Archive for February, 2006
Fishing for the Soul
I loved going to the river as a kid. I loved fishing for some reason. Part of it was it gave me something to connect with my grandfather. He was an awesome, big hearted, broken, lost man. He made me laugh and I felt like a real man when I hung out with him. Especially at the river.
I learned to bait a hook, cut up chicken hearts, clean a fish, run a trout line, run a motor on a boat from my grandfather. I learned to cuss when you poke a hook through your finger, always loan your better stuff to your friends, and make time to drink coffee and play cards with your friends.
What was really going on was me learning what it meant to live in community before I knew what community was. From my lost grandfather, no less! He always had folks over at the house. If you need a tool, he’d come over and help you with the project. Messed up marriage? Come over, play some cards, drink some coffee.
I never saw my grandfather try to fix anybody. He just loved them – even when he thought they were acting like a jack___. (Which I think was his favorite word.)
I also don’t remember my grandfather complaining about much. I’m sure he did, a boy’s memory of his grandfather is always selective. I’m quite sure he had his jack___ moments as well. I just remember him too busy living or fishing or gardening.
Maybe there is an insight for us leaders there – get busy living, investing in others – have less time for complaining. Love people first, don’t try to fix them – especially when they are acting like a jack___. And be sure to make time for coffee and cards.
Run well.
The Perfect Day…Monday, Feb 27th, 2006
It started with watching Cooper be Abraham Lincoln for a class report. Underneath that beard is a bow tie. Cooper’s favorite fact about Lincoln – he was the tallest president. So much for great moral causes, right? ha ha.
Next, fishing with Rowland at this beautiful place just outside of Stuttgart, Arkansas. 
Here’s a couple of pictures of the 35 fish we caught in 2 hours. I’ll let that sink in for a moment.
We were pulling into the dock. I had landed 17 largemouth, Row had parked 17. He grabs his rod and says – “One cast to break the tie.”
Yeah right, whatever mid-life crisis boy.
Final count…Rowland 18, Grant 17. You can click on the pictures for more foolishness on the lake.
Next – we ate at Cotham’s Mercantile Store in Scott, Arkansas. Notice that the diner/hardware store is OVER the lake. I had fried pork chops, okra, white beans, jalepena hush puppies, and sweet tea.
Complete the day with a romantic dinner at Wendy’s with Amy and Life Group – man, thank you God for a great day. I really needed it.
Lent Challenge
Rob over at Orangejack has a great idea. He’s calling it the Lent Challenge.
Basically – insteading of giving something “up” for Lent, commit to read the 4 gospels during Lent. Here is a reading guide you can download, courtesy of Rob.
I’m going to do it…and today’s assignment is to eat pancakes. Seriously, look at it.
Starting tomorrow and throughout the 40 days those of us doing the challenge will post about the readings. I’m challenging our Life Group Leaders to do this – what a great way to go through the Lenten Season with your crew!
Start reading and posting tomorrow!
Audience of One Introduction
Here is the introduction of my sermon today. Read, of course, in the style of Dr. Suess.
I met a new friend and in earnest I tried
To start a conversation of the things that he liked.
I said I like Green Eggs and Ham, and things that rhyme.
What are some things you deem divine.
And he smiled, and he snickered, “I’ll tell what I like
I love praising my God in the day and the night.
As long as it’s early, let’s say before 9
And it needs to be punctual, and end on time.
And I don’t like the use of Renaissance paintings
It’s iconic and eerie…I’m not really complaining.
I know what’s appropriate and I know what is right
Because I really love praising all day and all night.
The speaker wears kakhi’s and a nice collared shirt
His speech is pristine without a hint of any dirt.
He shouldn’t be crass or too short or too fat
His tone should be pleasing, he should also love cats.
He can’t be too young or too old, or to kind
He needs to be smart, a MDiv should do fine.
No tattoos and no piercings – they’re such a distraction
And the seats should be cushioned and not put me in traction.
We once took communion every week for like 7
Then we stopped altogether, I guess waiting for heaven.
