The Milkman Delivers!

Community Supported Agriculture

2009-05-30T20:10:00.003-04:00

One thing we are trying this year is community supported agriculture. We had several friends do it last year, and it sounded like something we wanted to try. A lot of the local ones filled up early, but we got a space with one, Hilltop Farm in Willow Spring. I wanted to try it it for a several reasons:

We're supporting a local family farm (check)
We'd eat more vegetables (check, in a big way)
Maggie would grow up knowing that her food comes from a farm, not a grocery store (95% of her food comes from Mommie right now, but Hilltop has open houses and work days, so maybe next year we can take her there).

So far we've gotten a lot of lettuce, spring onions, and strawberries, along with some broccolli, assorted greens, and we're starting to get a more diverse mix of veggies.

Backyard Renovation

2009-05-09T15:57:00.009-04:00

Since we moved to this house 2 years ago, we had wanted to have some landscaping work done. We finally got around to it, in a big way! We had it done by Chris Myrick at Green Art Inc., and he was really great to work with if you ever need a landscaper. The main work was to build a retaining wall in order to give us more flat parts of our yard, and to rebuild our patio, which was hard to maintain and not kid friendly. They also regraded and added drainage, since we had lots of problems this past rainy year. Here are a few pictures:
Before:

Day 1:

Day 2:

Day 3 (not much progress on Day 4 due to Rain):

Final product (Day 6 of work)!

We love our back yard, Pretzel loves having her yard back, and we know Maggie will love it when she's old enough to.

Catching Up

2009-05-09T15:50:00.003-04:00

Well, it's been over five months since a post, so I think I have some catching up to do. I'll post a few things in the next few days, including pictures of our new back yard and some thoughts about church I promised in December.
Of course the biggest thing in my life right now is my daughter, and I'll put some pictures and videos of her up on her blog http://mcdowellfamilyblog.blogspot.com/.
But this blog is mine, so I just want to say that I thought that a baby would be something you just love because she's yours or you have to or there was some chemical force that made you love this thing that just laid around and pooped and cried. I wanted to be a Dad, but thought the first few months would just be something you muddled through. Now, I found out, that I love my daughter more than I could have ever imagined. She is sweet, and smart, and funny, and all around wonderful. Part of me wants to keep her a little baby for ever, but most of me is excited to see what kind of adult this magical little person grows into. More to come, I promise!

Virginia Tech Season Review 2008

2009-01-07T21:05:00.003-05:00

Whew. This was a crazy season. In all rights, it should go down as one of the greatest seasons in the history of Hokies Football with another ACC championship (2 in a row and 3 in 5 years in the conference), a win against UVa, and a win in a BCS bowl givng us 10 wins for the season. Especially after losing so much talent to the NFL and also to injury. Here are some of my thoughts about the year:

Disgruntled: Many Hokie fans seamed to just be upset with the team, and the coaches. Spoiled fans with "Out of Whack" expectations? To me, thats a big part of it. But the offense was just plain bad much of the season, despite the return of an experienced offensive line.
Controversy, Part 2: Tyrod Taylor was going to redshirt, but after an opening game loss to ECU, the coaches (and Coach Beamer in particular) decided that Sean Glennon couldn't get it done behind the bad offensive line. It's a shame for Glennon, who I think could be a very good QB behind a good line. The coaches were probably right, because our best play for the next 9 games (until UVa) was Taylor running away.
Defense! The defense was supposed to be the weak link, as we lost 8 starters, many to the NFL. However, Bud Foster proved (again) that he's the best defensive coach in the country by developing a defense that ended up top 10 in the country. It started out slow, but for the last 4 games played as well as any VT D ever.
Roadtrip! As I reported earlier, my trip to Nebraska was a college football fan's dream trip.
Parity: The ACC was even top to bottom, and every game was a battle. By the end of the season, though, the Hokies proved they were the cream of the crop.
Dustin Keys: R-Sr placekicker finally made the team, earned a schollie, and had a great year. His parents used our tickets for many of the g
Freshmen on Offense: Darren Evans played great, and WRs Coale, Boykin, and Roberts developed as the year went on. Blake DeChristopher started at Tackle, and Jaymes Brooks started the bowl game at Guard.
Baby! I only made one homegame (GT), one road game (Nebraska), and a neutral site game (ECU@Charlotte), but it was worth it as the next generation of Hokie superfan was introduced to the world.
MVP: Another tough call this year, as freshman running back Darren Evans set a freshmen record with 1265 yards and 11 TDs. I have to give the MVP to Macho Harris, the senior cornerback also returned punts, played some wide receiver (8 catches, 63 yards) intercepted 6 passes for 2 TDs, defended more passes than I can remember, and led the team emotionally.

Next year there will be a lot of expectations on this team, with the whole offense returning (10 starters) along with much of the defense. It will be one of the hardest schedules in the country, with parity in the ACC again along with games against Nebraska, at ECU, in opening in Atlanta versus Alabama. Who knows, next year might feature Maggie's first Hokie game as well, since the Hokies play at Duke.

Christmas

2008-12-25T18:47:00.004-05:00

So, today is Christmas Day, and we have tried with some limited success to scale back our giving and receiving (we did scale back our giving more successfully). As my faith as changed in the last few years, it has become very obvious to me that how I was used to doing Christmas was not how I want to do it in the future. I have spent my holidays bowing down to consumerism, and not to the God I believe in honor of the birth of his one perfect incarnation. I want to change that.
Some things really influenced me this year: the website Advent Conspiracy sums it up a lot of it pretty well. In a world that remains in spots hungry, without water, without medical care, we celebrate the birth of a poor child by spending money. Our house church adopted families again through Share Your Christmas, which was great and I was able to actually deliver to our family in the projects in a really bad part of Durham. Our family was a 28-year-old single mom and her 6 kids. And with Maggie's birth, I've really thought about how we teach her what we believe Christmas is about without being a Scrooge. Hopefully we can have a nice, traditional, fun Christmas without going overboard, diverting some our gift giving to those in need, and including her in our projects to help others.
We are lucky enough to have my family down for a day and now Debbie's family here from all over the country (Seattle, Tacoma, Champaign, and Mebane - the last two can rhyme if you try really hard) and I think the sermon at Duke chapel put that into perspective. On Christmas, we choose to spend time with certain people, and that's a way we love tham. And that's the story of Christmas: that God chose to be with us. I think that is simple and beautiful. I hope we can continue to choose to be with our family and friends, and start to choose to be present to those around us in need.
The Christmas stories in the Bible are set up to show how Jesus birth and subsequent life started a revolution against the powers of the day (Matthew's version set Jesus against Herod and Luke sets Jesus against Ceasar). I hope our lives and our Christmas' can be part of a revolution against consumerism, poverty, fear, and hopelessness.

Five from 2008

2008-12-17T18:04:00.005-05:00

Okay, I had a really hard time with music this year. I agree it was a bit of a down year, and an earlier post expressed my mid-year frustration with quality listens. Since then I have spent a lot of effort trying to listen to what others thought was good, and think I came up with a solid top 5.

Fleet Foxes - Fleet Foxes: The one critically acclaimed album that I really liked this year. My wife asked me what kind of music it was. I would call it prog-folk/pop-rock. It's mellow but emotional and interesting. And my panel of one baby thinks it is anthralling.
Tift Merritt - Another Country: Partially biased by her 2 live performances we saw this year and influenced by her amazing voice, Another Country comes in at #2. Lots of diversity on her third album, adding on her country and soul base with some singer/songwriter type-trackas, but much deeper than her previous efforts even without the 1 or 2 really catchy tracks.
Dave Finch- Colors: Biased by family and friendship ties, but I enjoyed Dave's album as much as any this year. One of the hallmarks of music I like is emotion; this effort is brimming with it. Showing influences from Coldplay to Nirvana to 80s arena rock, this truly independant effort was worth the wait.
My Morning Jacket- Evil Urges: I hated this album the first time I heard it, but it ended up being the one that stuck in my head most this year. From the opening guitar in the title track through to the outstanding ballads, I learned to love it all. Even the falsetto.
Chatham County Line IV - Just another solid album from the local bluegrass(ish) band.

Other Favorites:

I loved Skinny Love from Bon Iver, even though the rest of the album is a complete drag. Sorry every official list that loves it.
Brandon Heath's Give Me Your Eyes was one of my favorite songs this year, and certainly my favorite officially religious song.

Would you like a Coke? Yes, Please I'll take a Diet Dr. Pepper.

2008-12-11T21:03:00.004-05:00

I love this map....

Fairly accurate in my experience. I grew up using either Coke (mostly) or Soda (some) or Drink (a bit). The first time I heard Pop was from a friend in college from Western PA. College really does open up the world to us, doesn't it?

Blog Preview

2008-12-03T19:25:00.002-05:00

Well, between having a baby and being sick, there has not been a lot of activity. I have a lot of blogging going on in my head, so I plan to blog on the following topics when I get a few minutes:

Hokie Season Recap
Top 5 Albums of the Year
Evolving Thoughts on Christmas
Why a House Church is Right for Me (Right Now)

Election Day Thoughts

2008-11-04T20:02:00.005-05:00

Everyone I know is really excited for election day today, and I'm right in line with that. Before I go back to work tomorrow, I thought I would jot down a few of my thoughts.

I really, really wanted to bring Maggie so she could say that she attended election day when (hopefully) a non-old white guy candidate is elected president. I have nothing against old white guys (as I pretty much am one), but it is exciting that the doors are open for others, including my daughter.
I voted for a third party candidate in a major position for the first time ever. I've always been reluctant to "throw my vote away", but I was sick of the major party candidates and, when I researched, thought the libertarian really was the best choice. I in fact voted for a couple republicans, a libertarian, and lots of democrats in the partisan races.
I wish there was a viable third party candidate for US Senate, because Dole has been ineffective and her campaign was offensive. However, I was not impressed by Hagan. I hate to vote against someone, but I did.
I would have voted for a McCain/Obama ticket or an Obama/McCain ticket before I voted for either of the choices we had. I think both are good men who have a lot to offer our country.

Welcome Maggie

2008-11-01T18:22:00.002-04:00

Margaret Ione McDowell was born 3:57 pm on Wednesday, October 29. She weighed 7 lbs 7 inches and was 2o inches long. Mom and Maggie are doing well and Dad is very proud of both of them. For more pictures, go to mcdowellfamilyblog.blogspot.com.

Hokies Get Corn?

2008-09-29T19:21:00.004-04:00

With 5 tentative weeks left until the baby comes, I was able to take a trip that is a dream for a college football fan, to see the Hokies play the Nebraska Cornhuskers in Lincoln. One of my roomates from grad school, Gary, went to Nebraska and has season tickets. 20 minutes after the series was announced, Gary e-mailed me offering me a ticket if I would give him a ticket in Blacksburg (next year). So I as able to go with Gary and his wife Tonya (another friend and onetime roomate at NC State).

I don't know if I could have had a better trip. The fans in Lincoln are fantastic. While a few students gave me a hard time, there were probably 100 fans who stopped and asked if I was having a good time and to make sure everyone was being hospitable. I was invited to tailgates, asked questions about Blacksburg, the Hokies, Coach Beamer, etc. While they were excited about the Huskers, they were polite and friendly. I hope we (Hokie fans) can evolve into as good of a fanbase. As memorial stadium accurately reads "Through these gates pass the greatest fans in college football."

We started our tailgate around 1pm, at a Nebraska tailgate with friends of Gary's sister and brother in law. They had smoked 20 racks of ribs the day before and reheated them on the grill. We also had a few beers at Lazlo's so we could catch the scores later in the afternoon. A trip to the bookstore (so I could buy a red "Got Corn?" t-shirt) and tour of the stadium completed the pre-game festivities.

The game was one of the most exciting games I've ever been to, with the Hokies hanging on to win 35-30. Stephen Virgil blocked a punt for a safety. Macho Harris had several great punt returns and a beautiful interception. Tyrod Taylor had his best game all season, Darren Evans continued to have a nose for the endzone with 2 touchdowns, and Dustin Keys was 4-4 on field gols as the Hokie offense stalled in the redzone. The defense played great until the end, and stopped the Huskers exactly enough to win in crunch time. A late hit on Taylor out of bounds and a subsequent un-sportsmanlike conduct penalty on Nebraska coach Bo Pelini set the Hokies up for the final score (Taylor TD on a 1-yard rush) to seal the Hokie victory.

One of the game officials had the same flight back from Omaha as I did, and I was able to talk to him for a few minutes in the Chicago airport. I asked him what Pelini said and he said "whew, a lot of stuff."

Best Tailgate of the Year

2008-09-19T07:08:00.005-04:00

I was able to buy a lot 1 pass on techsideline.com the for the Georgia Tech game last weekend. Here are some pictures of the tailgate that resulted. You can also see the baby's first celebrity sighting on her blog here. We had a great tailgate with prepared food from Kroger. We had a few friends drop by, including Pam with her Hokie bike that Stork fixed up for her. The Hokies won 20-17, even though GT outplayed them in many areas, VT won the turnover battle 3-0 and blocked an extra point. Freshman RB Darren Evans looked great, running for 94 yards and 2 TDs.

50th Anniversary Celebration

2008-09-09T19:08:00.002-04:00

This weekend, we were in Richmond for my parent's 50th wedding anniversary. My sisters put together a great celebration (I admittedly coasted on this one), and lots of my parents friends and family were able to come despite the bad weather. Unfortunately, we could not have it outside as planned due to the tropical storm. My older sister made my folks a scrapbook with letters from many more of their friends, and my middle sister got a family portrait framed (we had an Aunt take it in June).
One of the highlights was the pastor who married my parents was able to come. At 90 years old, he was the life of the party. Rev. Langford is a hero of the civil rights movement in Virginia, I have come to find, and lost his job over it. He is also a civil war buff and gave me a lecture on the leadership failures of Jefferson Davis.
What a blessing in my life to have parents whose marriage has lasted 50 years, and what a blessing to have great voices for justice like Rev. Langford.
(More on Dr. Langford: State Legislature Resolution and bio from Va Baptist Herald.)

