Wipeout – The Sweeper

Jennifer and I have really fallen in love with a new summer TV show: Wipeout.  Basically an obstacle course show with hilarious commentary by John Henson, formerly from Talk Soup on E.  My favorite part of the show is the sweeper.  This clip is from the first episode a couple weeks ago.

I hope they keep Wipeout in the fall line-up. There is nothing better than watching someone smash their face against a platform while trying to jump over a pillar 20 ft. in the air. Now that is what I call entertainment.

Hurry Up & Wait

No one likes to hurry up and wait.  Like when you hurry up to get to the roller coaster and then wait 3 hours for the ride.  Or when you hurry up to make an dinner appointment and then have to wait 45 minutes for a table.  Or when you hurry up to finish a job and then wait for the other person to get their part done.  Hurry up and wait, not very fun.

This week we are stuck in a hurry up and wait pattern.  We are trying to hurry up and get everything packed for the move on Saturday…but we are still waiting for a final closing date for our house.  We know it will be this week, but our lender is struggling to get everything together.  There is also that tension to hurry up and get to our new town, but we have to wait until everything is settled here to move.

I know everything will work out fine, but hurrying up and waiting really stinks.  A good lesson in patience I guess.

Final Curtain Call

Today is our last Sunday at Main Street.  I will be baptizing a child in each of the two services, which is a special treat on your last day.  No better way to go out.

I will be sharing a few thoughts with the congregation as a final farewell.  But isn’t it wonderful for those of us who are Christ followers to know that Goodbye’s are never permenant, just temporary.  That our connections and relationships with each other go far beyond this finite earthly experience.  There will be a continuous reunion in Heaven when each of us die or Jesus’ returns again. 

Leaving Main Street has been one of the hardest things I have ever had to do, but “wherever He leads, I’ll go.”

Children Conceived from Donors Speak Out

The Friday, July 11th, Oprah Show dealt with adult children of donor fathers talking about their conception.  They talked about when they found out they are conceived through artificial insemination and what it meant to not know half of your family history.  They talked about their longing for relationships, confusion about their “real” identity, and wondering if they have any genetic dispositions.  It was a difficult show to watch and consider.

It reminded me of an article I read and responded to a few months ago.  I reprinted the article and response below about T-Shirts that are now available which illustrate this result reproductive phenomenon.

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I heard about a London Times article that absolutely rocked my world.  This picture was on the headline.

Can you read the print on the t-shirt.  A cute little toddler is promoting a shirt about his DONOR father.  Instead of “I love my daddy” or “daddy’s little boy,” we have “my daddy’s name is Donor.”  What does this say about the times in which we live?

It says we have lost a sense of reality when it comes to family values, family morality, and the definition of marriage.  It says we have embraced technology so much that we are now considering it, not people, the primary means for happiness and fulfillment.  Its says marriage between a man and woman is under devastating attack by gay and lesbian groups and reproductive technologies.  It says that a boy or girl who wears such a shirt will grow up never having a man to call Daddy. 

Never having a man to help them learn to tie their shoes or ride a bike or how to open a door for a lady.  While this is terrible for little girls, it is even more destructive for little boys.  Little boys need men in their lives.  Little girls need men in their lives.  This is how God designed it and it is the best method.

As a young father, my heart aches for these issues.  Fatherless children.  Men giving birth to children they will never meet or love.  And for what reason do they give this life but for a some pocket cash while in college.  One recent lawsuit had a 17-year old teen seeking money from their sperm donor for college.  The donor, now a successful businessman, had to hire a lawyer to protect him from his responsibility to the teen.  Depressing. 

The “My daddy’s name is Donor” t-shirt is a statement on the culture in which we live.  A sad statement.  A painfully real statement. 

KY Bapt. Convention’s Super Saturday

I get the honor of speaking at two of the Kentucky Baptist Convention’s Super Saturday events.  I will be teaching two sessions on Deacon Ministry: Deacon Ministry 101 and Deacons Dealing with Conflict.