The lighting should be low to make the mood still.
What’s with all the candles, we forget to pay the electric bill?
I like to experiment, I like to know more
I want to sail wildly within sight of the shore.
And I don’t mind questions and the mysteries of faith
Just have it all answered before we start the restaurant race.
We need more teaching on tithing, more lectures on hell
More piano, more cello, and tons more cowbell.
I want to see the whole cross, want to bask in its glow
But don’t ask me serve or to lead or to grow.â€
He paused and he grinned, and stared in the blue.
It’s abundantly clear he’d thought the whole thing through.
“And I really love worship, all day and all night
But it must be done my way, it must be done right.â€
I sat for a minute, thinking hard what to do.
“So your biggest obstacle in worship is quite frankly …. you.â€
And the man look wounded and he walked away mad
And worship once more meant nothing for Dad.
Hide All Sharp Objects from Jeremy
Jeremy must be about ready to shoot himself. I feel for my friend. In fact, I feel for most of Canada. (Not so much Quebec, though.)
Canada, allow me to welcome you into the world of over-hyped, over-paid, and over-confident athletes! It’s painful at first, but you’ll get used to it. It appears that our “we deserve it” attitude seems to have seeped across the border into Canada unawares. This was purely unintentional.
Of course, you do have some responsibility in the matter. You wanted a MLB franchise. You wanted a NBA franchise. You wanted a NHL franchise. In the process, we introduced you to the public persona equivalent of a crack addict – Male Professional Athletes!!!
We even got Gretzky to the dark side! Folks will counter that this is the least of punishments for a country that gave us Celine Delon. I, on the other hand, deem this way to heavy a punishment. Heck, we stole your silver medal in Ice Dancing. (While we are sorry about that, we’re not sending Tanath Belbin back. She’s the most gorgeous creation on the planet. Next to Amy, of course. What was I talking about again?)
Oh, yeah….professional athletes. Well, here’s to the next Olympics. The good news is that you have near the travel expenses to watch your professional athletes do a complete meltdown.
Now if you will excuse me, Shani Davis and Chad Hedrick are arguing again. Maybe it’s the skates?
Podcasts Update
Shawn pointed me to Doug Fields new podcast…
Oh…
My…
Gosh…
I am laughing so hard right now…….good night. I thought just my youth staff functioned this way. This is great stuff.
Thanks, Shawn and pass the kleenex.
Worship Naked
I was in middle school when the Ski Naked t-shirts started coming out. What followed next in Colorado was nothing short of a marketing phenomon.
Study Naked
Surf Naked
Drive Naked
Golf Naked
Baby on Board Naked
Luge Naked
Given the subject matter around here the last few days, couldn’t resist the last one. As a middle schooler… and high schooler… and a college student… and finally as a parent, I (still) chuckle when I see that. I’m still dealing with the abuse issues from my parents not allowing me to own a “Ski Naked” t-shirt. Of course, I’m not letting my kids get one either.
I’m preaching on 2 Samuel 6 this week, David dancing in front of the Ark and his country in a loin cloth. And his wife was horrified. She let him know about it when he got home.
Her argument – that wasn’t appropriate for God nor you, as King of Israel. You’ve dishonored yourself.
David’s response – get over it and it’s going to get worse. Worship Naked.
Rowland told me a story that happened at Grace about 5 or 6 years ago. One Sunday morning, a student got so wrapped up in worship, he took off his shirt and started swinging it around. He was sitting right next to the oldest guy in our church who still is wearing polyester suits. The older guy started smiling….and raising his arms in worship!
Not everybody had the same response.
“That was NOT appropriate nor worshipful!” (Can somebody tell me why people start talking with “nor” when they get all hoity-toity?)
The fact that most of us will never worship that way is an indictment on us – not a badge of maturity. Here’s the cold hard truth about people who worship naked, uninhibited, undistracted, unabashed, and unfazed by humans. We can’t control them.
They don’t fit in our box or mold. They intimidate us. They shame us. They know something we don’t. Better said, they know some ONE we don’t. They aren’t consumed with themselves like we are, rather they are being consumed by Him.
