Eric Tangen

Topeka to Auburn Half Marathon Results

2012-01-23T17:14:00.000-08:00

Good run.

I was reminded of Dean Karnses statement that he never feels so alive as when he is uncomfortable and striving to do his beast. This race was a challenge and I was glad I did it.

Got to Topeka around 945 and picked up the race packet. Nice pair of commemorative socks. Bathroom facilities were sparse so we went to the McDonalds down the street. I met a guy wearing a jersey from one of the prior races.

He said that he had run the race several times and the course was S#$%@@. Hills and gravel. He also passed on that this was the first race he could remember that there was no snow. The other thing he said is that he has a better year when he runs this.

We hung out in the car until five minutes before the race. About 500 started. The race went off at the crack of 11, right on time.

We headed straight south right into the wind. Cold and grey, 19 degrees with a S wind at 9. It felt cold. I listened to the guys around me who were wearing GPS to find out the pace.

Big hills at three and six fight before the half way point. Significant ups the rest of the way. Flew down hill, ran steady uphill and cruised through the flats. Kept pace right around 8:10 for most of the way except on a couple of hills.

One young guy told me: "If the race was all uphill he would be beating me." I told him: "See you on the next up."

Ran negative splits (second half faster than the first half). Felt really strong all through the race.

Finished at 1:48:24 or and 8:16 pace. 142 out of 500 finishers. 16 out of 37 in my age group.

Temp was 23 at the finish.

Good hoodie for finishing. Skipped the breakfast and headed home.

The course wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. I almost fell on the transition to gravel. It was kind of a shock. This is a good small race. Didn't do as well as I hoped but OK for the conditions and course.

Already plan on this one for next year...

Topeka to Auburn Half Marathon Race Stategy

2012-01-20T16:12:00.000-08:00

So tomorrow I will race my first half marathon.

13.1 miles from Topeka to Auburn, KS. Starts at 11AM. Temp is supposed to be around 28 with an ESE wind at 10 or so. Cold. The course is very hilly with some on gravel country roads.

Goal is to break 1:44 or around 8 minutes a mile.

I will be happy with under 2 hours and ecstatic with under 1:44. I have put the miles in and should be ready.

The plan is to start out about 100 people back from the front of the pack, start slow and keep the pace around 8 minutes a mile. According to the McMillan pacing calculator, I should be able to run around 7:50 miles. That may be pushing it a bit.

More tomorrow after the race...

Doomed

2011-04-03T13:25:00.000-07:00

It was supposed to be a normal early season tournament game.

As normal as an Under 19 Boys game usually is with all the testosterone flowing and the competitiveness.

The game was played on a really crummy field, one of the worst in the area. The goal areas were swamps as was the center of the field. The field slopes from northwest to southeast in an awkward way and there was the usual 20 mph wind blowing steadily from the South down hill. And the two teams were from the eastern side of Missouri and had played each other several times before over the years.

I should have known this was going to be a rough one when the captains came out for the coin toss. The two white team captains were jerks. They didn't really say anything specific, but their body attitude was one of "we don't respect you and we won't." I haven't really had that before.

By the way, one team wore white and the other wore red.

Game got underway and it was obvious from the start that it was going to be a rough one to keep under control. Both teams were physical and aggressive. Red scored on white about midway through the first half.

A red player fell to the ground in the box and kicked the ball to another player who scored. There was no problem with the play. No white players were around him. It is perfectly legal to play the ball on the ground as long as there is no danger to another player.

So according to the white team, I had somehow scored on them. And downhill it went.

Before the game was over I had cautioned the head coach of the white team, dismissed the assistant coach for calling me something that I can't repeat here, cautioned both white captains for dissent, cautioned two other white players for reckless play and cautioned two of the red players for reckless play.

First coach I have tossed in over five years.

According to the white team, I had somehow scored three goals against them and they had lost 3 to 2 because of me.

Normally after a game, good or bad, I reflect on how I did and what I can change to improve. I really like the verse in Romans 12:3 "For by the grace given me I say to everyone of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you." I try to apply sober judgment to my refereeing.

I run across a lot of referees that seem to think they are perfect. I don't like working with those guys. I realize that I make mistakes in every game. Could be as simple as missing the direction on a throw in. My next perfect game will be my first one. And I have been looking for a perfect game for over 1072 games.

As I reflected on this game, I came to the realization that about the only thing I could have done differently was to card both white captains at the coin toss for dissent.

This game was doomed from the start...

The Epic Run

2011-03-03T14:09:00.000-08:00

After church on Sunday, I went out for a run.

It was almost an Epic Run but not quite. It was foggy and humid. Visibility was about a quarter of a mile. Some of the heaviest fog I've seen in a while.

Had a good, solid run in the fog. I did wear my bright lime green hi-visibility jersey. And it was just cool enough to wear the white gloves and a head band.

Visibility was just enough to take make the run a bit less than Epic. And usually an Epic Run is a bit longer than I went (3.42 miles) on Sunday.

I've had only a few Epic Runs in my life. If I had too many then they wouldn't qualify as Epic. Probably the first one was Grandma's Marathon in 1979 where I blew up and barely finished. My first and only marathon. So far... Most marathons will qualify for Epic Run status.

And then there was the time I went running with a coworker: Dick Beardsley. We worked at a running store together while I was in college. He was recovering from a bit of knee surgery (only way I could keep up with him) and wanted to go for a run. We left from the store in Dinkytown (Minneapolis) and ran down into Saint Paul. We did about 4 or 4 and a half miles. In -40 degree windchill. At night. On ice and snow. I don't remember the actual temp just the wind chill. Still the coldest I've ever run in. But that run instantly made Epic Run status. For me at least, not sure about Dick.

And back on July Fourth last year I went out for a run. It was drizzly and warm. Traffic was very light and no one, absolutely no one was out on the roads and trails. I had the route all to myself. And I flew. I ran the 6 and a half mile course faster than I ever had (at the time). And I took great pride in the fact that I had been out there when no one else was. My running log for the day starts with: Epic Run!

There have been other Epic Runs over the years. If I'm lucky there are one or two a year. Runs that just stand out by virtue of being over. A twenty miler in rain the whole way. Personal bests that come on days when I didn't want to run. Runs in extreme heat or against a north wind at 25 mph. Runs in fresh snow early in the morning on streets and trails unmarked by anything except the rabbits. A race with both of my kids when they were young.

There are two things every one of my Epic Runs have: I run. And I am smiling like a fool when they are over.

There isn't much else in common between the Epic Runs. Some are with other people, some are solo runs. They can come at any time in any season. They can almost never be planned.

An Epic Run is an unexpected valuable gift. They are to be treasured since they are so rare.

And I've found that I can put in a bunch of ordinary runs on a bunch of ordinary days waiting for the next one...

Two Words

2011-02-21T17:42:00.001-08:00

And this time I mean it: two words.

Yesterday was a warm day about 65. Bit warm for middle of February. Gray and overcast. Really windy out of the SSE at 25 with gusts up to 40.

I went out for a nice middle length run of 6.5 miles. I have a nice out and back course laid out that runs roughly north south. Going out there is a nice downhill from about mile 2.25 to the turn around point at 3.25 miles. And with the wind from behind you can really fly down the hill.

Problem is: what goes down must come up (when you are running that is).

So yesterday I reached the turn around point and headed for home into the teeth of the wind. Uphill. Wasn't pleasant. It was a struggle. And over the last quarter mile is a 50 foot rise. I wasn't feeling real good as I neared the top.

As I neared the top of the hill there was an older guy out for a walk. He was pushing his granddaughter (at least I think it was his granddaughter, she was dressed in pink) in a stroller. And he had one of those ankle biter rat dogs on a leash. I moved off the path to give him room to get by.

I kind of croaked out my standard greeting to those I pass: "Morning." It was morning after all.

And then he said the two words. It took me a couple of seconds for them to soak through my somewhat addled brain and register.

Those words were: "Looking good".

And they were exactly what I needed to hear. They carried me through the rest of the run home. Finished strong. I am grateful for those words of encouragement even if I am fairly certain the guy is a liar.

I am certain that I would have made the run home without hearing those two words. But they sure helped even if it was to get me off of how crummy I was feeling for a bit and get me back on what I enjoy about running.

As I finished my run I thought of how often as Christians we miss opportunities to encourage each other. Too often we rejoice over other people's discomfort and problems when we should be praying for them and encouraging them. Too often we pass by someone struggling and barely notice them.

The guy on the hill didn't have to say anything. I sure didn't recognize him. He could have just given me that half head nod guys usually give each other.

But he didn't...

Foreclosure Wickedness

2011-02-17T16:38:00.000-08:00

Recently, CBS News ran a story about foreclosures. Not really a new topic given the current economic environment.

But reporter John Blackwell took a look at wealthy people in foreclosure. These particular homeowners are people who own million dollar homes and are able to pay the mortgage yet make a "business decision" and choose not to pay what the mortgage holder.

The reporter interviewed a guy who said that his house was worth $400,000 less than what he owed and it didn't make sense for him to sink money into a bad investment even though he could afford the $10,000 monthly mortgage payment. The homeowner said that the bank could take the loss.

Banks are even more reluctant to foreclose on million dollar homes since these homes cost a lot just to keep in sale-able shape. And a foreclosed million dollar plus home brings down the values of the neighborhood. One estimate is that one in twelve homes nationwide is in foreclosure and the rate is one in seven homes valued over a million dollars.

I want to be really clear that I am not talking about the average homeowner facing foreclosure due to job loss or other reasons. And there have been plenty of reports of banks abusing the foreclosure process. A lot of people are in desperate financial situations and foreclosure is the only way out for many people. Again: I am not talking about the average person facing foreclosure today.

But these are the people who are deliberately not paying their mortgages when they are able to pay.

In Psalm 37:21 it says: "The wicked borrows and does not repay, but the righteous is gracious and giving." (Holman Christian Standard Bible). I looked at a whole bunch of translations and I couldn't find a one that was any less clear on this subject.

Borrowing and not repaying when you have the ability to repay is wickedness. There is no out for making a "bad investment". This kind of behavior is not worthy of praise, it is only worthy of condemnation.

And I don't think I would trust someone who I knew pulled this sort of stunt. In anything...

Outside Again

2011-02-14T15:21:00.000-08:00

Yesterday the temperature hit 54. A nice day.

I haven't been able to run outside for a couple of weeks. We had a large snow storm the first of February and then last week we had a couple of inches. Large piles of snow blocked a lot of sidewalks and the trails I like to run on were covered with six or seven inches of snow.

So I have been stuck inside for my workouts. And I hate that. I have to get on the treadmill. And I really hate that. The only good part is that I get to see Jeopardy and yell at the contestants.

But there has been some good melting for the last few days and yesterday the streets were finally wide enough for me to feel semi safe running. I was able to wear shorts and get out in the sun.

It was great to get outside and run again even though there were still large piles of snow all over the place. There were a couple of bonehead drivers who cut it kind of close to me. Probably the same people who don't shovel their walks after a snow storm.

But the one thing I noticed is that I was kind of out of shape to run outside. Not out of shape, just off my form and not quite ready to run. A couple of pounds of sludge and crud seemed to have built up. It wasn't really a struggle but it wasn't a lot of fun either.

But today was much better. Felt better and ran faster even though I slept lousy last night (had to get up and talk with God about a couple of things at 135 this morning) and it was a bit colder out.

As I ran today, I realized that my relationship with God is kind of like that. If I am not daily working on that relationship, it gets off. There is kind of a build up of sludge that I have to clean out. I have to deal with those issues (lets call them what they are: my sin) that come between me and God on a daily basis.

But if I don't take the initiative and deal with that sin, it festers and slows me down, seeping into my joints and making me ineffective in my relationship with others. Its way easier to deal with it on a daily basis. The walk with Him is easier even as I grow stronger and take on greater challenges. If I am not daily working on the relationship, it makes it easier to take another day off and pretty soon I am heading in a totally different direction.

And I have to take that initiative. God is patient and waits for me to come back and confess my sins. No on else can do it for me.

Kind of like my runs...

Tourists in Egypt

2011-02-06T09:29:00.000-08:00

As I write this the situation in Egypt is still up in the air.

Mubarak is still in power and the protests continue although there seems to be signs of protest fatigue after two weeks of protests. The protesters are growing tired.

I have watched as much of the news as I can handle. I have read as much of the newspapers and blogs coming out as I can stomach.

One image has stood out to me. About a week ago, I was watching the NBC Nightly News. The report was about how many museums and tourist attractions were closed.

Two tourists were standing outside of the pyramids. I am not sure whether or not they were Americans. I thought they spoke English with a slight accent that I couldn't quite place.

They were told that the pyramids were closed and that they should be open tomorrow. the couple expressed disappointment and said "What can you do? I guess we'll just have to come back tomorrow."

My thought as to what you can do: Get out! The country is crumbling around you and you want to see the pyramids? I realize that this could be a once in a lifetime trip, but you do not want it to be the last of your lifetime.

I guess the thing that irked me the most was that they seemed totally clueless as to what is going on around them.

And I hope that I am never that clueless...

Running in the Snow

2011-01-26T15:44:00.000-08:00

Today I went out for a run after work.

It was the first time I have gone running outside since the snow storm a week ago.
By the way, I hate running on the treadmill. This was confirmed several times in the last week.

Anyway, I went out for a run on the route I usually take when I do a short run. Part of the route is on city property along the creek. The city doesn't plow the trail. So it was covered with about four inches of snow. And this was the part with the biggest hill.

Running up the hill was like running up a sand dune.

I have run up sand dunes in the past.

I don't like running up sand dunes.

But I sure like running outside a lot better than I like running on snow...

Coyotes

2011-01-17T14:42:00.000-08:00

I've seen coyotes around here over the years.

There was one that came up out of a creek a few miles north of here.
I've seen them in various fields as we've driven on country roads usually skulking along a tree or brush line.

And I've seen them on the road as roadkill.

A couple of years ago we were camping up in Nebraska and I heard a pack howling at night. It was awesome to hear them calling. I asked at the campground office the next day and the staff said that there were two packs in and near the park.

The other night I was having some trouble sleeping. And around 123o in the morning, I heard the distinctive sound of a coyote howling. It was quickly joined by another and then another. In the end there were at least four all howling.

It sounded like it was right behind us but I know it was further away. My wife slept through it. The dog slept through it.

And I was blessed to hear the call. It was a reminder that the wild is not very far away, even though I may try to push it away.

And I slept well after that...

You Can Be Everything God Wants You to Be

2011-01-13T15:36:00.000-08:00

You Can Be Everything God Wants You to Be is by Max Lucado.

This is a short easy read suitable for a gift especially for graduation. The various passages in the book are taken from his 2005 book: Cure for the Common Life. I haven't read that book but I enjoyed this one.

The book itself is very quick and easy to read. It encourages us to find our uniqueness in life and to live out that uniqueness in all that we do.

We are created as individuals. As a unique individual. And there are things that only each of us can do in our unique way in our unique situation and time and place. It may be something great or it may be something small but it is one-of-a-kind for each of us.

The book also goes to great lengths to point out that you can not be anything you want to be. This is contrary to many of the contemporary books out there. But it is a very refreshing point of view.

I recommend this book especially as a gift for a graduate.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Snow

2011-01-10T15:04:00.000-08:00

Snowing today. Pretty much snowed all day.

Five to seven inches.

School canceled all over the place.

Crummy roads.

I love it.

So far I have utterly destroyed the neighbors in the annual "Keeping the Driveway and Sidewalk Clean" contest. Problem is that I don't think that the neighbors know there is a contest.

Anyway, so far I have shoveled four times and have at least one more time to go tonight (another inch or so on the way).

I believe in the shovel early, shovel often method of snow shoveling rather than the more common (in Kansas at least) of shovel once no matter how much snow we get method.

