Rev. Dusty Baker and Tammy Faye

Phil and Miranda

Healing Daunte Culpepper

The Village People

The Pirates

New York City

Just reminiscing with Kelli tonight about New York City. It seems like a lifetime ago that I was living at 377 Rector Place, Apt. 3G. I can't believe I lived there for two years. Life was good. I got to help start a great church, learn under a great leader, plus the woman across the back alley always got dressed in front of her window. Those two years were such a great introduction to ministry that I can't even begin to help you to understand it. I look back to when I was in California meeting with Gregg to see if he wanted to hire me. I still can't believe you hired me Gregg! Wow, what an honor to be a part of something so big!

I had so many incredible first time experiences there. it's such a cool thing to look back upon. I can't believe I did stand up comedy! How many people get that opportunity? Got to work out of an office right across the street from Madison Square Garden. I got to get a Honey Turkey Special or a Chicken Cutlet from Rick at Grace Deli everyday at 7 Dey St! Still haven't found a sandwich to match either of those! I imagine Rick was fairly upset when the Yankees lost. Wish I could hear him talk about it. I got to talk on the bus to a high school mission team who had heard I was a comic and when they made me tell them a joke the only thing that came to mind was the 25 cent peep show bit! Oops. That didn't go over well with the youth pastor! Got to host a Public School Talent Show twice and got called a Catskills Comic (I don't think that's a good thing!) The kids booed me near the end because my jokes out of Highlights Magazine got so bad! I got a bucket of water dumped on my head in the East Village walking back to my apartment! A few days later me and some guys got our revenge by throwing snow balls in her window. So many good memories in the New York days! I can’t even begin to say all that I experienced in those three years. I got to do everything!

Then there are the people. So many great people. Gregg, Jay, Paul, Teresa, Anne, Kim, Matt, Mack, Megan, Heather, Glenn, Melinda, Sundi, Stacey, Cecily, Katie, Dave, Laci, Vail!, Jill, Leslie, Jeff, Brian, Camilo, Ryan, Nick, Shimwell, Abdu!, Elvyss, Kristen, Kurt, Heidi, Bill and Laurie Clark, Brad, Noelle, RG, Mandy, Giles, Jordan, all the college students, so many people. What a great community of people! I can’t believe I was a part of bringing that together, even if it was a tiny little part.

Sometimes I forget to reflect on all the ways that God has worked over the past three years. I couldn’t have asked for a better experience in New York. There are very few things I regret. It's hard to see how blessed you are at the time, but I guess that is why reflection is such an important thing.

I really miss hanging out with my friends there at the Kabin, St. Marks Ale House, and especially more than any place else, the Peculier Pub. That is God’s gift to man and how many great times I’ve had there I can't even count. Some of the best conversations and biggest laughs of my life.

Thank you God for blessing me beyond what I can even understand! I look forward to the people we shall meet in the future. And I look forward to seeing these people I’ve mentioned again, if not in this life, then in your Kingdom when it is fully realized!

MMMBop

Last night Rick Bennett came and talked to our Impact Ministries meeting at USF and did a very good job. Very challenging and something not only the students needed to hear but I as well. I believe everything he said, but I am much poorer at living out that belief. I felt like I had several ways to care for the poor in NYC and it was great working with Grafitti and Bowery now and again, but i haven't really plugged in here yet.

Anyway, the reason i'm writing is to give you the quote of the evening which Rick already knows is coming. I hope you understand Rick. We were talking about music and he made this statement:

"I really think Hanson has a Pet Sounds in them. They're second album was brilliant."

That's is all i will say. I will leave it to you to respond to him.

Sacred Space

Sacred Space

This is a very cool site started by Irish Jesuits. Click on the prayer for the day. It will lead you through a prayer time. I have found this very rich and helpful! Check it out!

Hurricane Wilma

UPDATE, Monday 12pm - Hurricane Wilma has come and gone and the Tampa area got nothing. After all that hype we didn't even get winds stronger than 35 mph! All we got was rain. I've seen worse storms in Illinois! I'm kind of disappointed after the build up. It's not like i want massive damage or anything, that would be pretty sick. I just want to see some palm trees bending in half! Is that too much to ask??? There weren't even any pictures worth taking. The only thing i can say for this hurricane is that it is about 35 degrees cooler outside today. I walked outside and it was freezing! 55 degrees! It's like a Florida winter. Feels great. Anyway, sorry there are no cool stories. Kind of a let down.

