Disaster Training

Last night I volunteered (or rather was wrangled in by Kelli) at the Portland Disaster Training event at the International Raceway which is a three day event that started yesterday with a staged explosion and then response training. There were actors (victims) strung out along the ground, policemen with dogs searching them out, fireman and bomb squad units all over the place. Unfortunately, I missed all of the exciting stuff. I got there in the evening and served dinner to policeman and firemen for a few hours and looked at the mangled tri-met bus on field wishing I would have seen the explosion. Anyway, interesting evening anyway. Those guys are working some long hours! Kelli had to be there at 2:30 am!

Yesterday I also ACED my Hebrew test and I am feeling more confident in the language as we approach the midterm next week. Suffixes can't freaking handle me! I can actually translate whole sentences now! Woohoo! Steep learning curve, the first six weeks were definitely the toughest but it's starting to make more sense now.

And finally and most importantly, today I will complete the Catan Running Challenge and secure my victory in the annuls of Devin's mind for eternity! Unless I get struck by a bus or kidnapped on the way to our staff meeting, I am pretty sure I will run my final mile for this challenge around 4pm!

Two Books I Really Want to Read

1. The Omnivore's Dilemma (which just came out in paperback) by Michael Pollan

From Publishers Weekly:
Pollan examines what he calls "our national eating disorder" (the Atkins craze, the precipitous rise in obesity) in this remarkably clearheaded book. It's a fascinating journey up and down the food chain, one that might change the way you read the label on a frozen dinner, dig into a steak or decide whether to buy organic eggs. You'll certainly never look at a Chicken McNugget the same way again. Pollan approaches his mission not as an activist but as a naturalist: "The way we eat represents our most profound engagement with the natural world." Pollan's narrative strategy is simple: he traces four meals back to their ur-species. He starts with a McDonald's lunch, which he and his family gobble up in their car. Surprise: the origin of this meal is a cornfield in Iowa. Corn feeds the steer that turns into the burgers, becomes the oil that cooks the fries and the syrup that sweetens the shakes and the sodas, and makes up 13 of the 38 ingredients (yikes) in the Chicken McNuggets.Indeed, one of the many eye-openers in the book is the prevalence of corn in the American diet; of the 45,000 items in a supermarket, more than a quarter contain corn.

2. The Year of Living Biblically by A. J. Jacobs

From Publishers Weekly
What would it require for a person to live all the commandments of the Bible for an entire year? That is the question that animates this hilarious, quixotic, thought-provoking memoir from Jacobs (The Know-It-All). He didn't just keep the Bible's better-known moral laws (being honest, tithing to charity and trying to curb his lust), but also the obscure and unfathomable ones: not mixing wool with linen in his clothing; calling the days of the week by their ordinal numbers to avoid voicing the names of pagan gods; trying his hand at a 10-string harp; growing a ZZ Top beard; eating crickets; and paying the babysitter in cash at the end of each work day. (He considered some rules, such as killing magicians, too legally questionable to uphold.) In his attempts at living the Bible to the letter, Jacobs hits the road in highly entertaining fashion to meet other literalists, including Samaritans in Israel, snake handlers in Appalachia, Amish in Lancaster County, Pa., and biblical creationists in Kentucky. Throughout his journey, Jacobs comes across as a generous and thoughtful (and, yes, slightly neurotic) participant observer, lacing his story with absurdly funny cultural commentary as well as nuanced insights into the impossible task of biblical literalism. (Oct.)

Today is a New Day

You know those days where you feel incredibly down and you have no idea why? Every little task seems overwhelming? I had one of those days yesterday. It's completely unexplainable but mentally and emotionally I just felt wiped out. Everything was a challenge. Plus I got news from the Seminary that they would NOT allow me to take the online class from Lincoln Christian Seminary. They thought it would be better if I continued the plan at Western. That is unfortunate, so I will be taking Hebrew again next semester. Yippee!

Thankfully yesterday was also our weekly Office Party at the Leonardo's so that really had a positive effect. There is nothing more healing for a day like that than being around friends and laughing. And let me say for the record that The Office is fantastic this season! I wish every episode would be an hour.