Must be a hold over from my Dad getting me up early (and at least once late at night) to shovel during the Minnesota blizzards we had during the evening.

Kind of a scary thought.

Better go shovel again.

I need to keep a firm lead in the this contest...

A Week and a Day

2011-01-08T07:50:00.000-08:00

Over the past seventeen years or so, I have read through the entire Bible twelve or thirteen times and the New Testament about 15 or 16 times. I have followed a plan that I found in a long forgotten book. I started at Genesis, Job and Matthew and read a chapter or two a day out of the Old Testament books and one a day out of the New Testament ones. When I finished one section I went back and started again.

So I ended up reading a lot of different books together over the years.

Over the years this has served me well. I began to see how the Bible is a whole, how the Old Testament ties into the New Testament, how much prophecy there is, how God uses really flawed people.

For the most part I have not been dogmatic about reading every day and have long stretches where I have not been very faithful at daily reading.

Recently, we started going to a church where they have developed a plan to take the whole church through the Bible in a year. It is called OWNit365 and can be found at OWNit365.com.

This plan starts at Genesis and Job and you read a couple of chapters a day. You get to take Sunday off or use it as a catch up day. You are reading from the Old Testament and from either the Wisdom books (Job, Psalms, Proverbs, etc) or the New Testament each day.

The sermons are based on readings for the week, the Sunday school lessons are based on the readings for the week, small group curriculum is based on the readings. There are tip sheets and pod casts and there a tremendous amount of work has gone into the program.

So Loralie and I have decided to do the program.

I have been at it for a week and a day. Started on 1 January.

What I have found so far: I love this plan.

I am taking more notes on each days reading and going deeper into each passage than I have at other times. I am learning more. And I am praying more.

Those are good things by the way.

But I have had to add in a chapter from the New Testament each day. I ended last year at Colossians 3 so I started this year reading from Colossians 4 along with the daily readings from the plan. I just couldn't abandon what I have been doing for the past seventeen or so years. I'll modify my reading so that I can stay on track with the plan as we go through this.

It will be very interesting to see how this all plays out through the year. The idea of taking a whole (semi-large) church through the Bible in year is pretty incredible.

There are several thousand people from around the world taking part in this. I will be interested in seeing how many are in this at the end of the year.

By the way, as I was talking with Loralie this morning, I told her: "I have to go get my Bible reading done for the day so i don't have to read the Bible on the Sabbath"

Gotta admit: that sounded a bit strange even to me...

Surrender

2011-01-05T14:24:00.000-08:00

Surrender is not in my nature. Part of the reason may be my history as a marine officer. Part of the reason may be that I just don't like to lose. And surrender seems a lot like losing.

But lately, I've been reminded that I just have to surrender to God. And by doing so I can be a winner.

For the past two years we've been looking for a church home. The reasons are not important, lets just say that we've been looking. And we've visited a lot of churches.

We thought that we had found a church home. We (my wife and I) were both serving in roles that we were used to and good at doing. But then it all turned south.

My wife found herself shut out of her ministry. Friends and prayer partners told her that she absolutely should be using her gifts in the local church. But here she was shut out with her talents and gifts not being utilized while I was being used a lot.

One morning, very early, I was out running and I heard God tell me: find a new church. It was very distinct. A few weeks later we met with the pastor and the Director of Education (DCE) to talk about the situation. The pastor asked us what was on our minds with regards to the church so I told him what God had told me.

It kind of stopped the conversation for a while

But the conversation just confirmed to me that it was time to go.

We were both deeply wounded by events and people at our past two churches. It took a while for me to realize that I was also wounded. I am a little slow sometimes. We are not blameless in how we have handled things but we have attempted to resolve things in a biblical manner.

It is interesting though. As we quit beating our heads against the door of the local church God has opened up doors outside the church for my wife to use her gifts in ministry to others. Some of these have been in church settings and some of these have been in secular settings.

You see it is the surrender to God's will that made the difference.

So now we are in attending a non denominational church where there is no chance (right now) of my wife using her gifts. But we are being fed God's Word in huge, heaping spoonfuls.

And that is OK.

Because God is still opening doors and showing us where to use the gifts He gives us. Sometimes the way is clear and sometimes it is just the next step that is clear and sometimes it is pretty dark and cloudy and we just have to trust that there is a stepping stone in the fog.

And that is way better than butting our heads against institutions and religion and closed doors.

And way more exciting too...

Numbers

2011-01-03T16:04:00.000-08:00

It is common at the end of a year to reflect back on what has happened over the course of the year. I came up with a bunch of numbers.

One is 1000. I reffed my 1000th career soccer match last year. I also reffed 127 matches. Lot of time spent on the pitch.

I also ran 544.14 miles last year. It took 80 hours 52 minutes and 16 seconds of running time. This is in addition to the time spent in soccer matches.

Then there is 3.375. We refinanced the house and got that interest rate late in the year. That number truly boggles my mind.

And there is 87, the number of Insanity workouts that I did early in the year.

Four came up as the number of times I donated blood. One was the time rejected for being too healthy.

Oh, and three wrestling meets with a total of 120 matches reffed.

47 Bible studies were led on Tuesday mornings at Denny's for CBMC. Missed five for various reasons.

My Dad turned 80 this year, a true milestone. Fun to celebrate at Mahoney State Park in Nebraska.

Speaking of Nebraska, the number one comes to mind, since both kids survived a one car rollover on the way to Mahoney on Father's Day. The One True God was certainly in evidence that day.

These are the numbers that came easily to mind (or to hand from the computer). Truly mind boggling.

Looking forward to 2011...

Floyd

2010-11-27T17:05:00.000-08:00

Floyd is coming home. I don't knw how long he has been away. I know it has been awhile since he was home.

And it is a shock that he is coming home. It took a lot of hard work, some luck and it cost a guy his job to get Floyd home.

And today, the University of Minnesota beat Iowa to bring Floyd of Rosedale home to Minnesota. A nice tradition and a totally unexpected win for the Gophers.

The coach was fired mid season. Sometimes a new face is what is needed. A new face cna bring a new atitude. Old excuses are gone.

Might be worth watching a game or two more next year...

The New Phone

2010-11-07T13:43:00.000-08:00

My son and some of his college buddies moved into a house that my wife and I own last Spring.

Good bunch of guys (better son).

We were doing some work on the place after they had moved in. Finishing hanging doors and finishing a shower and stuff like that.

My son was setting up the Internet and cable for the place. Like most young people today, he and his buds only use cell phones. When he went to get the cable and Internet set up the cable company gave him four handsets for his new land line. It was part of the "deal".

So he set it up. Took a couple of calls to customer service.

He got it set up. I called his number from my cell. Worked great.

Then my wife and son ran to Home Depot to pick up a few things. This is the same Home Depot that sent my wife a handwritten thank you note for all the business we were doing while we rehabbed the house.

As they were pulling out of the alley the phone rang. Not my cell phone, the new land line. I figured my son was calling to see how it sounded on the call in side.

But no, it was a sale call. It wasn't more than twenty minutes after he got the line set up and working.

The other day, I asked him if they ever got any calls on the land line. He said no, it was all sales and political calls.

Not more than 18 years ago, we got a first cell phone, a bag phone for emergencies only. Now it is the primary means of communication for a generation. Land lines are going the way of the telegram.

At least the political calls are over for now...

One Thousand

2010-09-22T15:47:00.000-07:00

In March of 2000, I became a certified soccer referee. I started out doing little kids games and then older kids and adults and high school games.

Recently, I refereed my 1,000th soccer match. Some have been as referee (center) and some have been as assistant referee (linesman).

I have kept track of my games from the start to make sure that I get paid correctly and also to make sure that I pay my taxes properly.

The game itself wasn't all that special. A mid division, girls premier, under 15 match. I was the referee. Thirty five minute halves. No cards, no real problems, score of 6-1. There were a couple of areas that I could improve on.

This has caused me to reflect a bit.

You see, hitting 1,000 games made me realize how big a mile stone that is. A hundred games came and went without notice. Same with 500.

But a thousand, why that is four digit territory! It means about fifteen hundred hours on the pitch. It means a lot of weekends and evenings in the sun, rain, wind, snow, clouds and temps from 15 degrees to over 100. It means over three thousand miles running and countless bottles of water.

It meant reffing with my daughter and son. A true highlight even if neither still refs.

It is constant learning and trying to improve. I now referee totally differently than I did ten years ago. While some coaches, players and parents might think otherwise, I think that I do a pretty good job.

There are a lot of people who don't referee this long. I know of some guys who have passed on and many kids who didn't like the constant criticism. I think I have a thicker skin now. I realize just how ignorant most coaches and especially parents are of the game. Most kids playing the game never hit a thousand games played.

So what does it all mean? In the long run, not much.

But I am proud of it...

Back

2010-09-22T15:45:00.000-07:00

I was reminded recently that I need to post some new items. And so I shall.

My excuse is that I have been busy beyond belief. But that is just that: an excuse.

So I shall endeavour to be more regular from here on out.

Everyone Communicates Few Connect by John Maxwell

2010-03-29T18:46:00.000-07:00

This is a manual on connecting with others. There is a lot of value of in this book and I recommend it.

In today’s media driven environment, we are often bombarded with words, images, programs and other attempts to sway us to a certain point of view. Most of this onslaught goes unnoticed and we fail to pay any attention. John Maxwell points out that “Connecting with others is the ability to identify with people and relate to them in a way that increases your influence with them.” Most communication directed our way doesn't connect.

John lays out Five Principles and then Five Practices on connecting with others spending a chapter on each. At the end of each chapter is a summation that provides practical points for connecting one-on-one, connecting in a group and connecting with an audience. I found these summations especially helpful and concise.

The only issue I have is that it appears that the bulk of the information in the chapters themselves seems to focus on connecting with an audience. But this is a minor complaint.

As far as I can tell this is the first book that John has put out on his blog for a period of time for comment prior to publication. He used more than seventy quotes, anecdotes and stories and made over a hundred corrections and improvements based on net feedback. It was a lot of fun to be reading along and find a quote from a guy I knew in high school.

I received this book free from Thomas Nelson Publishers as part of their BookSneeze.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Be Careful Who You Help?

2010-03-12T10:18:00.000-08:00

Big basketball game on Wednesday last week. Kansas State played at Kansas. Kansas State was ranked number five and Kansas was ranked number two.

Place was pretty nuts. Students camped out for a week to get tickets (Classes? We don’t need no stinking classes (yes, I know that there is a group system that means that only one person has to be in a line at a time)). The local ticket outlet was totally sold out. The highest price I heard of for a ticket was $1,200.

Kansas won. Great game.

Turns out that last December on a flight from Los Angeles to Kansas City, one of the assistant coaches for Kansas (Kurtis Townsend) had met a woman who graduated from KU a few years ago. She talked about wanting to take her brother to a game on his birthday and Coach Townsend arranged for a couple of tickets to be left for her.

Pretty common for coaches to leave tickets for alumni and fans.

After the game, the woman sent out a Twitter to her “small” group of followers (only about 2,000) talking about a what a great game it was and thanking Coach Townsend for the tickets.

Problem: The woman is a porn star.

And word started to get around about the whole thing.

So then Coach Townsend had to talk with the press and the University about the whole thing. And he had to explain to his wife about how he knew an adult film actress.

The coach says that he didn’t know what she did for a living and there is no reason to doubt him.

The University doesn’t think that Coach Townsend did anything wrong. Head Coach Bill Self doesn’t think that Coach Townsend did anything wrong. And not that it matters, but I don’t think he did anything wrong either.

I think he was just trying to do something nice for a fan of the team.

And it came around to bite him. Happens.

Sometimes we’ll try to help someone and it won’t work out the way we expect. Doesn’t mean we shouldn’t quit helping them. Just means that it didn’t work out the way we expected it to work out…

Free at Last

2010-03-04T04:08:00.000-08:00

The family just switched out cell phone plans. We have had the same carrier for about ten years. But we came to the conclusion that we could save about $30 a month by moving to a different carrier.

We looked at a lot of different plans and carriers. The big problem is that most of them require a two year commitment. We didn’t want that. We wanted the freedom to be able to switch carriers at will if they start to raise rates.

The catch is that we have to buy our own phones. And phones cost more than they are advertised for. Because you pay for the phone over the life of the contract. And you keep paying for those phones.

But we were able to get our old carrier to unlock our phones since they were old. My wife spent several hours wading through phone tree hell to get the unlock codes (and one of the codes she got from one rep was totally wrong).

But with the help of a patient clerk at the new carrier and a last minute call to the old carrier’s customer service, we got all of our phones successfully unlocked and switched over.

So we now have a new cell phone provider with the same cell phone numbers as before.

And we have no contract and no obligation.

Reminds me of sin. It binds me to death. When I accept Christ as my savior I am set free from death.

And through his death on the cross I am free at last…

Rejected

2010-03-01T18:47:00.000-08:00

I recently went in to donate blood.

I went in early on a Saturday right when they opened. This was so that I would be able to donate early and then make it to a gun show before the crowds hit.

Things went pretty normal. Signed in. Hung the number outside the screening room, Closed the door. Read the instructions. Answered the questions. Opened the door. Reviewed the questions with the reviewer: Yes, I served in the military (not in Europe). Yes, I have been to Africa (Somalia, 1982), Yes, I have been out of the country in the last three years (Mexico, March 2007).

Then I got to the physical check. Arms OK, (no needle tracks). Temperature 97.8 (must be my cold, cold heart). And then the new automated blood pressure/heart rate machine with instructions not to move or talk during the test. Blood pressure a nice 118/70. Pulse 44.

Minimum to donate is 50. Except if you are a runner. Then it is 46.

The screener went out the door to talk with the supervisor.

So two more tests with instructions to “stress out”. Blood pressure rose each time. Pulse the second time: 44. Pulse the third time: 43.

Rejected.

I understand the reason. They are worried about slow donations and people fainting. But I have never had any problems with that.

And I don’t blame the screeners and people at the local office who were only following the ironclad criteria laid down by the Main Center of the Community Blood Services. Because I know from previous conversations that they get hammered by the people in quality control if they mess up in any way on the paperwork.

And I can go back and try to donate the next day, although it will be at least a week.

So now I have a letter to write to the Main Center. And I have to point out that if comes down to a choice between my health and donating blood, it will be my health. For it is my health that allows me to donate blood in the first place (I don't want to give the impression that I am bragging for I realize that I have been blessed by good genes).

This is not really a big deal. I have been more amused by this than anything else. The fact that I am “too healthy” to donate is a weird idea.

But it has made me think: How many times have I rejected someone because of my ironclad criteria without regard for the circumstances of the individual?

The Map: The Way of All Great Men by David Murrow

2010-03-01T10:21:00.000-08:00

Two things: First, The Map is a book for men and for women who want to understand men. The author freely acknowledges that he has not figured out the implications for women. Second, it is a work of both fiction and nonfiction.

That said, I am really torn about this book. The first half of the book and the epilogue are a story about a map to spiritual maturity found in an ancient Greek monastery. I did not like this part of the book at all. It was all too contrived, too pat and too fantastic. I would have enjoyed the story more if it read like a story instead of reading like a first person memoir.

Once I got in to the second nonfiction part, I enjoyed the book more. The author’s basic premise is that all great men follow three separate journeys of submission, strength and sacrifice. Although this is written from a Christian and Biblical perspective, he does not confine it to the religious arena entirely.

The main issue I have is that the author tends to view the three journeys as separate when they should build on each other. We should operate in strength under submission and sacrifice from strength under submission. While the author briefly acknowledges that they are not entirely separate, the main thrust of the book is that they are.

