We poured Hugo and Helen’s floor yesterday. I learned how to level a floor using plastic tubing and water. Crazy but effective! I’ll upload pictures when I can – I’m in a LAN house right now. English Camp is this weekend and I’ve got how I’m going to open and how I’m going to close…nothing read more
We got into Orlando at 1:00 am last night. Our flight leaves at 6 tonight and we’ll hook up with our crew in Miami. To kill some time….I’m grabbing lunch with my good blog buddy Rob aka Orangejack. In terms of “e-influence” in my life – he’s HUGE! Anybody remember the blogger days? Rob’s help read more
Jason did the deed. He kissed Cindy for the first time AFTER they were pronounced husband and wife. How freakin’ cool is that? Here are two cool pics of the evening. First is Jason and Cooper. For some reason, these two guys kinda just hit it off. Jason took Cooper to his first Hog game. read more
Luke 1-3 Could I be Zachariah? God speaks and claims an impossibility will now be true and the first words out of his mouth are “Are you kidding me? Do you expect me to believe this? I’ve got 2 reasons why you are full of …. junk. I’m old. My wife is old.” A couple read more
Mark 15-16 How many deaths had that Roman soldier seen? He was on crucifixion duty and a Roman soldier – so he probably had watched hundreds of men die. Yet there was something different about the way Jesus died. Enough of a difference to make the bold claim that Jesus was the son of God. read more
Mark 13-14 As he walked away from the Temple, one of his disciples said, “Teacher, look at that stonework! Those buildings!” Jesus said, “You’re impressed by this grandiose architecture? There’s not a stone in the whole works that is not going to end up in a heap of rubble.” These words struck me because I’m read more
1. Finish Sermon – scripture would be nice. 2. Pack for Brazil 2a. Meet Alton for coffee 3. Taxes 4. Wedding Rehearsal 5. Wedding 5a. Bachelor party – where I’ll stay up to late. 6. Preach 7. Get family on plane for Orlando – drop off kids. 8. Figure out 4 sessions of talks for read more
My best friend loves South Park. I’ve made it through a couple of episodes. But I’m loving this latest soap opera with Isaac Hayes and Tom Cruise. And…I’m with Matt Stone and Trey Parker (the creators of South Park) on this one. In case you’ve been under a rock the past couple of weeks – read more
Mark 11-12, The Message Why is it that when we are busted we start “The Authority Game?” I was about 8 years old at Chambers Road Baptist Church in Aurora, Co. (Let me tell you what disturbs me – they don’t have a website. What the heck??? Where’s the love??) What they did have was read more
Jason is getting married this weekend. I always knew he’d make a great wife. I’m serious!! He cooks. He’s the cleanest bachelor I know of. He’s incredibly sensitive. He’s thoughtful of others. He loves Jesus and….I think I’ll just stop now because it sounds like I’ve got a man-crush on him. I’m in the wedding. read more
Mark 9:2-10:52 My favorite section of Mark. Jesus gives them a living picture of what power in his Kingdom is – it’s the power of being touchable to the least of these. The Touchability of the Holy stands in direct contrast of their history and their teachers. It’s blasphemy. But….it’s that kind of power that read more
I have often bragged about Amy. She is the ultimate Student Pastor Wife. Halo Nights and March Madness Weekends are of course exhibit A and A1 in my book. There are very few subjects off limits around her – which makes us all love her to pieces. She has never however done this. That is read more
Mark 7-9:1 But Peter grabbed him in protest. Turning and seeing his disciples wavering, wondering what to believe, Jesus confronted Peter. “Peter, get out of my way! Satan, get lost! You have no idea how God works.” Calling the crowd to join his disciples, he said, “Anyone who intends to come with me has to read more
Ken Wilson did a great job of overviewing Proverbs for us this weekend. Some random questions I left with… What ‘sages’ am I listening to? Who are my “Bill Gates” and “Yogi Berras”? What is their advice based on? How much do I really FEAR the Lord? (The Lent Challenge is really changing this in read more
Stop what you are doing and go buy this CD. Charlie Hall, Flying Into Daybreak. It’s twice as good as David Crowder’s Collision. And I loved Collision. I have Closer on repeat right now. Which of course, was a Natalie Portman movie as well.