Washington Trip

2008-08-11T22:31:00.003-04:00

Well, it's been almost a month since the last blog post, with lots of good reasons - we were considering a job/move out west (not happening), internet usage crackdown at work, and vacation!
We spent last week visiting the Northwest one last time sans baby, with lots of fun and activity:

Debbie's mom and friend Maria threw her a shower (see pictures at the baby blog).
Visiting Melanie in Portland (including 4 hours at the VW dealer)
Taking the train back to Tacoma
My sister and her family met us out there after a week long Alaska cruise
Taking my sister and fam to Mt. Rainier
Mariners game and visiting Tim in Seattle (every one should have a Seattle tour guide like my brother-in-law - he wore plaid, has facial hair, took us to 2 funky local restaurants and gave us a preview of one of his 3 bands' album)
Mt. Saint Helens (amazing-everyone should go if they get a chance)
Kayaking in the Puget Sound in Tacoma
Reuniting with Lilly the Dog

Lost at the Music Store

2008-07-19T09:00:00.002-04:00

For much of my life, I've hung out at music stores. When I got my first job in high school, My first big purchase was a CD player (a monstrous boom-box type that cost me like $400) and I pretty much blew everything I made on CDs. A lonely day in college and grad school meant a walk to Books Strings and Things, Record Exchange, or School Kids. I'm trying to slowly whittle down my CD collection, but it's pretty enormous to show for all these trips.
Last night we had a great night out in Durham with our friends Jeremy and Alisa. We ate dinner at Pop's and then went to see a free concert in Brightleaf Square. While the band took a break, we headed in to Offbeat Music (one of the few record stores still left in the world, I believe). I was completely lost.
For the first time in my life, I had no idea what I would be interested in. I looked at the new Coldplay and the new John Mayer - not exactly groundbreaking choices. I listened to the new Sigur Ros (sounds like a whale giving birth) and My Morning Jacket (didn't do it for me). I kinda want the new Old 97s, but once again, not very exciting as it sounds much like the 3 Old 97 albums I have.
I guess I'm old. Every year a group of friends and I send around our top 5 albums of the year. The last 2 years, mine has been very pedestrian. This year I think I only have one new album - my brother-in-law's (which is very good, but it was given to me.)
I'm not supposed to become lame until after the kids come, right? If anyone has an album recommendation, please let me know.

Seth's thoughts

2008-06-20T13:59:00.004-04:00

I have referred to it before, but if there is one blog that I recommend (other than mine, and of course yours), it's Seth Godin's. He is some sort of a marketing guru/internet entrepeneur. With those titles, he would normally seem pretty uninteresting to me, but he has a lot of thoughts that apply to leadership and are also somehow (probably unintentionally) spiritual.

Here are two recent blog posts I really dig (or digg), the first about worthy living, and the second about fear.

Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship. Roman's 21:1

Do not be afraid, for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom. Luke 12:32

Florida Keys

2008-06-03T17:58:00.003-04:00

We're back from our trip to the Florida Keys. Here are a few pictures.
(I know the sunset picture is pretty good, but don't be intimidated by my photography skills. I went to college for 9.5 years and learned all sorts of things you can only imagine. Then my wife bought me this little digital camera. I pointed it at the water and pushed one of the buttons on the top of it.)

Gotta Love Weezer

2008-05-27T10:16:00.001-04:00

Jesus for President Blog Tour

2008-05-26T18:31:00.011-04:00

I'm really interested in what Shane Claiborne does and writes. As I see it, he tries to live his life the way he interprets Jesus would want him to, which is a lot more than I can say for myself 95% of the time. So, I've read Shane Claiborne's previous book, and also got to see him last time he was in the area. Now I'm participating in the blog tour for his new book.

My main response to this book is WOW. Once again very thought provoking. In The Irresistible Revolution, Claiborne was focused on personal living in the light of Jesus words. It was very convicting, and presented a way to live more in tune with Christ's teachings. In this book, Claiborne and Chris Haw focus on life in American society and our current global economy.
The first two sections, are fairly innocent, providing an intro into into narrative theology. It's a great primer for those of us who get bogger down in the more scholarly writings on the subject (by the likes of Hauerwas, Yoder, Wright, and Barth). The third section is an indictment of America as compared to the empires portrayed in the Bible. I'll probably end up on some watch list for admitting I read it, but that's okay. The final section is comprised of examples of how the authors and their friends stand against the empires of capitalism, the global economy, and even the American government.
The stated purpose of the book is to re-ignite the political imagination of American Christians. I have to say it succeeds, particularly in educating people in the ways our government and society has fallen short of God's vision for the world. However, be warned that there is very little actually about voting and the election process (only the very last few pages). It is much more about living in a way that is counter to the systems in power today.
One place where I struggle with the book is in relation to the military. The authors are very anti-war, and offer to help soldiers who want to get out. I am also against war, especially the ridiculous one we are in now, but wonder if there is a third way where we can be Anti-War but more respectful to our military. I know there are lots of professed Christians in the military, and I am sure that we are better off for it. They are suffering in service of our country.
There is an actual physical tour that hits Raleigh on July 22 at First Baptist Church-Wilmington Street (Across the street from the Capitol). I can only imagine what's going to happen. For more info on the book and tour go here or here.

The Story of Stuff

2008-05-26T18:22:00.005-04:00

Somehow, I ran across this little film on the internet. I disagree with a few points (ex. I don't think companies move manufacturing to Asia to skirt environmental laws, except sometimes environmental compliance is cheaper in third world countries), but over-all it's pretty thought provoking.

Anyway, check the whole thing out (it runs about 20 minutes) at http://www.storyofstuff.com/.

The Power of Forgiveness

2008-05-11T16:34:00.003-04:00

Last Sunday at Small Group, we took a break and had movie night, watching the documentary The Power of Forgiveness. It looks at many aspects of forgiveness, interviewing researchers who have done studies on forgiveness, religious leaders of many faiths, and people who have gone through terrible experiences (such as the holocaust or losing a loved one during the 9-11 attacks). The most moving part to me was the last story, where a Muslim father whose son was murdered by a 14-year old boy on drugs. The father completely forgave the murderer and started a foundation with the murderer's Christian grandfather (and guardian) to teach inner city kids about forgiveness.
It also explored the murder of the Amish schoolchildren a few years ago, and commented on how the faith and traditions of the Amish people made them hardwired to forgive. Even though we share the same faith, I don't feel like I'm hardwired at all to forgive. I think I generally hold grudges and try to get even, even though I want to be forgiving and know that's how I'm supposed to be. Wouldn't it be awesome if churches could be boot camps for forgiveness and our kids would grow up to be automatic forgivers?
Anyway, I thought it was a really good film. Check it out if you get a chance (I have a copy if you want to borrow it).

The Really Big News

2008-04-21T21:26:00.003-04:00

Well the really big news is that we're expecting! Some of you already know, but we're at the beginning of the 12th week. The ultrasounds are from the 9th week, and she/he was about 2 centimeters long at that point. The expected due date is October 30th.
Being a worrier, I'm excited but also worried. Will I be a good father? Can I raise her/him to be a respectful, graceful, peaceful, joyful person that I hope that he/she will be (especially since I fail at being these things more often than not)? For those of you who pray, say a prayer for the health of our baby and that with God's help we will be great parents.
I've also started a new blog for those who are interested in following the baby news but not my incomprehensible ramblings:
http://mcdowellfamilyblog.blogspot.com/

We remember...

2008-04-16T07:24:00.002-04:00

Stories

2008-04-10T18:45:00.003-04:00

One of the blogs I enjoy is Seth Godin's . I don't know how to describe him: internet entrepreneur, marketing guru, just a guy who thinks well. One of his posts this week was on the power of story. I think he's hit on something; the times I've been happiest and most motivated in life was when I felt I was part of a story. Twice it's been a boss that really rallied us as a team and gave us a great context for our work, once it was a dream I never thought I'd achieve but persevered and pulled it out because someone else blew their shot, once it was a church where we really thought we were building something great. Right now at work, I'm wrapping up a project that's a great story (there are many heroes, villains, teamwork, setbacks, implosions, a major comeback, relationships formed and broken). It would make a good movies if there were more chemical engineers in the world; everyone else would be pretty bored. The best movies are the ones that really have a good plot and characters. My favorite TV shows are ones like Lost or Heroes, that have an overarching and compelling story.
I just finished reading Donald Miller's Searching for God Knows What. It's one of my favorite books I've ever read. I've heard Miller speak about this concept of story as well. He thinks the Bible is full of great stories because God wants us to live great stories. I like that idea a lot. We try to make the Bible a rule book or a science text book, when really it's a collection of stories. When you become a Christian, maybe the best definition is that you're attaching your story to the story of Jesus, and maybe the acid test for genuine faith is whether or not it's taking you on great journeys.
So, I'm asking myself: What's the story of my life? Of my job? My faith? Our family? and hoping these questions will bring me to new and exciting journeys.

Stephen Curry, Number 30, and Vintage Milkman Photos

2008-03-30T13:12:00.010-04:00

The superstar of the NCAA tournament so far is Stephen Curry of Davidson. It's bittersweet for me, because it's awesome that such a fine kid from a non-traditional power is doing so great. But, he's the son of one of my childhood heroes, and he's not a Hokie (and it's not the Hokies in the Elite 8).

Growing up in the 80s in suburban Richmond, being a Hokie basketball fan was not a popular choice, but that's where my father went to school, and they were having limited success (although greatly overshadowed by the heyday of UVa basketball). The kid across the street and I played hours of backyard basketball; he usually choose to be Jeff Lamp or Othell Wilson, and I generally choose the role of Dell Curry.
Whenever I had the choice of a uniform number, I would choose #30, for both Dell and my favorite baseball player Tim Raines. I still wear number 30 for my softball team. Here are some pictures of me in intra-murals in college, circa 1992, in action and when they retired my jersey (with masking tape) at our team banquet after my senior season (we invited our girlfriends to our appartment and it was catered by KFC). Notice the Curry-like follow through (although unlike Curry I was streaky - I could can 5 jump shots in a row and not make another one for a month).

Coach Greenberg has admitted he made a mistake, but to his credit, he was the only ACC coach to make an offer (they wanted him to walk on for one year and redshirt). If Seth Curry (a HS senior this year) leads Liberty to the Sweet 16, I think Coach's 2 ACC COY awards should be revoked!

Big News!

2008-03-27T20:20:00.006-04:00

Here is our first bit of news: we have almost finished our kitchen remodel. We got hardwood floors put in throughout the first floor, new granite countertops (including a new sink, which is a great improvement), new appliances, new lighting, and a new dining room table (with chairs). I'm particularly proud of doing all the plumbing myself. Debbie's picking out paint colors for the the living room and then I think we'll be done with downstairs.
Before:
After:

Christianity wrong about heaven?

2008-03-03T09:25:00.006-05:00

Here's an article from Time magazine, interviewing N.T.Wright, a British theologian I've read some of in the last few years. Even though I can't say I'm all the way with him, he brings up some good and interesting points. I was speaking with some of my friends at our house church last night about a very similar thing, and then I found this article this morning. I've had the thought the last few months about how much of our "modern" Christian thought is more about Greek and Roman religion than Jesus. (i.e. God is an angry old bearded white man who thows lighting bolts at us from his throne when we mess us). I think heaven and hell are other examples. Jeff suggested to me I read Pagan Christianity, which I will have to some day, which addresses some of these things in detail.

How much more exciting is it to take part in making the world a better place (with the support of the creator of the universe) than just to sit around and hope God sucks you out of here before things get really bad?

I have been a slack blogger recently, but I promise that there will be some good stuff here in the upcoming months. I've got a huge project at work, but there are also some big projects at home, including some renovation that I'll post pictures of in the coming days.

Isaiah 58

2008-02-12T11:14:00.002-05:00

This week at small group, I led the group through a discussion of Isaiah 58. I knew about 4 weeks ago that I was doing this, so I read through the passage almost every day, slowly gathered information and read commentatary and tried to answer my own questions. It's a strange sensation, but I carried this passage around with me in a very heavy place while I thought about how to present it to my friends. It continues to convict me, particularly verse 11:

The LORD will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame. You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail.

The best I understand it, this is a promise to those who practice "true fasting" or "true religion", which is, as verse 7 states: to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter— when you see the naked, to clothe them, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?

As I spend much of my life struggling for meaning and wondering what my life's calling is, does Isaiah answer me from sometime around the 6th century BCE? Am I lying in sackcloth and ashes, beating my breast while God has laid it out for me how to live my life?

Often, the Bible is confusing or worse. Sometimes it is not. Stupid Isaiah!

Career Implosion

2008-02-12T10:24:00.000-05:00

Well, I usually don't blog about work, for good reason. But I've been working on a really big project for 5 years on-and-off and it was finally coming to fruition. We had bought a new piece of equipment and started on the commissioning. Things were going well until late Friday afternoon, when the this equipment collapsed under the vacuum we pulled on it. I wish I could post pictures, it's pretty impressive. It was our supplier's fault, and they took full responsibility, but it is still a big setback!
That sucking sound is my project going down the tubes.

Virginia Tech Season Review 2007

2007-12-17T13:32:00.000-05:00

This season has been one of the most entertaining and rewarding Hokie football seasons in recent years for me. It had some ups and downs, mostly ups, and the downs made the ups more enjoyable. And of course, winning the ACC championship and beating UVa is all a Hokie fan can hope for in a season. Here are some thoughts about the season:

Emotionalism: The ECU game was my first trip back to campus since the shootings, and it was good to get back and hard to remember.
Disappearing act: Brandon Ore has a really bad junior season after possibly being the best back in the conference his sophomore year. Part of it was poor line play, but he seemed tentative and maybe a step slow all season (except the148 yards against UVa).
Patience: The offensive line took a long time to gel, but the end of the season seemed to click along. The key was getting Ed Wang back from injury so Nick Marshman could move back to guard from Wang's tackle spot.
Heartbreak: The Hokies looked like they had a win at home versus BC, up 10-0 with 6 minutes and one second left in the game and the defense playing outstandingly. Matt Ryan rallies the Eagles with 2 TDs in the last 2:45 to win 14-10. The loss sparks the Hokies to rally and win the last 4 games of the season, led by Macho Harris's post game speach "A Minor Setback for a Major Comeback"
Controversy: A quarterback controversy actually worked out in the end! Redshirt junior Sean Glennon, who was mediocre most of last season, lost his starting position in the middle of a terrible loss to LSU, 48-7 early in the season. In comes freshman Tyrod Taylor, who's mobility relieved some pressure from the line as it comes together. When Taylor got hurt versus Duke, Glennon comes in and plays great. The rest of the season, the QBs alternate as the situation dictates. We probably don't win against Florida State without Taylor, and Glennon carries us versus Duke, Georgia Tech, Virginia, and the championship game. The QB rotation doesn't work in most cases, but I think it works here because both QBs approach the game with some humility and really enjoy and respect each other.
Redemption: All you can ask for: another shot at BC at the end of the season in the ACC Championship game, where we won 30-16 to finish 11-2 and earn a bid to the Orange Bowl versus Kansas.
Attendance: ECU, Ohio, UNC, Miami, and BC at home; Duke on the road, and on to the Orange Bowl!
MVP: It was such a team effort this year, this one is hard to give out to an individual, so I'll give it to the entire defensive unit, that played lights out for the 4th year in a row and gave the offense some time to mature. Special shout out to Eddie Royal for being such a joy to watch for 4 years.

