he rule. Did I want to see Amari out for game 5? Absolutely not. This series has been amazing and he has played a big reason for that, but it is not Robert Horry's fault or David Sterns fault that Stoudemire was suspended for game 5. The fault lies clearly on the head of Amari. This is the golden rule of the NBA and Amari broke it. Remember last years playoffs when James Posey took out Kirk Hindrick with a clear closearm to the neck? That play was much worse then what Robert Horry did to Steve Nash. Did the Bulls players storm the court? No, because they knew the rule. Is their a conspiracy against the Suns by the NBA? No, that's just stupid. The last thing the NBA wants is for the Spurs to beat the Suns. The Suns translate into a much better product for television ratings. David Stern would probably have a corinary over another Spurs / Pistons series like the one 2 years ago.

It's sad that this series will always be remembered for the stupidity of one guy. As much as I look forward to watching game 6 and possibly game 7, I am ready for the Spurs to move on and face the Jazz. In the end, the rule probably needs to be looked at, but it is not the fault of the Spurs or of Robert Horry that the Suns didn't have one of their Stars in game 5 (which ultimately translated to a loss). David Stern just did what he has always, enforce the rule.

mmm.....

2007-05-04T10:09:00.000-07:00

A bacon and cheese double platter with fries, a cup of chili, and a mint chocolate shake. What a beautiful sentance that is. This is what I had for lunch today from my beloved Steak and Shake. Did I have to travel miles away to get such a feast? No sir! That's right folks, the reastaurant that put such cities at Ogdenville and North Haberbrook on the map has made its way to the Rocket City. Huntsville finally has a Steak and Shake! S and S has played a major part in the history of my family. When I was young, my family did a lot of traveling because of my brothers illness. Weekend trips to St. Louis, Indy, or Atlanta were common. It's the first place I remember eating at as a family. We would stop at the one in Belleville when we would go to Cards games, the one in Lawrenceville for ATL trips, and the one in Tara Haute on the way to Indy. If I had a good report card, it was a trip to Steak and Shake for a Frisco melt. Hot summer day, off to steak and shake for an Orange Freeze. My mom always gets the chicken taco salad and to this day she lets me peel off the left over taco shell that is too large for her to finish. In college, we would often get groups together and head over to the Steak and Shake at 52 and 26. Kevin Kerkhof liked to call this one "Steak and camp" due to their bad service reputation. They were probably the last restaurant in north america that didn't accept credit cards. Remember Royal Cola? It was the only chain you could find it. I don't think they switched to coke until the mid 90s.

Steak and Shake is an american icon, a throwback to the diners of the 1950s. Life seems simpler amongst the black and white checker walls. I will always have warm memories of countless trips I have made there in my life. I look forward to making new ones here in Huntsville.

The switch to mac complete

2007-04-26T20:24:00.000-07:00

Yes that's right, I have switched to mac. I used to be a big mac hater, but now I tow the party line. One of the many enjoyments I have had since switching to apple is a fun little application called photobooth. It uses the internal camera to take quick snapshots. Below are some pictures I have taken since the "switch". More should switch, then we could ichat. It's just more fun this way!

some thoughts before bedtime

2007-04-22T20:36:00.000-07:00

I went to a retreat this weekend with about 40 of the men from Summit. The first night there, I had a discussion with a guy about Jesus and “social justice”. I really don’t know how we got on to this subject, but he went into what I would describe as a rant about how Jesus never called us to social action. I don’t know him and had never met him before that evening, but something about his tone and the heart behind what he was saying really bothered me. The rest of the evening I couldn’t get this conversation off my mind. It just seemed like a ludicrous point to make. Was he trying to make excuses for not getting out of his bubble to server others? Am I just as bad as this guy?

Earlier that day I had read an article about the International Justice Mission in Relevant. The guy who started it, Gary Haugen, got his Law degree from Harvard and then decided to start IJM. He did so after he had heard all these storied from Christian missionaries who would come back and tell of all the atrocities they would see, such as human trafficking. He uses the laws in these countries to prosecute those responsible. There are lawyers from all over the country that have quite their “successful” practices to server that ministry. It’s really a powerful story. They have made a huge impact all over the world. What if Gary had just taken his harvard law degree and started his own firm?

