Bill Reiter 1981-2007

I found out yesterday that my friend Bill Reiter died of complications with a seizure on Wednesday morning. Bill and I worked at Mosaic Manhattan together, saw many bad movies, and heard some good bands play.

Bill was a guy who had to see everything New York City had to offer and was always inviting other people to join him. It was only because of him that I found myself in strange Poetry Cafe's and in weird restaurants where I couldn't understand the menu. I'm not sure he ever said, "I think I'm just going to stay home tonight." He had more energy and did more in his 26 years than many people do in 50.

I will remember Bill for never going anywhere without his Macbook and never giving up trying to sell me on Apple computers. I will also never forget him telling me how good the movie Jersey Girl was and talking me into going with him for his second time.

One of my favorite (it wasn't at the time) memories of Bill was when I was preaching at Mosaic and he was running MediaShout. It was extremely important that he put up a slide at a very specific point in the message which I had communicated with him ahead of time. The time came and went and no slide came which kind of left me hanging quite a bit. It wasn't long until I learned instead of putting the slide up he was trying to Photoshop my face on the Statue of David! Go figure!

So many memories Bill. I will really miss ya man. I am so thankful that I got to be a part of your life and that you were such a big part of Mosaic. I look forward to seeing you again someday.

This is a really tough time for all of us who knew Bill. Please pray for his family and friends as they prepare for his funeral tomorrow. If you knew Bill from Mosaic and have any questions or need to know where to send flowers or whatever feel free to give me an email. dbagby@gmail.com

Guitar Hero

I know I'm a little behind on this but this might be one of the best games I've ever played in my life. I was at the Salvation Army yesterday and their youth pastor had it projected on a screen and I think I played for right around two hours before Kelli had to drag me away.

I LOVE this game. When I was playing Heart Shaped Box I almost believed I was Kurt Cobain.

Quite a Conundrum

Is that Devin Vaughn or Enrique Iglesias???

Unbelievable

If you want to see an unbelievable fantasy pitching line from my team yesterday click the picture. I've never seen anything like that. Only 1 earned run between all four pitchers! Wow.

Shirts for Limbs

Check out my friend Tarver in the Willamette! You can read his story there and then make sure you go to his blog and buy a t-shirt to help him get his prosthetic leg!

A Battle of Epic Proportions

Two men, two N64 controllers, one classic game and probably a little beer. Only one man walks out alive (more realistically with his pride, actually it might be that neither of us walks out with that).

Nostalgia will rule the atmosphere on Wednesday night as Devin and I suit up to play what is arguably one of the greatest video games ever created.













I've had to physically restrain myself from hooking up the game early to get in some practice time. It hasn't been easy but I want us both to walk in with equal footing for this battle royale.

In college, there were only three video games that mattered.
1. Goldeneye
2. MarioKart
3. Legend of Zelda - Ocarina of Time

What was it for you???

"We hope the police learn a lesson and respect the rights of women to go topless,"

Here is one of the stranger stories I've heard for a while.

Strawberry Picking

We went to Sauvie Island Farms today to pick some strawberries. As you can see, we got a little carried away! We ended up with 17 pounds of Hood strawberries! Yikes.

We stopped by Kruger Farms afterwards because they were having a big BBQ today. We ate some delicious fresh strawberry shortcake and then came home to see Carlos Zambrano blow a no-hitter in the 8th.

There is a huge difference between Florida strawberries and Oregon strawberries. The ones in Florida tended to be kind of sour and always needed suger. The Oregon ones are so freaking sweet that you can't add sugar! They're awesome!

How to Read Genesis - Tremper Longman III

Recently I have begun a personal study of Genesis and started by reading Longman's book mentioned above as an introduction to the major themes and structures of the book to better understand it. A few thoughts:

1. This is a fantastic introduction to Genesis and I highly recommend it. It's easy to read and understand and is very short (180 pgs.)

2. The book of Genesis itself is fascinating. From the "story-like history" style, to heartbreaking stories (Fall, Flood, some of Joseph), to what seems totally absurd (Judah and Tamar), but mostly to God's persevering mercy for his people, it is almost overwhelming.