Top 5 Albums of 2007

2007-12-10T12:36:00.002-05:00

Once again it is time for the annual top 5 albums of the year. It gets harder every year, but I thought there was some decent music out there this year. I don't think my top five are as differentiated as last year, when I had a clear number one.

Wilco - Sky Blue Sky - Suprise! Chris puts a Wilco album at #1. OK, maybe not, but I really liked this album. It is definitely a Wilco album, but also has a different feel than any other Wilco album. If I ever sell-out, I will also sell-out to Volkswagen, so that gets bonus points.
Spoon - Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga - Great indie pop-rock album. Infinitely catchy yet musically interesting.
Avett Brothers - Emotionalism - North Carolina duet shows how much depth that country music can have when it tries.
Caedmon's Call - Overdressed - Without Derek Webb, CC is just an average Nashville-sound Christian Band. With him, they're thoughtful, clever, insightful, honest, and beautiful.
Ryan Adams - Easy Tiger - Uneven album , but enough stand out tracks to merit a top five spot.

Non-album things I loved in 2007: Simple Shoes, my Senseo coffee maker with ecopads and Caribou Tanzania coffee, Urinetown, Heroes, kiva.org.

God says stop! and listen...to a podcast.

2007-12-07T13:09:00.001-05:00

Well, my commute was about an hour today due to a wreck on the Neuse River bridge, but it let me listen to a good podcast that tied together a lot of things I've been thinking about a lot recently. Speaking of Faith interviewed Harvey Cox on the on the divide between religion and atheism. Cox is a theology professor at Harvard who is most famous for writing a book in the 1960s about the growing secularism in America and recently teaching a course on morality and Jesus which hundreds of Harvard undergrads take electively every year. Some thoughts:

He and the host speak about Richard Dawkins and Christophjer Hitchens (whose book God is not Great I recently read). The host says she hasn't interviewed them for the same reason she didn't interview Jerry Falwell: they have all the answers already. I was struggling with how to write a book review on it, so I'll leave it at that. He has some correct points that religion has done some bad things, but overall the book is divisive and hateful. I take the Niebuhr approach "Religion is both necessary and dangerous" or as one my favorite authors, Bruce Feiler, said in "Where God was Born", that the only answer to fundamentalist religion is moderate religion. People are jerks, but that does not necessarily make all religion bad. Cox says you can be very highly educated and also be very strident and also close out of your discourse important issues, which are current and new forms of thinking, and really not be in touch with the current state of the dialogue. That's what bothers me about them. They really don't seem to be interested or don't have the time or the discipline to engage or to tune in to this really quite remarkable, new series of conversations that's going on.
He speaks about a need of a basic religious education, as I read recently about in"Religious Literacy: What Every American Needs to Know and Doesn't", which was a good book but pretty long for it's basic idea: so much of our society uses religious ideas and language, that since we don't know anything about religion it makes us bad citizens. It was written by a Harvard religion professor, Stephen Prothero. Cox was asked to teach a class on Jesus and Moral Reasoning as one of 35 elective ethics classes (Harvard students must take one.) There is a book based on the class that I'd really like to read now.
He speaks about how the Market has replaced God in America, following the 60s. This was very convicting, particularly how some of the language we use echos the language used of God in the Bible, and went along with Colossians Remixed, which I read and reviewed earlier this year. Cox on reading financial literature such as the Wall Street Journal: that we have a kind of a confidence, indeed, faith that the market will solve things, or at least many people have that, I don't have it, maybe you don't either, that you just leave it to the market. It will allocate things and in the long run, maybe the very long run, it will all come out fine. Just don't tamper with this, what Adam Smith called the invisible hand...

Anyway, interesting stuff...worth a listen in my opinion.

Rob Bell says the Gods aren't Angry

2007-12-06T12:57:00.001-05:00

The night before Thanksgiving, we went to see Rob Bell speak at Raleigh's Meymandi Concert Hall on his God's Aren't Angry Tour. As most know, I'm a big fan of Bell and really enjoyed my front row seat for the talk. To set the record straight, I am not a stalker because I've only travelled to Michigan to see him once. The other two times I've seen him, he's travelled to North Carolina. Who looks like a stalker now?

He started off with a story imagining a pre-historic woman and how she interacted with nature and created religion. He continued on to talk about some pagan religions around the time of the Exodus and the nature of the sacrifices of these religions. The God of Abraham, he argued, illustrates a very progressive idea in the early books of the Bible, in comparison to these religion. With this God, there is an idea of a sufficient sacrifice, and that this sacrifice is actually for your benefit, not for God's. He went on to talk about how Jesus' death extends the idea further, saying that no religious sacrifice is needed to be right with God. He closes with examples of how we worship gods today that demand unlimited sacrifices: money, career, control, etc. and suggests that we can leave those gods behind.

Now, I've read and listened to a lot of Rob Bell and none of his talk caught me by surprise. I thought it was a solid and thoroughly entertaining lecture. From some reviews online, and from the picketers outside of the hall, it shocked some people. I've read several blogs online that complained that Bell skipped over the concept of hell, judgement, and sin. There were folks handing out tracts outside the event along with a guy wearing a sandwich board saying "God is Angry at your Wickedness." I have several answers for the critics.

First, that wasn't the topic of his talk. He talked for almost 2 hours, and if he wanted to cover hell, sin, and judgement in the depth he spoke, I would have demanded a bathroom break and maybe something to eat. They were picketing the title of the talk without even understanding the topic of the talk. His intent was not to refute the famous John Edwards sermon. He likes to give his talks and sermons thought provoking (sometimes like spiritual double entendres) titles. You just walked right into it.

Lastly, sometimes I feel concepts like sin and hell and judgement are so distorted by us (Christians) that those words don't even mean what they used to. So they may not belong in the public square. He talked about habits and thoughts and lifestyles that are detrimental to us and how a God who created us out of love wants us to leave these behind. "You don't have to live like this anymore." That sounds pretty Orthodox to me, even if he didn't overtly use certain words. To me, if you insist on making tracts, you could make it into a pretty good tract (I won't tell you where to stick it when you're done.)

His talk was much more interesting and had much more depth than how I described it. Anyway, Rock on Rev. Bell, and I hope to see you again next year.

Here's some friends thoughts on the talk:

Justin

Todd

What are the presidential candidates worth?

2007-12-03T19:56:00.000-05:00

I found this fascinating from this month's Kiplinger, on how the presidential candidates invest. Their list of the candidates' net worth:

Mitt Romney $190-$250 Million
Rudy Giuliani $18-70 Million
Hillary Clinton $10-50 Million
John Edwards $30 Million
John McCain $21-32 Million
Fred Thompson $2.6-8.3 Million
Barack Obama $456,000 to $1.1 Million

It's interesting, not only how rich some of these guys are, but also how much Obama is worth. He's not really running as a populist (having read his book, he seems to bill himself mostly as a good politician), but he could probably stake a more legitimate claim at that than rich guy John Edwards. I know plenty of people who are worth more than Obama, and I will probably be in his ballpark when I'm his age. I don't know if he's the best candidate for president this go round, but there are an awful lot of things I like about him.
And man, Romney is stinkin' rich (he's a former venture capitalist, funding, among other things, Domino's pizza).

November Report

2007-11-27T11:46:00.000-05:00

Well, another month and no blogging. It's certainly been our busiest month since we've been married. Lot's of stuff went on, and I probably won't ever be able to catch up, including several trips and the loss of a dear friend. Here's a rundown:

We spent a week in Tacoma visiting with Debbie's family and going to her friend Gen's wedding reception.
I then turned around and left for a business trip to Denmark for 5 days.
During my time in Denmark, our good friend Herschel passed away at 78 from an infection in his lungs. Debbie got to visit him in the hospital, but sadly, I did not. His funeral was in Missouri last week and there is a local service this Sunday. I will remember Hershell as a man of great grace and service. In a graceless world, Herschel always had a kind word of wisdom but never a ounce of judgement. Whenever Herschel asked me for help, I could never say no, because I always knew he wold never say no to me if I asked for help. I am a better person for knowing him.
I went to the Tech/Miami game that Saturday. The Hokies, after doing well but struggling most of the season have now won 4 straight in November (Georgia Tech, Florida State - for the first time in 12 games over 32 years, Miami, and Virginia). They've really found themselves and have hit a stride heading into a rematch with BC in the ACC Championship game this weekend. The quarterback contreversy has beem molded into a quite effective 2 QB system.
Wednesday night, we went to see Rob Bell's The Gods Aren't Angy Tour. I have a lot of thoughts, of course, but they'll probably perculate a little longer.
We spent Thanksgiving with my sisters in Corolla, NC. It was a really good, relaxing family fun time.

What's up with us? - Catch up from a Heart-Breaking Weekend

2007-10-30T14:00:00.001-04:00

Well, it's been almost a month since I've "blogged", but things are hoppin' right along for us. Every year, I really look forward to the Hokies' Thursday night home game. I have always taken Friday off and made some sort of fun plans for the rest of the weekend. In previous years I've gone white water rafting with church "young adults group", Debbie and I have spent time in Roanoke and the Blue Ridge parkway, and we've gone down to Asheville and Black Mountain. This year, the Hokie hosted number 2 Boston College, and we planned to go hiking on the Appalachian Trail and visit some friends who just moved to Roanoke.

The game was heart breaking. As someone put it "we love college football, and we just got college footballed." The Hokies played their hearts out and played the best they have all season. The running game clicked a little bit against the #1 rushing defense in the country, the offensive line blocked as well as they had all season, Sean Glennon ran the offense efficiently for an injured Tyrod Taylor, and the defense absolutely shut down the best QB in the country. Until the last 4 minutes. Up 10-0 with the VT defense hitting on all cylinders, Matt Ryan bracketed an Eagle onside kick recovery with 2 TD passes. I think the last time an onside kick actually worked, I was 8 and we we executed it perfectly in the neighbor's back yard. Kudos to the Hokies players for playing so hard; that's why I love you guys. Anti-kudos to the guys Andy sold his tickets to and their foul language. Additional anti-Kudos to the guy near us who screamed "You Suck Hokies" after the clock expired.

After spending 4 hours watching our team lose in the rain, we decided against a five hour hike on the AT in the rain, so on Friday we went to Dixie Caverns, drove a bit on the Blue Ridge Parkway, and went to the mall. We also met my friend and former co-worker John, who just moved to Roanoke, for breakfast. Friday night we went to The Homeplace (same as it ever was) and spent the night with our friends Terri and Marty, who also just moved to Roanoke. They have 5 acres in Botetourt County; you can see their house from the AT.

Saturday we met the Trogs at the NC Barbeque festival. Good times, but basically a big street fair like many small towns have, just very well attended with good music and 'cue.

Back in town Saturday night for small group on Sunday evening. Sunday morning I watched God Grew Tired of Us, which was a really interesting documentary about 3 Sudanese lost boys who grew up without their families in UN refugee camps, and then immigrated to the US. Really heart-warming and uplifting, but also convicting of just how good we have it here. I suggest it for anyone who is interested in such things.

I have a lot of things to capture here, but they may have to wait. We've started our new small group and are really excited about how that's going so far. I've also finished several worthwhile books, and have more in the queue (of course). But, we'll be in Washington next week visiting Debbie's family and then, the day after we get back, I leave for Denmark again for a week.

Jesus Wants to Save Christians

2007-10-30T13:55:00.001-04:00

As promised several months ago, here is short review on the sermons of the Rob Bell series, Jesus Wants to Save Christians. Rob takes the idea that Christians are saved and others are not and flips it upside down; asking what we, as Christians, need salvation from. I certainly realize there are things I need deliverance from in my own life. This was, once again, a really great series that was very convicting to me. The first time I listened to it, about a year ago it really shocked me that a preacher would say some of these things, but a year later, they have sunk in and it just makes me focus on the things I need to give up and/or work on.
1 – Review of the new Exodus. This is a review of his previous series which is a primer on narrative theology. It portrays the story of Israel as a story we are all part of, asks what are our personal and societal (metaphorical) Egypts that we need to be delivered from, and asks what are the empires (systemic injustice) that we need to oppose. God always hears the cry of the oppressed. Exodus 3:7-8
2 – Jesus wants to save Christians from having to have all the answers 1 Corinthians 2:1-5
3 – Jesus wants to save Christians from (an improper understanding of) Hell. This sermon is a survey of the English word Hell (translated from greek words Tarturus, Hades, Gehenna) in the New Testament and it’s meanings. Turns out, Hell is an actual place outeide Jerusalem So you can go to Hell. Really, you can.
4 – Jesus wants to save Christians from having too much. (Because it makes us out of touch, indifferent, and alone) Luke 12:13-21
5 - Jesus wants to save Christians from Prejudice. This sermon is delivered by Kent Dobson, who is a member and former worship pastor at Mars Hill and talks about who Jesus ate with, what he ate, and why this is so important. Luke 10:4-11
6 - Jesus wants to save Christians from Hate. Luke 10:25-37. The Samaritans were hated by the Jews, but in the parable, the man was dependant on the person he hated to save him.
7- Jesus wants to save Christians from Greed. Luke 16:19-31
8 – Jesus wants to save Christians from worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth. Matthew 13:1-23

If you want to lsiten to the series, you can download it here.

An Irresistible Revolutionary

2007-09-23T08:57:00.000-04:00

We were fortunate enough to go see one my current heroes, Shane Claiborne, speak last night at Duke Memorial UMC in Durham. Shane is the author of the Irresistible Revolution and one of the founders of the Simple Way, an intentional Christian community in the "badlands" of North Philadelphia. Shane spoke on Grace and Peace, 2 things that seem to be greatly lacking in the world today. He was funny, inspiring, eye-opening, engaging, hope-giving. Shane has had an amazing life, working with Mother Teresa, protesting the war in Iraq by traveling to Baghdad during "Shock and Awe", serving an internship at Willow Creek (how brave!), and moving to inner-city Philly. He considers his life an experiment in trying to actually live the way Jesus talks about in the NT. I really strongly suggest his book, but I also promise you it will be a challenge. Six months later, I still don't know where to "put" what I learned.
Afterwards, we went with the Trogs to eat ice cream and of course, in Durham, you are always presented with opportunities to interact with folks in a way Shane talked about as a tall African-American man (claiming to be my cousin Slim) asked us for money on the way out of Francesca's. (He was scruffy-looking but wearing a Whole Foods t-shirts saying "Got Brie?" on the front.) All I had (since I had spent my cash on gelato and the Claiborne event) was the change in my car. I hope I interacted with him not out of fear, but out of love, and with truth and respect that would honor God.