A bunch of us went to the movies last night. V for Vendetta I have a major confession to make. It’s a sickness, I know. And admittance is the first step of recovery…..but…..I have a crush on Natalie Portman. I think not only is she like very pretty…but she can act. Even bald. What in read more
Dallas signs Terrell Owens. Welcome to the bizarre. I’m glad that TO is in Dallas. It just gives me one more reason to not like them. Who exactly has the biggest blind spot in this story? Parcells? Hard to fathom. This is the same guy that could degrade Lawrence Taylor with one sentence. Does he read more
From the Elders: We first want to thank you for your service, and commitment to the ministry at Grace. Know, that your role is crucial to the healthy function of Grace. Again thank you. Our intent with the meeting is to discuss with you as leaders, where we’ve been as a body and where we read more
Mark 5-6 When Jesus heals us, transforms us something else dies. This ‘something else’ is probably valued more than it ought to be by both ourselves and others. The reality is – it’s all swine compared to the transforming power of Christ. He changes us to tell our story, not to hide it. Sometimes following read more
I think I’ve thought/said every expletive known to man. KU did this to me last year with Bucknell. (By the way, Arkansas – they are a real pain in the butt, aren’t they?) Now Bradley. Kansas’ freshman played like…well…freshman. Good night – couldn’t hit a bull in the backside with a bass fiddle. This is read more
Mark 3-4 Mark’s gospel is the least read in my personal cannon. I camp in Luke and John mostly. And while there are some differences in the gospels, one thing that is becoming increasingly clear – they all depict Jesus as very antagonistic to religious people. If you have an outside-in mentality – what you read more
I’m in San Francisco Bread Company – blogging – watching their flat panel HD TV AND CBS’ online video of games. I think I’m in heaven. One problem – one of my final four teams – BC – is in a nailbiter.. Oh NO!!!! tie game – 9 seconds left….. Who the heck is Pacific read more
Got an email from a pastor friend…decided to include us all in the discussion. She found this quote (don’t know where!!! oops): in today’s church structure we may have fashioned it so that it is easier to encounter God in an atheistic, carnal society than in a setting where we come expecting to meet God.” read more
Mark 1-2 Three huge ‘pings’ for me. 1. The healing of the leper. He says “if you are willing.” He’s not questioning Jesus’ ability. The convicting part of that is – why is it that God’s ability is the first thing I question when things go bad? Why don’t I question my own motives and read more
Matthew 27-28 Pilate has almost always been presented as a sympathetic character. He’s often played as a victim of circumstance. I’ve often looked at him with more compassion than contempt. For some reason, that changed today. For political peace, to schmooze the constituents, Pilate ‘washes his hands’ as if he’s not responsible. Then he just read more
Rowland and I are now having a Bass Tournament. We are going to keep track of all the fish we catch this spring/summer. Here are my two favorite big mouths. So far…Rowland’s up by 10. That’s right. He stuck it to me yesterday. He was up one fish then went on to a 23 to read more
Matthew 26 I’m pretty sure I would have denied Jesus. I’ve heard lot’s of guys say that same thing but not really mean it – kind of a false humility thing. The reality of it is that the disciples were 3 years old in their faith and the Spirit wasn’t indwelling them. But even with read more
Matthew 23-25 Got a day behind posting. That just really chaps me. I’ve also decided that I’m only going to tackle one (okay, maybe two) points/insights in the reading. Today’s – the 10 virgins. What the heck? I get that the point of the parable is to “always be prepared” but what’s with the imagery? read more
What was supposed to be a routine hospital visit full of teasing and laughter came crashing to tears and silence. Janet Greenwood was found to have cancer this afternoon during surgery. Needless to say – shocked is an understatement. Row and I got there right as David was leaving the hospital. In a moment, a read more
Got an e-friend (or is b-friend meaning blog? But “b” could be translated as boy or brokeback…alright, let’s stick with e-friend) who is chewing on the idea of planting a church. I semi-jokingly said “when you do, let me know. I got a list of things NOT to do.” I got this email from him read more
I just left the hospital with David Greenwood. Janet was found to have cancer in her surgery today. I’ll try to keep you all posted as more information unfolds. Here’s what I do know. She is recovering from her surgery and other than the cancer, is recovering fine. We are all pretty shocked, this wasn’t read more
Matthew 21-22 To curse a fig tree. Is it irony of just good teaching that Jesus curses a tree that looks good but produces no fruit immediately after clearing the Temple? The Pharisees were exactly like that fig tree – great looking, no fruit bearing. Then the story of the two sons – which one read more
Matthew 19-20 The relationship value cart is getting turned over. Marriage is NOT for everyone – shocker. The focus of marriage is becoming one, not looking for the loophole to get out of it. Children are more valuable and can show us more about the Kingdom than rich people. The one who starts early gets read more