I'm thankful that today is a new day and the sun is shining! I feel much better! I'm even doing Hebrew work and not complaining. Speaking of, the Hebrew Midterm is a a week from Tuesday and is 20% of my grade for the semester so all extra-curricular activities are pretty much off for about a week and a half.

I have four more runs and then a graduation run next Saturday of 3 miles and then I officially will receive Settlers of Catan. This has been a fun challenge in many ways. I'm glad I did it and I plan on continuing to run about four days a week. Five is a little too ambitious of a pace to keep up with for now. But after the last three weeks I have started to enjoy the challenge of running, although many days I still hate the running itself, until I'm done and then I feel great!

What to Read? What to Read?

Selecting a book to read is an extremely important and overlooked process. This is an author you are going to spend anywhere from 4-30 hours with (sometimes more). Because of that, you don't want to look back and feel like those hours were a complete waste of time. As a voracious reader, too many times have I put down a book wishing I would have given my time to something (anything) else!

Charles Bridges in "The Christian Ministry" (which I never thought I would be quoting) said this:
"There is an art and benefit in the right choice of books, which we should be familiar, as there is in the election of other friends or acquaintances with whom we may most profoundly converse. No man can read everything; nor would our real store be increased by the capacity to do so. The digestive powers would be overloaded for want of time to act, and uncontrolled confusion would reign within. It is far more easy to furnish a library than our understanding."

Over the past two years I have been trying to be more selective in my book selection. One of the ways I am protecting my time is by not selecting every new book that looks interesting, but weighing very heavily trusted friends opinions and seeing if the book will add any value to my life rather than just useless knowledge or redundant opinions. Just because it says 2007 does not mean I have to read it. In fact, with the ever increasing publication of books and seeing all of the crap that comes out, I am becoming more skeptical of newer books. C.S Lewis was on to something when he said for every new book you read you should read one old book. Wise.

So, for me to read a book, it's got to be either...
A. Ground-breaking (something that 35 books haven't already said in a different way)
B. An author I respect and know to be consistent.
C. A classic novel (Dostoevsky, Steinbeck)
D. A book or author that is a hot topic of conversation (N.T. Wright, Mclaren, Da Vinci Code)
E. A book I know I will disagree with. I do this to keep myself thinking critically.
F. A book that reflects the attitudes and values of our time (keeps me up to date).
G. Spiritually challenging (Merton, Peterson, Willard, Nouwen, Foster)
H. A book or series that is just absolute fun (Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings)

Just having some type of criteria helps me from just picking up whatever is new at the bookstore that looks interesting and then realized I wasted my time. This is basically why I only read about 1% of current fiction. There is SO much coming out that how much could possibly be good? Does anyone else feel cheated a majority of the time they read popular fiction?

What's your criteria?

Hebrew is Smiting Me!

I'm almost positive by now people are tired of hearing me complain about Hebrew. In fact, I am tired of hearing me complain about Hebrew! But I want to say that I studied for today's quiz for almost 4 hours total.

Quite a bit of time for one little quiz that we have once, sometimes twice a week. I thought I had everything memorized perfectly and was expecting to ace it! I memorized the Imperative, Infinitive and Participle paradigms and all the vocab from chapters 1-9 which is almost 100 words. But I get there and it turns out we didn't just have to know vocab from chapters 1-9 but also for chapter 10 which I hadn't studied at all! I do not recall him ever saying we needed to know vocab from 10. In any case, I got everything I had studied right, but I missed two of the vocab from chapter 10 so I ended up with a 12 out of 14.

Unfortunately that is a C and does not improve my chances of passing! Crap!

The other thing is, the Midterm is worth 20% of our grade (which is in two weeks) and the Final is worth 30% of our grade. 50% of my grade is left up in the air of these two huge tests! Ouch! That's not so great considering I'm already probably getting a C in the class. I can't imagine these two tests helping that C improve any!

I'm just not a language guy, what can I say?

Victory is right around the bend.

I ran 2 miles today finally! I've been meaning to take that run for the last week but just now after a rest day had the energy. It wasn't too bad.

Another observation I have had is that running outside is MUCH harder than running on the treadmill. I don't care what anyone says, running on the treadmill where the ground moves for you is not equal to actually running on a hard surface.