Ohio Game Report: Tyrod Taylor Era Begins

2007-09-17T11:07:00.000-04:00

I did not report on the LSU game last week, well, because it was bad. It was hard to watch and there was nothing interesting to reflect on other than the play of Tyrod Taylor, who came in late in the second quarter after it became obvious the offense could do nothing versus the Tiger D. I was torn, however, because I'm a big Sean Glennon fan. He's a good QB who's worked hard, represented the team and university well, and played very well in spots. Anyone who has ever been passed up for a position, promotion, project, etc. can empathize with him as he was passed over by a true freshman less than 2 full games into the season.
That said, TT is the real deal. After one game, it is now clear that he is the best QB on the team. My third post on this blog, less than a year and a half ago, announced the signing of Taylor. In his first start, he went 18-31 for 273 yards and rushed for a touchdown. His passes looked crisp, his reads looked good, and his mobility bought time when our still shaky O-Line broke down. My prediction: within a year, he'll be regarded as the best VT QB ever who has never served prison time. I think he puts us right back up there as a contender for the ACC title (seeing as no one else is that impressive in the league thusfar, other than maybe BC and Klimpsin.)

The weather in Blacksburg was perfect, a pre-game meal at Buffalo Wild Wings was excellent, and a 28-7 win by the Hokies was satisfying.

Making the world a better place, one Muslim liquor store at a time

2007-09-12T14:25:00.000-04:00

My BIL Dave had told me about the website Kiva.Org several months ago. I finally got into using it today. It is a website that links you with people desiring microfinance loans in poorer parts of the world. Microfinance is growing in popularity and visability as a way to sustainably help folks elevate themselves from poverty. Other organizations let you donate money to their microfinance programs (like World relief, which is an awesome orgaization as well), but on Kiva, you can pick which businesses you want to invest in and get an update on how the businesses are doing later. You are only allowed to loan $25 to each business, with most businesses needing a $500-1000 total loan amount. The repayment rate is over 99%.

Anyway, Oprah mentioned them on her show this week, so they have been flooded with money and only have a few businesses on at a time that are in need of loans. This morning I invested in 4 businesses, including Farhod in Tajikistan, who is starting a liquor shop. Check kiva out, it's pretty cool!

Buy Fergie's Hummer, Save the Planet!

2007-09-11T09:19:00.000-04:00

OK, I know the rich and famous tend to be disconnected from reality and all, but am I missing something here? Fergie is inspired by her Live Earth performance, so has decided to sell her Hummer on e-Bay, and give the money to some environmental charity! So now, someone else can drive the thing around, using just as much gas and generating just as much pollution. Fergie, however will be driving a Prius , donating thousands of dollars to a charity, and living with a clear conscience.
One of my Dads dreams was to buy and old car, park it in our back yard, plant flowers around it, and let us kids play around in it. That's the best thing I can think of to do with a Humvee. Anyone got a spare $64,000?

Return to Blacksburg

2007-09-06T10:20:00.000-04:00

Last weekend we went to the first football game of the season, and it was my first trip to Blacksburg since the shootings in April. It was an emotional time for everyone. We went out to dinner and then to a divey Irish Bar on Friday night in Roanoke with a group of friends. Since we stayed in Roanoke, we were able to head out to Blacksburg early for a trip to the memorial. We walked from our parking spot to Norris Hall, where 30 people were shot and the shooter took his own life. A small parking lot across from Randolph, where most of my classes were, there were a few people outside looking at the doors that he chained to keep his victims in and the windows where students escaped. About 50 yards from the front of Norris is the “interim” memorial on the drillfield in front of Burruss Hall, the main administration building and the building you see on the front of postcards and such. There was a large group of people there, decked out in Orange and Maroon, solemnly and quietly processing by the 32 “Hokie” stones, each with the name of a victim carved in them. A man and his young son, each wearing a replica football jersey laid flowers on each of the stones in front of us as we joined the procession. In a few hours, we would transform in to a creaming horde of football fans, but for a few minutes we reflected and remembered – you could have heard a pin drop. The memorial is beautiful (I actually hope they leave it instead of building the planned memorial) – A reminder in the middle of this large secular university that we are mortal and the land is borrowed. Holy Ground. (Genesis 28:16-18)

Afterwards, while our minds were not completely on football, our feet were. We hit up the bookstore to buy Hokies United t-shirts, and then walked to the soccer practice fields where ESPN Gameday was being shot, to a tailgate where some friends were for a quick visit and a Natural Light, and then onto the stadium. After a pregame ceremony (watch the beautiful video shown on the dumbotron here - the song is by folk/pop band Eddie from Ohio, the lead singer Julie is a Tech grad), and an F-15 flyover, an exciting game started. The fans and the team seemed a little drained, and ECU played really well (I think they will be better than expected), but the Hokies played well enough to win 17-7. Our O-Line will have to be much better to win next week against #2 LSU in Baton Rouge (I really wish I was going).

I never lost it, but I came close: once when walking around the memorial and once during the pregame video.

Football Season

2007-08-27T09:01:00.000-04:00

Well, Hokie football starts back up this weekend, and Debbie and I will be heading to Blacksburg for the ECU game. Even thought the Hokies are predicted to be one of the better teams in the ACC and the country this year, my thoughts are unfortunately on other things. This will be my first trip back to campus since the attacks in April, and quite frankly I've put the emotions of that day somewhere where I don't have to think about it. We're going to get into town early enought to walk by Norris and the new memorial and I anticipate losing it. I addition, the brightest star in the Hokie football universe seriously flamed out and came back to earth this year, with Michael Vick pleading guilty to running a dog fighting ring today and soon heading off to prison for 12-18 months. Looking out at those kids every week this year will be very different this year, and I think college football will be a bit less of an escape for me. The football players lost friends and classmates this year, and have said they feel like they're playing will help the healing of the university and community in some small way. I'll be thankful for and mindful of all the students and student-athletes that are still around - life is fragile. At the same time, these guys running around making big plays - enthusastically enjoying and exhibiting their skills and entertaining me and thousands of fans - well they're human. Most of them will end up being ordinary Joes - teachers, business people, farmers, engineers - and hopefully good citizens. Some may continue to be athletes and heros - and hopefully good people. And some will end up making terrible choices for their lives.

In preparation for the season, I'm reading What it means to be a Hokie, which my buddy Andy gave me for my birthday, and just finished Rammer Jammer Yellow Hammer. In RJYH, the author basically lives my dream. He takes a leave from his job and follows his favorite team (in his case Alabama for the 1999 football season) around for the season, exploring the phenomena of college football RV'ing and fan culture. It was a really entertaining book that I highly suggest for college football fans. The first couple of weeks, he hitches a ride with a couple with an RV, and then he buys his own beater for the last part of the season. He encounters a man who goes to all the games even though he'll get bumped from the heart transplant list if he gets caught more than 2 hours from Nashville, a couple who misses their daughter's wedding because it coincides with a Tide game, and a minister who has a TV on the pulpit while he performs weddings during football season. He experiences the ugly side of sports (from inhospitable home fans to racism from a fellow Bama fan). One season I hope to follow the Hokies around in an RV and visit the cathedrals of college football (and tailgating) on the bye weeks (Michigan, Tennessee, LSU, Ole Miss, Florida/Georgia Game).

How are we to be set apart?

2007-08-24T18:42:00.000-04:00

I just finished a book called Colossians Remixed. I had wanted to read it for a while, and it was pretty good. The basic idea is to imagine what Colossians would read like in a current, post-modern, pluralistic setting. The authors purport that Paul was largely explaining to the church in Colossae how they should be different than the dominant culture of the day, the Roman Empire, and if he wrote it today, it would be encouraging churches to reject global capitalism. They even rewrote much of the book in this light. It was pretty good and thought provoking, but also pretty extreme at points. It did have interesting thoughts about what is meaningful to people in post-modern culture, and how Christians can have an impact on this culture.
It made me think, if the church is called to be set-apart, how it should be set apart from the culture we live in today. If we are to be the light of the world, how can we lead and demonstrate what God's kingdom should look like. According to Colossians remixed, we should be leading the way in environmentalism, fair trade initiatives, social justice issues, etc.

Tough Day

2007-08-13T13:09:00.001-04:00

Yesterday was a tough day for us. It was the our last Sunday at the church that's been our home for a long time. It was particularly difficult at the youth pool party last night, since we've been involved with those kids for so many years, and they've seen so much turnover in leadership. While we leave hurt and with unmet expectations, the community has given us so incredibly much over the years (I have been there 7 years, Debbie 5; she was on staff the whole 5 years) I thought I'd take some time to write down some of the things it has meant to me.

I met my wife there. I was thinking about the first time I met her yesterday. I was dating someone else, but my immediate thought was "That's the type of person I'm supposed to be with." I ignored that feeling for a few years, but eventually it surfaced and won out. We forged a friendship in between services (she worked with the kids at the early service and I at the late service) and eventually started dating.

We decided to get married there, even thought it's not the most pictureque place in the world. It is a place that meant the world to us, and we wanted our friends and family to be able to experience that on our very special day.

It changed my life. I've gone to church my entire life, but church was a hollow experence for me until I walked into this church 7 years ago. My inital thought was that it was a cult because people were too friendly, but I think we just loved each other so much it showed through. I remember the pastor's first words that first Sunday(it was just before election day 2000): "As your pastor, I'm here to tell you how to vote. You go into the booth and take the pen, select your candidates, ..." I had been ill for a few years and out of church, but in retrospect that was a blessing God gave me to prepare me for the next step. I found a place and a group of people where I could be myself and learn about my place in creation. I was "saved" by any reasonable church definition (whatever that is worth), but my life started to show some signs of God's presence over the next few years.

I learned about ministry. I mowed the grass for 6 years, taught in the children's ministry for 3, played guitar in the band for almost 4, led a small group for 1, worked with youth a year and a half, helped organize the single adults group, worked at Vacation Bible School, and our Christmas event for several years, etc. Not bad for a guy who really doesn't like church.

I made great friends. One of my best friends told me that she knew we needed to be friends the first day we met there. She and her husband and I were in a small group together for over 3 years, and they are still very dear to me. I can't tell you how many more good friends we made there, and will carry with us wherever we go. These are people I share my soul with, not people who I hide my soul from, which was my previous experience with religion.

I got to stretch my musical muscles. I've been a musician since 3rd grade, when I started playing piano, but had never done much with my guitar playing and hadn't really done anything organized musically since college. I grew so much as a guitarist over those years and it really reminded me how much I love to play. I got to play with many musicians that were much, much better than me, and some musicians that maybe weren't quite as good as me, but it all came together beautifully. (Playing in a band is such a great model for discipleship.)

I learned about community. I was in 2 great small groups, and in each made great connections with people and really started to see glimpses of how I believe God wants us to live in community. (Once again...so many friends.)

I started to hear God's call in my own life. I'm still listening, but I think he's got big plans for us. All of us. (You too.)

So, while I go forward with heart broken, I also go forward with a richer, more meaningful life full of hope. I pray with all my might that we find something great (in a mustard seed kind of way) to be a part of in our next step, whatever that might be. I also pray for our old church, that it can continue to minister in the face of a lot of difficulty and be a place for the next person to walk through the door. And for that person, that he or she find what God would have them find and be able stand as a life transformed by the work of Christ Jesus.
Peace, C.

Mastering the Art of Living

2007-08-09T11:10:00.000-04:00

It seems most of my friends are struggling with their faith. They’re Mad at God or church or a specific person, or just confused by the bible, or just don't buy the whole deal. It's a struggle for me because I'm ready to go. One of my good friends made a comment the other night that churches just want to get you saved and then don't care about what you become afterwards. I disagree with the generalization, but often American Evangelical churches will be focused on getting people in and not helping them grow. I think that's a mistake, because I'm learning faith is less about what you believe and more about what you do.
It made me think of my favorite Rob Bell sermon series, Mastering the Art of Living. It's a 15 sermon series from 2004, based on John 10:10 and the idea that Jesus came so that we could live the best possible life. Jesus taught the disciples, and in turn us, how to live the best possible way. The picture he paints is a martial arts student becoming a black belt by closely watching and imitating everything his master does.
Anyway, Debbie had asked me to make her some CDs of Rob Bell sermons for her to listen to in the car, so I copied this series. Since she listened to them, I decided to revisit the series. I thought a good way to help me remember what I learned was to write the title or theme of the sermon with a few of the key Bible passages (since Bell generally uses many passages in each sermon). Sermon #10 is my favorite, followed by #2. #11 is a mess of a sermon, but end up having a great point (and relevant to my first point). You can download the sermon series here.

Being present (in the present) Matthew 6:34

Rhythm: Why we need the Sabbath Exodus 20:8-11, Mark 6:30-31

Harnessing Desire: Here’s something you'll really love Matthew 13:44-46, Ephesians 4:28

Do Christians have all the answers? John 8:31

(be)Incarnation – God loves to show up dressed as people John 13:34-35, 1 Corinthians 12:27

He is Here: Waking up to the presence of God John 5:17, Genesis 28:11-19

Learning to Surrender: What happens when God fails? John11:1-6

Loving ourselves (so we can love God and others) Matthew 22:36-40 Genesis 27:15-41

Weak is the new strong Matthew 5:5

All things are yours 1 Corinthians 3:21-23

Religion is a shadow of the truth we're after John 14:6-7, Colossians 2:8

Living in Tune (Community and generosity) Acts 2:42-47, John 17:23; Romans 12:16

Celebrating Symbols Genesis 28:16-19; Matthew 26:26-29

God is bigger than your bucket Luke 9:49-50

Grace pays the bill Luke 15

The next series I want to review is Jesus Wants to Save Christians. (Google is great – isn’t the picture I found awesome!)

