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

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!

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

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

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

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.