I have almost done all that is necessary to win Settlers of Catan which makes me pretty happy. Only 7 more runs plus a graduation run with Devin and I will own the game (by the way, you better have the game in your hands the day I win Devin! Order it now!) I know Devin is still praying for injury but it looks unlikely at this point.

A final observation that I will make today is that while the distance may increase that you are able to run, running itself does not get easier! I think Devin would concur with this.

Cubs 0-3

Ok, so the Cubs are out of the playoffs. I certainly did not think they would have been swept by the Diamondbacks but so goes baseball. The D-Backs played really well, not that they really needed to. The Cubs could never get any offense going against Arizona. I'm not real disappointed. It was actually just a nice surprise for the Cubs to even make the playoffs. Maybe next year :)

Now, the Bears are another story. Granted it's only 7-0 in favor of Green Bay but man, the Bears look awful. I wonder what they are going to do in the long term for Quarterback. They need to make a move. I would hate to see Kyle Orton back out there! I'm hoping Griese has a good showing tonight regardless. Well, off to our home group! Now that's commitment!

Onion

In The Know: Situation In Nigeria Seems Pretty Complex

PRAISE GOD FROM WHOM ALL BLESSINGS FLOW

That may be a strong statement for the news I have received but you have no idea how this boosts my morale!

Next semester I will NOT be taking Hebrew 2 in class at Western! I will be taking it as an online class from the Seminary connected to the college I graduated from back in Illinois! No in-class quizzes every week! No super stressful Midterm or Final exam, but simply exercises I do and send in every week as we translate the book of Deuteronomy and one Final exam which I take in the comfort of my own home! You have no idea what ease this puts my mind at.

It's not that I'm trying to bail out of Hebrew but I am not gifted at language, have plenty of language tools and truly just hate the stress of reading and translating a language in class and feeling stupid all the time. If you want someone to study something, read a ton of books and write a paper on it, I'm your guy, but if you want me to memorize 500 Hebrew words in a semester, plus hundreds of verb endings, that's where I'm at my worst! I just can't do it. So I'm excited to do Hebrew online without the public humiliation and stress that comes along with doing it in class. That means I just have to survive this semester! Phew!

Cubs 0-2

Ok, well the Cubs are sucking it up aren't they? Hate to be negative but this could be a very quick exit from the playoffs. If that happens, I can't imagine this not going back to Lou's game 1 blunder. I'm just a spectator but that seems just moronic.

Cubs 0-1

I'm not going to blame Marmol for this one. Obviously he sucked it up, but he shouldn't have been in there in the first place. Piniella blew it! My friend John V. said it well in an email to me this morning:

"Can you please explain to me why Piniella, after letting Zambrano bat and not using a pinch hitter in the top of the 6th with the bases loaded, took him out of the game before the bottom of the 7th when he had only thrown 85 pitches??? Then Marmol comes in and serves up two runs and the game to the D'backs. I don't get that. I was a little surprised they let him bat there, but he was dealing on the mound. I'm just thinking that if you let him hit there then you're pretty much banking on him going at least 2 more innings unless he gets shelled."

That is a great point! Piniella's decision (after letting Zambrano bat in a bases loaded situation where the Cubs could have scored another run or two) was to try to save Zambrano's arm since he's pitching him again in Game 4, but how about this Lou? How about you focus on winning THE FIRST GAME!!!!!

The Cubs

Begin their path to becoming World Series Champions tonight!

I like Jayson Starks spirit!

Go Cubs!

By the way, the Cards are actually my hope at winning the world series this year. They managed to win last year when they were the worst team in the playoffs and I'm hoping the Cubs can do the same thing this year!

Really, once you make the playoffs in baseball, it's up for grabs. Just depends on who is playing the best ball right now and thankfully the Cubs are playing some pretty good ball.

The End of Memory #2

“The greater the wrong suffered, the more it gets ingrained into the identity of the person who endured it. Such a person sometimes comes to view himself-and others also come to view him-primarily as a sufferer of that particular wrong, for example, as a “survivor of the Rwandan genocide”. It is as though the wrong suffered is the most defining event of his life-an event that trumps creative accomplishments, friendships, joyful events, whether old or new, and all else. When wrongdoing defines us, we take on “distorted identities, frozen in time and closed to growth.” Pg. 79 - Miroslav Volf

I would even say that when we hold on to how we have victimized others in the past (regretfully) we are also distorting our identity and closed from growth. I would also add being victims to wrongdoings such as addictions. When our identity is wrapped up in, "I'm an alcoholic" I think something has gone terribly wrong. When a personal identity is wrapped up in a disease, addiction, behavior, etc. there is a rejection (conscious or otherwise) of the identity as a "beloved of God".