"Batchin' It"

2007-08-08T13:29:00.000-04:00

So, when I saw my friend Todd last week (a bunch of us went to the John Mayer concert), the first thing he said was "So, how's batchin' it?" I din't know that there was a verb "to batch" or that it meant "to live as a single male", but Todd is younger and hipper than me, so I'll trust him.
Well, since then, lots of people have been asking me how I'm doing, if I'm eating okay, etc. People seem to forget I've been married for just over 2 years, after 35 years of taking care of myself. I'm the cook more often than not (although we eat out a lot more than either of us did when we were single). In a lot of ways, we're still in an adjustment period and these weeks have felt a lot more normal to me than having someone around all the time. I've missed Debbie a lot, but I've been trying to use my 2 weeks wisely. I got the new MacBook mostly set-up and started to clean up and organize the office area (including setting up my guitars so I have a place to play). I have tried to eat Mexican food once a day (I'm probably at 80%), since she doesn't like it as much as I do (which is an awful lot). I put movies that I knew she wouldn't want to watch at the top of my netflix list. I've been able to pray for her trip every day. I've spent some time blogging and cleaning up my e-mail in box. We've had 3 softball practices, so that's taken up some time as well (Debbie's arm will be sore for our first game on Tuesday!). I've met twice with Les, one of my spiritual guru's (once for Mexican!).
So, I've been keeping busy and doing fine. But, I can't wait until she gets back Friday night!

Kingdom Thoughts

2007-08-05T21:15:00.000-04:00

I've been thinking about the Kingdom of God a lot this week and I've come to the following conclusions. The Kingdom of God is like a famous evangelist who gets half the town to put his bumper sticker on their cars. It's like an old NBA basketball arena that's packed full for 3 services on Sunday morning. It's like a well articulated vision that resonates with a bunch of people.

A couple of years ago, while I was in a small group that was doing some spiritual disciplines type stuff. I decided one week I would read the Gospels and Acts, straight through - like a story, rather than studying and dissecting it. I decided to read it in the Message, a modern paraphrase of the bible (not a strict translation). It was a really great experience, it's crazy I had never done before. I was struck by a lot of things: I thought Acts was compelling but weird, John was really weird and quite different than the other Gospels. But what struck me most was the talk of the Kingdom. It was the central idea in almost everything Jesus said, but it was a concept I had never really thought about before. Most of what he said or did was linked to the Kingdom of God (or Heaven, which is the word used in Matthew). I got the idea then that the Kingdom was different than what I thought Jesus mostly talked about. Maybe it was more than somewhere you went after you died or something that would be manifest after some sort of apocalypse. He talked about it being close, or arrived, or within us. (In lieu of a book review, I'll just say I just finished Brian McLaren's most recent book, where this is the main subject. It was pretty good.)

He also described the Kingdom of God by telling parables of small things: mustard seeds, yeast, a lost coin. These small things had something in common: they could make a big difference. I've been obsessed with this concept for about half a year now, ever since I wrote my "inspirational speech" for my leadership development class. Maybe because I'm so bad at these things, God is trying to point out what I need to work on. This weekend I was on a secret mission to spot the Kingdom of God. Here is my list of sightings:

Fresh homemade salsa.

Feeding my friends' infant nephew while having a post-dinner talk about life and such.

A struggling single mom sharing her amazing story with her church family (I was lucky enough to be visiting).

A one-year old's birthday party with a bunch of friends.

A friend calling me because he had good news and wanted to share it with me.

A late night walk with the dogs. (It's been insanely hot, so we hadn't been on a walk for 3 days, so the dogs were quite excited. Especially Pretzel, who lives for walks; she was really soaking it all in.)

I guess at this point, it is obvious the first paragraph was facetious. I think we really get caught up in the wrong things sometimes, looking to do grand things to further God's will. I'm trying to look for opportunities that aren't quite as grand, where I can make a small difference and let God do the heavy lifting.

Environmental Thoughts

2007-08-02T09:44:00.000-04:00

As I journey through life, I'm beginning to think that faith is less about what you believe and more about what you do. I'm really digging the book I'm reading, Colossians Remixed. There is a section that gives a fictionalized account of the "testimony" of Nympha, a lady mentioned briefly in the book as the host of a home church. It gave a beautiful account of how the early church may have functioned and also a beuatiful account of how a community of faith could function. A lot of it was the about how they struggled with what to believe but were excellent at how to live.
Anyway, after reading Serve God, Save the Planet (See review below) and listening to Mars Hill's latest sermon series God is Green (author Matthew Sleeth actually deliverd one of the 5 messages), I've been thinking a lot about how I want to live in harmony with God's creation. It's very hip to be environmental right now with Live Earth and Al Gore's movie (once again the rocks are crying out), and the fate of our planet may be dire, but that doesn't change the fact that we should be good stewards of the home God has given us. My parents have always been careful with their resources, probably from growing up on farms, and I have traditionally been interested in environmental causes, but I fear I've fallen in line with the rest of my North American neighbors in consuming too much.
Every year, I sit down and come up with a financial plan in order to be a good steward of what God has blessed us with. It's more a list of goals than a strategy of how to get there, but I've always been able to meet most of them. My priorites have changed since getting married, but we've still been able to do really well. Goals are set in areas such as paying down debt, saving, and giving to the church and other organizations.
This year, I'd like to set environmental goals. Since Debbie is in England, I haven't discussed them with her yet, but here is a propsed list of goals fo 2008:

Increase car pooling. Since I live closer to work, I've got several opportunites to car pool and have been utilizing them some. I'd like to car pool 50% of the time next year.
Change all possible incandescent bulbs to compact florescent.
Put a power switch on our TV and stero so we can cut down on phantom power draw.
Since we hope to redo our kithcen, buy a new refridgerator/freezer where the ice maker can be cut off when not in use (vacaction stop button). One of the major draws in a home is the ice maker, which keeps the cooling coils chilled even when it is not making ice.
Cook and eat one vegetarian meal at home each week.
Bike to the Food Lion/Ace Hardware when we only need a few items.
Plant a small garden (peppers, tomatoes, squash).
Check the tire inflation on both cars monthly.

All of these are pretty small, but they can add up and make a difference. One of my favorite ideas in the Bible is that the Kingdom of God is like a mustard seed. Little things matter in really big ways (another post is brewing about this concept). For instance, if everyone in the US kept their tires properly inflated, gas mileage would increase so that the country would save the gas equal to taking 1 million cars off the road.

Picture time!

2007-07-30T14:25:00.000-04:00

Several people have asked for more pictures of the house, so here you go. The first is a picture of the front of the house. There are pictures of the dining room (which we're using as a library), the back yard, the kitchen, the living room (which we hope to paint soon -- I for some reason can't get the picture to rotate).

The other exciting picture is my new MacBook, which I bought last weekend and am currently "blogging" from. I'm a complete dork and take a picture of the initial start up screens on my computers. I have them from my last 2 Macs, iMacs I bought in 1998 and 2001 (6 years on a computer is pretty good these days).

Debbie left for her mission trip to England this afternoon. Keep her in you prayers the next 2 weeks as she travels and works at the Nazarene Theological College in Manchester.

Dear Durham

2007-07-11T09:29:00.000-04:00

Since we have officially sold our house (yeah!) I've been thinking a lot about Durham and moving to Raleigh and thought I would write an open letter to the city of Durham, NC to sum up my thoughts.

Dear Durham,
I'm sorry.
I'm sorry for moving to Raleigh. Even thought it was the right thing to do.
You're not what people think you are. When I first moved to you, I had freinds who wouldn't come visit me because what they they thought you were. But you were nothing but a great home to me. As nice as Raleigh is, it's no Durham. There are no Bulls Games. There is no Pop's or Magnolia Grill, no Mad Hatter's, no Foster's, no Cosmic Cantina. No Duke Forest or Duke Gardens. It's not that close to Chapel Hill.
I never, in seven years felt unsafe. Except maybe ontime I got lost on Geer Street at night and that time we were the only ones parked in the downtown parking deck. Since we moved to the "safe" suburbs of North Raleigh, we've had 2 break-ins on our street, 2 people get abducted in parking lots, a stalked in our neighborhood (he actually tried to nab a middle schooler in a nearby neighborhood). All in 4 months.
I made the best friends I've had since college in Durham. I lost 2 loves, but found the love of my life. I underwent profound spiritual rebirth. I started playing music again. I met my neighbors and we took care of each other.
I also apologize for not working hard for you while I lived there. You do have lots of needs, and I never tutored a child even though my house was zoned for the worst high school in the state. I didn't work on a house, even though downtown is full of houses and neighborhoods that need someone to take care of them.
I'll always defend you. When coworkers ask "How could you live there?" I'll tell them that you're cheaper, more diverse, more southern, younger, more artsy. And getting better all the time.
I'll be back, often, and maybe one day we'll return. My commute is tolerable now, but my part of my heart is still there.
Peace,
C

4 Book Reports + 2 Album Reviews

2007-06-22T15:26:00.000-04:00

With another long trip, I was able to finish a few books. So here is the report on those.

The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini - It has been a while since I read a novel, and this one was good. It is a story of childhood, a mistake, and redemption with a backdrop of the modern history of Afhghanistan and imigration to the US.

The Tipping Point By Malcolm Gladwell - I loved blink, and I think the tipping point is even better. Gladwell really has an accesible writing style and covers very interesting topic. The Tipping Point is about how small things make a difference. He has a lot of good examples: how Hush Puppies shoes made an unexpected comeback, violence dropping in NYC, why people decide to continue smoking, how viruses such as HIV spread, the development of Sesame Street in the '70s and Blus CLues in the '90s, etc. Why? The "law of the few" says that organizations need to be small (less than 150 people). Special people exist: "Mavens" gather and share lots of information, "connectors" seem to know anyone, and "salesmen" have the power of pursuasion. "Stickiness" is a little less concrete; ideas have to have this in order to catch on.

Serve God, Save the Plantet, by Matthew Sleeth - Great, practical book about the intersection of Chrisitianity and Environmentalism, two things I am interested in and wish I was better at. He provides a scriptural basis for environmentalism, presents his own story of pulling himself out of consumerist culture and devoting himself to environmental causes, and presents some practical ways to be less intrusive on God's creation. I had some issues with some of his doctrine (mostly endtimes stuff), but in general he was pretty solid and his praxis seemed right on. He came off a little harsh sometimes, but maybe we've driven the planet to the point where that's appropriate.

Where God was Born by Bruce Feiler - Once again, one of my favorite authors (Walking the Bible, Abraham), Feiler is an American, Jewish journalist who writes about the intersection of current events and religion (focusing on the old testament). His methods is a kind of immersion, where he spends time in the locations he is writing about and then writes about the stories in the bible in light of what he learned from the location. In this book, he is focusing on the books of the old testament other than the Torah. He visits Israel, Iraq, and Iran in this book to visit the role these places have in the bible. I learned a lot from this book about the historical views of Joshua and David, the role of Babylon and Persia in the exile, the reasons for the dispersion, etc. I highly recommend it for anyone interested in the history of the bible or is looking for an ecumenical viewpoint on the religions of Abraham (plus Zoroasterianism, which I knew very little about).

...and one album review, Sky Blue Sky by Wilco - One of my favorite bands comes out with a pretty solid effort. It is much more acessible than the last few albums on the first listen, but musically less brilliant. Jeff Tweedy's lyrics hint that he's a happier, more mature human, and maybe a little less restless spiritually. He often writes about religion in a negative light, but avoids that here, and many of his lyrics seem to come from a more seeking, humble place. The addition of Nils Cline on guitar adds a much jazzier feel to Wilco and most of the songs are pretty laid back. Not my favorite Wilco album, but I like it a lot. (Kind of like the pizza in the cafeteria: not great for pizza, but pretty good for food in general)

Last minute addition...I bought Easy Tiger by Ryan Adams yesterday at Target. A lot of people mistake me for a Ryan Adams fan because I was so in to Whiskeytown back in the day. I like a lot of Ryan Adams stuff, but for some reason haven't had to have everyone of his albums. I picked up Easy Tiger because I saw it when I went to buy a loaf of bread. Some have said its a return to is roots and some have called it brilliant. I have to say it has some of his very best written songs (Everybody Knows, The Sun also Sets, Two Hearts), but also some clunkers. I really hope that Halloweenhead is an inside joke. Or maybe its about that old Adam Sandler Skit.

Our house made it through inspection with only a few minor items, but the closing has been moved back to June 29. It will be a big relief when it all done.

Denmark/Germany/Etc.

2007-06-18T14:16:00.000-04:00

I returned from my 2 week trip to Denmark and Germany late Thursday night. It was a really great trip. Debbie was able to come with me for a few days, then work was really good, and 2 colleagues and I made a side trip to Berlin for the weekend.

Last few trips, I've been going to First International Baptist Church in Copenhagen, and Debbie was able to go with me this time. It's really a different kind of church than we have in the states. There isn't a thousand English speaking churches, so you're kindof stuck choosing from the 4 that there are. It's a small, close knit community of people from all over (US, Australia, Asian countries, Jamaica, UK, etc.) in an extermely secular nation. A couple of people remembered me from my last visit 1.5 years ago. We were able to go out to eat with a American missionaries afterwards, which was a great opportunity.

We celebrated our 2nd anniversary in Tivoli, a small amusement park in the center of Copenhagen. Tivoli was an inspiration for Walt Disney's creation of his theme parks. We were both tired and not that hungry, so we just sat around and had a Hot Dog and some Ice Cream.

Visiting Copenhagen as a tourist, rather than just on business was refreshing for a change. Plus having my wife, rather than seeing stuff alone, was cool.
For work we had an area meeting that included team building excercises at Kronborg Castle, the setting for Hamlet. It was great to work face to face with lots of people I normally just know by e-mail.

Vanessa and Michelle and I spent the weekend at Berlin, which was awesome. I was expecting to be all communazi-ugly, but it was a really beautiful city with lots to do and see and it was really cheap, especially compared to Copenhagen. My highlights were Checkpoint Charlie and the Jewish Museum.

Oh, yeah! Our Durham house is finally under contract, scheduled to close on June 26!

Mid way book review and looking back at my weekend

2007-05-29T13:18:00.000-04:00

I'm 2/3 of the way through this book:

It's a good book and has lots of good thoughts, but I realized this weekend that it wasn't much fun. He's pretty much all business about starting churches and "saving souls", and starting them and saving them his way. Lately I've been so wrapped up in reading books about how the church must change and what not that I haven't been having much fun in my pursuit of God. I think I need to remember that Jesus can be fun.

The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, 'Here is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners. Matthew 11:19

I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full. John 10:10

This weekend, Jesus was a lot of fun. Debbie and I took a vacation from our regular church in Durham (our old home) and went to Visio Dei in Raleigh (my even older home and our new home). With all the turmoil the last year at our church, for me it was great just to visit somewhere and worship without thinking how so and so used to be here or feeling hurt by so and so. The music was outstanding and I was really focused on experiencing the worship. I think that is one of the reasons to try and do music well at church, so people aren't distracted and can really try to connect with God. The sermon was very heartfelt, honest, and had a solid basis. I learned something and it made me think. Then, Sunday afternoon, we had a cookout at our new place. Most of the people there were either people from church or (mostly) people who used to go there. But the focus wasn't on that, it was on burgers, beer, and friends. That's how things are supposed to be.

