Archive for 2008
Broncos Fire Shanahan
I’m shocked and if anyone tells you they saw this coming – they are lying to you.
I expected Pat to say to Mike – “You can keep coaching, but you can’t GM” or another coordinator fired. But not show him the door.
On the other hand, you can see the chips lining up last year. The GM gets fired, another Defensive Coordinator gets fired. The last few weeks, Denver was not ready to play and squandered a 3 game lead in the division. After every game, Mike said it was his fault not getting his team ready to play.
Will the Broncos be a better team without Shanahan? Hard to say. Shanahan had an outstanding draft this year but the three years prior to this – not so great. In terms of game plans – he’s one of the best. Maybe he had a hard time relating to the new type of player, maybe he had a horrible sense of who would be a good defensive coordinator. It’s obvious he never figured out the defensive side of the ball.
But any other coach in Denver this year with the injuries and the horrific defense – the Broncos would be 1-15. So he can coach.
Here’s the irony of ironies…if I were the Kansas City Chiefs, I’d be calling the 303 area code right now.
Put Up or Shut Up
Hold on to your knickers, boys. Never has a contest between two mediocre teams meant so much to so few.
As a fan, you always want your team to win. Especially against the punk trash talking Phyllis Rivers. It would be awesome to send the Chargers into the off-season discouraged and disgruntled.
On the other hand, having the 11th or 12th pick in the draft would be awesome. It’s where we found Ryan Clady.
I’m not sure the Broncos have much left to prove. David B. posted about this over on his site and I agree with him on most points. Offense is close – injuries have killed the Broncs and the defense isn’t going to scare or stop anybody. Especially when the next somebody would be the Indianapolis Colts.
So take the pick and reload for next year.
But I can’t stand the thought of losing the AFC West to the Chargers.
To those who say it’s always better to go to the playoffs and take your chances – I disagree. I remember well all the Super Bowl losses in the late ’80′s. The Washington loss was excruciating. I think playing Indianapolis next week would be along the same lines.
So I’m conflicted.
Happy Anniversary
17 years ago I stood in Legacy Drive Baptist Church wondering what in the world I was doing.
I said ‘I do’ and so did she but we had no clue what we were doing.
After all this time, not a whole lot has changed. I still have no idea how this wonderful creation of God called ‘Woman’ really works. Especially the one named Amy Carolyn Seely English.
I’m convinced now more than ever I was given a better woman than I deserved, one that seems to be specifically wired to deal with ministry and two sports crazed boys that she loves. One that continues to grow in her love and knowledge of Jesus.
Happy Anniversary, Amy.
I updated my Facebook for you.
Power of Your Name
Surely children were not made for the streets
And fathers were not made to leave
Surely this isn’t how it should be
Let Your kingdom come
Surely nations were not made for war
Or the broken meant to be ignored
Surely this just can’t be what you saw
Let Your kingdom come
Here in my heart
I will live
To carry Your compassion
To love a world that’s broken
To be Your hands and feet
I will give
With the life that I’ve been given
And go beyond religion
To see the world be changed
By the power of Your name
Surely life wasn’t made to forget
And the lost were not made to forget
Surely faith without action is dead
Let Your kingdom come
Lord break this heart
Jesus Your name
Is a refuge for the weak
Only Your name
Can redeem the undeserving
Jesus Your name
Holds everything I need
Words by Lincoln Brewster expressing the heart of lovers of Jesus everywhere.
Merry Christmas and may this year may we walk in the power of His name to bring compassion, change the world, see His Kingdom come.
Praying For Mary Schwartz
During our second service today, Mary (resident grandmother of Pinecrest, Ray’s mom) got really dizzy…so dizzy, she passed out.
Of course, there are only a handful of people in the audience that can see what is going on – Ray (who is preaching) being one of them. Ray stops preaching and asks people to help Mary. Of course, most of us have no idea what is going on.
But what happened next was just awesome to watch.
