My Highlight

I'm a big basketball fan...particularly NBA basketball. My Lakers just won their first round playoff match up! In honor of them I am going to share my one basketball highlight. I have never been great at b-ball. I love to play, and I would be awesome if I was tall, thin, had the ability to jump, and was athletic. Anyway when I was in seminary I played on an intramural team. In the playoffs we were playing against one of the best teams. For some reason a guy that was 6'5" was guarding me the whole game. I stayed way out at the three point line the whole game (it was strategic because I didn't want him near the basket to get rebounds). Anyway in the second half I got the ball and hoisted up a shot. He jumped and about killed the ball out of the gym. I made the shot in his eye. Our team ended up winning by three points that game (I didn't score the last points, but I contributed to the win). I only took one shot the whole game and when I did Monica took a picture (look closley and you can see the ball). Thus, here is my one highlight. Enjoy... By the way our team won the championship that year and I have a red t-shirt that says Intramural Champs to prove it.

Vacation

I have requested off for vacation this summer. Each year Monica and I take off for our anniversary (it's in August...send gifts...we are registered at Target, Bed Bath and Beyond, Toys R Us, or just give cash...joking). We are looking for ideas as to where to go. We want something fun that will not break the bank. We save up for trips and don't go into debt over them. I would love ideas that you might have. Leave a comment and let me know!

House Party

Last night we had a House Party at church. The House Party is how people join our Community Groups at Waters Edge. I think it went pretty well. We had a bunch of people and they all wanted to join a group. Here were a couple of thoughts...

• I was nervous about having groups dance at the beginning of the night. Some people got into this and one guy even came up on stage and did the classic white man dance (the one where you put one hand behind your head and the other on your ankle and you move your knee up towards your chest and then back down).
• Next time I am going to have more mixer games. I'm thinking corn hole.
• The cheesecake was a hit and Tab did a great job buying supplies and helping set up.
• It was a great team effort. I loved having Jamey, Bill and Stu there. I was able to really focus on the information and hosting and not some of the other details.
• A lot of people joined groups and that is really exciting! I can't wait for the next one.

Good Game

A few months ago I was watching a sporting event and I saw a hetero sexual alpha male athlete smack another heterosexual alpha (I really don't know what alpha male means but it felt right so I put it, not once but twice) male's butt. What followed were two magic words that give guys the permission to touch each others rear ends with a light smack..."Good Game". After viewing this I felt that if they can do it then I can as well. If you are a guy all you have to is lightly smack another guy's rear and then (this is ever so important) you must say "Good Game". They are magic words that give guys the permission to smack each others butts and still feel secure in their manhood. I have instituted this at various meeting places. Set up and Tear down at my church, in the office, to Wal-Mart check out clerks (when they are friendly, or have more than three lanes open), policemen, the plumber (this is a smack at your own risk situation because if the pants are sagging you may get more than you bargained for), dignitaries, presidents of small nations or tribal leaders. The cool thing is no guy can get mad as long as you say the magic words "Good Game."

What the Moses?

So I've been reading through Exodus (in the Bible) and I read this story today that...well it is hard to describe. I grew up in the church and so I am very familiar with most Biblical stories. Somehow though this one never made it to Sunday school. Exodus 4:24 - 28. Here is a paraphrase from the R.O.B. translation. Moses and his wife and son are on there happy little way back to Egypt. Moses has been told, by God, to lead the Israelites out of slavery, away from Egypt, and into the Promise Land. Right before they get there the Bible says that God met Moses and was about to kill him (do what?). His wife then takes a flint knife, drops her sons draws (his pants), and circumcises him (are you kidding me). She then throws the circumcised flesh at Moses (gag nasty and uncalled for in my opinion). Then his wife fusses at him and God leaves him alone. The very next sentence they are back on there happy little way. Read it for yourself it is crazy!

A couple of thoughts about this verse...
1. Moses was a great man of God...you don't hear much about his wife, but this story shows that he had a great wife who stepped into action.
2. God is not to be messed with. It doesn't matter what vision you think God has for you if you are not willing to come under His authority He will use someone else. Moses was God's man, who was called by God to do a very specific task. And yet in a moment God was going to take Him out because he wasn't willing to submit to God's authority. God had directed Moses to circumcise his son and for some reason Moses didn't . The symbol of circumcision showed that the Israelites were separated from everyone else. Moses didn't obey and God disciplined him for it.
3. God disciplines those that He loves. Hebrews 12:10-12 is clear that God disciplines those that He loves. It sucks, but it shows how much God loves us. Think about this if you didn't discipline your kids it would show that you didn't care about them. If you just let them do whatever they wanted and never set up consequences then your actions would say that you don't care about your kids. It is because you care about your kids that you discipline them. That is why parents always say "this hurts me more than it hurts you". It's the same with God.
4. God's grace is always bigger than our mistakes. God still used Moses to do a great work. This wasn't Moses first mistake and it wouldn't be his last. God still loves us and uses us despite our sin.