Volf does a good job in the book of talking how we should "remember rightly". For example, the Israelites could have formed their identity around their suffering in Egypt but instead their identity was formed around God redeeming them from Egypt. There is a large difference in how they remembered. Because they remembered themselves as being redeemed by God rather than enslaved by Egypt, they were able to live and grow.

Running Update #2

Another observation: Running is A LOT easier with a partner! Kelli has run with me a few times, Elvyss ran with me last week and Dan Zollner ran with me today and for some reason, having a person running along-side of you makes the whole thing seem MUCH easier.

I haven't pushed myself much this week so far as I have only been running a mile a day mostly because at the end of last weeks running my knee was starting to fill with fluid and I didn't want to overdo it. But tomorrow and Thursday I really want to push myself. On Thursday I want to run 2 miles. Now, for a non-runner like myself on his second week, that is stretching it for me! But it has been nice during the last two weeks to see the progress. To feel it getting easier on my legs and on my lungs has been encouraging. I think I can definitely be able to run 3 miles consistently when I'm done with the four weeks and that has been my goal.

I feel better physically and it is a nice challenge. I find myself during the day now thinking about running and actually having a desire to run! Weird!

Remember the Seinfeld where Kramer and Newman's scheme is to make money by taking bottles from New York and driving them to Michigan where there is a 10 cent refund rather than the 5 cents refund on bottle deposits? Well, turns out people actually try to pull this off! And Michigan doesn't think it's funny.

Bear

Kelli has a funny post on Bear Grylls. You should read it.

Running Update

As you can see, to add a little spice to this bet and my sad, sad life, I have added a poll on the sidebar and a progress column I will update daily. As you can see, for this week (which started last Thursday) I have already used my two days off and need to run the next two days or I am already eliminated! Shouldn't be a problem though.

Three running observations I have had thus far:
1. Running is hard.
-No shocker there. Seriously, when you are starting out, your body just has no desire to run AT ALL! When I ran a few weeks ago while camping with Devin I almost threw up. That can't be healthy! I'm starting to feel better with today's run although it was difficult after the hike on Saturday. I'm hoping to feel a little better with every run. We shall see.

2. Running is painful.
-The first few times, (which has spanned over the last month), every muscle in my body hurt, especially the muscles in my back which love to spasm while running. Thankfully, those have gone away and I can relax more while I run now. That doesn't stop my knees from hurting. I'm not sure running is the best thing for guys (like myself) that have already had two knee surgeries and who's doctor after surgery told him that at some point your ACL will definitely tear because it's horribly loose. Hmmm.

3. Running is a mental contest.
-Our bodies are able to do SO much more than we think they can. That's why it's a constant battle to not stop when it gets painful or difficult. I am trying my hardest to push through the pain in this contest. Today was a good example! It was cold, my legs were killing me, and I thought I might collapse but I finished and it felt fantastic.

So with the difficulty and the pain, why in the world would a person run?
I'm not entirely sure yet, you should probably ask Devin, who ran 42 miles last week. But I can say that there is something appealing about a physical challenge. Something exciting about pushing yourself to do things that are currently beyond your capability. I think that's why I enjoy hiking so much. It's always a challenge, it is usually difficult in parts, but after you are done, you feel like a champion and have accomplished something.

It's a great feeling to accomplish something tangible but in reality, circumstances in life do not usually tee-up tangible goals for us, we've got to set goals for ourselves, define what victory looks like, and celebrate our wins. It's so easy to go through life never accomplishing anything, not because we haven't done anything, but because we have not defined what victory looks like and taken the time to celebrate after we accomplish a goal we have set for ourselves. As you can tell, this does not just apply to a physical challenge like running!

With all of this said, it would now be pretty embarrassing to lose this challenge. But honestly, I'm not all that concerned about losing!