All that being said there is some value here in the tools, pitfalls and suggestions the author lays out. I recommend that you skip the first 102 pages and just read the last 124 pages while ignoring most of the epilogue.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Thomas Nelson Publishers as part of their BookSneeze.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Lake Placid

2010-02-22T17:12:00.000-08:00

Thirty years ago today the Miracle on Ice in Lake Placid, NY took place when the United States defeated the Soviets in hockey at the 1980 Winter Olympics.

Like many people my memory gets a little clouded over the years. Until just a day or so ago I thought that I had heard the game on the radio and watched the gold medal game on TV. But I realized that it was the other way around. It’s strange how memories can come back because I distinctly remember listening to the US score two goals while walking outside in the sunlight. The gold medal game took place during the day.

I watched the US team beat the Soviets on the 13 inch black and white TV in my apartment in Minneapolis. Two days later I listened to the USA defeated Finland in the gold medal match over a battery powered transistor radio while I was in the library at the University of Minnesota studying for one of the few times in my undergraduate college life.

Maybe it is growing up at the edge of hockey country in western Minnesota that let the game have such an impact on me. I remember going down to the rink at the end of block when it was still half flooded and skating in the dark with no nets, just hacking away at the puck. And just how bad the warming house smelled at the end of the season. And guys coming to school on a Monday with frostbit ears from long, cold weekends spent skating outside. And playing street hockey in a friend’s driveway during the summer with no pads to cushion the falls to the concrete.

It hard for many people today to realize just what a momentous game that was for the country. The United States was in the depths of the Cold War with the Soviet Union. The Soviet Union controlled Eastern Europe which they had essentially occupied since the end of World War 2.

Nuclear war was a real possibility as two massive armies faced off nervously in Europe. Military doctrine at the time was one of massive tank armies battling to see which one could survive long enough to be the winner.

In Iran, a bunch of “students” had taken over the United States Embassy and held the staff and Marine Security detail hostage for several months. The father of one of the guys in my ROTC unit was one of the hostages.

And a lot of people were talking about appeasement with the Soviets.

The Olympics were for amateurs, no professionals were allowed. The Soviet hockey team was almost entirely made up of the Red Army team and all the players were in the Soviet Army. Their duties were to play hockey.

The United States team was made up of a bunch of college students coached by Herb Brooks after he quit coaching the University of Minnesota team. A bunch of amateurs against a bunch of pros. There was a sense of magic about the team. It had been 20 years since the US team had won at the Olympics in another improbable set of circumstances. Those games were also held in Lake Placid.

The game showed us one thing: the Soviets were not unbeatable.

In one way, the victory in Lake Placid marks for me the beginning of the end of an era.

Two years later I stood on the deck of an LHA, the Belleau Wood, in the middle of the Indian Ocean watching two Soviet Bear long range bombers fly overhead and take pictures of the Amphibious Task Force. Less than ten years later, the wall fell in Berlin and the Soviet behemoth cracked, fractured and splintered and I held my infant son in my arms and cried as I told him maybe he wouldn’t have to go and serve.

The world changes and other boogey men and bad guys come and go and in many ways the world is a much more complicated place than it was thirty years ago.

But I still believe in miracles...

A Century Turns by William J. Bennett

2010-02-16T16:23:00.000-08:00

The subtitle of this book is "New Hopes, New Fears". I haven't read too many history books in the last few years. But this one caught and kept my attention. For one thing, it describes a lot of events that I lived through. For another, it is written in an easily readable form that drew me in.

This book is a follow on to two other books (America: The Last Best Hope) that Mr Bennett has written that have been used in teaching history in colleges and secondary schools. A Century Turns covers the time from the elections in 1988 to the elections in 2008.

Overall A Century Turns enlightens and illuminates a strange and in some ways frightening time in our world. From the fall of the iron curtain to the rise of the Internet to the fall of the Twin Towers to the election of Barak Obama, the two decades covered have been a time of drastic and rapid change.

We tend to get focused on what is going on in our immediate lives on a daily basis. As I read this book I was struck by just how much I missed during this time period. Not the big things, but the little things that influenced the big events in both the United States and the world.

The author was involved in many of the incidents he describes either as a central player with inside access or an ancillary character viewing events from the outside of the power circles. And therein lies my only complaint about the book: I do not always follow some of the conclusions that the author draws. Occasionally it seems that he adds one plus one and gets one and half (in other words, not quite two). But this is a minor complaint and definitely not a fatal flaw.

I recommend A Century Turns, New Hopes, New Fears to anyone interested in discovering the background of the events that are influencing our nation and world today.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Thomas Nelson Publishers as part of their BookSneeze.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Free Book by Brian Tome

2010-01-28T14:31:00.000-08:00

Free Book is the latest work by Brian Tome, pastor of Crossroads in Cincinnati. This book is about freedom. Freedom from fear, freedom from sin and freedom from the legalism that Christians often wrap themselves in. It is not a license to do whatever we want, but freedom to really live within the boundaries God has laid out for us.

I absolutely loved this book.

The review copy came at exactly the right time for me. I plowed through it as quick as I could and found myself writing notes and underlining quotes and searching the web to find out the background of some of the statements Brian makes. I don't often do that.

Brian speaks in clear language that is often humorous and self deprecating. He backs up his thesis through thorough biblical references that are not taken out of context (I looked them all up).

Throughout the book, Brian lays out practical steps for freeing you from bondage. I was often reminded of Neil T. Andersons book: The Bondage Breaker. This book will challenge you.

Not everyone will be ready to take a critical look at themselves and their beliefs. But I have been in a church that was more interested in pleasing the community than in pleasing God. I recommend you read this book with an open mind and I do recommend that you read it.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Thomas Nelson Publishers as part of their BookSneeze.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Fawkes

2010-01-27T15:31:00.000-08:00

For Christmas my son gave me an XBox 360 game: Fallout 3: Game of the Year Edition.

Really an addictive game. Wandering through the wasteland around Washington DC a couple hundred years in the future.

A lot of the decisions that you make affect the course of the game and how it plays out. You can be good or bad or neutral (karma in the game).

At one point you will come across a character named Fawkes. Depending on your karma he may be recruited to help you out in the future.

I am not really good at video games and tend to die a lot (think it has to do with the fact that I was in college when Pong came out). But it sure makes it a lot easier to have Fawkes along with me during this game.

He has saved me from a lot of grief along the way so far. The big guy can carry whatever I give him. And he has unlimited ammo. And his thick skin lets him take a lot of damage. And he tends to see danger before I do. He's got my back.

Now I realize that this is just a video game and Fawkes is just a figment of the Artificial Intelligence (AI) of the game engine.

But it really points out just how tough it is to "go it alone." Having someone to rely on is valuable.

Kind of like life. God did not make us to go it alone, he made us to live in community with others. This includes not only our spouse and kids, but other members of our families and our friends and others. Life is easier in community

We will still have challenges and trials and things won't go the way we want to go. But having others that we can rely on when things get tough can make all the difference.

Oh, sure, Fawkes can be annoying at times. He makes the same stupid Zen comments that don't make sense, over and over and he blocks the door all too often when I am trying to get out of a room.

But it sure is handy to have him around to help me get over my mistakes...

The Cyst

2010-01-21T17:08:00.000-08:00

For the past several years I have had a cyst slowly growing on my head. It started out pretty small.

It has gradually grown bigger over the years. For most of the time, it has not been a problem. Until recently. Then it started to get in the way. I started to ding it every time that I cut my hair. And it became more and more obvious when I looked in the mirror.

This week I got fed up and had it removed.

The doctor did a good job. He made a small incision and took the cyst out. Three stitches. No bandage. Hard to see. I will have a small scar though.

Took away all the jokes I had planned about getting the hole in my head spackled. Kind of depressed about that.

Anyway, as I thought about this I realized that the cyst is kind of like sin in my life. It can start out kind of small and hidden. Then, over time, it grows and becomes more obvious and starts to interfere with things.

It can't be tolerated or I will be totally disfigured.

So I have to deal with it. I have to cut the sin out.

But I will have been changed by the sin.

No matter how good and completely that I remove the sin, scars will remain.

But the scars are not the same as the sin.

Scars are a sign of character...

Anniversary Cold

2010-01-15T14:37:00.000-08:00

This past Saturday Loralie and I celebrated our twenty-eighth wedding anniversary.

We got married on the coldest day of the century. Wind chill was 98 below and we have the paper to prove it. We flew out the next day to get to North Carolina where we were stationed in the Marine Corps.

Flew from Fargo to Minneapolis to Chicago to Atlanta to North Carolina. Three plane changes seven takeoffs and landings. The cold followed us down. In Chicago it was so cold that the ramp that swings out to the plane was frozen and we had to get out on the tarmac to get off the plane.

And it was right around freezing in Atlanta.

Then this past weekend we saw some pretty cold temperatures again. Brought back memories of that weekend in 1982 even though we weren't in Minnesota.

And the snow was just as deep in Kansas as it was in Minnesota...

The Winter of Our Discontent

2010-01-03T09:22:00.000-08:00

Here it is: Three days into the new year and I've shoveled about a dozen times already.

Pretty unusual.

You see, where we live here in Kansas, most of the snow that falls melts within a few days. We spend a lot of the winter with no snow on the ground. But this winter is different. We are having snow after snow. And it is staying cold.

By my calculations we are at roughly 18 inches for the winter already. There is around eight inches on the flat.

As I was shoveling early this morning, I had the realization that this was just like a Minnesota winter. Piles of snow and cold weather.

I realize that it is not near as cold here as it is up north, but it is cold enough.

Many people have not shoveled out from the first big snow storm preferring to just ram their way through the snow and ice clogging their driveways. I, on the other hand, subscribe to the: Shovel Early, Shovel Often" philosophy of snow removal. It is better to get out and shovel several small snow falls than to try and clear it all at once after the snow quits falling. Keeps ice from forming and the snow loads from being too heavy.

And there is a certain sense of accomplishment from looking out at a clean driveway and sidewalk several times.

So for the time being, I'll keep on clearing snow as it falls.

But there is another "heavy snow event" due in on Wednesday...

Black Friday

2009-11-28T05:43:00.000-08:00

I have been trying to get the dog out for a walk early every morning during the week. This means that I leave the house around 445. On both Thanksgiving day and Black Friday, I made it out the door right around that time.

Thanksgiving Day was quiet. Not a lot of traffic out. A stark contrast from most days when delivery vans are making early morning deliveries and the first shift crew is showing up at the dry cleaning plant over in the industrial area down the road.

On Friday there was a steady stream of traffic heading south on the main drag a block from the house. At 504 AM (yes, I checked the time) Nikki (our aging beagledor) and I got near the twenty four hour Walmart that we are blessed to have a half mile from the house.

The parking lot was full. Cars and pick up trucks were circling the lot looking for parking spots. Almost like sharks on a feeding frenzy seeking their prey. The was the most full that I have ever seen the parking lot.

Stark contrast with the day before when the lot was almost empty at that time.

And a stark contrast from the day before when we give thanks for all the things that our Creator has blessed us with.

I have to be honest. I have gone out to get the early deals on Black Friday exactly once. And I may again.

But as I was walking Nikki in the clear, cold, early morning air with the stars shinging, I came to realize that there is little that I need. I have a lot of wants but few things that I need (a 12 gauge short barreled shotgun (long story for another post) and a cell phone that receives email are the only things that come to mind right now).

Please note that it is OK with me if you were one of the people lining up to get the bargains. That is your decision. And in some cases it is a great way to stretch the holiday dollar for gifts.

My son and I did hit four stores later in the morning, including that same Walmart, when some semblance of order (and parking spots) had returned. And he got some great deals on some things he wanted.

But I sure enjoyed my early morning walk...

Thanksgiving

2009-11-24T15:45:00.000-08:00

I was a bit irritated. Twas the second time in a row that the pest control guy showed up right as I was ready to leave work. Doesn't take him too long but I have to hang around and sign the paperwork.

And I was ready to call it a day.

I remembered that I have to deal with the person in front of me. Or I should say I get the privilege of dealing with the person in front of me.

Didn't he realize that he was interfering with my plans? Obviously not. So I had that little internal talk with myself that he was just doing his job. And rather than express my displeasure at a few minutes delay I resolved to be pleasant (I know, some of you are thinking that is pretty unusual).

By the way, in case you are wondering, the warehouse has to be sprayed monthly to keep the bugs out. And we do clean it up every once in a while. Lots of nooks and crannys for crawly things to hide.

When he got to my office, before I could even say "Hi", he asked me if I was looking forward to Thanksgiving. I told him that I was and asked him if he was staying around or traveling and if he had family coming in.

And out it came: his wife had passed away in January. And he was having his in-laws over for Thanksgiving dinner because he figured that he could handle that part of the holidays. He was really looking forward to the occasion.

And then he said with enthusiasm and a huge grin: "I just love Thanksgiving!"

And I was ashamed of myself for being irritated just a few minutes before...

Evanglizing the Lutheran Faith

2009-11-18T16:30:00.000-08:00

Just read an online Associated Press article about a group called Lutheran Coalition of Renewal (CORE). This group is exploring the possibility of forming a new Lutheran organization after the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) voted this past August to lift a ban that had prohibited sexually active gay and lesbian pastors from serving as clergy.

This is not about that decision.

This is about one line in the report that bugged me. One of the organizers (Ryan Schwarz of Washington, DC) said that "While this is of course a wrenching decision, there is also a sense of hope in refocusing on our true mission, which is evangelizing the Lutheran faith."

I don't think there is a "Lutheran faith."

A disclaimer: I am a life long Lutheran. I was raised a member of the American Lutheran Church one of the synods that merged with others to form the ELCA in the 1980s. I now belong to a Lutheran Church Missouri Synod congregation. This is not to get into a discussion of Lutheran theology and doctrine.

But over the past six months I have visited a lot of different churches from a lot of different denominations. And none of them have the lock on salvation.

Period.

What I mean is this: I do not achieve salvation because I am a member of a particular synod, church, denomination or faith. I achieve salvation and eternal life because Jesus Christ died on the cross for my sins and because I believe that he did.

Period.

And that salvation is between me and Christ. A church or a church body can not get in the middle of that.

Denominations have a lot to do with our comfort. We are more comfortable in this church with that style of music. Or our friends go to that church. Or I like the youth leader. Or the pastor really speaks to me. And hopefully, by belonging to a local church, I am built up to go out and tell others about Jesus and what he did on the cross.

And I should not care which church or denomination they end up going to as long as it is a church that teaches that Jesus is the Son of God who died on the cross for my sins.

But there are many churches and denominations that are teaching other stuff. And I have to avoid those. These are Christian in name only.

I am to evangelize only one "faith" And it is not the Lutheran faith or the Catholic faith, or the Methodist faith or any other faith except this one: the faith that Jesus Christ is my Savior, the Christian faith.

For I am convinced that my brothers and sisters in Christ are spread across denominations and synods and churches and the world.

Period.

Moldy Prayer

2009-11-16T17:11:00.000-08:00

Looked at a couple of houses recently. Older houses that have some issues. Or a lot of issues.

A couple have had mold. Some people just try and paint over the mold. After a few months (weeks?) the mold starts to show through. If you really want to get rid of the mold you have to rip out the wallboard and solve the problem at the source. If you do it right you (or the person you sell the house to) won't have to deal with it again.

Kind of like prayer. All too often my prayer is just a surface prayer. Just a list of please do this and please do that and please get it done before breakfast.

Don't get me wrong. There are times when a quick prayer is all that I can pull off. Like when I am reffing a soccer match.

But if I really want to be an effective prayer, I have to get in and do the heavy lifting, the work. I have to grapple with the issue at hand and what God is telling me to do. I have to be willing to put my sweat and blood and tears into prayer.

And that means tearing off my walls before God. And letting Him in to clean out the moldy corners of my life that I don't really want to deal with.

And it means that I can't just gloss over the issues at hand. I have to put time in and work through them.