On August 23, I will be at St. Matthews Baptist Church in Louisville, KY, and then on September 6 at Lone Oak Baptist Church in Paducah.

This is my first Super Saturday as a presenter.  I have attended several meetings over the past couple years.  I am really looking forward to this opportunity to equip and encourage Deacons and those who serve along Deacons in the local church.

More on Super Saturday at http://www2.kybaptist.org/kbc/welcome.nsf/pages/supersaturday

The College Microwave Pt. 2 & 3

The following story was shared by John Mark Gaddis, the original owner of the college microwave, & Kevin Propes, John’s roommate.  John’s side of the story first, then Kevin’s.  This story is absolutely hilarious.  Enjoy. 

John’s tale (John and his boys, 2008):

Let’s not forget that this is the microwave that nearly burnt down North Hall in ‘94-95. Please allow me to tell…one beautiful day I decided to reheat some Lee’s Famous Recipe leftovers in the microwave. Inside this box of chicken was corn on the cob surrounded by a decorated paper wrap; however, the inner lining of the wrapper consisted of a dangerous element when heated in a microwave…aluminum foil.

After I noticed a flicker in my microwave I rushed to open the door and found a flame coming out of the box. I quickly grabbed the box and realized that I couldn’t throw it outside because of my stereo speakers blocking the window. I carried the flaming box into the hallway searching for a place to discard. The faster i moved, the taller and hotter the flame grew (~1-2 ft tall).

I eventually made it down the hallway and outside where I stomped the flame out on the sidewalk. I was not injured but quite shaken-up. A little while later my roommate (Kevin Propes) returned to our hallway in the dorm and said, “what is that burning smell and please tell me that it is not coming from my room!”

Ah yes, the secret of a lasting microwave is to have it fire-tested through dorm-life.

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Kevin’s tale:

The best story about that microwave happened in the Fall of 1994 in Room 108 of North Hall where John and I spent our freshman year as roommates. John put a corn on the cob from Lee’s chicken in the microwave with the plastic wrap still attached to the cob. It caught on fire. I wasn’t there, but I walked in the back door to North Hall 2 minutes after it happened.

I thought I smelled something burnt, but didn’t think much of it, since the guys next door to us regularly smoked…cigarettes, and no telling what else. ANYWAY…the door to 108 was propped open, which was a custom back then because everyone kept their doors propped open…and there stood John…out of breath, and looking a little spooked. I was like, “Hey man…do you smell something burning?” He said, “Yea…I just had a fire in the microwave.”

John had looked in…saw the fire…opened the microwave…grabbed the food with the corn…ran all of the way down to the end of the hall…and threw it somewhere…the trashcan, or outside, or somewhere. Had I walked into the back door to North Hall just 2 minutes earlier, John would have been running towards me with a flaming cob of corn.

A College Microwave

A word of thankfulness goes out to Mr. John Mark Gaddis, cardiac rehibiliation specialist, originally from Campbellsville, KY, but now residing in sunny Tyler, TX.  John is a dear friend who is married to the beautiful Becky Gaddis and together they have three sons: Drew, Grayson and Monroe (Roe for short).  You can see all kinds of pictures of the Gaddis family at http://gadiknights.blogspot.com.

But the word of thanks has nothing to do with John himself, per se.  It has to do with the college microwave his parents purchased for him back in the fall of 1994.  Nearly 15 years ago, John received a college-sized microwave to take with him to school.  The original members of Suite 201, Southhall East, (John Mark Gaddis, “Jader” Rose, Kevin Bartholomew Propes, and Brad “Sumo” Bonds) all selected various appliances which they would bring with them to the dorm.  John drew the microwave.  And from that selection, a legacy was born.