Monday, 1am - Tonight I'm sitting up listening to the rain that Wilma is bringing. Tomorrow it's supposed to hit Florida from about 7am to 12pm. In Tampa here were in a hurricane warning but it's not likely to be more than a Tropical Storm for us. It's going to be pretty windy (34-79 mph) and a lot of rain. I really want to go out tomorrow and record a mock news cast while i'm being blown away but i'm not sure i'm ready to die. The only thing i'm worried about is flooding since we're on the first floor. There's already a nice pool of water outside our patio. Not sure what we're going to do about that yet. We'll see tomorrow. I'll try to get some good hurricane pics and post them on the web tomorrow.

It's funny because the people that are from here don't think anything of this. They're like, "well, i've still got to go to work tomorrow morning." Are you freaking crazy man? They're just like, "just a little rain." Wow!

In other news, Seattle's kicker Josh Brown is a freaking stud. Wow! A 50 yard game winner. Or Edinger to kick the 56 yard game winner against the Packers. That was amazing! Poor Brett Favre. I have a ton of respect for that dude, too bad he has such a sucky team this year.

In even other news, poor Brad Lidge. There is no one I feel more sorry for in the world right now. The two last games he has come in to close he has given up winning home runs. Ouch. This guy cannot have any self esteem left! I think the Astros are done, but who knows what can happen with Oswalt coming up.

Anyway, talk to you after the hurricane!

I like to see this...

Team Salaries:

1. NY Yankees 205,938,439
2. Boston 121,311,945
3. NY Mets 104,770,139
4. Philadelphia 95,337,908
5. LA Angels 95,017,822
6. St. Louis 92,919,842
7. San Francisco 89,487,426
8. Chicago Cubs 87,210,933
9. Seattle 85,883,334
10. Atlanta 85,148,582
11. LA Dodgers 81,029,500
12. Houston 76,779,022
13. Chicago Sox 75,228,000

Maybe someday the Yankees will realize that buying all the best players money can buy doesn't guarantee a championship. For some reason, All Star lineups just don't work! Look at the Lakers two years ago! But somehow I doubt old George will ever get it.

Side Note: Tonight Kelli and I are watching the World Series and she doesn't know who any of the players are because she has never really watched baseball before so I love the stuff she says and the questions she asks. Tonight so far my favorite quote has been, "this Clemens fellow is having some trouble." It's funny because she said it knowing nothing about who Roger Clemens is. Oh, i love it.

Being in the Church, Not of It

"Often we hear the remark that we have to live in the world without being of the world. But it may be more difficult to be in the Church without being of the Church. Being of the Church means being so preoccupied by and involved in the many ecclesial affairs and clerical "ins and outs" that we are no longer focused on Jesus. The Church then blinds us to what we came to see and deafens us to what we came to hear. Still, it is in the Church that Christ dwells, invites us to his table, and speaks to us words of eternal love. Being in the Church without being of it is a great spiritual challenge."
-Henri Nouwen

Thanks for the challenge Henri! I feel like this sometimes. I know that me and my friends get caught up in church affairs as pastors that we spend all our time talking about what we are doing. "I've got this program doing, this is what i think i'm going to do with small groups or youth group or whatever group." And we spend very little time talking about what Jesus is doing. I can't remember the last time I said, "here is what Jesus is doing in our Church." I need to refocus!

I would add, that sometimes we get so caught up in the Church affairs that we do not have any time for anyone or anything outside the church which is just as much of a problem. I have had to ask myself this question, "How many friends do you spend time with that are not yet followers of Christ?" We can get so sucked into the vortex of Church that we don't have or make time to spend with anyone else but those in the church. It's time to cancel some programs and start spending more time out!

Midwest Pilgrimage

Recap of a 5 day trip back to Illinois.

Day One (Wed) - Spent the night at Nick Plassman's. We grilled some burgers, cooked a mouse in Nick's stove (not on purpose) and played Madden 06' on GameCube until 3:30am in which I dominated every fiber of his being. We were having a few brews and it started to get kind of personal at the end. I was starting to think we were going to have to take it outside, which i would have done but Nick also has a pretty strong American Bulldog on his side, so I didn't have much of a chance there. She would have ripped a limb off.