Had a hard meeting this week with another ‘co-hort in crime.’ Yep – a youth worker. “This is a complete joke. I mean, in my darkest moments I feel like all I do is provide an arena for social clubs to exist. The minute I start challenging you’d think the sky was falling.” Welcome to read more
Nice work from the owners of the NFL. Way to learn from the boneheadedness of Major League Baseball and NHL. Don’t shoot the goose just because you’ll have to share the golden eggs. I have to admit I’m especially surprised at Jerry Jones of Dallas. I didn’t think there would be a way in the read more
Matthew 17-18 My only complaint against Rob and the whole Lent Challenge is this – we tackle a chunk of scripture every day. I realize that in the past, I have been the biggest advocate of this kind of reading – it gives you a 30,000 feet view of what is going on in the read more
Matthew 14-16 The whole thing revolves around Matthew 16:15…who do you think I am? The Pharisees and Sadducees have their opinion. What is yours? Jesus just doesn’t care about the religious. He doesn’t care if he offends them. He doesn’t care what they think of him. He doesn’t care about their opinion or ‘rules.’ They read more
Mile 20 and I went to a meeting today to investigate the possibility of securing a grant to start a homeless shelter for families. It was disappointing. In classic government style – here is $30,000 to do a homeless shelter BUT you can’t use the money for mortgage payments on the house. It can go read more
Matthew 12-13 Any fog or uncertainty about Jesus’ antagonistic relationship with religious people is answered here. It’s almost as if Jesus is saying – “You don’t want to repent? You don’t want to be a part of this? Then watch it happen without you. I’m going to do what I’m going to do and for read more
Wayne asked a deep question here. Allow me to answer. About 6 months ago. So far, I’m really sucking at it. I know – “why do you have to use that word? It’s crude, immature, crass, irreverent, and immature.” See – that’s exactly what I’m talking about. Adult life doesn’t reward authenticity. Plus, there are read more
A couple of weeks ago I walked through the story of David moving the ark. David learned that good intentions weren’t enough. Skill is needed. Don’t you hate it when reality confirms a sermon you’ve already preached? Got a left-field phone call yesterday from a former student. It appears that I am my own poster read more
Matthew 10-11 So much stuff. I got tripped up in 11:1-19. When the outsides don’t match the mind’s eye. Jesus wasn’t exactly what the Pharisees thought the Messiah should be. Apparently, he wasn’t exactly what John the Baptist thought either. Or the other disciples. Or most of Israel at this point. And Jesus calls them read more
I hate these things. I really do. It’s like the ultimate cheat in blogger’s-block. Can’t think of anything to write? Do a questionnaire or a nerd quiz. (Love ya’, Wayne!) Catbird – a new read for me – tagged me. Why? I’m not sure. Could be because we’re probably related somehow OR she enjoys people read more
For the first time in my adult life, I didn’t watch the Academy Awards last night. I really didn’t care – truth be told. I told Amy – the film that should win best picture, best director, and best screenplay isn’t – Crash. I posted on this film back in November of last year. I read more
Here is the pre-race picture. Not a bad looking crew. This is the 4th Half-Marathon for Amy and Angie, the 1st for Kristi! Some other random observation about runners. It’s amazing to me the many different running styles. There are some people you just look at and go – how in the world do they read more
Matthew 8-9 Too much information!! I’ll limit myself to one theme. The theme that started before the desert and continued through the Sermon on the Mount – repentance/faith because the Kingdom is at hand. There is less importance on doctrinal purity from Jesus than first realized. The immediate and ultimate question he seems to thrust read more
Matthew 5-7 The Kingdom theme continues…this is the economy of God’s world. Everything is upside down…more gracious, more legalistic, more intense, just … more. Reading this a few years ago started me on a path that I’m still fumbling on. Fasting, giving to the needy, loving your enemies, investing in heavenly things, fruit bearing are read more
Amy runs 13.1 miles on Sunday. She’s a stud. She’s a monster. She’s awesome. She’s hot-looking to. My job? To keep 3 kids mildly entertained and moving throughout downtown LR and randomly pop up on the race route so that Amy can hear “Go Mom” from her beloved kids. Which brings up the problem. I’m read more
Matthew 3-4 (Click on Rob’s Lent Challenge in Sidebar to read other’s insights on reading.) I’m reading Kierkegaard and John the Baptist on the same day. Coincendence? He bluntly tells religious people – the way of God is repentance. You want clarity, peace, redemption, whatever else? Repent first. Get over yourself, get rid of the read more
Matthew 1-2….the genealogy chapter. You can’t ask for a more exciting start to lent than reading this, can you? Okay – how about something out of Numbers? I’ve actually preached a sermon out of the genealogy. It started as a joke/bet. Then I started studying it. Reading it again reminded of a couple of things. read more
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