That little college microwave served John well during his 4 years at Campbellsville University.  After that, the microwave traveled to Tyler, TX, and to the University of Texas at Tyler, where John did his graduate studies.  Shortly there after, I moved to Fort Worth, TX, to go to seminary.  John moved in with a roommate who had a nicer microwave, so John gave his college microwave to me as a loaner.

It is now 2008 and I still have the college microwave.  It still works.  I still heats a perfect cheese hotdog.  It still burns popcorn.  The timer no longer works.  You just have to guess.  It is leaking some sort of fluid that looks like years of grease build-up, but it keeps zapping our foods to near perfection.

There will come a day when this college microwave will have to be put out of its misery.  I don’t think they are really made to last more than 15 years.  That will be a sad day indeed.

So to the college microwave that will now return with me to Campbellsville, KY, to John Mark Gaddis, who has shared with me his life, laughter and kitchen equipment, and to the original members of Suite 201, who enjoyed this little appliance first, I tip my hat to each of you in thanks.  The legacy of the college microwave lives on.

John put a sticker on top of the microwave during his years at CU.  Bartok the Bat from the movie Anastasia.  That is how old this little microwave really is.

Bartok from the movie Anastasia

20 Years of Summer Missions

What do you like to do during the summer?  Take a vacation?  Get a tan?  Grill out on the barbie?  For me, summer time has always been a season for missions.  In looking back over my life in Christ, God seems to use the summer to send me to do His work.

Here is where God has sent me so far:
1987 – I received Christ as my Savior and Lord at Lewisport Bapt. Church, Lewisport, KY.
1988 – I attended Childrens Missions Camp, Schafer Baptist Camp, Pellville, KY.  Met my first missionaries.
1990 – Youth Mission Trip, New Bern, NC.
1991 – Youth Centrifuge Camp, Mobile, AL.
1992 – Youth Mission Trip, Whitesburg, KY.
1994 – Summer Staff, Schafer Baptist Camp, Pellville, KY.
1995 – Summer Staff, Schafer Baptist Camp, Pellville, KY.
1996 – Summer Youth Director, Lewis Lane Bapt. Church, Owensboro, KY (first church position).
1997 – SonPraise Youth Revival Team & Camp Staff at Cedarmore & Jonathon Creek Camps in KY.
1998 – God Rules Summer Missions Team – 12 weeks, 17 different states from Maine to Texas.
1999 – Construction Team, San Pietro, El Salvador (met my wife on this trip).
2001 - Backyard Bible Clubs, Georgetown, TX (serving now at FBC Millsap, TX).
2002 – Sports Camp, Corpus Christi, TX (serving now at Trinity BC, Fort Worth, TX).
2003 – Backyard Bible Clubs, Georgetown, TX .
2003 – Sports Mission Team, Denia, Spain.
2004 – Evangelism Team, Valetta, Malta (serving now at Main Street Church).
2006 – Evangelism Team, Naples, Italy.
2007 – Middle School Mission Trip, Eatonton, GA (filling in for our Youth Pastor).

Summer Reading: The Shack

I am reading five books this summer while on my little “vacation.”  The Shack by William P. Young was the first. 

I heard of the book on the radio as being both praised by Christian leaders and described by some as pure blashemy.  So my curiosity was perked.

Spoiler alert.  The book describes the spiritual journey of a man (Mack) whose youngest daughter was abducted and murdered by a serial killer.  Mack goes into a deep depression and “looses” his faith in God and life.

The shack was the last place his daughter was before she died.  He receives a note from God to come back to the Shack and there he meets the Trinity in person.  God is an African-American woman named “Elousia” but Mack calls her “Papa,” his wife’s favorite name for God.  She is like Medea, only nice and holy.  Jesus is a down-to-earth, middle-eastern man in his 30′s, an outdoorsy type, wearing plaid shirts and blue jeans.  Jesus is cool and likes working out in the woodshed.  The Holy Spirit is an Asian woman named “Sarayu” or wind.  She floats around and makes Elousia and Jesus laugh.  She is the life of the Trinity party.  (These characterizations are funny to even describe, but are in the book.)