First, the service stopped and church started. We had an ER doctor and an ER nurse in the congregation who immediately came over and started helping. Someone else called 911. Somebody else just held Mary’s hand. Somebody else cleared that side of the auditorium so that when the paramedics showed up there would be a clear path and room to work. The rest of the congregation just started praying.
Mary’s okay right now. Her EKG was fine but they kept her overnight to watch her.
But as our church was praying instead of ‘doing the service’ I had the sneaky suspicion that this was probably more pleasing to the Father – The Bride praying.
Enjoy The Off-Season
I said it when they lost to the Oakland Raiders – they had lost the playoffs. I just had no idea the Broncos would drag that process out over the rest of the season.
As far as today’s game – simple math held up again. When the Broncs turn the ball over twice or more – they lose. They did. It happened.
I’m glad the Chargers won. I’m glad the Broncos are going to have WIN to get in the playoffs. I don’t see it happening and it’s just as well. The sweet taste of beating the Chargers would only last 6 days before getting our chops busted by Indianapolis.
I don’t even want to talk about the game. I’ve given up trying to understand our defense and what they are trying to do. I’ve quit trying to understand our special teams coach as well. (Instead of kicking it deep and letting the returner get 30 yards a return, let’s kick it short and allow 40 yards a return. BRILLIANT!!!)
The Broncos just aren’t very good.
The Greatest Facebook Status Comment
My good friend David Baumgartner‘s status: David is getting ready to head to Cub Scouts.
Grant’s response: I never made it past there either but I quit when I reached high school.
Last As Student Pastor
It’s been 10 days since I last blogged. It was good to have a break. Now time to break the fast.
Last night we had our Christmas Party/Junk Food/Gift Exchange Extravaganza. It was a blast. Couple of highlights for me.
First, commissioning Toby. I got Toby a real shepherd’s crook as well as a copy of My Utmost For His Highest by Oswald Chambers. I know I surprised him. Told him that every shepherd needed a crook. (There’s a joke in there somewhere…) They use it for three main things, first is to guide the sheep. A nudge there, a nudge there and they’ll go there – as long as they know your voice. Second is to rescue sheep. Their necks fit in the crook perfectly. The third thing – support. A leaning staff, if you will.
Which led me to the devotional by Oswald Chambers. My mom gave me my first copy of this book. I wore it out. I still have it. I still read it. It’s been the second single most important resource of my life (next to the Bible).
This is pretty much what I wrote to Toby inside the cover:
Pastoring is hard. No one tells you how hard it is when you start. You figure that out along the way. One of those sleepless, tossing, turning nights when you realize no other job did this to you.
Student Pastoring is double hard. Yes, it’s also twice the fun but it comes at high cost. No one tells you how alone you will feel at times. We know in our head we are not, but it doesn’t seem to translate at times in our stomachs.
And after doing this for all these years, I keep coming back to this simple principle: You are what you eat. Your best ministry will come out of the overflow of what you feed your soul.
This book has been a staple of my diet. Oswald has become a mentor, a Yoda for me within these pages.
That’s my prayer for you. Be a Yoda, dripping with Jesus.
And you’re not alone.
The coolest part of the evening – our gift from the students. It’s a huge book with notes and letters from them, scattered in there are pictures. What a great gift.
In a moment of irony, our first youth group (12th Avenue) did the same thing – gave us a huge book of notes and pictures – that I still have and display in my office.
I was asked after the party – “How does it feel to be done with your last official duty as a student pastor?”
I didn’t really have an answer at the time. I was just enjoying the moment and the party.
This morning…it feels awesome.
Here’s why…it’s what we’re supposed to do. Toby is exactly the right guy for Pinecrest. We’re exactly the right family for Western Hills. It’s all good and right. So I’ll miss the relationships – sure.
But I can’t help but think God is pleased with this whole process – the decisions, how the decisions were made, and how it’s all playing out.
And that’s awesome.
MGM and The Osborne Lights
I was acutely aware of how many Gator fans were in the park today. They are stupid and mean.
Okay, they aren’t mean.
We got to ride the new Toy Mania ride at Disney’s Hollywood Studio, formerly known as MGM Studios. That had to be the highlight of the day – that and the lights on the Streets of America.