3. I've also realized how much more of the Bible you can understand when you understand Genesis. In fact, I am begining to think it is impossible to understand the New Testament at ALL without a knowledge of the OT. To go even further, it would be difficult to understand what Jesus did without an understanding of the OT or more specficially Genesis. Christological themes run throughout such as Gen. 3:15 called The Protoevangelium (I'll let you read about that on your own), the seed of Abraham (Gen. 12:1-3), Mechizedek (Gen. 14:17-20), and the story of Joseph (What you intended to harm me, God intended for good). The richness of the Genesis story is fantastic.

Many Christians focus on all the wrong things in Genesis such as "how long did creation take?" "where did the serpent come from?" "how did Noah get the animals on the boat?" If God would have wanted us to have known or the author would have found those details even slightly important, (H)he probably would have told us. But he didn't and so it's mindboggling to see people using the Genesis account to argue against modern scientific findings (that are shaky, no doubt). But Genesis is not a scientific argument, it's a historical narrative and should be read as such!
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Another Shameless Plub

The new Next-Wave is out and in this issue I briefly reviewed Dick Staub's new book, The Culturally Savvy Christian. But I also did an interview with Dick about his new book as I have previously blogged about. You can click here to go straight to the interview.

The interview went really well. I think Dick has a ton of challenging and enlightening things to say that many people will connect with. I'm not just saying this because I had a part in it, honestly I said about 10 words which makes the interview even better! Check it out.

Steinbeck - 52% Complete

After I read East of Eden I mostly decided that I would read everything John Steinbeck wrote. And as of today I am 52% complete with his fiction. Complete:

East of Eden___________________To a God Unkown
Of Mice and Men_______________The Pearl
The Winter of Our Discontent_____Travels with Charley
Grapes of Wrath________________The Pastures of Heaven
Tortilla Flat____________________The Red Pony
The Red Pony__________________The Moon is Down
Cannery Row

Still to read:
Cup of God
In Dubious Battle
The Long Valley
The Log from the Sea of Cortez
The Wayward Bus
Burning Bright
The Short Reign of Pippin IV
Once There Was a War
America and Americans
The Acts of King Arthur and His Noble Knights

Why am I telling you this? I have no idea. Plus I'm just wasting a few minutes before I hop in the shower and start my day. Was that too much information? The real point is, I can't think of another author that I would want to read their entire collection (Maybe Dostoevsky, maybe).

What author is it that you have determined you would read everything? (Please don't suggest anyone who has written one book, and please do not say "God". I realize that I have just ruined two potentially funny jokes and I feel okay with that)

I have been wrestling with James 4:11-17 for the last few weeks for a sermon this Sunday at Evergreen and I've got to admit that studying this passage and thinking through the implications has been a lot like banging my head into a brick wall. I don't know why I've had such a difficult time with this text but it's been tough. I've only preached two other sermons out of James in my life and I remember feeling like that both other times as well. I wonder why that is. James is probably the most frustrating and difficult books I've ever preached out of. I don't know if it's because it's so practical that you're like, "ok, we'll he said it pretty good, how can I say it any better?" I can't figure it out. I would rather preach out of Lamentations! AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH.

In other news, one day down, one day to go on a Theology of Money class taught by Randy Alcorn. It has been a quality class and extremely thought provoking. Randy is an excellent teacher and is very gifted in using illustrations to shed light on what he is talking about. When we walked toward the classroom we saw a book table outside and I thought, great, it's a theology of money class and they're going to try to make a few bucks off his books. But to my surprise (and to my own judgment) he had almost all of his books available and was giving them out for free! That was impressive.

The best part of the class is the fact that Randy isn't just teaching what he sees in the Bible, he's actually living what he is talking about. It's impossible to miss the sincerity by which he teaches. You can tell that he lives what he preaches and you've got to respect that. No matter what you think about his theology or about whatever you've heard about him, the dude truly is for real.

We had some great talks about materialism and asceticism today. I've never thought about this but Randy's take is that renouncing money doesn't do any good, for money is a neutral thing, it's the love of money that is evil. What good is it to renounce money? Wouldn't it be better to renounce love for money and give it all away to those in need? It's more selfish to renounce money and try to live in poverty then it would be to have some stuff and give money away! What good does it do for anyone that you give up money? I had never really thought about that before.