The first thing that came to my mind when I was talking with this guy was the verse from Matthew when the Pharisees were trying to trick Jesus into telling them the most important of the commandments. He told them that the most important commandment was for us to love the Lord our God with all our heart, mind, and soul. Secondly, like the first, love our neighbors as ourselves. I think for us to truly love God like that, the Gospel must come alive inside of our hearts. If it comes alive in us, won’t we want to share it with others? Wont we want to server others? Won’t we want to stand up for the oppressed, for those who have no voice?

I think this verse from Luke 4:18 says a lot:

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and the recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim year of the Lord’s favor.”

And this one from Matthew 9:12

“Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick…..For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.”

Do we get outside of our Christian bubble long enough to think about this? Should the Gospel not be accessible to everyone? Did Jesus not call us to preach a message of repentance to all people? Are we not to come along side those who are hurting with a loving, humble, kind, merciful, and serving heart? What about all the kids in Uganda who have to walk miles from all over into the city to sleep in huddles so that they don’t get kidnapped? And what about all those in Africa who are dieing of Aids and malaria every day when it is completely preventable? What about our next-door neighbor who is a single mom and can barely support her 3 kids?

As you can see, I got a little fired up. I know I am not perfect and most of the time I fail miserably and serving those around me. I by no means have it all figured out and I don’t want to be a hypocrite here on my soapbox. We aren’t all called to drop everything and move to Africa, but we do have a responsibility here in our daily lives to glorify God. Part of that is being the hands of feet of Christ in our daily lives, not just sitting here content the norm living the American “dream”.

"Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. "Take My yoke upon you, and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart; and you shall find rest for your souls. "For My yoke is easy, and My load is light." Matthew 11:28-30

Keys to Community: Discipleship, Fellowship, Prayer, Service, and PIT!!

2007-04-14T08:29:00.000-07:00

For those of you that have never experienced Pit, below is just a little taste of what you are missing. Annie and I introduced this to our small group on Wednesday night.

Thoughts on this Easter Sunday

2007-04-08T16:26:00.000-07:00

I was watching an episode of Real Time with Bill Maher on Youtube and they were discussing 2 fox news journalists that were kidnapped by Muslim terrorists in Iraq. The terrorists were demanding that the journalists sign a paper that would publicly say they had converted to Islam or else they would behead them. Both reporters signed the paper. One of the panelists was a Christian columnist for Fox News and she said she had gotten a lot of letters from Christian’s saying they would have done the same thing.

This got me thinking about what I would have done if I were in their shoes. Would I have the courage to stand firm in my faith if my life was on the line? As a Christian living in America, it’s hard to imagine being persecuted for my faith. Sure, we get poked at by the media, but we really have no concept of what this means living in our culture of religious freedom. Christians all over the world are giving their lives for professing Jesus as the risen king.

As I was thinking about this, I was reminded of the last supper and the words that Jesus had for Peter.

“Where I am going you cannot follow me now, but you will follow afterward.’ Peter said to him, ‘Lord, why can I not follow you now? I will lay down my life for you.’ Jesus answered, ‘Will you lay down your life for me? Truly, truly, I say to you, the rooster will not crow till you have denied me three times.” John 13:36-38

What happened later? In fear, Peter denied being a follower of Jesus, just like Jesus said he would. Did any of the other disciples stand up for Jesus after he was arrested? Does this sound like a bunch of guys who were willing to give their lives for Jesus? What changed in their hearts that gave them the courage to die for professing Jesus as king? 11 of the 12 apostles were martyred (John was boiled alive, but he survived) and I think this is an important point to look at when looking at the evidence regarding Jesus’ resurrection. Frederick Buechner, via Mark Nelson' blog, puts it like this:

"Unless something very real took place on that strange, confused morning, there would be no N.T., no church, no Christianity."

I don’t know how else you could explain this except for the biblical account that the resurrected Jesus appeared before them.

“Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here, and place it in my hands; and put your hand, and place it in my side. Do not disbelieve, but believe.” Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my Lord and my God!” - John 20:27-28

These men saw with their own eyes that Jesus was who he said he was. They now knew it in their minds and they knew it in their hearts. This gave them the boldness to stand up to the Pharisees and the Romans. This gave them the courage to die for what they believed in, since they knew that if an earthly death was just the beginning.

The resurrected Jesus not only appeared to the 12 disciples, but he appeared to over 500 people. This is the only explanation for why Christianity took off the way it did in such times of persecution. Would they all have really died for a lie? At one point, wouldn’t one of them have changed their story? Look at the radical transformation of Paul. He used to kill Christians, yet he was one who met the resurrected Jesus and it completely changed his life. He went from Christian killer to Christian pastor.

What would we do if we were in their shoes? I don’t know if this will happen in our life time, but the bible says that before Christ comes again, persecution of Christian’s around the world will rise. Do we really understand what Jesus did on the cross? Do we really celebrate the resurrected Jesus daily? Has it truly transformed our lives?

"If anyone wishes to come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me." Mark 8:34

a good friday

2007-04-06T05:02:00.001-07:00

Top 10 Church websites

2007-04-05T16:12:00.000-07:00

TutorialBLOG put up a list of the top 10 Church & Religious websites. It's nice to see churches catching up with media and technology.

Enjoy

2007-04-05T10:08:00.000-07:00

It's not looking real good for the world champs. They have started the season 0-3, been outscored 20-2, and have looked downright awful in the field. Normally I would be dismayed, disgruntled, or dissomething, but this year is just different. Just look at that beautiful picture. They won a world series!! I think I can keep this moment alive for at least another 10 years. I am not a Yankee fan, I have no delusions of grandeur. I know it is very difficult to win a championship. The cubs haven’t done so in a hundred years and probably never will! At least we have that going for us. :-)

Don't Waste Your Cancer

2007-04-03T09:07:00.000-07:00

If you have never read this article by John Piper, do yourself a favor and take a few minutes to check it out. He published this on his website after announcing that he had cancer early last year. It speaks to our attitude during times of suffering.

You can link to it here.

Colorado

2007-03-29T17:50:00.000-07:00

.sigh.

What a great trip. We flew into Denver on Wednesday night and had some Boston Market with Kevin and Amanda. It seems that we always eat there when go to Colorado. There isn't really anything spectacular about it, we just always go. Thursday Annie and I spent almost 5 hours at the sports authority loading up on clearance snowboaring gear. They had a massive tent filled with items up to 80% off. I got a new board, boots, bindings, pants, and a jacket. Annie got the same, sans the board (hers is not that old). Our whole plan was to get in and out of there, head to the REI flagship downtown and then spend a few good hours reading at Tattered Cover. Unfortunately, none of that really happened. We had just enough time to spend a few minutes at REI and head over to Spaghetti Factory to meet up with Alecia. After dinner, we walked around downtown a bit and then headed back to Kevin’s for some shut eye.

We met up with our friends Levi and Ashley on Friday at Breckenridge. Colorado has had an unusual season of snow. Early in the year they had record snowfall, but since February they have gotten very little. The only place we could find descent snow was on peak 7. Below is a little video I took of us (Annie and myself) heading down peak 9.

Saturday and Sunday were spent hanging out with Annie’s friends in the springs. The picture to the right was of Pikes Peak covered in clouds at sunset (props to Krishana and her mad photography skills). It was hard to come back. There is just something about that city. There is so much diversity and culture there. Christians, atheists, pagans, homeless, rich, democrats, republicans, straight, gay, whatever, are on every street corner. You can sit outside on the square downtown and see the whole city walk by you. All the stories, all the smells, all the sites. It’s hard to take it all in.

a little too close to home

2007-03-29T15:35:00.000-07:00

I have never been out of the country, save for a brief stint in the bahamas 3 years ago. I feel that I am missing something. Can you possibly understand why I feel this way when you look at these pictures? Annie has a missionary friend who moved to France to plant a church. She went to visit last summer and here are some of the sites she saw.

2007-02-12T09:00:00.001-08:00

Testing, Testing, Test..........ing