Trade Him

R. Grossman

15/32

195yds

0TD

3 Int.

I will say exactly the same thing I said last year at this time. Get rid of Grossman, he's TERRIBLE! Why is this guy still playing football??? Seriously! I don't care that he has one good game every five, the guy stinks. It was torture watching him play tonight. I would rather Doug Flutie came back in his old-school short shirt and played for the Bears than to watch this any longer!

THIS is an article worth reading from a little while ago.

Where do YOU get your news? I have still yet to find a good news website that actually has news that is important to anyone's life and not just the typical low-brow news that appeals to the worst part of humans. Even on CNN there is usually only about 1 or 2 stories of actual importance, the rest is just stuff on O.J. or Brittney. Any suggestions?

A-Rod - Cubs Owner and Player???

Do you think THIS could really happen?

Lost Lake - Hike #5

Today Kelli, Elvyss, Kristen and I went on a hike at Lost Lake which is about 1 hour and 45 minutes away from Portland. It wasn't long into the drive until we realized why they named it Lost Lake!

We did the Lost Lake Butte Trail which is a short 2 miles but you ascend 1400 ft. so it's a tiring little hike. Not many places along the way are anything but an incline.





The view of Mt. Hood at the top is spectacular! This doesn't even come close to doing justice to what it's really like at the top! The viewpoint by the lake is where they take many of the postcard pictures of Mt. Hood. If I ever go camping again, this is definitely where I would go! It's beautiful and there's some good hiking and the scenery is unmatchable. Plus you can rent boats to take out on the lake. This is definitely the best hike we've taken so far. I highly recommend it!




Does anyone else think Mt. Hood is kind of ugly without the snowy cap?

The Bet

Today Devin gave me a challenge I couldn't refuse. If I run 5 days a week for four weeks straight he will buy me Settlers of Catan, one of the finest board games ever made! (Although some may argue that the greatest is Settlers of Canaan the biblical version!).

However, if for some reason I DO NOT complete this challenge I must buy Devin the great game (retailing at $28.00).

Steep some may say! But this is a challenge I cannot refuse!

Day one - Running complete (Distance - 1 Mile). This will obviously require a new sidebar to keep track of progress! Prepare to lose Devin! You evil genius!

some recs

Let me start this post by saying this has been an INCREDIBLE year for music so far! There have been SO many great albums released that it's been more difficult to keep up than ever! But here are a few things that have been interesting lately....

Okkervil River - The Stage Names







The Weakerthans - Reunion Tour







Band of Horses - Cease to Begin







Turin Brakes - Dark on Fire
You can listen to the whole album on the Myspace link. Click it!






Josh Ritter - The Historical Conquests of Josh Ritter







Vic Chestnutt - North Star Deserter

Sports Sunday: The Big Show

Here's a good video for your Sunday morning.

I wish I could post it in this browser but this one's for sale. Let me know what you think.

Finally...

Someone finally sent me a free copy of "The Big Idea"!

This is Dave Ferguson's book from Community Christian Church in Naperville. Two of my best friends from college are pastors there and I have several acquaintances that are involved and can't believe it's taken someone this long to send me a copy!

Seriously though, thanks mysterious stranger (I'm guessing Nick) since he asked me for my address last week. Coincidence? I think not.

Anyone else have books they want to send me? I'll review 'em on my blog! Come on, I get like 60 hits a day! Sure it isn't 600 like Bob but are you caught up on numbers or something?

The End of Memory

The End of Memory - Miroslav Volf

Just finished this on the plane to Illinois last week and this is a phenomenal read! Miroslav Volf sheds light on what it means to remember wrongs done to us and by us rightly and uses his own experience of being interrogated as a potential spy for about a year using psychological methods to break him down. How does memory of wrongs shape our identity? Should memory of wrongs shape our identity? How should one remember wrongs?

Volf uses the remembrances of the Exodus and the Passion as a framework for how to remember and interacts with the thoughts of Nietzsche, Kierkegaard, and Freud as he builds a case of how we as followers of Christ are to remember and how it affects our identity and actions in the present day. Fascinating book! I highly recommend it.