Funny story – it’s called the Osborne Family lights from the Osborne family in Little Rock, Arkansas. Having lived in LR, we know the stories of Cantrell being shut down while folks tried to drive by to see the 3 million lights on the three houses. City and neighbors got more than a little upset and now they are displayed here at Disney.
What’s funny is how many people think it’s Ozzie Osborne’s lights. Can you imagine him putting up lights?
“Hanmmmph dddmlonem akljofsadf.” Have yourself a Merry Christmas.
One more random thought – the line into Toy Story game was phenomenal. It how every children’s ministry area should look and feel like. It’s just FUN. These huge oversized games, every area that you could possibly look at has something to engage with.
Some pics of the day.
Gators Can’t Swim In High Tide
Nobody is pickin’ ‘Bama. I love it. Everyone is impressed with the speed and athleticism of the Gator offense. Let ‘em.
Here’s what I know – Florida hasn’t seen a defense like ‘Bama’s. Of course, Alabama hasn’t seen an offense like Florida’s either. And the Georgia Dome will be a fast track. Alabama has had to win at Georgia, at LSU. Florida hasn’t had to leave the state this year except to play Tennessee.
Going to be a great game.
Roll Tide.
Here’s hope to be saying Rammer Jammer later.
What I’m Doing On Vacation
Reading.
I’ll post later in the week on what I’m reading.
Playing Guitar Hero:World Tour.
Big Tom and Mimi surprised us by getting the fam this game for Christmas. Of course we had to open it early and pretty much that’s what we’ve playing.
Camber read the Christmas story this year for us. We do this every year – read from Luke 2. How many times have I heard it read? Why is it when you hear your kids read it’s like the first time you heard it?
Taking Self-Pictures
It’s kinda funny when I upload pictures now, because there will always be a couple of self-pictures in the bunch. Here’s our short collection so far.
Epcot
I love Disney. It’s just the feel of the place when you drive up. The attention to detail, the utter ridiculous extravagance they go to create a feel of magic when you show up serves as a model for every other company on the planet.
Job Searching
Since I posted this, I’ve had a few offline conversations about it. Chris Ediger has picked up on it.
Dad (Amy’s Dad) and I were talking about last night – even though it was a neat thing to have the search team hang out and meet with the current church’s leadership – it’s rare. And not every person is in a situation that would allow them to have that kind of openness.
My prayer is that we’ll be able to create that kind of environment at Western Hills (I think we can). It’s healthy and it’s Kingdom focused, not tribe focused.
Questions for Churches
I’ve had a couple of you email me asking me what questions did I ask Western Hills.
Here they are…
If you were forced to describe Western Hills (as she is today) in a single word, what word would each of you use? What words would you use to describe what you would like her to be?
What has been the biggest lesson learned in the last year?
As you dream about the future, what do you think is the greatest opportunity ahead? What do you think will be the greatest obstacle in getting there?
If money were no object, what would be the one thing you would want to do this next year?
What does ‘success’ look like for your church?
How are decisions made at Western Hills?
Tell me of a ministry decision where there was sharp disagreement and how that was worked out.
What kind of voice does your current staff have in the hiring of the next pastor?
If for some reason Western Hills burned to the ground, how would the community around you be affected?
Every church and culture has a set of unspoken values and ‘rules.’ What unspoken insights does the next pastor need to know?
How is Western Hills currently involved in both local and foreign missions?
What would you say are the biggest needs of your city? How is Western Hills addressing those needs?
Fried Turkey
Some pics of the Fried Turkey Experience yesterday. I used a new rub Amy found online. Couple of things to remember if you decide to fry a turkey.
First, don’t let all the ‘scary’ talk keep you from trying this. They taste awesome, relatively easy and quick to cook and your wife will love you forever now that you are cooking the turkey for Thanksgiving and Christmas. (Of course, she’s supposed to love you forever anyway…)
Second, DO PAY ATTENTION TO A COUPLE OF IMPORTANT DETAILS.