Prayer is work. And too often I approach it as play...

Hope

2009-11-12T16:42:00.000-08:00

I don't watch much network TV anymore. I watch a somewhat eclectic mix of shows mostly on cable.

These tend to be shows like Eureka!, Ninja Warrior, Warehouse 13, Unbeatable Banzuki, X Play and the Dog Whisperer. In addition to the soccer and other sports shows.

But lately, I've started watching a network show on ABC: Flash Forward.

Interesting premise: The entire population blacks out for a couple of minutes and experiences what is going to happen six months in the future. Some see good stuff, some see bad stuff, some see mundane stuff, some see impossible things and some see nothing.

As the show goes on people develop a certain fatalism about the flash forward. Common thought is that you can't change what you saw. There is also the idea that those who saw nothing die before the six months are up.

Hopelessness that they can influence their future is creeping into all the characters.

Except one. He decides that he can not live with what he sees in his flash forward. So he takes a drastic step to make sure that it doesn't happen. He takes a swan dive off the top of a building into concrete.

And the game changes.

Suddenly.

Drastically.

Hope is back. The future is not set in stone. It can be changed. What people saw in the flash forward is not what is going to happen. And it really starts to throw people for a loop.

The guy who committed suicide gave back hope.

Got me thinking: Am I a hope giver or a hope drainer?

Do I drain hope from others through my words or actions? Or do I encourage others with my words or actions? Is my hope based on others and their actions toward me or is my hope in Christ? My choices matter.

Always.

I am not certain about where the show is going. And I am not so set that I have to see every episode.

But now, I am interested in how it turns out...

Paranoid Prudent Prepared

2009-11-05T14:45:00.000-08:00

I walked to and from work today.
Actually, I did it twice since I walked home for lunch also.

I saw a couple of interesting things: a dead skunk that crawled up on the sidewalk after getting hit by a car. A game trail running from a culvert back into the woodline behind the local grocery store.

But the reason I walked to work was that the district was hosting a swine flu (H1N1) vaccination site with about 2,700 doses. I didn't want to fight the parking situation. Of course I couldn't jaywalk in my usual spot since the police were parked there to control traffic. Had to use the crosswalk and wait for the light.

The School District did a good job of handling a lot of traffic and was ready for the parents bringing in their kids to get vaccinated.

But as I saw the lines of people forming at 6 AM for a 9 AM start, I was struck by what would bring people out with their kids that early in the morning for a nasal shot.

Disclaimer: I do not plan to get a flu shot. Every time I got one in the past I would get sick about a week later. So I don't get them anymore. And I don't get the flu much anymore either. But if you want to get one that is up to you.

Anyway this isn't about flu shots, its about paranoia and being prudent and being prepared. You see we can go too far in any of these.

As I thought of the hundreds of people lining up, I wondered about paranoia and how it affects us. We can go to great lengths to try and protect ourselves and loved ones. But the Bible tells us that we are not to "worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." (Matthew 6:24)

But we are also called to be good stewards of all that is entrusted to us. And that means to me that we must be prudent in how we use the resources that we hold. And we should also be prepared for what may happen. Such as a tornado here in Kansas. Or a blizzard in Minnesota. Or a hurricane in Florida.

Not paranoid over what may never happen. Such as a hurricane in Kansas or a blizzard in Florida. And I want to be clear that I am not saying that people who get flu shots are paranoid.

Paranoia is fear. And fear and worry sucks the joy from our lives so that we miss the beauty of what is going on around us.

Such as a walk to and from work on a gorgeous Fall day.

Small Circles

2009-11-04T14:47:00.000-08:00

We tend to run in small circles.

I don't mean that we go out and physically run in small circles. That is boring. But when you think about it our sphere of contact ends up being pretty small.

It was kind of driven home when I was looking at a website recently that has had some impact both on us and for people around the world. The author has written some very popular books. They recently published some statistics on the readership of the website.

They average around 40,000 unique viewers a day. From around the world. So that is out of billions of people. In the grand scheme of things it is a small part of the population.

We may have lots of contact with people in the course of performing our jobs, or at church or at school. But ultimately we have a pretty small circle that we are involved in.

And that is OK.

You see I have to deal with whoever is in front of me right now. That is my responsibility. Not to change the world.

To develop relationships with those around me.

And if I can have impact with the small circle that I run in, I can be content with that...

Mercy Rule

2009-10-28T02:15:00.000-07:00

Its playoff time! Win or go home in Kansas high school soccer.

Last night I reffed my last high school game of the season. Wasn't much of a game. An 0-13 team against a 16-0 team that is number one in the state and ranked three in the nation. A result of having a one seed face a twelve seed in the playoffs.

It wasn't expected to be much of a game. But for the first twenty minutes I was surprised as the 16-0 team seemed to have difficulty finding traction on the sloppy surface and committed weird fouls and unusual offsides and inexplicably knocked the ball out of play on several occasions.

But ultimately, they got their game going and ran up a 10-0 score right before the end of the half.

And in high school soccer, the meant that the mercy rule was invoked and the game was over.

The mercy rule is this: Any time you are up ten or more goals on an opponent and you have played at least a half of the game the game is over.

It is a good thing. Prevents the score from being run up too high and players injuring other players out of frustration and anger. I know some people will say that it is a sign of the times that we don't play it out to the end.

I disagree.

But that is a rabbit trail to follow at another time.

But anyway, it got me thinking: Do I need a mercy rule in my life?

Are there times when I am so consumed with winning, with being right, with getting the last word in, that I forget about the other person and what it does to them?

Are there times when I plow ahead regardless of the situation bound and determined to get to the "finish" without regard to the cost to those around me?

Are there times when I forget mercy and compassion and let my competitive nature take over?

And unfortunately, for me the answer to those questions is all too often: Yes.

And that is not good.

Funny thing. After the game was over you would be hard pressed to tell which team won and which team lost and get the answer right.

The losing team chased down their coach and sprayed him with water and gathered at midfield as a team and cheered and celebrated. Maybe they were just glad that their season is done and they don't have to practice anymore. Don't know the reason why but their joy was there for all to see.

The winning team gathered up its gear and left after meeting with the coach. Not a lot of joy expressed. After all they were supposed to win this way.

And me? I was glad the game was over and I could go and get warm.

And as I wrote this I had the thoughts creep in that I had written about this situation before.

Guess I better learn the lessons this time...

Thanks

2009-10-25T12:12:00.000-07:00

Today a refereed a soccer match.

It was a Under 15 girls match of the first division. The teams were very evenly matched.

The game was very even until late in the game and fairly physical. I thought I did a pretty good job of managing the game and letting the players on the field decide the outcome.

There were the typical comments from parents and coaches about what a horrible referee I was. I don't hear that every game but I did hear a it a couple of times. What is especially grating is when I am working hard to get into position and see something five yards away and a coach (or parent) forty yards away complains about the call.

Anyway, after the game, had the usual player and coach hand shakes and the coaches said "Thanks."

I debriefed with my assistant referees and we were pretty happy with how we worked the game.

And I got ready to run lines on the next game.

And then something unusual happened. A parent came up to me. That is usually a bad sign. It doesn't happen often. They usually want to complain or say that I took the game away from the players.

This guy came up and shook my hand and said: "thanks, you called a great game and really kept things under control."

I was kind of struck dumb at that one. This gentleman recognized what a difficult task it is and how hard I was working. And he appreciated what I (and the rest of the crew) had done.

I don't know what team he was rooting for. And it wouldn't change anything if I did.

Reminds me that I need to be more appreciative of the work that others do.

And tell them that I appreciate the work that they do a lot more often...

The 900

2009-09-23T15:01:00.000-07:00

Fall is a pretty busy time for me.

Not only is it a return of school and all the headaches that it entails, but it is the start of soccer.

I currently referee high school, youth club soccer and adult league games. There are a lot of referees who work a lot more games than I do. I don't work every night or day of the week.

Part of that is that I am not as young as I used to be. A mans got to know his limitations.

Last week I worked a game between two Christian high schools. I've done both schools several times over the past few years and a lot of the kids were familiar. It was really evenly matched with a back and forth game.

It ended up tied 3-3 at the end of regulation so we went to overtime. At the end of overtime it was still tied so we went to: "shots from the mark" or penalty kicks. The home team ended up winning 4-3.

Really an exciting game. The guys were well behaved (for the most part). The spectators were pretty calm (for the most part) and the coaches didn't yell too much (for the most part). The weather was a rare beautiful fall day. Not too hot and not too cold.

But for me it was also memorable since it was my 900th game refereed. I have kept track of my games ever since I started (mainly to make sure that I got paid).

I know there are plenty of guys who have done more, but that is OK. It is still a milestone that I feel pretty good about.

On to a thousand...

An Interesting Anniversary

2009-09-02T18:16:00.000-07:00

So yesterday, Tuesday 1 September, we finished going through Brother Yun's book: Living Water.

It was a good study. Very thought provoking. And very challenging.

And very long. It took almost eight months to finish at about a chapter a week.

And we finished on 1 September which was the anniversary of Marie Monson setting foot in China in 1901.

Marie was a Lutheran missionary to China who often challenged the leaders of the Chinese church on their faith. She challenged them to repent and have more than head knowledge. They were to have heart knowledge of the Holy Spirit. And they were personally responsible before God for their own inner spiritual life.

Marie showed up in China one year after the Boxer Rebellion where over 150 missionaries and thousands of Chinese converts were killed. She stepped out boldly.

In faith.

When she arrived in China, the church was weak and there were few Christians. Today, millions of Chinese Christians hold her in high regard for they consider themselves her spiritual decedents.

And today we are challenged to step out boldly.

In faith.

Not in comfort.

In faith.

Not in security.

In faith.

It may not be to go to a foreign country to live for 31 years. It might be to just go next door and start building a relationship with our neighbors.

It might be to stand up in our congregation for what we know is right.

It might be to put our agenda on hold to help some stranger in need.

It might be to not give in to pressure at work to "fudge" the numbers a little and to take the consequences.

It might mean having to leave the church that you have been comfortably attending for years to go where you see God working and join them there.

It is to not live in fear of what others may think about us. But to live secure in the knowledge that we are doing what God wants us to do and we are where he wants us to be.

To live in faith and step out boldly is to live the Great Adventure, the only adventure that truly matters for time and for eternity.

And that is scary indeed. For we look about us and see what we have and then we want to hold on to it.

And the unknown can be pretty fear inducing. But if we believe that Christ died on the cross for our sins, we know how the story ends.

And let me never forget that...

Three Gallons

2009-08-29T15:36:00.000-07:00

So this morning I headed off to the local soccer field to ref a couple of games.

Didn't go too bad. Worked fairly hard and no one got hurt.

And now for something completely different...

Now imagine three gallons of milk. Weighs about twenty one pounds. pretty heavy and bulky.

After I finished my games I headed up to the blood center. I had an appointment to donate blood. Took a little while since there were a lot of people there.

Turns out this was my 24th donation. Or three gallons. I got my pin. don't know when I will wear it since i don't wear too many suits.
There are plenty of people around that have donated much, much more than that.

But it is kind of mind boggling to think of having donated three gallons of blood. And that could have saved up to 72 peoples lives. It is really an honor to be able to donate.

Just another eight donations and a year and twelve weeks and it will be four gallons...

Joy Vampires

2009-08-27T16:05:00.000-07:00

Great start to the day!

Up at 440 and headed downstairs with a cup of coffee.
Did my Bible reading: 1 Kings 18, Job 3 and Matthew 17.
Lot of time in prayer.

Fried egg sandwich for breakfast.

Light rain and into work.

Feeling good.

And then they struck. The Joy Vampires. One at time they can be relatively easily handled but when they gang up and all hit at once they are hard to take.

It started with the voice mail and a stupid request from someone who should know better. And then I turned on my e-mail and read a sarcastic e-mail from someone who seemed to think that I should be able to read her mind. I may be psychotic but I am definitely not psychic.

And just like that the joy was sucked out of me. And I was angry and ready to ...

I realized the Joy Vampires had struck and I had let them get the better of me. So I put things in perspective. These requests were important to the people making them even if they seemed idiotic to me. So I handled the requests and moved on to getting the work day organized.

And my joy returned.

And when other Joy Vampires stalked me throughout the day, I was able to fend them off.

You see, the people were not the Joy Vampires (although some people are). The requests were not the Joy Vampires. It was my response to the situation that caused my joy to flee.

And that is all my fault...

Pile O'Problems

2009-08-26T16:16:00.000-07:00

Today I dealt with my Pile O'Problems at work.

The Pile O'Problems is where the guys put the problems when we get really busy. Some of these get resolved as people call in and we can figure out what they are looking for. Others just sit and kind of compost until I can deal with them.

Today was the day to deal with them. And I was able to get rid of the pile in about two hours. Surprised that it went so well. One of the guys did a lot of the grunt work and that really made it go quicker.

The psychic benefit was great. Nice to have the pile gone. And it will cut down on the amount of irate calls I get in the next couple of months.

I probably could have dealt with the Pile sooner. I could have found some time to deal with these problems and enjoyed the psychic benefit a lot earlier.

And the work problems are still around, just not the physical ones that stare at me from the Pile O'Problems. About ten minutes after I eliminated the Pile, one of my drivers called to say that he had torn open the box of one of my trucks wide open by running into a low hanging tree branch during a rain storm.

So the enjoyment didn't last long.

But I am reminded that I often have a Pile O'Problems in my personal life. They may come from others or they may be my own fault. I need to tackle them as soon as I can and not let them compost. They will just eat away at me until they are dealt with.

I can't deal with most of them alone though. I need help from above.

Time to go deal with a couple of things...

Silence

2009-08-25T17:21:00.001-07:00

Today was a day of quiet.

It actually started last night when we turned on the air conditioner and closed the windows. It was really quiet and I slept hard and well.

And when I went to work today I kept the radio off. All day. No sports radio, no Christian radio, no music from the computer. Just quiet.

And it was nice. I really enjoyed it.

All too often my days get filled with noise and things are missed. Especially if God is trying to talk to me.

I need more days like this.

I'll have to try and remember that...

Four Days

2009-08-24T17:34:00.000-07:00

Been an interesting four days.

Besides refereeing three soccer games and working on the foundation to the greenhouse and mowing the lawn and taking nap, we've had numerous talks and discussions with a variety of people on a wide range of subjects.

We've met with two different pastors from two different denominations. Both churches are places where we see God working. We've had brunch with some old friends who are frustrated with the direction of the music at their church. And we've spoken with some people who are members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America which just voted to allow gays and lesbians to be clergy members.

It is amazing because in some way, shape or form God is at work in all these places. One pastor told us that their building is big enough and he sees the church going to multi-venue worship. They need to go out into the community to reach out to others and not bring people to their fancy building. The other pastor laid out their plan for growth but it is all in God's hands and they won't grow until God tells them to. And there are really neat things happening in the church. Lives being changed. For eternity.

The conversation with our old friends was equally enlightening. The music in the church seems to be that anything written after Martin Luther wrote "Amazing Grace" is bad. The pastors seem to believe that if they keep doing what they've been doing they can't get fired. How sad! Where is the innovation, the excitement of trying something different, of failing spectacularly? I can't find anything about church being safe. We worship the creator of the universe who is so big we can't wrap our puny little minds around it. That is exciting and scary.

And then there is the ELCA, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America a denomination to which we used to belong. We left over 15 years ago. At their annual convention in Minneapolis over the weekend they voted to allow gays and lesbians into church leadership positions. In the name of reaching out and being welcoming, they put the teachings of the Bible up to a vote. Majority rule.

And when we vote on the Bible, the Bible will always lose because we tend to vote in our own self interest. How sad.

One estimate was upwards of a third of the members will leave over this and go elsewhere to worship. Or just quit worshipping altogether.