Western Vacation

2007-05-01T12:52:00.000-04:00

It's still hard for me to write about my vacation after what happened in Blacksburg the day we returned, but I think it's time. I have to say I feel a little guilty having a great vacation while 32 people were gunned down at my alma mater. But part of this blog's purpose is so I can look back and think of both good and bad times, of the great times Debbie and I (and one day our family) share, and this trip was definitely a good one.

We flew into Las Vegas and drove to St. George, UT, getting late that night, but it set us up for a full day in Zion NP. We did several hikes, but the longest and grandest was to Hidden Canyon. We scaled the side of the east rim of Zion canyon (quite a feat for me, who is scared of heights) to a slot canyon about 1000 feet above the canyon floor. There were great views of Angel's Landing and the canyon from the hike, and the slot canyon was beautiful, including a small natural arch.

That night we drove to Bryce, UT. In the morning, we rode horses in Red Canyon and in the afternoon we hiked in Bryce NP. It was quite cold all day and it threatened to storm, but never did. My horse, Buddy had a bit of an attitude.

We woke to snow and driving to Kanab, UT and Best Friends Animal Sanctuary . We spent the morning on a tour and cleaning the home of some cats with leukemia. Best Friends takes animals from all over the world that would otherwise be euthenized. While feline leukemia is highly contagious amoung cats, many cats can live long, comfortable lives with the disease. In the afternoon, we fed and walked dogs, including 3 of the ~170 dogs they airlifted for Beirut following the Israeli attacks their last year. The attacks destroyed the only animal shelter inLebanon, and Best Friends airlifted over 300 animals to Utah. All but these 3 dogs have been adopted (and they were quite good, adoptable dogs). Debbie fell in love with a Greyhound mix named Bill.

After our day of volunteering, we drove in the dark, fog, and snow to Tuscayan, AZ. We passed the Kaibab NF, the North Rim of the Grand Canyon, and Vermillion Cliffs on our way. In the Kaibab, we met a hippie who was hiking from Flagstaff to Boulder, UT, and earlier in the day had been kicked out of coffe shop in a small border town, he suspects for being too close to the Mormon girls. The police gave him a ride to a shelter along the side of the highway and dropped him off.

The next 2 days we spend at the South Rim of the Grand Canyon. On Friday we hiked and drove much of the rim, and on Saturday we hiked into the Canyon to Indian Gardens. On Sunday we drove to Vegas and stayed at the Luxor hotel, which is the world's largest pyramid. On Monday we flew back to RDU.

Other news: We're still tring to sell our Durham house.

Derek Webb Concert

2007-05-01T12:26:00.000-04:00

Well, my first concert since moving to Raleigh last night at the Lincoln Theater. I went with several members of my church small group and some other church folks, organized by one of my high schoolers and all around great guy Andrew.
I had listened to some Derek Webb before (he's been featured in Paste magazine), and Andrew lent me his new album last week. I have to say I have a new artist on my favorite artist lists. Derek was formerly in a pretty good Christian band, Caedmon's Call, but has been on his own for 4-5 years. His music is good, the kind of rootsy stuff I like (he cites Wilco as an influence), and his lyrics are about as tough thought provoking as they get. He's still a Christian artist, but he writes out of frustration over the church, his own sinfulness, and the difficulties of living a life of faith, sometimes using strong language. You will not hear a Derek web song on K-Love. He encouraged the crowd to go buy a beer because the bartender was lonely (although I'm sure they were happy to have a packed house on a Monday night, even if most weren't drinking beer). He himself was enjoying a Red Stripe (I enjoyed my normal show beverage, a cold PBR).
His 7.5 month pregnant wife, Sandra McCracken opened and also backed Webb, along with Andrew Osenga. Alli Rogers was the first act.

Heaven and Hell, and Virginia Tech

2007-04-17T10:59:00.000-04:00

Well, I expected to come home last night and update my blog with a bunch of great stories from a great vacation. They will come later. My world has been turned upside down.

My favorite preacher says he has a hard time understanding a God who would condemn his most favored creations to an eternal torment (with him there). But, everyday, he sees people who choose to bring hell (or alternately heaven) to this earth. So, he supposes, people who choose hell here and now could potentially choose hell for eternally. Yesterday, someone chose to bring hell to my slice of heaven on earth.

Very few people who know me, even only a little bit, don't know about my love of my alma mater and Blacksburg. I was born a few miles up the road, and my parents took me for walks on campus long before I can remember. This is the place I grew up, became my own person, met my lifetime best friends. I spend a lot of time and money travelling back to Blacksburg every fall to support the football team.

Watching the news last night, they were looking for someone to blame. Since the perpetrator took his own life, I guess we need to find another's head to serve up on a platter. They wanted to blame Virginia's lax gun laws or the laws prohibiting concealed weapons on campus. They wanted to blame the police or President Steger for not reacting to the first incident.

I'm not interested in blame. How, then should, we react? I know I will be sad for a very long time. Jesus, the first recorded time he taught in public, read from Isaiah 61 about a time when there would be no mourning, when our broken cities would be rebuilt, broken hearts would be bound, the blind would see, and the prisoners released. He also said that that time was fulfilled in his teaching. Was Jesus a liar? No, it means Heaven and Hell are our choices here and now. Our only choice then is to live as if the Kingdom of God is, as Jesus repeatedly proclaimed, here and now. We must be emboldened in loving our neighbor, feeding the hungry, healing the sick. The first thing I will do tonight is hug my wife and tell her how much I love her. And call my parents and sisters and tell them the same. Then I will head to my other alma mater (NC State) who is having a candlelight vigil tonight.

We all have had dreams for Tech. President Steger has dreams of Tech as a top 20 Research Institution. Many dream of football or basketball national chapionships. I've dreamed of working or retiring there. Now Tech will always be known for the Virginia Tech Massacre. Not the stuff of dreams. I hope these other dreams will persist.

If this happened at Tech for any reason, it's because we're one of the best equipped university communities to handle this sort of thing. We already had each other in our hearts. We already had a heart for service (Ut Prosim: That I may service). We've lost more students and alumni in armed conflict than any other university other than the service academy.

Thanks to all who have expressed their condolences. The university community needs your continued prayers.

Not at My Alma Mater by NBC's Hoda Kotb

A Black Day in the Blue Ridge by Lucinda Roy (Novelist and VT English Professor)

Poem Recited at Convocation by Nikki Giovanni (VT English Professor and Future US Poet Laureate)

Another Update

2007-04-09T10:43:00.000-04:00

Well, the move went fine, other than Debbie spraining her ankle right before the trip to the Grand Canyon. The new house just doesn't feel like home, yet, but my drive to work is much better. I guess 7 years in the Durham house and Durham in general makes for a bit of transistion time.

I continue to read at a lighting pace, and have finished the Irresistable Revolution and also The Myth of a Christian Nation. I received both books when I went to the conference at Rob Bell's church in January. Both were outstanding, but since I finished the latter last night, I wanted to capture some thoughts on it.

Usually, when I read a non-fiction book, I either agree with it and like it, or disagree with it and dislike it. However, I have to say I really liked this book and disagrees with a quarter to a third of it. I can never remember not believing in God or attaching that belief to Jesus. I also can never remember not leaning towards democratic politics, despite growing up in the Southern Baptist church. (Both my favorite modern presidents also grew up Baptist and Southern. Confession time: I voted for Dukakis in my first presidential election!) When I was in high school, I decided that the peace and social justice of the gospels matched up much better with the ideals of the democratic party. I am still a Christian, and still lean left, but this book has convinced me they are much more seperate concepts.

Some things I liked:

The Kingdom of God and the Kingdom of Man are entirely different concepts. A nation or a political party cannot put the earth right with it's Creator. Only God can do that, so we need to stop thinking politics is a road to redemption.
Jesus never sought political power, and as Christians (those who attempt to act like Christ) we should stop seeking political power and get about our commision to build up the Kingdom of God by revolutionary acts of love.
Likewise, Jesus did not act as a moral policeman for the world. He did point out errors in the way the religious leaders and disciples thought and acted, but Christians are not called to force everyone to conform to a certain moral code.
The whole idea of Chritianity as a social religion of America that does not have much to do with the Bible or Christ. Certainly the church often acts to establish basis of morality and social order for the country. As the author points out, this is not necessarily a bad thing, but also has little to do with following Christ.
America is not a new Israel. We are not called by God to be his chosen people. If we have been, we're doing a crappy job.

Some things I didn't necessrily 100% like:

America is not a Christian nation. I agree with a lot of what he says here, but also recognize that we are as Christian of a nation as has ever exisited. We have a lot of people going to church, talking publicly about their beliefs, claiming the faith, and we have the freedom to do these things. While it might not be a true faith according to the author (and I may agree with him), I don't see any other nation or time doing any better.
God doesn't care about freedom or democracy. I believe God rejoices at the religious freedom we have in much of the world, including the US, and I believe that this freedom is also present in God's kingdom. Our country compels us to do very little, other than pay taxes, which Jesus actually said was okay to do. There are no laws that prohibit us from living exactly as Christ calls us to do if we choose to live this way. Once again, I think if you look across time, we are in a very blessed position.
Christians shouldn't serve in the military. I think that a Christian could be called to serve in the military. Nations are given authority by God to promote justice and provide protection for its citizenry. For Christians to refuse to serve would therefore be irresponsible. I agree there is no such thing as a just war, and the particular war we're in now is non-sense. But, if anyone is to lay down their lives for their country, Christians should be participating. We should balance it, however, with standing up against unjust actions of our military.

The plans....

2007-03-06T11:26:00.000-05:00

Wow, lots of stuff going on. We've got a lot to get done in the next 5 weeks. Fixing up the old house (getting ready to sell), hire movers, hire a real estate agent, etc.etc.etc. The new house went through inspection great, so that's a relief. One of the things we have to do is find a new home for small group. We talked a lot about it last night and there were some great ideas, some even revolutionary. But here are the key dates for the next few months:

March 30th close on new house
March 31st move.
April1st clean, clean, clean.
April 2nd, replace carpet in old house.
April 3rd, old house goes on market.
April 6 Good friday.
April 8th Easter.
April 9-16 vacation.
June 1-6 Debbie and Chris in Denmark (fun)
June 7-14 Chris in Denmark (work)
June 9-13 Debbie takes youth to camp.

Meanwhile, I've finished Phillip Yancey's book on Prayer, which was solid, and Rob Bell's new book, which is amazing. I'm starting Shane Claiborne's Irresistable Revolution (which I have a feeling is going to kick my butt) and The Kite Runner (which will hopefully be enjoyable) at the same time, hoping to finish both on vacation.

Catching up, again: UNC win, a birthday suprise, W visits!, New home

2007-02-26T11:01:00.000-05:00

Well, I've wanted to a better job blogging, but things continue to be busy. Here's the rundown:

I was able to scalp tickets with my buddy Rusty to see my boys beat UNC on Feb 13th at Chapel Hill, 81-80 in overtime. Certainly the biggest win in recent Hokie memory Zabian Dowdell was on fire, scoring 33 points. I also went to the Feb 18th game at the RBC center versus NC State, but we won't discuss that one. Anyway, with 2 games left, the Hokies are in control of their seeding for the ACC Tourney: win both and get the #1 seed.
My wife threw me a suprise party with accomplices Justin and Monika on the Saturday before my birthday. First suprise party in 37 years of life! My college buddy Andy and his wife Brooke came down for the weekend to see the VT/NCState game, so they were able to be there. Monika and Debbie constructed a game of "Chris-tionary", which would be pictionary with all topics pertaining to me. Also featured was peanut butter cup cake from Stone Cold Creamery.
W visits work! While he's not my favorite president, it was certainly an honor to have President Bush visit my place of employment last Thursday. He visited to talk about alternative fuels, and the place was hopping with excitement. My only interaction was a "round table discusssion" that employees were allowed to attend, although he did visit my lab. All-in-all, while the event was completely staged, the President did a good job explaining the possibilities of an economy not tied to oil, and came off as down to earth with a self-effacing humor.
New house! Debbie and I are under contract to a new house in North Raleigh. It's a really exciting and scary time for both of us. I've been in Durham 7 years, and my life has really changed, especially spiritually. We're now leaving a lot of friends and moving farther away from a church that has been spiritual anchors. It will cut my commute in half, but will double Debbie's. Durham has been a great place to live. On the other hand, we got a great deal in a great neighborhood. Debbie plans to stop working when kids come, so it makes lots of sense to move closer to my work. Now on to inspections, loans, and selling our house! Prayers are appreciated for those who do.

Mars Hill Report: I've been called out!

2007-02-02T08:25:00.000-05:00

I've been called out by another blog for not posting my thoughts on the Mars Hill Isn't she beautiful conference! Yes, Erik, my thoughts are "marinating". I'm having a hard time thinking about how to couch my thoughts, because so many people have blogged and recapped and I don't know that I have much to add, despite having a million thoughts running around in my head. So here's a few random thoughts:

It was mainly a pastors conference, and I am not a professional religious person. It was really designed as a retreat to inform, yes, but also energize pastors. I went for 2 reasons: I am a Rob Bell groupie, and to support my BIL who is on a sabbatical year from ministry. I thought it was awesome that Bell/Mars Hill did this because professional religious people are so often called to energize people and do not often get a chance to relax and retreat and be energized.
Mega church blues: Some have criticized RB/MH for being so large and also "bragging" about not marketing the church. I experienced first hand the resistance they put up to be a mega-church: there is no sign and they scheduled the conference in January in Western Michigan. He talked about how large they got so fast (including bringing hundreds of people from Calvary Church in Grand Rapids and having a following due to his membership in a local rock band) and how they resisted it (no sign, preaching from Leviticus the first year). Some people take it as bragging, but hearing it in person he thinks getting that big almost killed him (read Velvet Elvis for more insight). His repeated advice: "Start it small. If it won't go in your living room, it won't go." I have long believed that our best evangelism would come from being the church God wants us to be. Maybe they are just doing it.
Similarities: There are many similarities between MH and a normal church. The music is very good, but not that much different than a good contemporary church. I went to the student ministries breakout and I didn't see much revolutionary in the administration of their youth group. I would guess the same about the children's ministries.
Differences: Theology (I missed the narrative theology break-out), mission (I went to break out lead by the head of their Global Outreach Department, how cool is that?), simplicity (seriously stripped down service), dealing with the hard stuff (in scripture and in life) yet positive and fun. There are a lot of scholars who go to the church and the staff uses them, which I think is cool.
Transparency: Rob Bell told us exactly how much money they brought in for the conference ($195K ), how much they spent ($40K, "for lanyards and such") and where the rest of the money was going ("we're giving it all away"). We funded a water treeatment system for a school in Rwanda, a microloan program in Burundi, and a microloan program in Grand Rapids.
Service: the last session was a mostly a service of healing, with lots of singing, communion, and the elders and pastors of Mars Hill up front to pray for you, annoint you with oil, hold up the chupa for you to pray under. RB preached for 15 minutes or so. There was a cross on the stage in the middle of the stage if you wanted to pray under that. It was awesome (I told my BIL in was the closest I had ever come to being in a cult, meaning, if folks walked in from the outside, they would have wondered what the heck was going on). What really struck me was how ready and enthusiastic the elders and pastors were to serve. They were so gracious and supportive. I mostly just sat back in my seat and took it all in.
I am no longer young and cool. OK, I was never that cool, but as I approach my 37th birthday in a few weeks, I was surrounded by a group of people who were much younger and hipper than me. I take great hope in that.
I listened to a 2.5 hour sermon with 33 scriptural references, and gobbled it all up. How awesome is that?
Big Conclusion: If I were to take what I learned from the week and start a "Rob Bell-esque" church, it would not focus on preaching. I don't know anyone who can teach like RB. If that is what you need, you can download it every week like I do. It would focus on: mission, stripping away the non-essentials, focus on mission.