And our only defense against these kind of people? Intimidation to conform. Some of them will cave. Some of them will tell us to get over ourselves. Will we?
Worship naked. And get even more undignified than that.
The Next Confab
April 28th, Friday night, 6.30 to 9.30 pm at Grace Church.
The Confab is for Life Group Leaders, Interns, Coaches, and anyone who is interested in becoming a Life Group Leader at Grace.
What’s on the agenda? Well right now I’m leaning towards Corky’s but that’s fluid. (Becky – that means that it could change!:))
Seriously, we looked at Interns in February, we are going to do health assessments! Potential answers to the questions:
How do I get my life group unstuck?
How do I get more sharing?
How do I move our group to more evangelism?
How do you remove red juice stains from white carpet?
If you need childcare – we’ve got it! Either email me or Renee’ so that we know how many workers we need to get.
Fun Night With Terrells
I finally met Robert about a month ago. He was supposed to preach for us tomorrow. We did Kobe Steak House instead. It wasn’t by choice – every other restaurant in Little Rock was closed. Taco Bell was open but that doesn’t count.
Robert has a beautiful family. Well, let me rephrase that. He has a beautiful wife. Adam and Noah are your typical boys (6th grade and 3rd grade). Throw my typical 2nd grade boy in the mix and well…you’ve got an obnoxious lock-in waiting to happen.
Here’s the fam pre-meal:
Yeah, gotta love 6th graders, don’t you? Here’s the guy spinning an egg on a spatula.
And finally, a family portrait in the Hyundai after the meal.
Coming home was great. Took three times to get in our driveway. Finally, slid the white car right into the driveway…”Like A Glove!!!!!”
Fun night!
Tough Kid
Camber fell on the playground on Wednesday. Ends up being a broken arm. Well, she gets that honestly and she was a trooper. No crying at all. One cool thing – Baptist Health here in town now puts their X-rays on CD. All digital. The zoom on that thing was incredible!
She also lost a couple of teeth. I’m telling the truth – we aren’t beating her up!!
Services Cancelled
You can look at our website for the ‘official’ announcement…but here is the real story.
We have pansies for leaders. So does Fellowship and the Bible Church. First Baptist – Chris, I know you read this blog – pansies!!!!!
You know what the weather is like is Saskatchewan (or whereever my dear Jer is abandoned where he can’t even breath)? -58 degrees!!!! NEGATIVE 58.
Rock Creek doesn’t have pansy leaders! But we do.
No church tomorrow. I’m bummed. It just grates all over me to cancel services. Amy is saying something like ‘Go ahead…you and Robert can enjoy that immense worship center with God. We’ll meet you for lunch!’
Robert Terrell – he’s 5 miles from my house. He drove up to be stuck in a Courtyard by Marriott hotel room. Some friend I am, huh? We’ll grab dinner tonight and complain about all the pansies…..
[tags]pansies, church closings[/tags]
Davis to Replace Heath at Arkansas?
My turn to start a rumor. Mike Davis has ‘resigned’ at Indiana. His ‘pitiful’ record over the last 6 years? 109-76 overall, 51-40 in the Big Ten and one Final Four appearance. While replacing a legend and keeping a program from imploding. He’s a good coach and he will coach again. But where?
Enter Stan Heath. Personally – I like Stan Heath but the hub-bub around Arkansas is that if he doesn’t win or get to the NCAA’s – he’s gone. Which, is too bad. BUT if he is fired…hire Mike Davis.
And then finally I might become a Hog fan. Might.
[tags]Arkansas Basketball, Mike Davis, Stan Heath, College Basketball[/tags]
Youth Group Karma
We’ve talked about the importance of having a lexicon in youth ministry. It’s not a question of IF you have a lexicon inside your youth group, it’s a question of have you codified it. If you’ve codified it – it allows you to accept new people faster.
You can quickly tell them – here’s how we talk, here’s how we roll. In ultra-fundamental circles this gets labeled as a covenant of membership rules. But we don’t have to get that sticky or serious.