Side note: (for those of you still reading this) Don't go blaming every bad thing that happens to you on your sin. We don't know why every bad thing happens to us. Monica and I had a miscarriage last year and I don't think that was God disciplining us. You will have hard times and not every difficulty is because of sin. I don't think that God is out to get us, but there are consequences to our sin. Thank God that He is faithful to forgive us!

It's the End of the World As We Know It!

Happy Earth Day 2008. Today is Earth Day and I don't know if you have noticed but the earth is falling apart. Personally I blame Al Gore. He is the first person I heard talking about earth problems and since he invented the Internet I will also give him credit for inventing global warming (I'm joking about that). Anyway my fried Dan sent me a funny link from yahoo about the end of the world according to Hollywood. If you like movies then you will get a kick out of this read. Click on the link to read it. http://http://movies.yahoo.com/feature/endoftheearthday.html

doodie

I don't care if I am 29 years old there is something really funny about people saying the word duty. It is too close to the childhood word for feces called doodie. The first time I laughed about that word was when my wife said she had bus duty at school. I responded with Bus doodie is one of the worst kinds to have and then laughed. Yesterday at church there was duty everywhere. Our pastor said in all 3 services that some of our volunteers were working double duty. I don't know about you but the thought of double doodie is pretty funny. Then last night at the 6:00 PM service one of the volunteers started talking to me about double duty. I am mature enough to not laugh in their face when they say this, but I can't help but wonder why they don't giggle after saying duty in a sentence. This is just my opinion but I think you should keep your duty or doodie to yourself. Whether it is ship duty, bus duty, double duty, late duty, early duty, or any other type of duty. America let's starting today let's keep our duty to ourselves.

Funny stuff

I just found this on one of my friends blogs and it made me laugh out loud. Click on the following link and let the hilarity begin. http://www.stevecarter.com/albumcovers.htm

Michael Scott

I really enjoy the TV show the Office. It is awkward and character driven...two things that I love. I was watching an old episode about Michael (the boss) being forced by corporate to fire someone. This decision jacks him up because wants to be friends with everyone at work. He waffles around in agony the whole episode before he makes a decision. I totally see myself in that situation. The problem is that is the opposite of what a leader should be. Sometimes as a leader you have to suck it up and make a hard call even if it affects your friends. It is hard to make unpopular decisions, and have people criticize your actions. It is hard, but that is why most people follow and not very many people lead. If God has put you in a position to lead then thank God for the opportunity and lead well. More people will be affected negatively by waffling and indecisiveness then leading towards a decision. This is something I am working on this week!

Markers

Everyone has markers in their life, both good and bad. There's the good...the first kiss, graduation, wedding day, the birth of a child. There is also the difficult markers...a death in the family or death of a dream, a move, rejection (I am still getting over The Price is Right rejecting me last week and not asking me to come on down). The thing with markers is that they should be significant but they shouldn't define us. Too many people are defined by markers. We all know the former high school jock who lived his best years in high school. I have also seen people allow a negative marker to define them and they have not been able to move on. Today is the one year anniversary of the shootings at VA Tech. Watching a story on SportsCenter this morning I was reminded about how well they are doing with this marker. The shooting changed things, and they will always remember it, but Coach Beamer said they are now moving on. They are closer than they used to be, more focused and unified as a campus. I think that is they same attitude that we should have with both good and bad markers. Learn from them, but don't let them define you. Move on from them and allow them to catapult you to the next level.

Crucify me

I don't know if anyone reading this is a people pleaser or not, but I am in a big way. I want people to like me. A few months ago after preaching a sermon I received an anonymous letter criticizing my message (just a side note but grow a spine and put a name with the letter). At that point a little saying came to my brain...even if my sermon was perfect someone would crucify it. I think the same thing is true with us...you could be perfect and someone would find a way to crucify you. It is my goal to live more for God then I do for man's approval. I really do desire people to like me. I'm not perfect and therefor even more people will crucify what I say and do. I am pushing myself to live for God's approval and not mans. At the end of the day I would rather have God say well done my good and faithful servant then a million people telling me how great I am.