Catching Up

2007-01-26T08:51:00.000-05:00

Well, it's been over a month since I've written anything, which is a good thing, since I've been busy both at work and at home. Here's a list of things I've done since the last update:

We went to Charleston, SC for Debbie's birthday in November. We stayed at a great Inn, right on the battery (hence the name) that is reputed to be haunted. We had a great time eating, taking a historic homes tour, just walking around.
Of course, Hokie football ended with a bang, finishing 10-2 and getting a bid to the Chick-Fil-A bowl. We didn't get to as many games as usual, but still caught 4 home games and the UNC game. I was very pleased with the team, especially the defense, in what was supposed to be a down year.
Richmond to see my family for Thanksgiving, including taking my nephew with us to the UVa game in Blacksburg (his first Hokie game).
Tacoma (after another short trip to Richmond) to visit Debbie's family for Christmas. Highlights included watching BIL Tim edit BIL Dave's album, visiting the Seattle music experience with BIL Dave, skiing with the clan at Crystal Mountain, and lots of family fun time. Lowlight was getting stuck in the Dallas (see picture of Hampton Inn lobby) in the way back and missing the aforementioned Chick Fil A bowl.
We went to the Greensboro Colliseum to see the Hokies (women and mens) play a double header against UNCG. It was a great deal $10/person including a Coke and a hotdog. The Hokies swept, and it was a chance to see Hokies between their upsets of Duke and then #1 UNC.
Visit this past weekend to Grand Rapids, MI to Mars Hill Bible Church with BIL Dave and his friend Shawn for a pastor's conference. It was a great experience that Dave and I had been talking about for over a year. I'll have to comment more later.
I talked Debbie into letting me buy a new acoustic guitar, and I got a great deal on e-bay on a Takamine EAN-76 that was a refurbed factory second for about a quarter of the retail price. It came Wednesday and it's pretty frickin' sweet. Now I just need to get a new gig, since my last one has kind of petered out.

I've also read a bunch of books (with all the travelling), so I'll give a short synopsis and rating below. All read since the beginning on December!

A New Kind of Christian by Brian McLaren: Foundational book for those who struggle with faith in the light of a post modern world. I've been wanting to read it for a long time, and it lived up to expectations. 4 Hokie Birds/5
The World is Flat by Thomas Freidman: Very interesting read on Globalization, it's impacts, and how the US should react. It's changed my views on a few things and helped me a bit as I plan my career and next career in a very global company and world. It's the last book left from last year's presents (Thanks, Dad!) 4/5
The Language of God by Frances Collins: I highly recommend this for scientists struggling to reconcile science with faith or people who think all Christians have their heads stuck in the sand. Collins is the PI of the Human Genome Project, and a convert from agnosticism/atheism. The first half is a lot of CS Lewis redux, the second part explains science and debunks creationism without evolution and even intelligent design. If you want to have both a Jesus fish and a Darwin fish on your car (I do!), this one is for you! Thanks to Ann for recommending it, and my sister who gave it to me THIS Christmas. 5/5
A Good Dog by Jon Katz: Debbie got me this, after I loved the previous Katz book she got me last Christmas. It is a great book, but I warn you very sad. It reminded me so much of Pretzel, who is my "lifetime dog" to Katz' Border Collie Orson. 4/5
Blue Like Jazz by Donald Miller: Another book that's been on the list for a long time. Extremely funny and brutally honest essays on faith in the postmodern world. It's one of those books that just seems to find a soft spot in the center of your soul. Many times, I just thought, yes, someone finally put what I've been feelings into words. One of my longtime friends (15+ years) said when she read it, she thought I could have been writing it. 5/5
A Churchless Faith by Alan Jameison: I really got a lot out of this book. I bought it on Amazon's recommendation, because I have had so many friends leave the church in the last few years and I am often tempted to do the same. It is based on AJ's PhD dissertation (although quite accessible), which is in turn based on over a hundred interviews with church leavers. He presents a model on why people leave the evangelical church, where they go, and offers suggestions on how to create a "leaver-sensitive church". 5/5
At Bat: Prayer: Does it make a difference by Philip Yancey. On Deck: Kite Runner (A Novel! How Novel!) by Khaled Hosseini

Top 5 Albums of 2006

2006-12-18T18:57:00.000-05:00

I bought few albums this year and listened to very little new music. What I heard I wasn't that impressed by. That said, I had 2 favorites and some other worthy albums and think I can come up with a decent list.

1 - Roman Candle - The Wee Hours Review. One day I will die and go to a place where they play Roman Candle all day long. I have been that good.
2 - Hem - Funnel Cloud - The music soars and the lead singer is an angel. I've heard them compared to Cowboy Junkies, but to me the music isn't that dark. It sounds like a perfect Sunday afternoon.
3 - Josh Ritter - The Animal Years - Just great singer/somgwriter stuff.
4 - The Long Winters - Putting the Days to Bed - Just good guitar pop/indie rock
5 - Jars of Clay - Good Monsters - A typical Jars album in that it falls short on a few tracks, but the lyrics combined with the fact they finally recorded am album with a drummer nudges them into the top 5.

Others considered: the fray: how to save a life, Guster: Ganging up on the Sun, Leeland: Sounds of Melodies, the Who: Endless Wire

Sabbath

2006-12-18T13:40:00.000-05:00

So, yesterday was a true Sabbath for me in many ways. As a present day English speaker, I am at a disadvantage not being able to read my bible in Hebrew or Greek. Thus, I'm at a severe disadvantage when I try to understand what the Book is telling me. I'm reliant on translators to turn it into a language I can understand and then theologians to tell me what it means. What I've heard is the number of words in Hebrew is approximately one tenth of the number of English words. So when you try to translate, you have to chose which one of your approximately ten English words that may translate to the author's one Hebrew word is the one he wanted you to read. For most of my life, the Sabbath meant you dressed up, went to church and sang hymns and listened to preaching and maybe attended a class. Likely, you go to a cafeteria afterwards while still dressed up. Maybe you can catch an NFL game until it was time to go to prayer meeting or youth group or whatever. Hopefully you made it home in time to watch the Wonderful World of Disney, or later, the Simpsons. My life is much of the same now: one or (usually) two church services, catch Quizno's, dogs for a quick walk, back to help with youth group, maybe catch Extreme Makeover: Home Edition.

My understanding now is that Sabbath means simply "stop" or "rest" in Hebrew. It's a day to not work, to marvel at the wonder of God, to take care of yourself. Since we went to Saturday night service this weekend, I was able to: go to the gym, give the dogs a proper walk , finish reading a book ("A New Kind of Christian" by Brian McLaren), do my reading for small group (2 chapters in "Abraham" by Bruce Feiler), balance the checkbook, and finally start a book that my Dad got me LAST Christmas ("The World is Flat" on Globalization), have a leisurely cup of coffee, eat leftover pizza for lunch, take a nap. All before Debbie made it home from church (she played violin all three services this weekend).

God gives us the Sabbath to remind us that work and progress and acheivement isn't all there is to life. There is also resting, enjoying, pondering, taking care of yourself. Realizing there is a world beyond what you experience during the rest of the week. Recoginizing the miracle that is that world and the wonder that is it's Creator. God grant me the wisdom to take more Sabbath.

Random Thoughts Again

2006-10-13T11:00:00.000-04:00

This blog's content is very different than I anticipated. I thought it would be more of a travelog, but it's much more of a journal. Cool.

Great article on leadership and science and even faith a little bit this morning in the News and Observer. I'd like to meet this guy. He seems to have done really well at the things I struggle with.

The Hokie game sucked last night. The offensive line played terribly and the defensive line got no pressure on their QB. It is very rare that a VT football team gets out-efforted, but last night was one of them. We need some leadership from within the team to step up and straigten things out. (This is the kind of brillance I was expecting from this blog). However, I look forward to the game next weekend against Southern Miss. 7 pm kickoff leaves time for good tailgating, and Southern Miss is the type of team we need to play and beat. For the last 20 years, no one has played harder game in and game out than USM.

I'm really into the new Natasha Bedingfield song. It runs SO against my normal musical tastes to like this song, but the lyrics really strike a chord with me for some reason. Every once in a while, a pop song does this to me. The last one was Mmm..Bop by Hansen. Anyway, I first heard the song when a couple who sings at church every few months sang it. It's catchy and the lyrics really make me think and feel good. Which I need.

The Little Things

2006-10-12T13:40:00.000-04:00

Here is the "inspirational speech" I wrote for my leadership class a few weeks ago. I found this ridiculous cartoon on the web as an illustration for the blog. It cracks me up.

I'd like to talk to you about "the little things"

I struggle with little things. I like big ideas, the bigger the idea, the more I get excited. So as I wrestled with which of my big ideas to talk about with you today, I got a wake up call. On Monday morning, as I was rushing off to work, I stopped to give my wife a little kiss. She stopped me and said "No, I need a hug. What if something happens to you and you don't make it home today. This is important.

A hug - a small thing, but potentially hugely important.

We spend a lot of time chasing big things, ignoring the little things: stopping to say good morning to a coworker, promptly returning a call or e-mail from a customer or small vendor, helping a technician with a question...but maybe we should stop and think what we're doing.

In our last class together, I introduced a concept by Buckminster Fuller called the "trim tab". Fuller was a futurist famous for the geodesic dome, or "bucky-ball" amoung other things. He spend his time coming up with big ideas about how to insure the sustainability of the human race.

The trim-tab is a small rudder-like device placed on the corener of the main rudder of a plane or a ship. The main rudder is large and takes a lot of energy to turn. The trim tab is smaller, so it needs less energy to turn, but it leads the larger rudder around. It makes a hard task easier.

I like the idea of the trim tab. Fuller believed we should all be looking for "trim tabs" in the world around us: small actions that can bring about big change. So maybe, the little things are the ones that can make the most difference. Maybe saying good morning gives you and your coworker the perspective to carry through the day. Maybe you start a relationship with the small vendor that grows to be key for the company. Maybe the conversation with the coworker brings a key change to an important process.

Like I said, I'm into big ideas. I'll end with a story about grad school. Those who know me know I tell a lot of stories about grad school. I used to go see a friend in his lab to talk about our favorite things: baseball, beer, whatever. There were several sign in his lab that read "Lab Philosophy: Leav things a little better than you found them." This wasn't put their by a budding philospher, nor was it an official democratically approved lab mantra. THe person who put it up was a mentally unstable control freak. But maybe she had a point.

I believe we are here to make a positive impact on the earth and the people living on it. Maybe the best way we can do that is by paying attention to the little things.

Life's a Journey, not a Destination - Chris' version

2006-10-03T16:01:00.000-04:00

As many of you know, I've been thinking a lot about what I want to be when I grow up. Today I had a couple of thoughts about it. I know what kind of things motivate me: working with people, hearing about their thoughts and dreams, teaching and mentoring, and seeing connections and the big picture. Science and engineering are my skills, but I only get satisfaction out of them when I can use them for these other things. You also may know about my affection for all things Rob Bell (Michigan preacher, see more below). Since I have a long commute, I listen to one of his sermons almost every morning. A couple things he said to me this morning (through my iPod and car stereo, paraphrased):

God made this earth and everything in it and empowered us to be creative and cultivate his creation. God, the creator, made us in his image, to create. He made this creation vast and wide and deep, loaded with possibility and potential, in order for us to all find our own we to create and thereby connect with him.

He quoted someone else saying to be bored ("to not stir oneself") is to say that God never created or redeemed anything of worth, including yourself. Wow.

Here is my big thought to bring it together: Life's a journey, not a destination. Familiar quote. But if you're stagnant (and/or bored?), how can you be on a journey? Hopefully, more to come.

Blown Away

2006-09-20T13:23:00.000-04:00

Last night, Debbie took me to see Nickel Creek at UNC Memorial Hall. For our 1st anniversary in June, her present to me was tickets to a show of my choosing. She also took me to my favorite restaurant for dinner before the show. I was completely blown away by the show. Now, understand, I've seen a lot of live in my life, but this was un-freakin-beleivable. They genre hopped from bluegrass to classical to pop to singer-songwriter to tap-dancing to clogging rock to jazz effortlessly and played every song with complete virtuousity (both instumentally and vocally), musicianship, and showmanship. Covers (that I recognized) included: Dylan, Tom Waits, Brittany Spears, Jimmy Rogers, Randy Newman, J.S. Bach. I'd say check them out if you ever get the chance, but unfotunately they are going on indefinate hiatus after they finish their tour this month.

Random thoughts

2006-08-31T09:09:00.000-04:00

My favorite coffee mug is dead. I dropped a coffee mug I won 12 years ago at a software class. The instructor was playing intro music and said he would give a mug to anyone who could name the artist. I quickly replied "The Dixie Dregs" and he was astonished. Evidently, he had played the same song for years at many similar demonstrations, and no one had ever answered correctly. I was very proud of my mug.
I think he'll be okay. Andy came down and we went to the VT/UNC game down here in NC. Oue passing game was horrid, but the defense looks as good as it's looked since 1999, and Brandon Ore is the man. He made plenty of 4,5,6 yard runs with no blocking. I can't remember a run the the left side, so the defense knew what was coming and they still couldn't stop him. He was also the leading receiver for the game. The game was a return to classic Hokie football: defense, special teams, run the ball, leave the opponent wondering how they lost the game so badly. Hokies win, 35-10.