Such a contrast: the pastors talking of reaching out and of equipping their congregations and sending them out to their neighbors and reaching the lost, the sick, the widows and orphans, the AIDS sufferers, the hungry and the homosexuals. And the pastors who want it safe and secure and comfortable and conservative. And the denomination that is prepared to tear itself apart instead of trying to come together to work out a solution that fits the Bible.

lots of time spent in prayer this weekend. And lots more to come.

And by the way, I do know that John Newton wrote Amazing Grace...

Disappointment?

2009-08-19T18:10:00.000-07:00

So the stove hasn't been working right lately. Actually it is the oven.

It's about 20 years old and came with the house. We couldn't get the temperature up at all. Loralie's cookies and muffins just weren't getting done. Loralie thought that the burner was out.

But everyone told us from the symptoms that it had to be the thermostat. The parts place told us that it would be a special order and be over $250 plus to replace. the appliance company guy said that it would cost $475. And they were pretty sure that it was the thermostat.

And the books I have said that it was not real easy to replace on my own.

On Sunday we stopped by Sears and found a really nice gas oven for $799. Convection, warming tray, five burners everything we wanted. And I could do the gas hook up since the gas line runs right beneath the stove location.

I really like gas stoves and was warming up to the idea as was Loralie. We have the emergency fund for things like this.

But Loralie still wasn't sure it was the thermostat. So she got out the book and I dug out the multimeter and we checked and it looked like the lower burner wasn't working. So she took it down to the parts store and they checked it and it was bad.

Total cost to replace: $30.

So now we still don't have a gas stove. Which I want but I sure don't need since the electric stove works just fine now. But I do have an extra $769. Which is really nice.

And the money will be ready for when the stove does go for good...

That Smell

2009-08-17T00:21:00.000-07:00

This Monday Loralie called me about mid morning. She said that our dog had cornered a skunk under the back deck. The dog got out but not before the skunk sprayed a bit. Missed the dog. Hit the deck. Hit the foundation of the house.

So began a process of pulling up decks boards and putting a light under the deck for 24 hours a day. I did see the beady little eyes reflecting back at me once but there has been no sign of it now for several days. So time to button everything back up and get things back to normal.

As is normal in situations like this the skunk came at a bad time. It was an hour before Loralie was having people over for the day. She ran out for more candles and air freshener. And it was the start of my busiest and roughest week of the year (week before school starts). But her friends were good about it and I managed to survive the week(barely).

I did learn from one of the guys who works for me that a mixture of hydrogen peroxide and baking soda mixed with a little liquid soap cuts the skunk smell when his dog gets sprayed. And his dog gets sprayed all the time (I think I would get a new, smarter dog). Anyway, I tried spraying that (minus the liquid soap) under the deck. And it really cut the smell. Details of the specific solution for those interested can be found on the Internet.

But every once in a while I will still get a whiff of that distinctive odor. And I have been struck by how much that is like life.

You see I have these faults and issues. And I am sure that you have your own set so don't get too smug on me now. But as I work to clean up those faults and issues sometimes I am just covering up the smell with candles and air spray. And the odor keeps coming back.

But if I work to the root of the problem (which is almost always me) and with outside help, those issues and faults can be washed away. Sometimes that faint whiff comes back to remind me of where I have been and where I don't want to go again.

And sometimes I just flat fall down in the stink and have to get cleaned up all over again...

Foundation

2009-08-03T16:15:00.001-07:00

Yesterday we went to church and heard an excellent sermon about the two builders. One built the house on the rock and was able to stand the storms that came while the other built his house on an unstable foundation and lost it when the storms came.

After church we worked outside most of the day. Loralie was hauling rocks and pulling weeds while I started to work on the green house.

Yes a green house. We purchased a small kit green house that will lean up against the south side of the house. This is a small project and we don't need a permit it qualifies as a shed according to the city and since it is attached to the house we don't need home association approval. Loop hole to take advantage of.

We also got a base kit to help keep the green house off the ground. I had several options to put the base on. One was pour a concrete pad, another was to use bricks or pavers and another was to put in concrete corner posts.

But I want the thing to stand up to the wind that we get here in Kansas. So most of my day was spent doing calculations, digging footers and framing in the concrete foundation. And running to the local orange box store for concrete and lumber.

I'm a slow learner sometimes. It wasn't until I was talking with my neighbor about the project and I said: "I decided to go ahead and put in a footer so the green house won't shift" that I realized this was exactly what the sermon in the morning was about.

And I also realized that all too often I take shortcuts in building my foundation, shortcuts that weaken it and weaken my walk with God. I have to do it right so that when the storms come, I won't be blown off course.

Now I have to hope that the rain holds off tomorrow so that I can pour the foundation...

The Week Past

2009-07-26T14:50:00.000-07:00

Been an interesting week.

Loralie attended the National Worship Leaders Conference over at Church of the Resurrection. I was able to watch several of the speakers on live streaming over the web. Very good. I saw and heard David Nasser for the first time. What a powerful and entertaining speaker! He is an Iranian Christian who used to be a Muslim.

Went to lunch on Thursday with Loralie and bought David Nasser's book. Really good stuff. Lots to chew on.

Loralie saw a bunch of good worship leaders and heard a whole bunch of powerful workshop leaders. Good stuff.

And today we walked the two miles to church and heard a video by Andy Stanley about how God is enough. Another powerful message. and then we walked the two miles home.

Nice to have so much preaching and solid music. Really encouraging all the way around. It is weeks like this where the encouragement comes in loads that I need sometimes when things are tough.

Two Churches

2009-06-22T17:09:00.000-07:00

We went to church on Saturday night. We had never been to this church before. It was the stereotypical Missouri synod Lutheran church service. Lots of people sitting in back. We sat toward the front.

Sang every verse of every hymn. Except for the last one since we were over time and then it was just the first and last verses so that we could get out of there. The sermon was OK. But we left with the feeling of being "unfilled".

Sunday morning I got up early and went for a run. 'Twas hot and humid. As I ran I prayed. I knew that I should go to church on Sunday so I decided to go to the nearby nondenominational church that we have visited several times. I showered and cleaned up ate breakfast and headed off to the early service.

Got there just in time for the praise band. And they played a couple of old standby hymns. The violin was a nice accompaniment. Lots of joy. And a great sermon on temptation that compared the lives of Joseph (Old Testament one) with the life of Jesus. Compared the temptation that Joseph faced from Potiphar's wife with the temptation Jesus faced from satan after 40 days inthe wilderness. Practical application points at the end. Followed by communion.

God worked me over. Lot's of prayer.

Right at the end of the service I had the distinct impression of: "It is well with my soul."

Quite the difference from the feeling of the night before. And a great Father's Day present.

I have to be careful though. Feelings can deceive. I need to listen to the voice of God speaking through His Holy Spirit and follow the direction that I can discern. And thats not what I want to discern, its what I can discern.

For the road is narrow...

Rain Barrel

2009-06-15T17:01:00.001-07:00

This last Saturday we went out to the Habitat for Humanity ReStore to look around. While there we bought a rain barrel kit. And we had a free hot dog, chips and iced tea.

Saturday afternoon, I put it in place and put it together. Then I waited for rain. And I waited. Prior to Saturday it rained eight days in a row. Finally, early this morning, it rained. A third of an inch. And the barrel overflowed. It is placed under the shortest length of gutter on the house.

Later this morning it poured again. But the barrel is not any fuller than it was before. It is just as full as it was and will remain so until I empty something out.

I'm reminded of our Christian life. God gives us a little and it is enough. We need to empty some out so that he can put something back in. Otherwise we will just sit in place slowly going stale and moldy.

So our goal is to empty ourselves to others. We have to look for those places that need water and be ready to give water.

And be ready and available to be filled again.

Walk

2009-06-03T18:06:00.000-07:00

So this morning, before the sun came up, I went for a walk. The creek was running full over the small waterfalls after the half inch rain over night.

After work I went for a run in the 74 degree fall day with the wind out of the northeast. I guess it is still spring but it sure feels like fall.

After I grilled up the Shoyu Chicken that Loralie had made and we had a great dinner on the deck, I took Nikki (our dog) for a walk.

I was about 3/4ths of a mile in and deep in prayer. The Lord has laid a couple of things on me lately that I need to deal with. I was cruising along when I noticed out of the corner of my eye an older man struggling with a large trash can. Tomorrow is trash day (remind me to get the trash out tomorrow).

His cane was getting in the way. I was just about past him when I realized that I needed to at least ask him if he would like me to help him out with the trash can. He was really grateful. So Nikki (our dog) and I ran the can down to the street. Its one of those large ones that have to be placed in the correct position.

Then Nikki (our dog)and I continued on our way.

And it struck me. How many other times have I been so wrapped up in doing ministry that I miss the opportunity to minister to someone who needs it?

I could have just kept on walking wrapped up in my own prayers and thoughts and missed the opportunity to help someone in need.

I have to be more open to those opportunities.

And next time I have to spend a little more time talking with the person I am trying to help...

Hitting Home

2009-06-01T18:38:00.000-07:00

So it has finally come home to roost.

Up to now it has been kind of abstract and distant.

But today, I found out that some friends have disconnected their home phone and business line and have their house on the market. They have been been building houses for years and the market has dried up to almost nothing in the high end houses that they built. And they have three houses to sell.

There were no building permits issued in Overland Park last month for new construction.

So what is the upshot of this? The electrician doesn't wire any new houses, the finish crews don't put in trim, the painters can't paint, the roofers don't get paid to roof and plumbers don't run pipes. And lumber yards don't move product. And these people don't spend money on other things. And the impact expands.

So it is time to pray for those in similar situations...

Blue Screens and Birds

2009-05-31T08:32:00.000-07:00

This past week I was out the door by 0445 every morning.

Once to be at work and the other days to go for a walk. Took the dog one morning but she was so tired she refused to go the rest of the week.

Two things struck me as the week went on. The first was that the birds were singing loudly that early in the morning. It was beautiful. No dogs running loose (although there was a strange noise in the bushes down by the creek), not much traffic and no one else out walking.

Just me and the birds.

But I saw something else. In many houses there was this weird blue glow from behind drawn curtains. Could have been televisions, could have been computer screens left on all night. One house had the curtains wide open so that I could see what the big screen TV was playing (ESPN Sportscenter). Didn't see anyone around watching.

So what does this mean?

I don't know. But the contrast was startling. The birds singing was sharp contrast to the glow of the blue screens behind drawn curtains.

Now I have to be honest. I checked the weather before heading out and our curtains are drawn at night and a couple of days this week I couldn't sleep so I had the TV on.

But the birds remind me that I need to spend more time outside, looking for life going on all around me and not inside waiting for someones ideas of life to be presented to me.

Tightly Wound

2009-05-26T16:48:00.000-07:00

So yesterday I was reading my Bible and praying and the words: "tightly wound" kept coming to mind. Over and over.

I came to the conclusion that I was wound so tightly about myself that I wasn't hearing God. I was letting the stress get to me. Not enough sleep. Weight creeping up. No motivation to do anything. Work pressures. Family visits. Trying to be (get) in shape. Trying to please men. Worrying about things that I can't even remotely control.

So I have started to unwind. Took a nap at 5PM and went to bed at 930.
Still got up at 405 this morning and off to work at 440. Still went to Bible Study ( took my Dad). Still had a ton of e-mails and phone calls to deal with. Turned it all over to God because I can't possibly deal with it all myself.

You see, I have to be a God pleaser and not a man pleaser. Don't get me wrong, I can not deliberately set out to offend men, for this displeases God. But I must always attempt to please God first and foremost and seek his will for me and my life.

If I worry first about pleasing God the rest will fall into place.

Oh, I was tired tonight. I still went for a run to break the carbon loose.
But I don't have to go into work quite so early tomorrow.

Might just get the dog out for a walk before the sun comes up.

That would be a good unwinding...

Silence

2009-05-13T03:38:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I was tired of noise.

So I turned stuff off. I didn't have the radio on as I went to and from Bible study in the morning.
I kept the radio off all day at work.
Didn't play music through the computer.
Kept the radio off when doing errands at lunch.
Turned down the ringer on my phone. I could still hear it and I did answer it but it wasn't near as loud. Kind of nice.
I did turn on the radio for a bit in the car as I drove to ref a soccer match since the skies were black and ominous looking. But I found it distracting.

It was...pleasant.

Found myself thinking for a change (I know, something new for me).
But without all the noise I heard more than I usually do.

I wasn't quiet by any stretch of the imagination.
If anything, I noticed just how much noise is going on around me all the time.

But I think that I heard more when I didn't try to fill up the quiet with noise...

Dry Spell

2009-05-11T17:28:00.000-07:00

I've had several people ask me when I was going to have a new entry.
OK, it was really two people so not quite several but more than one.

Lots has happened but nothing has made it to the keyboard and to the blog.
It has been a dry spell.

I have had good intentions to sit down and put something down but just didn't make it. Excuses are plentiful. Too tired, too late, too burnt out, too uninspired, too distracted, too busy, too, too, too.

Excuses are just that excuses and they come in handy when we don't want to do something that we should do. And I like working on this blog.

But I have other dry spells in my life recently: not reading the Bible enough, not spending enough time in prayer, not getting enough sleep, not returning calls promptly at work.

Wow! That's a convicting list and I am sure that I could come up with some more things I am not doing right now that I should be doing if I thought about it for half a minute.

I can use the excuse that I am reffing high school soccer but there is that word again: excuse.

But that is winding down. Tonight I had one game that was done early. Next week the playoffs begin. And I should be done by the middle of the week.

Wonder what excuse I can use then...

Best Laid Plans

2009-04-29T17:16:00.000-07:00

On Tuesday morning I was ready.

I had studied the chapter of Living Water by Brother Yun. I had underlined key sentences and looked up relevant Bible passages. I spent time in prayer and contemplation.

I was ready.

And then I went to the study that I (loosely) lead. And after prayers as we were eating one of the guys had a comment about Twitter. And this lead to a discussion about social media and the impact on society and we talked about engaging people.

And we talked about how people of different ages are connecting in different ways. And forming relationships.

A couple of guys are kind of technically challenged. They would admit it. I was reminded how evangelism has changed as society has changed. Not the message of evangelism, not the goal of evangelism, but the tools that we use. Where in the 30's and 40's street evangelism was the norm, in the fifties it moved to radio and TV and then to outreach lunches and breakfasts and stadium events.

While God will still use any and all of these tools today, they are not always as effective as they once were. We have to find new and innovative ways to engage people and build relationships and tell them about our faith.

We didn't get to go over the study that I had planned to do, but I think that we got through the stuff that God wanted us to get through.

My plans are not always His plans. My ways are not always His ways.

But I do know that His plans and His ways are always way better than mine..

Tired

2009-04-26T15:54:00.000-07:00

Been a long weekend. And I am tired.

Started on Thursday night when I reffed a couple of games on artificial turf in 80+ degree heat. Then work on Friday following with two games including a double overtime game that ended late in 80+ degree heat.

Then Saturday was two games at Heritage Soccer park in high humidity on the sloping field followed by mowing the lawn. I was wiped out.

But we had to practice for the benefit at Hope. So we spent some time doing that followed by loading the car. And then I couldn't sleep. Up until 2AM watching junk on TV.

Then I did sound at church and then off to Hope for the benefit.

So I am tired. But it is a satisfied tired.

The benefit was great. Lots of money was raised. Loralie sang very well. We saw old friends. Met some new ones. We heard stories of everyday miracles in the lives of friends of ours. I didn't stumble too much in what I was supposed to stay.

Ran a bit on adrenaline.

I realized that our participation was an offering.

And that it is enough...

Living Water: Hearing God's Voice

2009-04-22T16:45:00.000-07:00

Chapter 13: Hearing God's Voice of Brother Yun's Living Water

Brother Yun says that his theology is simple. All we have to do is listen and obey.