The search for famous

So, Monica and I went to LA and had a AWESOME trip!! I love movies and I love the Lakers, so LA offers a lot for me. If you know me very well you will know that I am a fan of meeting famous people. I don't ever want to bother them and I try to not be a psycho stalker, but I do enjoy meeting my favorite celebrities. Going to LA should equal a sure fire celebrity encounter. I was hoping to meet or run into at least one. On Monday we went to Hollywood and toured the walk of fame. We saw Kim Kardashian filming her reality TV show. The problem is I don't really know who she is, so I don't count her as famous. Day one = no famous encounters. On Tuesday we went to a taping of Deal or No Deal. I told the seating lady when she asked how many were in our party that there were three really good looking people (I was hoping to get close to a camera). Apparently she disagreed because she sat us in the way back dark part of the studio. The show doesn't air until June, but the only way you will see us is if you have Tivo or DVR and pause the show. I was hoping to run into Howie Mandel, but we never got close to him. I used to love his cartoon Bobbies World (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t6xqamEd8s0). Day two = no famous encounters. On Wednesday we went to a taping of Jay Leno. It was probably the most fun taping we went to. Jay was funny and made the taping a lot of fun. His guests were Ellen Page and Donnie and Marie Osmond. We didn't get to meet any of them. I had my chance to meet Jay. Jay comes out before the show and warms up he crowd. After he asks if anyone has any questions. I overheard someone saying that at that moment if you yell out he will call on you and you can get a picture. I overheard a lady telling her friends and I didn't feel right stealing that moment from them. It was cool though...Jay took them on stage and posed like he was interviewing them. Day three = no famous encounters. On Thursday we went to a taping of The Price is Right. It is an all day event. We got there at 7:30 in the morning and you just sit for hours. We did see one of the cast mates from Big Brother, but I didn't know his name. I have a hard time asking a celebrity for a picture if I can't come up with their name, so I let him go. After hours of waiting they line your section up in front of a director and he asks you to say where your from and what you do. I tried to be witty and after he asked me my question I asked him how he was and what he does. He gave me a courtesy laugh and moved on. The three of us that went didn't get picked to go on the show. I don't take rejection well and ever since they rejected me and didn't tell me to come on down I have had a bitter taste in my mouth towards the show (I'm joking...the whole thing was fun). That night we went to the first of two Lakers games. Our seats were at the very top of the stadium. Billy Crystal was there, so was David Beckem and Posh Spice. The game was fun LA won by 30. Day four = no famous encounters. On Friday we took it easy went back to Hollywood and did touristy stuff. Later that night we went to our second Lakers game. It was AMAZING!!! Lakers won and clinched their division. We saw in the crowd Jack Nicholson, David Beckam again, David Arquette, Terrell Owens, and Penny Marshall. As the game ended everyone left pretty quickly. Our seats were on the floor so I could see all the celebs leaving. We hung out for a few minutes after most people had left (this is key in meeting famous people...hang out for a while and see what happens). I saw Steven A. Smith (ESPN personality) talking to some people near our section. I went down to ask him for a picture and I got fussed at by an usher. I moved back to my section and noticed the usher left. I waited a few minutes and when Steven finished his conversation he looked my way. I asked for a picture and he said yes. I made my way down and got fussed at by another usher. This time though I pointed to Steven and he told the guy to back off (really he just said it was OK). I went down and got my picture with Steven. Day five = one famous encounter. I will post some pictures of the trip as soon as we get them on the computer. Overall it was a great trip and I loved every minute of it!

L.A. BABY

Today, Monica and I flew out bright and early to LA. This afternoon we are supposed to hang out with Shima (Monica's best friend from high school and he giver of the greatest wedding gift ever...a Superman cookie jar)!!! Tomorrow we are going to a taping of Deal or No Deal. Wednesday are going to a taping of the Tonight Show with Jay Leno. Thursday we are going to a taping of The Price is Right (all of these tapping's give free tickets to the show...how cool is that?). Thursday and Friday night we are going to Lakers games!!! We fly home Saturday night. I can't wait for this trip! If you pray for us please pray for the following...
Monica's health - she isn't feeling real well
Safe travel - I have the worst luck with flights
Rest - I need a vacation
Lakers to win - they play New Orleans on Friday and right now they are 1 1/2 behind them for first place.