Sucker for a Banjo

Another great banjo band Great Lake Swimmers whose album Ongiara is fantastic! Check out their song Your Rocky Spine.
Also this song is fantastic Moving Pictures, Silent Films.










The National's new record Boxer is also growing on me. Check out Fake Empire.

You Belong in Dublin

Friendly and down to earth, you want to enjoy Europe without snobbery or pretensions. You're the perfect person to go wild on a pub crawl... or enjoy a quiet bike ride through the old part of town.

What European City Do You Belong In?

The Culturally-Savvy Christian

Just got off the phone with Dick Staub, author of The Culturally-Savvy Christian. I was doing an interview for Next-Wave's June Edition which will come out soon.

This is a fantastic book and Dick has some very thought-provoking things to say. If you are disappointed with not only the shallow nature of pop-culture, but the shallowness of the church, I think you will resonate with what he has to say and highly recommend it. The book isn't just a gripe session nor a plea for Christians to know pop-culture better and become a pop-Christian. There is too much of that already! It is a manifesto for deepening faith, being serious about culture and becoming skilled at connecting the two.

I recommend it to anyone who is tired of the same diversionary, shallow, gimmicky crap you see in pop-culture or pop-christianity!

Thanks to Dick Staub for taking the time to talk with us!

Something for Everyone

Paris Hilton checks into jail and says that "she's trying to be strong." I'm smiling right now as I type this although i'm sure it is wrong on several levels to be happy about this. Although, it must be rough to be in a special needs unit where she will see no one and be treated different than every other prisoner in the county jail for a couple of weekk. Morgan Spurlock spent 30 day in a federal pound me in the (#* prison just for the fun of it! (sorry for the obscenity but I couldn't not use that Office Space quote!)





Great article on Kerry Wood and how managers have exploited his talent over the years thus rendering him useless to the Chicago Cubs forever! Thanks for this Drew.









New season of Man Vs. Wild starting soon. My favorite show on television. This guys name is Bear Grylls. How could it not be great? Thanks to Bear I know what to do if I ever get stuck in quicksand!

Click here for his top ten books to be stranded with on a desert island. This list includes Philip Yancey, Mike Yaconelli and David Wilkerson. Interesting!






Ryan Adams new album Easy Tiger which has won some huge acclaim from the likes of Stephen King is supposed to come out tomorrow but now it says June 26th. Is that true?

One thing I'm impressed with by this album already is the fact that he has managed to not let it leak! I can't find it ANYWHERE! Artists take note. I don't know what they did to keep it from leaking but no one has this thing.




In other news I'm laying on my couch right now with a heating pad on my back in excruciating pain! I pulled a few muscles yesterday lifting a speaker or something at Evergreen and I could barely move this morning. It hurts to breathe. Dang it. I guess this is a great chance to work on my sermon for next Sunday though. No where else I can run or hide!

Cubs Meltdown

How could things get any worse?

Yesterday, Zambrano gets in a fight with Barrett once in the dugout and then once in the locker room smashing Barrett's lip so bad he had to go to the hospital.

Today, Piniella loses his freaking mind! The umpire claims Piniella kicked him while he kicked dirt on him and now Loco Lou could be suspended for who knows how long!

I have to admit however that it is always pretty funny watching a grown man throw a temper-tantrum on live television. I love seeing Lou's head go bouncing around as he screams directly in the umpires face and I especially love when a manager kicks dirt on another grown mans shoes. Hilarious! It doesn't get any better than that. The only thing better is when a manager piles up dirt on homeplate or takes a base out of the ground altogether and throws it in the outfield. I love baseball! Where else can a grown man act like a newborn baby??? Awesome!

This all leads me to a great new manager tantrum that happened within the last few days. My favorite part is his army crawl to the pitcher's mound, grabbing the rosin bag, taking the pin out like it's a grenade and throwing it at the umpire. These things are getting so much more creative. There's an art to it. Check it out HERE.

Now here's a highly anticipated release!

Think I'm joking??? Click here!