All too often we Christians do not stop and listen to God.
We are too concerned with giving God our concerns and listing out our problems and not stopping long enough to listen for what God wants to tell us.

Our prayer becomes a one way conversation which is not a conversation at all, it is a speech. And that is not the way to communicate with the God of the universe.

Brother Yun also says in this chapter that the Christian who hears the Word and then does not go out and do it is deceived. Sobering thought.

The other point that really jumped out at me is that God does not often shout. And there is so much "noise" coming at us through the media, through the pace of life, through our world. And God whispers.

We have to be willing to hear, to get away and listen, be willing to shut out the world and hear what God is telling us. This is difficult.

As I drove away from this meeting I was totally convicted that I need to quit trying to please man and be more concerned with pleasing God. Even if the men I am trying to please are godly men (at least on the surface). That doesn't mean that I will go out of my way to irritate or turn people off, but instead it means that instead of caring what people may say or think of me, i need to care about what God thinks of me.

Time to be a God pleaser and not a man pleaser...

Yard

2009-04-19T17:18:00.000-07:00

Last fall, I got tired of the weeds and bare spots in my yard. So I started following the instructions from a local lawn and garden center on taking care of the lawn.

I verticut the lawn, reseeded it, fertilized it and put down lime. I put winterizer down at the right time. I sharpened the mower blade. I made sure the leaves were up over winter. I put down preemergent and fertilizer at the right time. I sprayed for broad leaf weeds at the suggested time.

I even edged the lawn.

So by following the instructions, my lawn looks pretty good. Lush and dark green.

My yard isn't perfect though. Still have a pile of brush out back that I need to take care of in the corner of the yard. And there are still weeds and patches of spurge and henbit that haven't died off yet. And I know that the grubs are lurking and I will have to take care of them when the time is right.

I'm just reminded of how life is like my lawn. Far stretch you say?

You see: we have instructions. God wrote a book: the Bible. I can go my own way and try and do things the way I want to and ignore things and my life will get weedy and bare and parts will be neglected. Or I can follow the instructions and see dramatic improvement in a short time.

And when the time is right I will have to take care of that messy brush pile back in the corner and those pesky grubs lurking below the surface.

Going to take some effort and a several seasons to get the mess cleaned up...

Busy

2009-04-15T17:51:00.000-07:00

Since Monday morning, I have reffed four high school soccer matches, prepared for a bible study, led a bible study, wrote an e-mail newsletter, done the laundry, mowed the lawn, trimmed the lawn, answered a bunch of music business e-mails, and done my day job - three times.

I haven't even had time to play any Half Life 2 on the XBox!

But I take comfort in that being this busy is just for a time, a season.

I know that the five hours of soccer a night will be over in mid to late May. And while I enjoy the reffing and interaction with the kids during the season (as well as the small amount of money that I get), I am sure glad when the season is over.

And I do try to keep some balance in my life by not reffing on Wednesday nights so that I can get caught up on all the stuff I can't do the rest of the week.

Unfortunately, Loralie sometimes feels like a soccer widow.

Especially when I have to leave before she gets up and get home about the time she is going to bed.

And that is never good...

Today

2009-04-12T11:08:00.000-07:00

Today is Easter. Really different for us.

We went to church today at our daughter's new church that she just joined last Sunday. Our son was home for 24 hours from college and went with us. Lot's of people in attendance.

We go there early so that we could get a parking space.

I used the men's room prior to going into the sanctuary.

As I turned to wash my hands (yes, contrary to what some ladies may believe some men do wash their hands before leaving a rest room), I noticed a guy in a fairly distinctive shirt using a paper towel to wipe up the counter. Just getting it all nice and neat before he left. A little act of serving others.

Then once the service started there were three men and six women backing up the praise band in a sort of chorus. This guy was one of them (remember, he had a fairly distinctive shirt on).

As I reflected on this I came to the realization that I need to look for those little acts of servant hood. All too often it is about me and not others. And all too often, I miss those opportunities to show others just a little kindness, even if they don't know the kindness being done for them.

Amazing what one can learn on a trip to the men's room...

Reimagining Church

2009-04-11T06:42:00.000-07:00

I just finished the book Reimagining Church by Frank Viola (no, not that Frank Viola for you fellow Twins fans). It might seem like it took a while (because it did) to those of you who have been following this. But I have been ready several other books at the same time.

Frank's central premise is that we need to move to a more organic church than the current model of the organized hierarchical pastor based model that currently exists throughout the United States. I couldn't agree more. Think of organic church as a house church.

But I am struggling with the radical solutions proposed by Frank.

Two things. One is that I fear the kind of intimacy that an organic church calls for from its members. Part of that is my Norwegian Lutheran stoic reserved heritage. Not that it is a bad thing, it is just a part of who I am.

The other thing, is that making the move to an organic church is a totally radical step. I have been steeped in the culture of being a "member" of a church. Of being a part of an organization. Of having "worship" planned out. Of having a liturgy.

So this all goes into the pot. Just as I am struggling with what to do about the organized, corporate church, I am struggling with where we go and who we gather to worship with. That is not elitist by the way. The who we gather to worship with should more accurately be phrased as to where are we supposed to be worshipping?

So the pot gets full of unanswered (for now) questions that go up to God and a look to the inspiration from the Holy Spirit as to the answers. It may be that this is a process of many small steps rather than a big leap.

I look forward tot he seeing what the answers are.

And I hope for the courage to follow through on those answers...

Easter Greetings

2009-04-08T18:39:00.000-07:00

I sent this e-mail out to all those on our LL Songs mailing list and it is for you also:

Loralie and I wanted to wish you a blessed Easter this weekend.

Spring is a time of numerous new beginnings and fresh starts and nothing represents new beginnings like Easter weekend. Change is celebrated throughout the weekend. From Maunday Thursday (where the Last Supper is celebrated) to Good Friday (where Christ's death on the cross for our sins is observed) to Easter Sunday (where we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus from the dead) new beginnings are observed.

And this is an Easter of new beginnings for Loralie and myself. For the first time in around ten years Loralie won't be singing at the sunrise service on Easter morning. Our church eliminated the service this year. And with our daughter Ellen joining a new church and working strange shifts, we have decided to attend her church with her this Sunday. We will also be able to gather with Loralie's sisters on Sunday afternoon since they have both moved to Overland Park in the past year.

So this year, whether you are celebrating old traditions or creating new ones, we hope that you will keep in mind the true reason for this Easter season and have a safe, restful and peaceful weekend.

Thanks:

Eric & Loralie Tangen

Living Water: Vessels of Refreshment

2009-04-07T18:11:00.000-07:00

A pivotal chapter in Brother Yun's book Living Water.

This is titled: Vessels of Refreshment. I was really amazed at the depth of the chapter.

The explosive growth of the church in China is explained through a sort of "power month" where every believer was asked to lead three people to Christ and each leader asked to bring five people to Christ between Christmas and New Years. Then they are supposed to disciple those people and train them to reach others. And they did it!

This is so foreign to our practices in the US. We want to be comfortable and not reach out of our comfort zone. Telling someone about Christ is scary since we want to be liked and not looked at as strange.

Brother Yun points out that before we can expect to see a revival in our nation, believers need to have a revival in our hearts. We tend to pray for revival and then ignore the work that needs to be done bring it about. Or we expect others to bring it about while we stand on the sidelines and cheer them on. Maybe write a check once in a while. Sanitizing our faith instead of living it out in a world that desperately needs us to be real and authentic.

We're going to look at the chapter more next week. Too much meat in this chapter for one week.

Mercy

2009-04-05T06:04:00.000-07:00

Friday night I refereed at two high school girls soccer matches.

Both were Catholic high schools (not that it has anything to do with this).

One team is experienced, the other is playing its first season. In fact, this was their first game ever.

The Junior Varsity game ended at half 10-0. The Varsity game ended at half 10-0. The more experienced team won both games. This was due to the Mercy Rule: You have to play at least a half and the winning team has to be up by 10 (or more) goals.

In youth soccer there is no mercy rule. You take the licking. Not a lot of fun sometimes for anyone. I've seen teams run up the score on an over matched opponent and then have the coach justify it by saying it was done to them in a previous season by some other team.

It was obvious from the first few minutes of the JV game to everyone involved what the outcome was going to be of both games.

But as the Referee of the JV game I had to make sure that I worked harder than anyone else on the field to stay involved in the game and to call the game in a fair manner. Regardless of the outcome, it is important to someone on the field.

And I owe it to them to give it my best.

But I have to admit: it was nice to be done early...

Living Water: As Bold as a Lion

2009-03-31T18:22:00.000-07:00

Chapter Ten in our weekly bible study of Brother Yun's Living Water: Powerful Teachings from the International Bestselling Author of The Heavenly Man.

The chapter is about being bold.

As Brother Yun says: "The will of God should be the primary focus of all Christians. To glorify Him should be our greatest honor and privilege. All else is a waste of time, and this world is perishing while too many Christians live out fleshly lives full of compromise and selfishness."

This is all too true of me. But I think that Brother Yun forgets that our life is lived here on earth. And the earth is full of sin. We have to die to ourselves daily in order to live forever.

But God uses us in our imperfection to advance His purposes.

We have to die to ourselves and depend on the Lord to change us. It is not something that we can do in our own power.

But as the Lord changes us we can be bold in telling others about Christ. We must be bold and we must look for the opportunities that come our way to tell others about Jesus while we live our lives in this imperfect world.

Anything else falls short...

Community

2009-03-30T18:24:00.000-07:00

Amidst all the busyness of day to day life, my mind keeps going north to Moorhead, Minnesota where my parents live and the flood rages.

Talking with my Mom and Dad and with my sister and reading the paper on line just drives home how important community is. Not the noun community, the verb community.

This is where life is lived with each other. This is where college and high school kids stop to help unload a stranger's pickup truck of sand bags at a stranger's house. This is where people go to church for support when their house is surrounded by flood waters and they don't know if it will still be there when they get back.

This is where a guy sits in his living room in shock at the rising waters while friends and neighbors battle on in the basement to save his home. This is where a guy works all day at this job and then goes and works half the night to help strangers defend their homes.

It's where young and old come together to do what seems to be impossible. It's where people drive four hours to help fill thirty pound sand bags in a stadium filled with sand and bags. It's where the colleges let out class and the students go to work helping the neighbors they haven't met in a city that may be their home for only a short time.

It's where the wife in a home threatened by rising water takes the time to feed the people that she doesn't know (and may never see again) that stopped to pile some more sand bags on the dike simply because the job needed doing.

Community is more than a place to live, it is a place where life is lived with each other. It is a place where when troubles come people band together and do their damnedest to solve the problem instead of sitting around and waiting for the government to do something. It's a place where leaders lead instead of wringing their hands.

Its where a sense of peace comes when all possible has been done and everything is in God's hands for good or bad.

Community is a place that I miss an awful lot at times like this...

CIA Summit First Wrap Up

2009-03-29T17:07:00.000-07:00

Finally home. Whew!

Got home this afternoon (Sunday) from Nashville. We drove in to see Bradford pears at full bloom and a couple of neighbors have broken trees from the weight of several inches of snow. It''s good to be home.

Last night was the wrap up of the CIA Summit in Nashville. After tornado sirens and large hail (which we managed to avoid), the Momentum Awards ceremony was held followed by a concert by Margaret Becker.

Yesterday was a good day of presentations on the Future of Music, Marketing in an Internet Age and Producers and AR. Solid information presented.

At the concert we were talking with a young couple attending the Summit for the first time. They said that they got more information out of this conference than they have any other and that they had attended a lot of conferences.

Loralie and I came away with a long to do list in order to move her music ministry forward. The music industry is changing and there is a fundamental shift in how the public consumes music. The future is about engaging fans.

It is an exciting time to be involved with music.

And I am tired.

CIA Summit Day 4 - First Pass

2009-03-28T20:44:00.000-07:00

Wow! Again.

And I am beat...

What a day! (again). This will take a while to process through.

And it is late and tomorrow we need to hit the road and head home. Heavy thunderstorms hit Nashville today while a blizzard hit home and flooding was going on in Minnesota. Will be good to get home.

We heard a ton of good stuff again today, but the highlight had to be Tom Jackson. He is a live performance producer who helps artists get their shows ready to go. We will listen to some tapes from last year on the drive home, but the thing that he said that really hit home was: "Don't let anyone tell you that you are too old to do this." It was something that I have never heard him say before.

It was also good to hear that the artist has to build a relationship with their fans. And we heard lots of good ideas on that.

So much more to process and think about and more to write but my mind is pretty much mush.

In a good way though...

CIA Summit Day 3 - part One

2009-03-27T17:26:00.000-07:00

Wow!

My head is spinning! Started the day off with some music and then teaching by the Pastor of Provision International, Scott MacLeod. Great message on serving the poor and widows and orphans, especially in the poorest neighborhoods.

Grant Norsworthy than got up and hit us right between the eyes with a powerful message of worship not just through music but all the time. What an incredible message! Grant was the bass player for Sonic Flood and he talked a lot about the paradox of Christianity. Grant also took Dietrich Bonhoffer's quote on cheap grace and updated to today.

I love this quote:
"Cheap worship is the mortal enemy of our church. Our struggle today is for costly worship."

While I still think there is a huge battle against cheap grace, cheap worship rings so true to me.

We also have to admit that sometimes there are things wrong with us. That is a hard thing to do.

Then we had presentations on the structure of the music industry and a panel on management. Followed by an interview with a publicist and a panel on branding and a panel on merchandising. And somewhere in there was a presentation on podcasting and traps for musicians in thinking too highly of themselves and losing sight of God in it all.

The best part is the networking where we can talk with other artists and see what they are doing and what we can do to improve Loralie's ministry. Got to see the rappers from North Carolina again today as well as Change of Heart from California. They finally dropped off the charts and Loralie moved up to number 1! Pretty neat to see it finally happen especially at this conference.

Off again to a late night session of hanging out with other artists.
This is getting tiring...

CIA Summit Day 2

2009-03-26T16:24:00.000-07:00

Today was kind of an off day.

We slept in and then went to the Summit. We listened to several singer/songwriters and heard differing levels of talent and production values.

Then we drove around downtown Nashville to see the sites. Nice to have a bit of time to do so.

Next we headed out to Radnor Lake Natural Area which is close to our hotel. Very neat place. We went hiking for a couple of miles. We saw a cardinal, a couple of Canadian geese, lots of turtles sunning themselves on logs, squirrels, a woodpecker, a duck, a chipmunk and an otter on a log eating a fish ( I think it was a crappie). It was good to get out and stretch our legs in the outdoors for a while and see the beautiful lake even if it was under gray clouds and the wildlife moving around. And it was the first time that I have seen an otter in the outdoors.

Then we headed down to the Mecca of debt free living Financial Peace University home to Dave Ramsey. We took the picture of the sign and the building and went inside to find the place under construction. Bookstore closed and the studio not open for viewing. Kind of anticlimactic.

We also heard today that one of the biggest reasons for failure in the music industry is that musicians carry too much debt.

Back to the hotel to saw some logs and then to the Foundry to just get blown away by a presentation on Business, Occupation and Ministry by Artists in Christian Testimony International. Really good presentation and there was info in there for about twenty posts. Byron Spradlin had some excellent stuff on the artist as a craftsman.

I think the big aha I got was that God may not use your occupation as your calling. It is an occupation and a way to support yourself and your family. And it is a ministry vehicle, a place to do ministry. And business is not bad in Christian circles. More later on all this.

We sat next to a couple of young Christian Rappers from Winston-Salem North Carolina. Had a great talk with them. Names are Nick and Mike. Good guys and fun to talk to. Late night and good to be done for the day. Tomorrow the real conference starts.

And my head will probably be ready to explode by the end of the day...