Greatest Hits. I bought a CD last week of the greatest hits of a band that I saw, probably 8-10 years ago, and there were only 15 people there. Weird. Great band in my mind, but how do you ahve a greatest hits album if only 20 people like you? And what's so great about barrier reef?
I'm not good at poker. Twice, I've come in last in the World Tour of Nazarene Poker. I'm losing to a bunch of guys who grew up in a denomination where playing cards is not allowed. Maybe they're just better at lying.
Leadership. I spent two days this week at the second module of my company's leadership development course. This year, as last, I come away with a clearer picture of who I am capable of being. I was also able to combat my fear of heights on the high ropes course (although that was not the point). It is clear to me that I was able to do this because of the culture of support we create in the class in the first couple of hours (which was part of the point). One of our assignments was to deliver a motivational speech, which I did on the first day. I got a lot of positive feedback from the class, so I will post the text here later.
Love. Later this month we will attend the wedding of two of our favorite people I don't know if there is a single couple I've known that are so obviously best friends and obviously committed to each other. They asked us this week to be readers at the wedding (in Bryson City, NC in the mountains). We are obviously honored and excited. I'm even willing to skip a football game for this one.
Hope. Coming up in a few weeks, my favorite band is playing with a ton of other bands I like at the Carolina Hope Festival for a great cause. We may not make it, because we will be driving back from the wedding, but it looks like a great time.

What a week! Thoughts on how to deal...

2006-08-31T08:49:00.000-04:00

Both Debbie and I have had a really rough week this week. I had a longtime friend tell me I wasn't a very good friend, we've both had difficulties with coworkers, and we've both had just busy workweeks. Monday, she made a point of getting up early to make it to work early. I left for work at 7:15, and she called me shortly their after. I didn't hear the cellphone ring, but saw she called and called back around 7:45. She was frantically looking for her keys (we only have one set for the Honda). I looked at my pocket and said "I'll call you back in a minute". Yep, they were in my pocket. I had to drive back home to give them back, but there was a wreck on the interstate, so I had to cut through RTP, which took some time. I had appointment to drop my car off at the body shop (one of the IT guys at work bumped into me in the parking lot week before last), so I called them to tell them I would be late. When I got there, they siad they didn't have an appointment scheduled so they didn't have the parts they needed. I left there and finally got to work at 9:20, over 2 hours after I left for work.

In both our weeks, people have doubted our motives. I can't think of a nicer, more genuine person than my wife, and I certainly try to be a good person. I got an e-mail from a co-worker in Denmark (of course it is someone whose motives I've doubted before), and his e-mail signature was a quote from Mother Teresa that helped put it in perspective (I mean, Jeez, who ever doubted Mother Teresa's motives):

People are often unreasonable, illogical, and self-centered; forgive them anyway.
If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives; be kind anyway.
If you are successful, you will win some false friends and some true friends; succeed anyway.
If you are honest and frank, people may cheat you; be honest and frank anyway.
What you spend years building, someone could destroy overnight; build anyway.
If you find serenity and happiness, they may be jealous; be happy anyway.
The good you do today, people will often forget tomorrow; do good anyway.
Give the world your best anyway.
You see, in the final analysis, it is between you and God; it was never between you and them anyway.

Quick Summer Trip

2006-08-17T12:33:00.000-04:00

Last week, Debbie and I were visited by her brother Tim, who lives in Seattle. We spent a few days on a quick summer trip while he was here. Wednesday, we travelled to Williamsburg, Va and spent the day at Bush Gardens. We had a good time, hitting up all the roller coasters despite long lines. At least the weather was pretty good, as it got cooler as the day progressed versus the upper 90s it had been the previous week or so. Thursday and Friday we spent at the Outer Banks, staying in Kill Devil Hills and visiting three light houses (Currituck Beach, Boide Island, Hatteras), Jockey's Ridge State Park, the Wright Brothers Memorial, and of course the beach. The highlight for me was being able to fly the kite that my neice and nephew bought me 6-7 years ago. I had tried several times, but had good success with the high winds at the outer banks. Other highlights included introducing my brother-in-law to the glorious expanse of Wings and the unmatched efficiency of Brew-Thru.

Jeff Tweedy at the NC Museum of Art

2006-08-17T10:21:00.000-04:00

Sometime soon on this blog, I will write a series on albums that changed my life. There will be two albums featuring the talents of Jeff Tweedy, one by his previous band Uncle Tupelo and one by his current band Wilco, so last night was a treat for me. Mr. Tweedy played at the outdoor ampitheatre at the NC Museum of art, which is one of the nicest venues in the area (plus free parking and reasonably priced beer). It was a beautiful night to be outdoors, with a great bunch of guys in our crew (4 wives had tickets, but none made it) and the performance was great. He played a diverse set of mostly newer Wilco songs (heavy from "A Ghost is Born" and "Yankee Hotel Foxtrot") with a few Uncle Tupelo songs thrown in ("New Madrid" and "Acuff Rose" were highlights for me) and handled the hecklers in the crowd with grace and humor. He also performed quite a few songs I just didn't know, perhaps not recorded or from one of his other side bands (Loose Fur, Golden Smog, etc.) that I just don't have time to follow. Tweedy gave a shouout to NC native blues-woman Elizabeth Cotton and played a few bars from one of her songs. Overall, his part of the show was about an hour and a half. Jennifer O'Connor was the opening act.
As much as I like Wilco (which is a whole lot), sometimes their music is a little too "dense" for me. Seeing Tweedy perform these songs solo, his vocals accompanied only by his own guitar playing, makes the songs more accessible. I can then go back and listen to the layered, textured, sampled Wilco recordings and appreciate them much more. Tweedy's intensely personal songwriting, raw vocals, and able guitar playing is the americana/roots rock base on which increasingly progressive Wilco is built upon.
(Note: I stole this picture from someone else's website. I took the obligatory blurry picture with my new cellphone, but can't figure out how to get the pictures from the camera to my computer.)

Rob Bell Says Everything is Spiritual

2006-07-22T16:41:00.000-04:00

I got to see Rob Bell's Eveything is Spiritual Tour thursday night at the Cat's Cradle. I loved it, of course. I won't recap the whole thing, because others have done that across the information superhighway, probably much better than I can. It was basically an almost two hour lecture (I wouldn't call it a sermon, it was more philosophy than preaching) on Genesis 1, examining it as an ancient, subversive, multilayered Hebrew poem (since it is). I thought I would just write about how Rob Bell's ministry affects me.

He makes me love the Bible. Despite being a Christian for basically my whole life, I don't really like the Bible that much. It's confusing and contradicts itself; it's old and hard to understand. Bell's passion for the Bible and his scholarly approach is infectious and leaves me wanting to know more.
He makes me understand my parents a little bit better. Growing up, they watched Billy Graham (one of Bell's heroes) on TV all the time, and I thought those crusades were the most boring thing ever. Maybe to them, Graham is like Bell is to me: they both gave Christianity a modern, progressive voice (but to different generations?). Maybe they're both revolutionary
He hold my attention. As much as I love my pastor, sometimes, If he speaks for more than 15-20 minutes, he loses me. I listened to Bell for 100 minutes, and would have stuck around for 100 more if I could.
He makes me believe. While he's speaking, the doubt melts away and it all makes sense.
He makes me want to act. He's very focused on the facts that we're God's plan for redemption of the world and that Jesus said the kingdom of God is here and now.
He makes me see the connections. Between the old and new testament. Between the words of the bible and what they call us to. Between God and man.
He makes me unashamed. He's not trying to pass off bad news as the Good News. He's not trying to convince people not to doubt something that no one can be sure of. He was very clear Thursday night that he thinks it is intellectually sound to look around and say "Yep, this is all there is." But it's equally sound to believe that there is more. That is the message of Genesis 1, and the message of Jesus. There is more to life than we see. God created us because that's what he does, he creates and loves and redeems. And to believe that gives us hope for this life, and maybe even something more.

Peace.

Update 7/31: Here is another good article on the tour from the Detroit Free Press

Tyrod Taylor commits to the Hokies

2006-07-22T16:32:00.000-04:00

The player that the VT coaches wanted most this year, Hampton QB Tyrod Taylor announced his intention to play for the Hokies following his senior season. Taylor is ranked the #2 high school quarterback in the nation by ESPN.com and his athletic skills have brought comparisons to former Hokie QB's Michael and Marcus Vick, who also played their high school football in the Penninsula District. The Hokies are having a great recruiting year this far, including two offensive linemen that are ranked as top 10 recruits from the Commonwealth of Virginia.

Guster Review

2006-07-19T16:16:00.000-04:00

I travelled to Cary last night to see Guster with my friends Laura and Tyson (Debbie is out of town taking the middle school kids at church to camp). I'm not sure why I like Guster, but I really do. Maybe they give me hope, because they don't sing that well and they don't play their instruments that well, and the production isn't that great, but they make pretty darn enjoyable music. They seem like regular guys. They put on a good show and were clever, however, asking the audience to boo them after their set ended. He promised to do an encore anyway, but wanted to know how it felt if the crowd booed. Good fun. They mostly played songs I knew, but I was also really impressed with their last song "Hold On" from their new album. I might have to pick it up.

Summer Fun

2006-07-17T09:09:00.000-04:00

There are a couple big events for me coming up in the next few weeks that I'm looking forward to. Tomorrow night is the Guster concert at Regency Park in Cary. Ticketmaster is charging me way to much for the show (I'm sorry, but the $8 convenience fee is not convenient to me), but a show that starts before 11 pm is too good for this 36 year old wannabe to pass up. I used to be cool enough to stay up that late, but not anymore.
Thursday night, Rob Bell is coming to the Cat's Cradle in Carboro. He is the pastor of Mars Hill Bible Church in Michigan. It's a sold out show, and I'm the only one I know who got tickets. My brother-in-law has a hypothesis that one of the bigger churches in town bought up all the tickets in a block, which is probably a good bet. Anyway, I'm really excited because Bell is a great preacher who brings a positive, activist message to my generation and younger generations (Bell himself is 35). He has a passion for the bible, but has a very different take on it than most who claim a passion for the bible. He really links the words of the new testament to the traditions of Rabbinic Judaism that were the setting of the life of Christ. If you're interested, you can download his sermons online at the Mars Hill website. I listened to his "So, Anyway, Who Wants To Change The World?" sermon from May 14th this morning (driving to work) and it blew me away. I promise to post a review of the event here.
In August, Debbie's brother Tim is coming to visit for a week, and we are heading to Busch Gardens for a day and Nags Head for 2 days during his visit. Also, I have a ticket to see Jeff Tweedy at the NC Museum of Art on August 16.

Trip to NoVa and DC, and Washington Nationals thoughts

2006-07-16T20:57:00.000-04:00

Debbie and I visited my friends Andy and Brooke the weekend before July 4th. We were able to go to the International Spy Museum (which was fun-we recommend it) and also a Washington Nationals game (pictured here is Holmes and I at RFK stadium).
For those who don't know, for some reason I was always a big Montreal Expos fan, and now the Expos have moved to DC they are much closer to being my hometown team. Last week they made a pretty good trade, getting two young everday position players for some middle relievers and minor leaguers. Even though they lost 2 decent pitchers, they got some young bats and middle relief pitchers are only worth something if you're in a pennant race. They're in rebuilding mode and you need to build with starters and position players.
The rumor is that they may trade Alfonso Soriano may go to the Angels for a package including former Hokie Joe Saunders. Saunders is a left hander and former first rounder (#12 in 2002) who is 10-3 with a 2.50 ERA in 19 starts in AAA, and would give the Nats a Hokie, which would make my day. The only knocks are he doesn't strike out a lot of guys and he missed 2004 with a torn muscle in his chest. As much as I would hate for Soriano to go, it's inevitable and the right thing to do, and if they can get a couple of young pitchers, the team might look good when they're ready to move to their new stadium in a couple of years.

Album Review...The Wee Hours Review by Roman Candle

2006-06-30T09:42:00.000-04:00

A hour long commute from Durham to Franklinton is completely worthless unless you can use it to give a first listen and formulate a review to the new Roman Candle album. I bought the album yesterday evening (June 20th) at Barnes and Noble at Briar Creek for way too much money. The B&N guy was very friendly until I insisted that he put this album up on the "employees recommend" rack.

Anyway, the way I would summarize this album is: Chris Stamey (the album's producer) is just like the rest of us - he puts his pants legs on one at a time. Except, once his pant are on, he makes (what should be) gold records.

I've been listening to local music for 14 years now, and this is by far my favorite act to come out of the triangle in that time. I still remember being excited to see my friend Tyson play with Thad Cockrell,who was already one off my favorites, only to be blown away by the opening act (Tyson was certainly right about them). We've all loved their live shows, and Says Pop! was a nice collections of the songs we heard there. The Wee Hours Revue, however,is a brilliant remaster/remix/re-recording/re-engineer/re-whatever of those same songs. I can clearly make out Skip's vocals (I always wondered why patients wereon the savings and loan and thought watching commas in the air was just plain silly)and every layer of instrumentation is audible (keyboards and guitar tracks are eitheradded or brought up to a more appropriate level) . There are a few tracks wherethe tinniness of the original vocals is evident (particularly Help Me if You Can).While the relative rockers (You Don't belong to This World, I Got a Reason) are still my favorites, the ballads (Sookie and Merciful Man were not compelling on Says Pop! but shine here in my opinion) are the songs that pay off from the new sound the most, including the quasi-bonus track (Driving at Morning is listed inthe liner but not on the back of the CD case).

All-in-all a fine recording that lives up to the wonderfully crafted songs of the Matheny's et al. I look forward to the release party Thursday and hopefully don'thave to wait as long for a recording of RC's other fine songs (Waiting for June,Modern Radio). I also hope the outside world will take to this band as much as I have, so that we are able to hear RC's music for many years to come.

Update after CD release party on June 22nd: The show was brilliant with a great turnout, and lots of my friends were there. My brother-in-law Dave (a mighty fine musician in his own right) was able to come and compared them to a cross between Oasis (definately a strong pop element)and the Rolling Stones, not a bad description, but I added "if they were from Wilkesboro, NC" because if that wasn't added you would miss the American/Southern sensibility that is also key to the RC sound. They are my favorite band, and if you like music, you should buy their album and tell your friends. I got to talk to the band a bit after the show, and they are as nice of people as they are compelling musicians.