Take Sunday for example. I have a couple of friends (who also happen to be teens) that make sure they encourage me every time before I teach.
“Grant….don’t suck.”
Now, you can’t get much more encouraging than that, can you? It’s just part of the encouraging atmosphere that is Grace.
The other piece of tradition is the conversation circle. We’ll stand around, in a circle with hands folded across chest or in pockets. Talking. Now…one must be careful in this position. If someone walks up, the circle must naturally morph to include them but without verbally acknowledging that is what we are doing. If someone gets a ‘back to the face,’ that’s bad karma and the conversation needs to change, circle remorphed. Are you following this?
Brazilian Bobsledder
Here is the full story about cheating/blood doping athletes…
The one I laughed out loud about – a Brazilian bobsledder was sent home for steriods. That just doesn’t even ….man…..where does that fit?
[tags]Olympics, drug testing, Brazil bobsled team[/tags]
Two Man Luge
Mike noted this sport and it is definitely in the ‘uncomfortable zone.’
On the plus side – you are on a sled going over 50 miles an hour with the possibility of everything going wheels off in a heartbeat. That alone puts this sport high on the man sport list. It takes a certain amount of steelness (or stupidity) to go that fast feet first leaving certain precious regions of the body exposed. Given those circumstances, you can understand wanting to have your best friend with you. Because some of life’s most stupid moments are funnier with your friends.
AND you can understand the mentality of “how many people can we get on this sled anyway.” It’s the ‘more-drive’ that is in every male.
AND you can understand the tights. Less wind resistance equals more speed equals more bent metal when we stop.
What is hard to figure out is what exactly was going through the guy’s mind who first thought – “you know, if we lay like this we can get two on the luge.” Yet, how else can really put two people on that sled? I mean, really this is best way.
I will admit that I’ve never heard a luger talk with a lisp or blow kisses to the crowd. But….why this way? Sometimes more isn’t better.
[tags]luge, two man luge, stuff I’m probably never going to do[/tags]
Dark, smelly caves
The sermon this week was tense. In a good way, I think. I’ve had more encouraging emails and comments about it than any other. (Yes – even that sermon!). Not the ‘great sermon’ kind but the ‘Did you know that I was in this cave?’ kind of comments.
Honestly, I thought the sermon was more for me than anyone else. But our body is like a MASH unit right now. The sheer number of families going through tragedies right now is staggering. From death to divorce to addictions we’ve got it. One day I’m going to look back on this time and take a valium.
The similarities are eerie to David in the cave. Those men in the cave with David were not necessarily there because they loved David. They had their own junk they were running from. Bunch of theives, bandits, discontents, and refugees hiding together in a dark, smelly cave trying to figure out what the Lord was up to.
Welcome to Grace Church.
How do you minister in the cave? First, make the cave safe. In other words – don’t shoot the wounded and the confused. After that – your guess is as good as mine. But you don’t look at a couple across the table who seriously want to punt a marriage and give them a 45 minute treatise on why God hates divorce. His kindness and mercy leads us to repentance.
“Shame on you, now go back to your room and clean it up.”
I still come back to what I heard Donald Miller say – we exist to bring Jesus to the wound. My meaning in life is to bring Jesus to the wound. It’s mystic. It can be very foggy. But it’s also the only hope we’ve got. Correction…He’s the only hope I’ve got. If He doesn’t work here…it’s all a farce.
Why Is This A Sport?
Men’s figure skating. They’ve just interviewed Johnny Weir.
“There are going to be people that hate me and people that love me.”
Gaydar man – it’s really hard for us to take you seriously dressed like a swan and talking with a lisp.
2% of the world knows who you are and after the Olympics there will be even less.
Get over yourself. Shut up and skate.
Why don’t they do a dodgeball on skates thing instead?
[tags]Johnny Weir, mens figure skating, swan outfits[/tags]
The DaVinci Challenge
I about fell over when I found this site.
It’s called The Davinci Challenge. The idea? Sony has set up a website that will encourage conversation and dialogue about their upcoming movie The Davinci Code.