Day Two (Thurs.) - Had breakfast with my newly engaged friend Brad Prunty! Congratulations Brad! Then we drove over to Merrillville Indiana where we were staying for the Szoke/Lowery wedding. Went to the rehearsal that night and saw a bunch of LCC people I have not seen for a long time. Ate at Aurelios Pizza for the rehearsal dinner which was some fine find pizza and then met up with Brian Simpkins, Jeremiah Smith, and Soebeck at Buffalo Wild Wings for some brew.

Day Three (Fri.) - Didn't do much, spent some time alone driving around with the windows down. Spent some more time alone in the hotel room and just relaxed. Met Kelli at the wedding that night. Neal Windham did a good job. It was interesting to talk to him about Regent College in Vancouver. Kelli and I are starting to make some future plans and Regent might be in mine. I'm very interested, if i can only get in! Neal pretty much said, "Is there another seminary? Regent College is it!" He said he would have studied there himself but they didn't have a Doctorate program.

Day Four (Sat.) - Got up early and drove a few hours back to El Paso where I grew up to have a short memorial on the two years anniversary of my grandmother's death. It was also the weekend of the Bagby family reunion. It was good to see the entire family again. We went bowling that night as a family and I bowled a 105, 156, and then a 178! Not bad! Josh Carr and his lady Julie bowled with us for a while. Good to see you Josh! Then we went back to our hotel and I dominated my family at Buck Hunter, the single greatest bar video game ever created. Sorry Brad I should have warned you before I hopped in but Elvyss and I played this game about a million times at Kabin in the East Village. We got pretty good at it. This was the 2006 edition however which didn't turn out to be a factor seeing that it is the exact same game as every other edition.

Day Five (Sun.) - Finished up our family reunion, said our goodbyes and then had lunch with my mom at Mandarin Garden and hung out at Starbucks for a while and talked. Then just drove to Midway (only took 1 hour and 50 minutes from Bloomington). There was absolutely no traffic and no construction. This might be one of the generations greatest miracles. We sat at a sports bar and watched the Cardinals fail in the postseason which I guess is not a rare occurence. I have to give it to them though, the homeplate umpire was calling a crappy game. The pitches that Larussa got thrown out over however were without a question all balls but i can see his point. I said it to Brad on Wednesday and I will say it again. The White Sox are the most dominant team in this thing. To which he replied, "yeah right, they lost their first game." Good call Brad, good call.

There is a God!!!!

Rocky 6 is on the way!

http://www.cnn.com/2005/SHOWBIZ/Movies/10/17/film.stallone.reut/index.html

Good Hate Post Here

"I desperately need to experience God" By Dustin from previous blog. Ok Dustin this week go see some poor soul in jail, help a poor person and go love one of these people that do all these things that really piss you off. Then and only then when you experience God! I am sick of all of these out of the church wall's people always bitching about the in the church wall's people. do you care what they are doing at the rotary club or the masonic lodge. just get on with it shut up and let those people do what they do. the same God that got you where you are is the same God that loves them and will take them on their journey. I think the real problem is we have a lot of bloggers who give Jesus a bad rap by saying they are His followers, but in reality they are just some wordy philosophers out there that like plato want to talk and not do!"
--Person who has some anger issues.

"Hahahahahahaha. Hahahahahahaha. Hahahahahaha."
--Dustin

"Pop Art"

"But as we know, masses of people can be cute, and clever as well, who have no ability or sense of art at all. As creators and consumers they fill the field of pop culture today, which is an enterprise and only by accident occasionally has something to do with art. Art objects are now commonly referred to as "product" by those who handle them and only make news when they are sold for absurdly large sums or are stolen. Art is lost in pop "art" as sport is lost in professional "sport" - which is an oxymoron of the strongest kind." Dallas Willard

I feel the same way about pop music.

California - Josh Ritter

Going out to California
Gonna let the water warm my clothes
I’m alone but I’m not lonely
Gonna trade the weather for the Western coast

No don’t cry
I’ll be back and I’ll
bring the sun to shine
in your eyes
on your shoulders

Sunset Boulevard will strip for money
Mulholland is a long drag for the lonely hearts
down along the Imperial Valley
runs a river of homelessness and cinema stars

Don’t say
the trip’s been done
a hundred thousand times
cause this one
is mine

So I will work at what work finds me
and I will take what comfort I can get
I’ll be back when I’m good and ready
California doesn’t seem to think I’m ready yet

No don’t cry
I’ll be back and I’ll
bring the sun to shine
in your eyes
on your shoulders

This is one of the most beautiful songs i've ever heard.
Definitely check this one out!