CIA Summit (Day One Addendum)

2009-03-26T05:50:00.000-07:00

Getting ready for day two of Nashville.

Looking forward to it. Will be a day of singer/songwriters and bands showcasing their talents and music.

Last night, those who were at the songwriting conference had their names put in a hat and if their name was drawn they could go sing a song. We heard some good and some not quite as good. Some New Southern Gospel, Bluegrass, Praise and Worship, Contemporary Christian and even a guy who played like Jimmy Buffet. I don't quite know how to classify him.

But classification isn't important. Whether it is in the music industry or in the world. Classification only helps us develop reference points with which we can communicate with others. It hinders us in that it puts others into boxes in our minds that they probably don't belong in.

And when we do that we start to dismiss people because we confuse the boxes with the people.

And that is not good.

So today I am going to listen to music. Some I like and some I probably won't like. And regardless of the genre' (my big word for today), I will do my best not to put people into little boxes.

Could be an interesting day.

CIA Summit

2009-03-25T20:21:00.000-07:00

Wow! First day of the CIA Summit in Nashville.

This was the songwriting seminar. Loralie attended and I audited. In a neat part of town in an cool old brick building in the inner city called The Foundry.

Lot's of good information and on songwriting that transfer to other disciplines (like writing). And lots of good techniques specific to songwriting.

But more than that it is a good chance to network and find out what other Christian artists are doing.

We've met people from North Carolina, California, Washington, Illinois, Missouri and there are more to meet in the next few days. We still have to meet the guy from the Netherlands and the guy from Australia.

A couple notes on the drive down: ten hours.

But a good chance to listen to CD's and talk. Some really good CD's from Tom Jackson on performances and managing your music ministry. This was recorded in Kansas City in 2005 and is still relevant today.

Time like that is a blessing.

As is this conference.

Sandbagging

2009-03-23T17:03:00.000-07:00

My Dad just celebrated his 79th birthday.

I found out today that he is a sand bagger.

A little background.

I grew up in Moorhead Minnesota which is right across the Red River of the North from Fargo North Dakota. The towns sit in the middle of the Red River Valley which is basically flat for 20 miles in each direction from the river.

Every few years there seems to be a major flood with a lot of overland flooding. This is where the water runs over the land spreading out across the valley.

A couple of weeks ago, there was a major snow storm with a bunch of snow dumped on the area. Then it got up to 50 degrees this past weekend with some rain. And the ground is still frozen. So there is a lot of flooding in the area.

Sheriffs have closed roads and requested that schools cancel classes. One county closed 30 roads and said absolutely no travel after dark since they can't tell what roads are washed out. Portable flood barriers are being brought in to help control the damage.

The National Guard is being called up to help out.

Water systems are being shut down to prevent contamination and people are being asked to conserve water (seems a little strange in a flood). Stores are staying open late to allow people to buy flood supplies.

The colleges and tech schools have let out students to help sandbag. High school students are skipping class to sand bag. Prisoners are serving their sentences by filling sand bags.

Neighbors are helping neighbors and a community comes together.

I have to remind myself that the stuff is only stuff. Tough as it would be to be flooded out it is only stuff. But there are lives at stake. People are working too hard and stressed out watching the water rise.

And my 79 year old, retired teacher, cancer surviving father is down at the river helping two of his friends sand bag their homes.

And now for Something Completely Different

2009-03-20T18:31:00.000-07:00

That is how my favorite show from the 70's started: And now for something completely different.

And this has nothing to do with Monty Python's Flying Circus.

But it is completely different from what I usually write about.

This is about basketball.

Kansas played North Dakota State today in the NCAA tournament in Minneapolis. This was the first time that NDSU made the tournament. Ever. First year of eligibility.

So in spite of the fact that my wife got her Masters at KU, I dug out my NDSU t-shirt and Bison hoodie to wear today here in the heart of Jayhawk country. I got the t-shirt when our daughter thought it might be good to attend college there. I think the hoodie came from Grandpa and Grandma for Christmas one year.

I don't think that most people recognized the colors or the logo. But that is OK. I still felt good about supporting the Bison.

And we also realized that our son Dan has played basketball against the starting center for KU: Cole Aldrich. This was back in eighth grade when Dan's team went to the national Lutheran school tournament in Valparaiso Indiana. They played a team from Bloomington, MN that had several kids over 6 foot tall. One was Cole who was 6'8" at the time. As an eighth grader. He's now 6'11" as a Sophomore in college.

I think Dan was around 5'4" at the time.

Dan's team lost.

But it is interesting in any event.

And one of the coaches on Cole's team was Randy Brewer who played for the University of Minnesota when I was going to school there. Same time as Kevin McHale.

So tomorrow it will be time for something completely different (from this at least).

And it was good to see NDSU put up a good fight.

Shepherds and Sheep

2009-03-19T16:31:00.000-07:00

Interesting comment in Frank Viola's book: Reimagining Church: Pursuing the Dream of Organic Christianity. He talked about the common view of pastors as shepherds of their flocks.

The idea is that the pastor shepherds his flocks and encourages it to grow and flourish.

A couple of problems with this point of view. One is that it puts the pastor in the place of Christ the Good Shepherd. That opens up a whole can of worms regarding the priesthood of all believers and will have to be the subject of another post at another time (or more likely several posts over time).

Anyway, Frank also points out that earthly shepherds are "incapable of breeding their sheep. They also steal their wool and eat them for dinner!"

Is that the picture for you want of the modern pastor?

Rather than being an absurdity, unfortunately, too many times that picture is all too accurate. We only need to read the paper from time to time to see the "falls' that prominent pastors and leaders have made.

Rather than a leadership marked with humility and servanthood there is leadership marked by ego and greed. This runs counter to every picture of leadership in the Bible.

Both Old and New Testament.

Don't get me wrong, there are plenty of examples of egotistical and greedy leaders in the Bible, but without exception they are held out as examples of how not to behave and pay a price for their misdeeds.

I am beginning to question the need for a professional clergy.

I am not sure that it is a biblical concept.

And that too, will have to be the subject of another post on another day...

Living Water: True Freedom

2009-03-18T15:43:00.000-07:00

Chapter Eight of Brother Yun's book Living Water: Powerful Teachings from the International Bestselling Author of The Heavenly Man. The chapter is titled: True Freedom.

In this chapter, Brother Yun recounts how it took prison for him to realize the freedom that he had in Christ and that "prison is mainly a state of mind rather than a physical place." He realized that by praising God in all things and for all things he could still be a witness for Christ in the midst of filth squalor and violence.

But even more powerful was how he talked about people in the "free" world who are tightly bound. People's hearts are "tightly chained with sin and addiction" and even though they look normal "they are prisoners within." Furthermore he states that this is the condition of many who attend church and: "They need the truth of Jesus to set them free!"

How true! We walk around with our smiling faces and we pretend that every thing is OK when we desperately need to get well. The problem is that our addictions, bitterness, sin, unforgiveness, lusts, greed, hate, etc, etc are comfortable to us. Christ is asking us if we want to get well and we are going: "Uh, let me think about that for a while. I am not sure that I want to give this up right now."

Once we let Christ heal us he can use us to reach others who are bound to the same sort of sin that we have been freed from. This process may be instantaneous or it may be gradual but the healing will take place.

And true freedom is ours for the asking.

We just have to ask Christ to set us free.

And He will.

Integrity

2009-03-13T18:00:00.000-07:00

Went to lunch today. Usually I go home for lunch since it is only six tenths of a mile from work: close enough to walk home and back if I want. But I digress (as usual).

Anyway, today Loralie and I went up to Vineyard Christian Fellowship for a lunch sponsored by the Integrity Resource Center. Integrity Resource Center was founded and is run by my friend Rick Boxx and this was a recruitment event for the Kansas City Faith Incorporated event on 17 April.

Rick has the "vision of restoring integrity and faith at work."

Integrity is often missing from the business world. We only have to look as far as today's headlines with Bernie Madoff going to jail for perpetrating an estimate $50 billion dollar fraud to see that this character trait is sorely absent.

Rod Handley, President of Character That Counts was the main speaker today. Rod was formerly the CFO/COO of Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA). A couple of points really resonated with me.

Rod said that the root word of integrity is the same as that of integer (whole number, I had to look it up, too). The quote is that: "God is interested in integers and Satan is interested in fractions." What truth is wrapped up in that statement! Satan comes only to divide and separate. But God is interested in the whole person.

Rod also pointed out several results of integrity. A couple that stuck out to me were: A clear conscience and leaving a legacy.

These are extremely important results. Having a clear conscience before God is rare. Too often we retreat into self recrimination or self justification and we never admit to God our sins, our shortcomings. And we all fall short of the glory of God!

And leaving a legacy is critical for a man today. I am not talking about the legacy of money (although that would be nice), I am talking about the legacy of my life written in the lives of my children and others. But first my children. And by living my life in integrity to the greatest degree that I can with the help of God, I will leave that legacy.

I referee soccer. Frequently, prior to a game, I've had a parent or coach jokingly (I assume) ask me how much it would cost for their team to win the game. My response is always the same: "You don't have that much money." A couple of times, I've had a guy get his back up and say: "How do you know how much money I have?" And my response is always that my integrity is not for sale at any price.

That is an easy one. As Rod pointed out out, we need to exhibit integrity in all the little things too. For if I sell my integrity for a dollar, I might as well sell it for more.

May you walk in integrity in all that you do.

Living Water: Lazarus, Come Out!

2009-03-11T17:28:00.000-07:00

Chapter Seven of Living Water by Brother Yun: Lazarus, Come Out!

Interesting in that Brother Yun draws the two stories of Mary and Martha together. He points out that in the West He has come across three types of people in the church.

The first is like Martha: busy serving others. They do lots of good things but mostly they are done for the sake of doing those things. As a result they miss Jesus in their midst.

The second is like Mary: sitting at the feet of Jesus.

The third is like Lazarus: dead. Spiritually dead for three or four days. Yet the parables show that Christ can bring the cold dead back to life. What hope there is for the churches of today where there is little or no apparent life or joy!

The Western church is generally like Martha: "You know the truths about God's Word in your head, but you still like to run your own lives." What a condemnation!

But even more: "So many churches and individual believers think they should make their own plans and strategies, then ask God to bless them."

I know that I and my church have been guilty of this recently.

And this is so contrary with what God wants us to do. He wants us to approach Him first and listen to what He has to say instead of arrogantly assuming that He will bless what we want to do because we want to do it.

"All that matters is that Jesus loves you and He wants to be your best friend."

Articles

2009-03-10T16:24:00.000-07:00

Two articles came my way today. Each in their own way have given me much to think about.

The first was reported by Rachel Zoll of the Associated Press with the headline of "More Americans say they have no religion." The survey was the American Religious Identification Survey.

This article points out that the number of Americans who say they have no religion is growing and is now at 15%. Roughly 75% identify themselves as Christian and another 10% identify themselves as other (Jewish, Muslim, etc). This is down from 86% in 1990.

There is a downward trend in the number of Americans who say that they are Christians. And remember, just because you call yourself a Christian doesn't mean that you are one.

The second article was in The Christian Science Monitor by Michael Spencer and titled "The coming evangelical collapse."

Mr Spencer expects that within the next ten years there will be a major collapse in evangelicalism in the United States. The main points are that evangelicals have tied themselves too closely to political conservatism in the culture wars. We have also failed to pass on to our young the ability to withstand a cultural onslaught on their faith. They know what they should think but not why.

It pretty much comes down to a widespread ignorance of the Bible. We have failed to become biblically literate. We have failed to use the Bible as a relevant tool in our day to day life.

A couple of good passages from the article:

"American Christians seldom seem to be able to separate their theology from an overall idea of personal affluence and success."

We miss the boat. From our performance based worship services and corporate style church governance, we have allowed the culture to dictate how we do church. This includes the rise of the modern mega church and the continued fragmentation of denominations.

Mr Spencer also asks the question: Is the coming collapse a bad thing?

I don't think so. First of all I don't necessarily agree with his basic premise that the evangelical church will collapse within the next ten years. But as I have grown increasingly dissatisfied with the corporate church and canned, passive, performance based worship, I have come to the conclusion that radical change is sometimes a desirable thing. And sometimes that radical change is painful to all involved.

And finally, Mr Spencer states:

"We can rejoice that in the ruins, new forms of Christian vitality and ministry will be born. I expect to see a vital and growing house church movement. This cannot help but be good for an evangelicalism that has made buildings, numbers, and paid staff its drugs for half a century.

We need new evangelicalism that learns from the past and listens more carefully to what God says about being His people in the midst of a powerful, idolatrous culture."

Amen, brother.

We need to be aware of whose we are and where we are. And I think that all too often we forget that.

Satisfaction

2009-03-09T17:09:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was a very satisfying day.

I learned how to use a new computer program (EMail Marketing Professional).
I set up several e-mail lists to use mass e-mail capabilities.
This included both importing an email list and hand entering a bunch of contacts.
I tested the set up.
I developed an email to mail out.
And I sent it out.

I fully realize that there are a whole bunch of "I"s in those sentences as well as this sentence. My point is not to glorify the work that I did. Loralie had to do a lot of work in getting the email list together and check my test emails.

But the whole point of this is that we got something completed that took a bit of effort and we got it done at the appropriate time for what we are trying to accomplish.

And that is very satisfying.

All too often I have a bunch of not quite finished things going on and I just never get around to finishing them.

And the satisfaction of finishing a task is lost.

It takes finishing something like this to remind me of the simple joy in completing a task.

I need to do this more often.

Now I have to get those shelves finished for Ellen...

Debt

2009-03-08T17:17:00.000-07:00

I went to church last night.

They gave out numbers on how they were doing with the budget which is not good.

First some background and a disclaimer: I have talked about everything that I am going to mention with the Pastor and leadership of my church. That is the disclaimer.

I hate debt. Debt is wrong. It is not evil, just wrong. We still have our mortgage, but we've paid off our consumer debt. We're still trying to figure out whether or not to pay off the mortgage.

Some background. Our church has $5 million in debt on the building. Last Mothers Day, a marketing presentation was made in place of the sermon on the need to build an addition on to the building in order to "support the ministry." This was a shock to most people in the congregation. Nothing had been said prior to Mother's Day.

Later, around July, prayer started around the whole thing.

Part of the plan was to reduce the debt with 20% of the proceeds going to debt reduction. The goal was somewhere around $3 million.

Roughly $1.4 million has been pledged. Far short of the goal. And blamed on the economy. I happen to believe that God will provide regardless of the economy if it is in his will.

Our payments on the debt run around $20,000 a month.

Interesting. For that is about what we short in offering for February.

I know that if we try to do this in our human abilities we will have human results. And so far the
results seem to be about what the rest of society is experiencing.

Is this God trying to tell us that we would be OK if we pay off the debt? Or is it just me trying to see what I want to see in my humanness?

Humbling

2009-03-04T17:08:00.000-08:00

My wife Loralie is a singer/songwriter.

Actually, she is an excellent singer songwriter, but I have to admit that I might be slightly biased. But only very slightly.

She is a member of IndieHeaven, an organization for independent Christian musicians. Indie Heaven has as part of their site (indieheaven.com), Fan Faves where artists can post their songs and then fans can go in and vote for them once a day. Songs move up and down the chart based on the fan votes. Songs stay on the chart for 30 days.

Loralie posted her song "Face of Jesus" last Wednesday. It was up to 10 on the chart as of this morning.

I sent out a total of around 100 emails to people urging them to "vote early and vote often". Most are fans and some are friends and some are both.

The response has truly been amazing and really humbling.
We've heard from our daughter that a friend of hers is voting every day and asked his co-workers to vote also. We've never met the guy. but he is excited about the whole thing.

A lady in a retirement home (I mean "lifestyle enhancement community with a minimum age of 62") who goes to our church said that she was voting every day.