DETAIL ONE: Only fry dry, thawed turkeys. To do otherwise will result in an incredible explosion worthy of Mythbusters. The problem with said explosion is that you will be to close to enjoy it and your house won’t appreciate it at all.
DETAIL TWO: Fry it outside. Seems to be common sense but then again that sense has never been that common.
DETAIL THREE: Keep your PEANUT oil below 325/350 degrees. Use only peanut oil. You’ll see some folks talk about cooking the bird at 350 but problem with this is the longer you fry, the hotter it gets and the back 10 to 12 minutes of the fry you’ll watch your oil get close to 400 degrees and that’s a bad place to be. It’s bad because the fire risk is greater and you’ll burn the bejesus out of your bird.
I get the oil to 325. The temp will drop to 300 but it will climb back up. Cook the bird 3 1/2 minutes per pound.
The Rub:
16 ounces of Italian dressing (Only use 12 ounces for the mix below).
1/2 cup cayenne pepper
1/2 cup of black pepper
1 cup of cajun seasoning (Tony C’s)
1 tablespoon of garlic powder
It sounded ridiculously hot but we decided to try it. The ‘marinade’ ended up being a rub, with the consistency of wet sand. Rub that stuff all over the turkey and underneath the skin. Pour the other 4 ounces of Italian dressing inside the bird and let it soak in for over 7 hours.
Pulled the turkey out 30 minutes before cooking. Let the turkey drain the Italian dressing out, got the peanut oil to 325 and we were ready to DANCE!!!
Tasted great – the ‘heat’ of the rub cooked off and left the turkey with a nice flavor. All of the kids loved it and ate it so it wasn’t hot at all. Letting the turkey ‘rest’ after you pull it out of the fryer is a must. Let’s the juices get back in the bird and you’re not trying to slice a 180 degree turkey.
After the meal, we lounged around with our neighbors – little Sammy loves hanging with Coop. Started to snow and the girls played outside.
Ski Day 2 & 3, Breckenridge
For Thanksgiving this year, we headed up to Breckenridge for a couple of days. The snow has not been good. Only man-made stuff but we’re kinda pressed for time to get in as many days as we can so we can’t really be picky at this point.
I’m glad we went.
The weather was great – hoovered between 37 to 42 both days. Breck only has two peaks open. Peak 8 is the gondola serviced peak and where some intermediate runs are open. Peak 9 is one long green run from mid-mountain to base.
If you’re going up – take the gondola to Peak 8. Ride Lift 7 to the top then ski over to Peak 9. Hardly any crowds, great snow. We skied Peak 8 on Wednesday and it was a complete madhouse. I’m not anti-snowboarders but why is it that they are always the one flying down the mountain running into people when I’m around?
We had a lot of fun. Here are some pics.
My Thankful List for 2008
I’m skiing today in the most beautiful place on the planet – the Colorado Rockies – with the person I love more than air – Amy. I’m thankful for that.
I’m blessed beyond measure with 3 kids who think I’m funny, love the Lord, aren’t afraid of goofing off, will still play Xbox with me, and actually are looking forward to moving to Kansas.
We’ve been blessed this year to have 2 churches love us and treat us like royalty. We’re thankful for Pinecrest and Western Hills.
We’ve got an extended family that reaches around the globe: Budapest, Hungary; Orlando, Florida; Grove Hill, Alabama; Kansas City, Kansas; Seattle, Washington.
I’m thankful for the stress of selling of house in this market…because it means we have to trust God more.
I’m forever humbled and grateful for the opportunity in Croatia. Not so much for what I brought to the table – because it wasn’t much – but because of the profound effect it had on me.
We’re grateful for ‘family’ with different last names and living in places like Dallas, Houston, Little Rock, Emporia, and Fayetteville. For the ‘family’ here that we do life with – our Life Group and team at Pinecrest.
We’re thankful for our country. It’s flaws and all, still the best place in the world to live and worship.
We’re thankful for another wonderful year of adventure and wonder in chasing Jesus.
And I’m thankful that you were on the journey with me. Here’s to 2009.
Relational Nature of Church?