Sunday Reflections

Week two of having 4 services at church (2 in the morning, 1 for servers and 1 regular at night). This week I spoke at all four services. I have never spoke 4 times in one day. I have spoke at lots of retreats and services were I had to speak twice in one day and multiple times in a week, but never four times in one day. I felt really good about the talk. God has been speaking to me bout the topic for weeks now. If you are interested you can check out the talk at http://watersedgechurch.net/content/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=38&Itemid=41. I was able to talk to a guy after the third service and God is really working on him. He said that a few weeks ago he was considering taking his life. God seems to working in this guys life and he checked out our church for the first time. He has a long road ahead of him, but I praise God that he sensed God moving in his life. Well, I'm tired so I'm going to bed.

Where is God?

I try to read the Bible every day. It is not a legalistic thing that I feel forced to do. It is a privilege that I get to read about God interacting with humans. I love it when the Bible comes alive and draws me to fall more in love with God. I've been reading Genesis lately and it is an amazing book of the Bible. God is very active in parts of Genesis...Creation, Noah and the flood, speaking to Abraham about starting a nation. It is pretty fascinating. But one thing that I have noticed reading it this time is that there is not a lot of commentary on every one's actions. People since the beginning were liars, thieves, addicted to sex, and all around selfish. I have read the occasional disdain from God...you know the world wide flood where he destroyed everyone because of their sin and the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah because of their sin. Overall though there are lots of sections where God doesn't comment. For example the story of Jacob and his wives. God doesn't say in this story that their actions are wrong. But at almost every chapter Jacob and his wives are lying, stealing, or deceiving someone. Then there is the story of God wrestling with Jacob. Once again there is not a lot of commentary from the Bible. Genesis just throws that story in without telling us why God wanted to join the WWE (formerly the WWF) and lay the smack down on Jacobs roody poo. I don't know what we are supposed to do with some of these stories, but what I love about them is that it shows how human the people in the Bible were. They were flawed, selfish, and in need of a savior. I have found a lot of hope in seeing God interact with such sinful people. I have found hope in seeing humans struggle with not being able to get pregnant (Monica and I have been trying for close to 4 years now). I find hope in the fact that Jacob was able to wrestle with God and it was an all night pay per view event. Jacob wrestled with God all night long until God told him to stop. Jacob replied I won't stop unless you bless me. I don't understand everything about God, but I love that I get to wrestle with God on issues that I don't understand. I love that God interacts with me and gets involved in my life. I love that God blesses me. I don't have all the answers but I know that God continues to draw me to Him despite my flaws.

Welcome to Old...

So I have been wanting to play basketball for a while now. I used to play all the time in college and seminary, but I only play a couple times a year now. A guy that goes to my church invited me to play basketball on Thursday and I immediately jumped on the opportunity. Well, it took me 3 weeks to actually jump on the opportunity because I had prior commitments, but this Thursday I went. I show up and the first person that I see is Greg Garrett. Greg is a realtor extraordinaire, local celebrity, guest star of 2 Waters Edge videos (http://www.youtube.com/user/watersedgechurch), and all around good guy. After Greg gets off the phone he comes to talk to me and the first thing that he says is "how's it make you feel that you got an invite to old man basketball." I look around and there are multiple guys in their 50's. Come to find out this was started as an old timers basketball get together. Before the night was over there ended up being multiple guys in their 20's and early 30's. I guess word leaked to the young guys. It's funny to me though how quickly things turn. I'm 29 and it wasn't until this year that I started to feel older. Not physically older but older from others perceptions. I turned 29 in August and when I tell people that they are either shocked or get this pitied look on their face. As if 29 is the last step before I enter the old folks home, wear depends diapers because I have lost all control, and call everyone sonny. The students that are in 6th grade at my church tell me they think I'm 40. I guess to them anything over 21 is ancient. Technology is another thing that yells your getting older. I don't text well and it makes me angry that DVD's are quickly transitioning to down loadable formats for your computer. I like the case of a DVD and I like to show off to anyone who cares that I have a bazillion movies. Anyway the point is that I'm getting older. You know what though, I'm fine with it! I love every year of my life. I feel more secure in who I am, more in love with my wife, and more happy then I have ever been. Truth be told I can't wait for 30.