DCFC

I borrowed Death Cab For Cutie's Tour Documentary from my buddy Jeff and watched it last night with Kelli while enjoying an Ybor Gold Brown Ale. I think I was most impressed by how positive and non-whiny it was. They just talked like normal guys about what it is like being on the road for a long period of time and it was entertaining to watch. I'm also impressed by what a good relationship they have with each other. With most band dvd's there is a lot of tension and at least one emotional outburst but on this dvd they seem like pretty mellow guys with a normal life to go back home to. It was refreshing to see a band that is not filled with pretentious jerks or whiny pampered babies. I couldn't believe the footage of them wheeling in their own stuff before a show! Wow! I'm not only impressed by their music, but by their demeanor as a whole. What a respectable band! I'm almost sad that they're popular now even though i'm glad they found success after all these years but now they're not just a band me and a few other people like anymore. Now they're shows are filled with 16 year old girls screaming because they are in love with Ben Gibbard! Stupid O.C. The fan base has changed a little but the music is just as solid as ever! It's interesting to see "Indie" bands becoming the new mainstream. It's really hard to tell what is really indie anymore and I'm honestly not sure I care.

Good music is good music. Granted there is not a ton of good music on major labels or on the radio and that is something I have always believed and have agreed to disagree many times with my friend Jay Lyons. (I love you Jay). But to only like a band who is obscure or on an "indie" label is immature and pretentious. How do you know if you're a music snob? If you like the band Clap Your Hands Say Yeah right now, you're probably a music snob. Because most likely the reason you like them is because they have the most asinine name in the history of band names and that somehow makes you cool and different. I'm tired of thinking that way or being scared someone is going to think what I'm listening to is lame. Screw that. I like Bon Jovi. Alright? You happy now? And I saw Reo Speedwagon and Styx twice! How do you feel about that? And one last thing, last year I saw Stryper's reunion tour at Irving Plaza with my friend Jon Hentrich. Yeah, hard to top.

I Struck Out

As some of you know, i've started playing church league softball this year in which there is some sort of altercation every week it seems. It's entertaining and sending us all straight to hell at the same time.

Last night we played the early game. We got slaughtered 11-0. I think we had about 2 hits the whole game. To show you how bad it was, i only got up one time in the 5 innings before they called the game due to the 10 run rule. When I got up I took the first pitch ball, the second strike, the third ball and for some strange reason I didn't swing at the fourth pitch because i thought it was low and got struck out looking. It really takes a lot to embarass me but striking out at slow pitch softball has to be the most embarassing thing that can happen to a man. You just have to put your head down and walk away as fast as you can.

Unfortunately that is not the worst thing that happened. I play right field of course because I suck. Whenever that one left hander gets up to bat I always get ready, take a step toward the foul line and hope against all hope that it gets hit to center. Well, this one came straight down the line and I started booking for it. It took a few bounces and was coming fast so I thought about diving for it to stop it from getting by me. Somehow I got caught between the thought of diving for it and not and ended up just falling down not even coming close to the ball. The worst thing is that you have to finish the play. You have to pick your humiliated butt up and get the ball. After the throw I just put my head down again and tried not to make eye contact with anyone. Wow! I'm terrible. But not as bad as I imagine Jon Hentrich would be. Sorry Jon, but I can just picture it. It would be fun to play with you though!

The last thing I want to mention is that in some form because this is church league softball there is always a character issue brought to the forefront in a game. This time a man on the other team was running to second and was called safe by the ump who wasn't really paying attention even though the ball got there when the guy was about half way between first and second (no exaggeration). We all started going crazy. Then John said what I thought was hilarious. He yelled in to the guy standing on second, "you know you're out pal, a man of character would just walk off the field." Hahahahaha. I was dying. I'm not going off the field if they call me safe, screw character! Wow, that was funny John! I can't wait to see you so i can make a joke about that.

Well, there's always next week. We play the Hispanic team. Last year their pastor said to our team after a fight, "When we come out on the field, we leave Jesus in the dugout." Yes, he really said that. To which our team replied, "Yeah, well that's why your church sucks! Can't wait for 9pm on Friday!!!