This is becoming one of those posts that is gaining a life of its own. In the comments I made this observation – the double edged sword of working with non-profits.
Volunteers are the life blood of any non-profit. A good volunteer can be worth two paid workers. They are there because they believe in the mission (ideally) of the organization. It’s impossible to put a price tag on that kind of dedication.
The flip side of this is that you can’t fire a volunteer. Not without some heavy consequences. Why would you want to get rid of a volunteer? Same reasons companies fire workers – unproductive, cancer on the team, personality conflicts, can’t get on board with vision, whatever. To remove a volunteer comes at a high cost in terms of relational equity and emotional energy
What makes this situation even more dicier is this – most leaders in non-profits lead with benefits, not mission. What I mean is we ‘manipulate/recruit people to serve by extolling all of the benefits of serving, not the mission itself.
When this happens – we set ourselves up for failure because at some point, everything changes. A program or trip that once was the greatest thing in the world is no longer needed or useful. Or has to be drastically overhauled. Now we are ‘taking away’ in their minds the core of why they volunteered. They never saw the program as a tool to accomplish the mission. They saw it AS THE MISSION. And some of that confusion has to fall on us – we cast it in that light to start with.
Don’t get me wrong – the relational aspect of ministry is one of the richest, deepest experiences ever. It’s awesome and I have friends all over the country that are close to prove it. But it’s not THE MISSION of ministry. It’s an awesome benefit and at times it IS why we keep doing what we’re doing, especially in those dark times.
But the ultimate point of what we do is to connect people to Jesus and as leaders our biggest contribution to this is keeping this in front of our people, all the time in ways they get it and has meaning.
Failure
This was the topic of our Downtown Lunch Club. It was the last one for me here in Denver. I guess I’ll have to crank one up in Topeka.
How is failure framed in your work culture? Is it seen as an event? I stole this straight from Seth Godin’s blog. Is failure seen as a learning experience or something that should always be avoided? How do you create a culture where it is okay to fail? Are there limits to how much failure is tolerated?
How did Jesus deal with failure? How many different ways did Jesus deal with failure? How could that be translated in the workplace?
Lots of great insights and stories hit the table.
One question I had as I left the lunch was this – why in the business world failure is seen differently than in the church world? Let’s say we started a program that halfway through it we realized was a failure (it cost too much, demanded too much volunteer time, had little to no ‘bang’, wasn’t accomplishing the set out goals). In the business realm, it appears easier to stop that program and reallocate the resources to something else or create a new something else that would accomplish the goals.
In ministry, why is the general response to be keep that program on life support until the very end? Is it the relational investment? Don’t businesses have the same kind of relational investment? Or is it the culture that the program is started in? Would it be possible to do ministry where the mission so marinates everything we do that we are able to evaluate, change, reallocate resources, maybe even end certain programs so that we could continue to do (or improve) other things that DO accomplish our goals without the dramatic explosion of emotions that normally encompass change inside a church?
I’ve always tried to create a culture where failure isn’t the worst thing that can happen. In fact, I try to embrace failure as an opportunity for something better. It’s gotten dicey a couple of times. One particular instance comes to mind immediately. I’m pretty sure I’ve posted this story before but I can’t find the link and besides that – it’s worth retelling.
We had a middle school lock-in and we had a couple of our upperclassmen help with the entertainment. These two guys were juniors in high school at the time, were leading their own small group. By 10 am the morning after the lock-in, I started hearing from some parents who were very angry about the night before.
Turns out that these guys showed a PG-13 movie. Not just any PG-13 movie, but Austin Powers: Goldmember at a middle school church lock-in. It was a dumb, bad decision. Quite a few parents were ready for blood and on a certain level, I didn’t blame them.
I had two meetings that week. The first meeting was with the two students. It wasn’t pretty. They got lit up pretty hard by me. I let them read the emails I was getting from parents. They understood.