Working on a talk

This Sunday I am speaking at Waters Edge. We are in a new series and I have been thinking about my topic for a long time. I am really excited to share what God has been teaching me. So, today I at home writing the talk. It takes lot of focus. Just in case you are interested here is what goes into a typical talk of mine. I spend time praying asking God for what He wants me to say. A lot of times the message comes from what I am reading in the Bible or from what God is convicting me about. This weekend the talk came from being convicted. I then begin writing. I write out every word. Some speakers say that they don't do that because they don't want to stifle what God might say to them on the spot. I feel that if God can say something to you on the spot then He can say something to you while you prep. Personally I think that it is lazy to not think through your talk. I want to make sure I don't waste time talking out the side of my neck. I don't want to waste people's time or God's, so I write out every word. I normally get ADD whil write around page 4 or 5. Around that time it becomes hard for me to focus. I normally take a break and eat something. I then force myself back to the computer to finish the talk. That though is just the rough draft. I then send it to Stu to get some feedback. I will normally take a break until Sat. night. On Sat. I do rewrites and memorize the talk. It normally is between 5 and 6 pages. If you remember please pray for this weekend. I have to give this talk 4 times (3 services and one server service). I have never spoke that much in one day.

Serves me right...

So, I blog today about pets and why I personally don't like them. Tonight we go to dinner at a new friend's house and they have a dog and cat. How ironic is that? I kept wanting to laugh because I was thinking about my list. First thing the dog did when we got there was take a sniff in the general vicinity of the area known as my crotch. We had a great time hanging out with this couple and I pray they don't read my blog because I don't want them to feel bad or think I wrote it because of them. Again I don't mind pets for other people...I don't hate pets, and I don't mind coming to your house if you do have pets. When I wrote the post I had no idea they had pets. I really did enjoy dinner tonight and hanging out, but it was further proof why I won't own a pet.

Why I don't like pets

So I am tired today. I am about to take a little nap, but I wanted to make sure that I got a blog in. It is my goal to blog at least once every day. Today's blog is totally random...
Why I don't like Pets
1. I don't like to be sniffed in the crotch. I don't know why animals do this but it is awkward and scary. I know that you trust your animal, but I don't. For all I know they could be hungry and that might be the reason they are sniffing up on me. Nuff said.
2. I don't like to be licked. I know that is a way that animals show they love you, but that is the same tongue they used to lick their butt or other body parts. I don't know how people can feel loved by being licked.
3. I like my stuff. We have a lot of friends who tell stories about how their stuff was devoured by their pet. Stuff like I-pods, cash money, furniture, and clothes. I pay too much money for the stuff we have to have an animal eat it.
4. I don't like to be jumped up on. I am not a overtly touchy feely person to begin with. I like an occasional hug, and I enjoy high fives, but animals especially dogs jump on me. It is one thing to jump on someone if you know them, but animals don't wait to be introduced. They just jump on you and act like that is OK.
5. I'm too busy to pick up poo. This is huge for me. If animals didn't poo I wouldn't mind them as much. I don't want to pick poo up in my house or outside. In fact I giggle every time I see someone walking their dog and they are carrying a poo bag. Funny stuff!
6. Animals die. I once had a fish named Hulk Hogan. One day he floated to the top of my bubble gum fish tank (it looked like a bubble gum machine...it was awesome!). I cried that night pretty hard. Hulk Hogan was my hammerhead gold fish and I loved him with all my might for the 4 1/2 weeks he lived. I'm not good with goodbyes, so I don't like it when pets die.
7. Pets stink. I don't like smelling like an animal and I don't like my house smelling like one. I have a hard enough time making myself smell good. I don't need something else to stink it up.
8. I like to go out of town. Monica and I travel and when you have a pet you have to have someone else take care of them. This is an extra burden for the pet owner and the friend who has to take care of the pet.
9. I would rather spend my money on food for me then food for a pet. Call me selfish, but I enjoy my food. Pet food is expensive...speaking of expensive.
10. Pets cost too much. I don't want to pay a bazillion dollars to buy a pet and then a bunch more on food. That doesn't include vet visits, grooming, and discipline training school. If I did have a pet I would send them to a world class training place so they could do cool tricks like go to the bathroom on a toilet and flush it themselves.

So that is my list. Please don't hate me. I know that you probably like animals and I am happy for you. Please don't tell me I hate animals because I don't. You don't have to put your pet away when I come over. I won't intentionally abuse your animal, kick it while you are not looking, or harm it on purpose. I just felt like sharing.