We got an email from a friend saying that his family was casting five votes a day since they have five computers.

Another friend called to say that she and her husband had just voted on their computers. Kind of a couple thing.

We heard from a couple that moved to Florida and had my original e-mail forwarded to them. The wife said that Loralie's song reminded her to forget the busyness of life and focus on what is important. Wow!

And these are just part of it.

My Mom is watching the chart everyday (I am not sure if she has asked the Knit Wits to vote though).

It is really humbling and it is really neat to see how the message spreads and the tribe grows.

Part of the beauty of Fan Faves is that it allows us to connect with Loralie's fans and ask them to do something simple. It engages them with her music and ministry in the absence of a live performance or a new CD.

People want to help and this gives them something concrete and easy to do.

And it also exposes her music to others who may not have heard it before. And some may not know Jesus.

Helping others know Jesus is what it is all about.

Even if we never know who might hear.

I have to go and vote now...

Living Water: The Person God Uses

2009-03-03T16:50:00.000-08:00

My copy of Living Water by Brother Yun is getting pretty marked up.

This week it is chapter six: The Person God Uses.

One of things that stood out to me was the statement: "There is so much Christian activity being done in the name of the Lord today that does not have His power or presence at its core."

I totally agree with this statement. There is so much being done in our humanity. When we do human things in human power we get human results. Whether it is a sermon or a meeting or a fundraising campaign, if God is not in it, it will not have Godly results.

The last sentence of the paragraph stood out: "Such "work" is tragic and never produces true fruit for the kingdom of God." I disagree with that statement. I think that it limits God and I think that God will use even our feeble efforts as it suits him. I came to know Christ through a preacher who has been discredited as a false faith healer and called a heretic.

We are also cautioned to let our ministry become an idol. "We can trick ourselves into thinking that everything is alright because the people seem to be blessed by what we have to say." this happens when we lose sight of why we are doing what we are doing and who gets the glory. If we let the "glory" get in our eyes we start to rely on ourselves and not on God.

We are cautioned to remember that we are nothing without God! How different this is from what we are told in the West! We are told to be self sufficient, to get ahead, to get promoted collect the toys and the house and the cars. Rely on yourself.

Not how I want to live. Anymore...

Church and church

2009-03-02T16:04:00.000-08:00

A conversation with a friend last week got me thinking. I know, an unusual occurrence, me thinking...

Anyway, we seemed to be having some trouble connecting until we realized that we were operating under different meanings of a key word. After that it became a lot easy to at least understand each others positions.

And that brings us to church. I think that there are two definitions of church that are not necessarily mutually exclusive but can cause a lot of disagreement.

The first definition is the body of believers in Jesus Christ. The second definition is a group of people who meet together to worship usually in a building also called a church.

Frank Viola (no, not that Frankie Viola) in his excellent book Reimagining Church points out that Paul in his letter to the Romans calls the church all those whom God has accepted (Romans 15:7). Thus the church spans denomination and division. We are called into fellowship with all who believe regardless of what label they (or we) may apply.

The church of Christ consist of all believers in Jesus Christ who have accepted the free gift of eternal life granted through his death on the cross for our sins. Period.

Anything else is divisive. This includes denominations. All denominations. Nowhere in scripture is it found that we have to belong to a particular group for eternal salvation.

I am convinced that there are many sitting in a church on Sunday who don't know Christ and are there for the entertainment. The sermon and the music. Yet they talk about being members of a particular church.

Again: membership doesn't save anyone. Neither does worship preferences.

We must recognize that our brothers and sisters are those who believe in Jesus Christ as Savior regardless of what labels are attached to them. Anything else is wrong.

But we also have to be discerning, humble and patient to know who is our brother and sister.

Waterfront

2009-02-27T18:12:00.000-08:00

Was watching NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams tonight waiting for the local weather to come on so that I could find out how much snow we are supposed to get in the blizzard tonight (answer: three inches, should totally shut down the city - according to the weather wonks).

The final segment was about a church in Schaumberg, IL named Waterfront Community Church.

The story focused on it's policy of giving away 100% of the offerings.

They meet in the local high school. The pastor's office is a local coffee shop with Internet access. Praise band practices in someones house during the week.

And they use the offerings to help people in need.

All the offerings.

People who need medical help.
People who need financial help.
People who have lost their jobs.

People who need to know Christ.
And this was portrayed on the national news.

They don't have a lot of overhead.

Unlike most churches.

I'll be honest. I don't know how the Pastor is supported and I think there are some other staff.

But I do know this: Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after widows and orphans in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world. (James 1:27)

At first glance it looks as though one church has a good start on this verse.

Fan Faves

2009-02-26T16:32:00.000-08:00

So I have been busy the last couple of days working on letting people know about Loralie's song being up on Fan Faves at IndieHeaven.

The song that is up is Face of Jesus and we are excited to have it up and exposed to other independent artists.

I view this as all marketing and exposure for her music.

But it does give rise to the question: How much is enough?

For example, between yesterday and today:

We got an email from an outfit in New Zealand that promotes Christian artists and a guy in India that does music transcribing (which we need by the way). And then I had initiated contact with a group that reviews Christian CDs. And got an e-mail back from the guy who runs the review site. And mailed off a package of CD's to Indieheaven on consignment.

And did all the other stuff such as work and try to sleep.

So back to my original question: How much is enough? Part of the problem is that this is all fun and exciting. It is exciting to see how the new exposure of Facebook and IndieHeaven is helping us expose more people to Loralie's music and ministry.

So I guess I will know how much is enough when it gets to be drudgery and not fun. And then I can go back tot he XBox.

Gaming

2009-02-25T17:59:00.000-08:00

Interesting article by Jim Rosignol over on www.boingboing.net in the Offworld section (view BoingBoing at your own risk but OffWorld is pretty safe).

Jim interviews game designer Ed Stern. Ed has designed several outstanding video games including "Return to Castle Wolfenstein". Any way, Ed makes the comment that all too often game designers try to design for the "in crowd" of hardcore gamers instead of the the community of gamers at large. There are the in jokes and designs in the games that many casual gamers just don't get or appreciate.

Ed even argues against innovation to a certain degree, saying that if you want to bring in more people you have to have things at least partly familiar.

As I read the article I was reminded of how similar this is to the Christian experience. We become so familiar with our own vocabulary and rituals that we fail to realize how outsiders might feel when they visit our churches and services. To the unchurched, a typical worship service in a typical church can be almost incomprehensible.

Add in something like communion and many first time visitors will be out the door never to return.

And I am not sure that the so called "seeker sensitive" services are the entire answer either. I have heard it many times that the goal of our evangelistic efforts is to get our neighbors to come to church with us.

I think that is the wrong approach. We need to get people to Christ. First. Foremost. Always.

And too many times church is a hindrance to getting people to Christ.

Time to go check out Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter...

Living Water: Pregnancy of the Holy Spirit

2009-02-24T16:24:00.000-08:00

Chapter five of Living Water by Brother Yun this morning.

Interesting chapter (as usual). The author uses the story of Mary becoming pregnant through the Holy Spirit as his primary illustration.

Brother Yun makes the statement: "Do you realize that God wants all Christians to be pregnant with the Holy Spirit today? He wants to give you a vision for His kingdom that originates from Heaven, not from yourself. He desires that all of His children would be overshadowed by His presence in such a way that they are changed and give birth to something in their lives that brings many into His kingdom."

I think that the idea of being "pregnant with the Holy Spirit" is a tough thing for men in particular to relate to. I think that it is much easier for women to relate to especially when the metaphor turns to giving birth.

Unfortunately I think that today many people are not seeking the Holy Spirit in their lives. They are content to do the religious activity that is often required by the organized church and not truly seek God's will in their lives. To many, "worship" is an hour or so obligation each week where they want to be entertained. They watch the praise band perform because they don't know the words to the songs. They listen to a lecture from center stage. They smile fake smiles and say fake things and then go home and live life as if they don't know Christ.

They are the Christians who have found Christ and pulled out the lawn chair and plopped down and said: "Made it. Wake me when Christ returns. Let me know if you need anything."

And then if the church calls they may be willing to go to work if it doesn't get too spiritual.

Again to quote Brother Yun: "Today much Christian activity seems to originate with human plans, and it is then carried out in human strength with human results. It has nothing to do with the Kingdom of God."

Unfortunately, I have seen far too many church projects bathed with a minimum of prayer and then presented to "the body" as the Lord's will and then miserably fail because they are actually our human wants and desires and not actually God's will.

The last quote from the book for today: "Unfortunately, there are many in the church today who will do all they can to stamp out your call and enthusiasm for the Lord." I have experienced this first hand.

This comes under the guise of: "We've never done it that way before." or "We've prayed about it and it is not the Lord's will." or "We have to make things suitable for the community." or "You'll have to go through training." or "What you want to do just won't work out." or any of a hundred other excuses to just keep on keeping on and not seek the Lord's will for His Church.

And we have to keep that in mind: It is His Church, not our church.

Working

2009-02-23T16:15:00.000-08:00

New windows are in!

And they look great!

I think the thing that most impressed me about the whole process was the crew.
They were great ambassadors for the company even though they were subcontractors to handle the installation.

They showed up early. Grandpa, his two sons and grand daughter.

They were genuinely concerned that we like the windows and not just the installation.

They were quick to joke and poke fun at each other but they didn't goof off.

I thanked each of them for the work they did and each of them said "thank you for the business".

They were done early.

They did good work and they obviously took pride in the quality of their work.

Some workers seem to think that we should be grateful that they see fit to come out and do the work. Not these guys.

Really a pleasure. Now we just have to get rid of the fishbowl...

Fishbowl

2009-02-22T16:02:00.000-08:00

I am excited!

New windows come tomorrow! It will be nice to get rid of these cheap builder's grade, broken, vinyl windows and get new, energy efficient replacement windows. I am also looking forward to lower utility bills both in the summer and winter.

One problem with all this is that we have to clear access to all the windows being replaced. Not a big problem, just takes a little bit of time to move some furniture and clear the window sills.

The other problem is a bit bigger and I am not quite sure what to make of it. We have to take down all the window coverings and hardware. It really brightens up the house. And it really seems like it lets people see in.

We are replacing the kitchen, dining room, laundry room and my office windows.

It kind of feels like people can really see in. I feel like I need to watch what I do.

But isn't this how I should live my life everyday? Like everything can be seen and the people around me can see everything I do? God tells us that nothing is hidden from Him and all will be made known.

All too often I hide behind the curtains and ignore my neighbors and those around me. I erect barriers that keep others from getting to know me. These barriers are flimsy at best.

Don't get me wrong. I do not think that we should eliminate all curtains. I just think that I need to start living my life like all the curtains are gone.

What kind of changes would there be in your life if you lived that way? How would the world look if we all lived that way? And would we have the courage to live that way?

Water Bottle

2009-02-19T18:00:00.000-08:00

On Tuesday, the Print Shop had an open house to show off a bunch of new equipment and processes. I send pallets and pallets of paper there every month.

I went over to see a couple of paper vendors that I do a lot of business with and I picked up some samples of various products that they sell.

The next day my guys went over to do the morning pick up and delivery and the Print Shop people gave them some stuff the vendors had left for our department. I got a nice notebook.

Later that day one of my guys was showing me all the other stuff he had got. There was a really dumb paper car (dust collector) that made noise and a really cool stainless steel water bottle.

I instantly thought "Where is mine?" although I didn't say anything. Other thoughts ran through my mind like: " I do a ton of business with those guys, why didn't I get a water bottle too?" and "What if one of the guys swiped mine?"

I was kind of steamed for a bit.

Until I realized something: ITS ONLY A STUPID WATER BOTTLE!

And it was not a big deal. I can go buy one if I need one. And I don't need one.

I was not slighted in this and if I was so what?

See, all too often we covet junk just for junk's sake. I am just as guilty (if not more so) as everyone else. But I need to learn to be content with everything. And I need to rejoice with my guys that they got a nice gift.

So I repented of my greed in this matter and I hope that I learned my lesson (probably not though, I seem to be a pretty slow learner in some things.

And Father's day is in June so I can add a stainless steel water bottle to my wish list.

And I'll be happy with just a card.

Persecution

2009-02-18T16:29:00.000-08:00

Since reading the Living Water chapter about No Turning Back, I have been thinking a lot about persecution.

My thoughts were that persecution is the sign of a living church. A church that is growing and impacting the world about it will have detractors and Satan will actively oppose that church.

I haven't known too many people who have really suffered for their faith.

But there is one that I knew a few years ago. So here is the disclaimer: I may mess up on some of the details since it was over thirty years ago. I will make the best attempt at this.

There is one man that I can recall who the chaplain of the Civil Air Patrol Unit that I was in when I was in high school. As I recall his name was Larson and he was a retired pastor/missionary who taught at the local Lutheran College. In fact both of my parents had him as a professor when they had attended Concordia in Moorhead in the late 1950's.

Pastor Larson had been a missionary with his wife in the Philippines when World War Two started. He and his wife spent the war in a Japanese internment camp. As I recall his wife never was the same and suffered for years afterward from the effects of the deprivations.

I recall that he was quiet and gentle and carried himself with a kind of dignity that was often lost on the rabble of high schoolers who pretty much didn't care for his message and who didn't have an appreciation for how difficult those times must have been for he and his wife. He didn't share his story too often either.

My parents later told me that after his wife died he went back to the Orient as a missionary. I am not sure if it was Taiwan or the Philippines.

I didn't really come to faith in Christ until much later in my life. And I haven't thought much about Pastor Larson until this week.

But he was the kind of guy who when he went home to be with the Lord I am pretty sure heard those words: "Well done, good and faithful servant."

May the same be said of me...

Living Water: No Turning Back

2009-02-16T15:57:00.000-08:00

Interesting chapter of Living Water by Brother Yun. We are told that we must expect opposition to when we obediently follow God.

The first thing that struck me is the statement: In fact, it could be argued that Satan only attacks those plans that he knows originate from God's throne. Brother Yun states that there are many things that Christians are involved in that have little impact on Satan and his plans.

I think that is a huge problem in the church in the United States today. We are so wrapped in all sorts of activity that drain our focus from what God wants us to do that we have little impact for the Kingdom. We are lukewarm and we are not hot for the Gospel and spreading the message that Christ died for our sins.

We are so distracted that we fail to focus on God's calling for each one of us.

I think that one reason we don't have a lot of persecution in the United States today is that we as a church are indistinguishable from the rest of society.

Brother Yun also states that we are called to suffer for the kingdom and to endure until the end. This is the central theme of Steve Farrar's excellent book: Finishing Strong. The Bible has numerous cases of people that start out well and don't endure to the end. David is the one that springs to mind as well as Saul and Solomon.

Looking forward to the conversation about this tomorrow.

Valentines Day

2009-02-14T17:45:00.000-08:00

Today is Valentine's Day.

A day for forced romance.

A day to buy something to symbolize something we should be telling each other everyday.

A day to pretend that problems don't exist in personal interaction.

A day to overeat.

A day to over consume.

A day to pay way too much for flowers that will be shrivelled up by next weekend.

A day that is exciting for the first year or so of a relationship.

A day that has changed to commercialism.

Results

2009-02-13T18:28:00.000-08:00

So the total results are in.

Fifty job equivalents lost. Savings of roughly $4.5 million for next fiscal year.
Reductions spread pretty evenly around in all departments.

No upper administrators lost their jobs but two unfilled positions were eliminated.

Not planning on any pay increases next year.

And this is only the first one. We were warned that it is only the first step.

I have to remember that behind each of the positions is a person.

Some people are retiring and that is a good thing. About 10 positions are currently vacant. But the other 35 or so people are facing the loss of jobs and more importantly for many: benefits. Good benefits.

Tough to take.

Have to say a prayer for them...