I then turned around and met with the parents and I took responsibility for it. Told them it was my fault. It was – I left those guys in charge, trusted their leadership and it turned out badly. But it also allowed me to tell those parents that I would take the risk again because I believed if students were given the opportunity to lead, we’d see awesome things take place for God. So while I was sorry, while I had made a mistake this time, I wouldn’t stop putting students in charge of ministry.
We actually had a few families leave the church because of this.
Fast forward 1 year later and the same two guys are feeding the homeless underneath the Broadway Bridge in Little Rock. They take their whole small group of teenage guys to do this every other Tuesday night. That turns into a youth group project making beds for a shelter.
All of that to say – leaders must be able to see past the failure to the value beyond it, to the possibilities beyond it. It’s on us to create cultures where failures are not the final word but rather opportunities for something greater.
Let’s Just Face it…
The Broncos aren’t a good team.
The Broncos missed the playoffs yesterday around the 9 minute mark in the 4th quarter. I called it as we were walking out of the stadium yesterday. To lose at home against the Raiders was inexcusable…unless you’re just not good.
And that’s were I’m heading with my Broncos. We’re a botched call (Chargers), a last second field goal (Saints), and a dropped pass (Atlanta) from being 3-8. Same record as the Raiders.
“But those games count…” Not really. I have a feeling this will be the year the NFL tries to figure out how to keep certain division leaders from going to the playoffs (See AFC West and NFC North). The playoffs aren’t going to happen for the Broncos – at least I thought that until I saw the choke job the Chargers pulled on Sunday night.
What’s worse – to get blown off the field like Denver or continually snatch defeat from the jaws of victory like the Chargers? Too close to call.
Where to start? Defense not showing up in 2nd half? Offense forgetting what a crossing route or screen pass was? Special teams leaving 13 points on the field? What’s with the deep ball every other play? The only place where the Raiders have any talent is in the secondary. Why keep throwing the ball there?
As we were leaving the stadium, the Raider Nation was in full swing. I only had one comment…
“At least we’re not owned by Al Davis.”
The good news? The atmosphere was great until the 4th quarter and I was with my son and two great friends. I love going to the games…I just with the rest of the team would show up.
Tech, Sooners, and the BCS Mess
The game was terrible. The commentating was terrible. Tech was Terrible with a capital T.
Hearing Boomer Sooner all night long was terrible that was only made worse when the TV cut to Brian Bosworth which was made worse by hearing the Big 12 Apologists as commentators which was made worse by… oh wait, Oklahoma scored again.
I hate the Sooners. I hate their song. It’s worse than Rocky Top. I hate the stupid wagon thing that got penalized on national TV. Their logo ought to be changed from the OU to UZI. I think they have the ugliest cheerleaders in the nation.
Okay, that was a cheap shot. The wagon is actually pretty cool.
What the Sooners did wasn’t a huge surprise. Tech hadn’t played a defense that talented or physical all season. And neither has Oklahoma but I digress, Tech just got manhandled in the trenches on both sides of ball.
Who should win the Big 12 South? Texas. It’s a no brainer. They beat Oklahoma. Beat them badly on a neutral field. They are one dropped interception from being undefeated. And they are not Oklahoma.
But watch the BCS screw this up and rank Oklahoma ahead of Texas. Getting lost in all of this is the Big 12 Championship game. You gotta believe that Missouri is just watching and listening and stewing over being forgotten. Here’s hoping they take advantage of their chance to make life miserable for the BCS.
In the SEC, it’s simple. Last Gladiator standing goes to BCS Championship game. Florida/Alabama in the championship is going to be AWESOME. That defense against that offense…it will be great. By the way – every time Alabama has gone to the SEC Championship game, they’ve faced Florida.
The Lost Cell Phone
I can’t find my cell phone. I’ve tried calling it and (wait for this moment of brilliance…) it’s either…
run out of battery…
on silent mode….
or so put in a place that it will never be found again.
And as much as I’d love an excuse to get a new phone (iPhone), that’s not really an option right now.
God – I need You to sell my house AND find my cell phone. How selfish is that prayer???
Raider Hater Week
This week just got better.
I was given tickets to Bronco game this weekend. Coop, Aim, and I are going to the game.
Go Broncs.