Madea

The book is primarily about Mack’s weekend at the Shack.  He asks all his questions about his daughter’s death.  He learns more about the relationship of the Trinity and how God can be three in one.  He vents all his anger and frustration with God for not holding back evil and suffering in the world.  Creation is explained.  Sin, the fall, redemption, Jesus’ divinity and humanity, the work of the Spirit…all covered in three days.  Not bad for a weekend getaway.  I barely got all that in two semesters of Systematic Theology.

My impression is that the book is neither great, nor blashemous.  So God is a black woman.  God is neither male, nor female.  He is not a race or ethnicity, but is Spirit.  God as a woman didn’t make me yell “heretic.”  God is above gender, yet glorys in it.

But the book wasn’t a overly spiritual roller coaster either, like some have said.  Even on the book jacket, Eugene Peterson, author of the Message Bible, says the book is a modern day Piligrims Progress.  Not a chance.  The book is normal.  Slightly interesting.  Not too long, or short.  Decent read, but nothing groundbreaking.

Other summer reads: The Kite Runner and The Road (fiction).  Mere Christianity and UnChristian (non-fiction).

Yard Sale Bike

Jennifer bought me a yard sale bike on Saturday.  Here is what the model looks like brand new.

Here is my bike.

Looks good, right.  Nice tires.  Varying speed control.  Comfy seat.  I even like the color.  Do you see anything missing?

PEDALS!!!  No pedals.  No chain.  No axle.  Who sells a bike without the mechanism that makes it go.  I don’t think I will be going very far.  A test drive was not going to happen.

We took the bike to the local bike shop and asked what it would cost to get it all fixed.  $150 bucks.  Dang. Jennifer paid $5 at the yard sale.  A brand new DMX bike cost just over $100. 

I guess the yard sale bike will be sold for parts and scrap metal.  Better luck next time.

Pool Party @ Piddy’s

Fourth of July weekend pool party at Phillip Brunner’s.  Here are some pics and a GREAT VIDEO of Isaac swimming without help from Daddy.  He was wearing a life-jacket, but this was his first time to swim without me holding him.

Isaac and Phillip.

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The Last Supper (I Mean Lunch)

The Best Church Staff in America.  (from left to right)
Wayne Deffinger – Minister to Youth and Young Adults – An absolute nut.  Plays a mean game of Rail Baron and has a wicked serve in tennis.
Pastor Robert Franklin - Senior Pastor – One of the best leaders I have ever worked with.  Passionate, determined, loves Jesus and his family very much.
Jan Uher – Office Assistant, aka Super Woman.  Can make anything happen with a few clicks of her computer.
Me – the lacky of the bunch
Diana Reis – Assistant to the Pastor – The VETERAN.  Retiring after 30+ years of service.  No one has more experience than Diana Reis.  She needs to write a book on church staff relationships.
Phillip Brunner – Minister of Worship & Administration – My musical tag-team partner, a pure genius administratively and musically.  Plus a travel-junkie, my kinda man.

Final Staff Lunch

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Memories on Main Street Pt. II

Another fun trip down memory lane.

1.  Trying to baptize Jim McIntrye (6’4, 230+ lbs.) on Christmas Day 2005.  I nearly went under with him.  His wife, Karen, was in the tank as well and just laughed at us both.  The whole congregation burst into laughter.

2.  Working with the Logo Redesign Team.  Changing our church logo from this…

to this…

3.  Traveling on four mission trips with various groups to Xian, China (before I was even on staff), the island of Malta, Naples, Italy, and Eatonton, Georgia.

4.  Seeing my wife, Jennifer, take the helm as the CARE Ministry Executive Director.  She did an amazing job in just two years.

5.  Praying with the elders over the last two years.

More memories to come.