Brilliant. Absolutely brillant.
[tags]Davinci Code, movies[/tags]
SNOW!!!!!
You can click on the pic to see the rest of the fun in our backyard. A fleeting moment of fun, followed by rain and 28 degrees. Oh well….we’ll take it. And on the opening night of the Winter Olympics! Can’t beat that!
[tags]photos, kids, flickr[/tags]
Major Olympic Uniform Foul
Tonight are the opening ceremonies from Torino of the Winter Olympics. I love the Winter Olympics. All the fam is addicted to TV for two weeks watching sports we only care about every 3 years and 50 weeks.
But this is atrocious. Team USA is wearing a BERET in the opening ceremonies?? Forget blood doping, buying off figure skating judges, or security. This is a major slap in the face of Americans everywhere. A FRENCH BERET????? I’m astounded, appalled, and need a valium.
Somebody explain to me what the French have contributed to society in the last 300 years that is worth writing about? Statute of Liberty…
Okay – name another? I wouldn’t want to wear that ridiculous headpiece. And while you’ve got all the French ‘athletes’ over there – tell them the next world war they find themselves in, they’re on their own.
In fact, when we win it – we’re giving them back to the Germans this time.
Cowboy hats – via the 1980 olympics – are acceptable. Baseball caps, those crazy ‘jester’ looking hats on ski slopes all over America I’d be okay with. I’d even settle for a beanie.
But a freakin’ beret???? I’m going to be sick.
Viva le’ toilet.
[tags]Torino, Team USA, Winter Olympics[/tags]
Mick Was Stiffed
Here’s the full story but the general idea is this – the NFL ‘censored’ the Stones performance at halftime of the Super Bowl.
Couple of questions…
1. Would anybody have really heard what they were saying anyway? The sound was terrible.
2. Did they have a plan if one of the Stones keeled over and died in the middle of the performance? That by the way would have been a great halftime commercial. “Don’t jump to conclusions. We don’t.”
3. What would you have rather scene – Janet Jackson’s wardrobe malfunction or Mick Jagger’s grandpa flaps? I know my answer.
4. Why doesn’t the FCC find the Seattle Seahawks home uniforms offensive? Please, think of the children and get those things off the air…please.
[tags]Rolling Stones, Super Bowl Halftime Show, Seattle Seahawks, Janet Jackson, FCC[/tags]
Cooper, the Theologian
Setting: dinner, 5:43 pm, lasagna, salad, freedom (french) bread
Coop: Hey – you know where Jesus says if someone hits you on the right cheek, you’re supposed to do this? (He turns his face the left side)
Amy: Yeah.
Coop: Does that mean that if I kick Camber in the right leg, she has to let me kick her in the left?
Seattle Sorelosers?
Let’s get a couple of things straight. The officiating this year in the playoffs were atrocious. Bring back Red Cashon please…..FIRST DOWWWWWWWWWWN!
So this isn’t a defense for the officiating. The Super Bowl wasn’t alot better than the rest of the post-season but I don’t think it cost Seattle the game.
The striped shirts didn’t cause tight end Jerramy Stevens to drop four passes. The striped shirts didn’t cause the Seahawks defense to give up a Steelers first down on a third-and-28 situation (which later led to the Roethlisberger disputed TD). The striped shirts didn’t cause the Seahawks defense to give up the longest touchdown run in Super Bowl history. They also didn’t cause Etric Pruitt to sprint up from his safety position, only to be fooled by the trick play that resulted in Randle El’s 43-yard TD pass to Ward (and by the way, if everyone knows the Steelers like to run gadget plays near midfield, don’t you think the Seahawks knew it too?). Or cause Seahawks quarterback Matt Hasselbeck to throw a killer interception with nearly 11 minutes left in the game and Seattle trailing by only four points.
Well….I think that pretty much sums it up. The refs also didn’t manage the clock like Enron handles money at the end of both halves.
[tags]Seattle Seahawks, Pittsburgh Steelers, referrees, NFL, Super Bowl[/tags]