Simple Church by Thom Rainer and Eric Geiger

I read this book on the flight home from Illinois yesterday and while I agree with the basic premise of the book that simple churches are probably more effective than complex churches and will probably grow quicker I get bothered by any book in which a church is defined as successful or not by how comparable it is in structure to companies like Google or Apple. Most of the illustrations of what it means to be successful were about corporate America. That's always an easy button to push to get me uninterested in a book right away. One thing that bothers me about this book is their definition (or lack thereof) of a "vibrant church". In the study they loosely define a "vibrant" church as one that has had 10% growth three years in a row. Believe it or not, I think it is possible to be a healthy church and actually decrease in attendance in a year and still be a success! Further, I'm not sure it is possible to "clearly define" what discipleship looks like for all people. It's almost like they are taking a Wal-Mart approach to discipleship. Try to appeal to the largest crowd and make it as easy as possible to receive their religious goods. In fact, to go a little further, (despite the quote of "My yoke is easy), I don't think discipleship is simple (and I acknowledge their differentiation from easy).

The information in this book would have been adequate for an article, but I'm not sure there is enough here for a whole book. Some interesting finds but pretty predictable. Simple church structures work better than complex church structures. When the staff are all clear on the process of the church and are unified around it, the church flows smoothly and grows. People need a clear idea of the process and what success in that process looks like, etc. Most of the book is common sense although it is a nice challenge to simplify and stick with what you have determined is your process for making disciples. I'm not sure you can clearly define this process and put people through the "stages" of discipleship like this book encourages. I think it is messier than that and a little dehumanizing when your goal is to push people through stages like cattle. I was turned off by a lot of the language of this book and was not very impressed over all. Nothing all that new here.

Death by Meeting - Patrick Lencioni

I was also able to read this book on the plane on the way to Illinois. A short and entertaining read. Who knew business books could be so fun! If you hate meetings and are wondering if there is a better way to lead meetings, this would be a beneficial read for you. I don't have a lot to say about this book but I will definitely remember some of the ideas for more effective meetings when it comes to church meetings which can be the worst!

No, I'm not talking about Bob, Chris, and I's meeting! Those are always stellar of course! I've got to get to school.

As turned off as I have been with business books in the past, I enjoy the leadership "fable" genre. Instead of a book full of principles to follow it's written in a story and I can remember it.

Ava and Aiden

Behold, my twin niece and nephew experiencing the joys of the beach for the first time in Florida!

Can't wait to see them at Christmas!

The end of life as we know it...

Last week Kelli and I realized that our nightly ritual of watching Friends at 6:30 and 7:00 and then watching Seinfeld at 7:30 had been destroyed by some moron at the television station who thought people might enjoy watching Family Guy and Two and a Half Men during those time slots.

WHAT IN THE WORLD WERE THEY THINKING?

I enjoy Family Guy as much as the next guy, but come on, can anyone justify taking Friends and Seinfeld off for that and Two and a Half Freaking Men? Are you serious? It's been a while since I've been so riled up about anything!

This definitely changes our lives and schedules in ways I have not yet stopped to even comprehend. To what shall we turn for our dining entertainment? I'm not sure there are any easy answers at this point. Life is complicated. Sure I could watch Seinfeld on DVD since I own all of the seasons currently available but that does not replace watching syndicated episodes with a large number of our population. It's just not the same. *sigh*

Bad News...

Greg Oden is OUT for the SEASON!!!

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

In other news, Belichick is getting brutally clobbered all over the media and even by players from other teams. Apparently, his legacy of being an arrogant jerk and a confirmed cheater is coming to a head!

I officially know the Hebrew alphabet and vowels! It's all downhill from here, right???

Choose the Life

I just finished Choose the Life by Bill Hull today and found it to be a refreshing and challenging read. Bill talks about the state of "non-discipleship" Christianity within our churches where faith is more of an agreement than a commitment to follow Jesus with our entire lives. And because of that, people in the church remain unchanged but think they are Christians because they've agreed with a theological statement. In the spirit of Bonhoeffer, Hull states that "the trouble with our evangelism is that we have made it so easy to enter the Christian life that we miss the repentance, commitment, and regeneration that provide the power to live the Christian life."

Inspired by Dallas Willard, Hull says that the spiritual disciplines have no value in and of themselves for discipleship. If the idea is to produce depth for depth's sake, it is self-indulgent and births pride, the king of sins. "There is no virtue in spiritual exercise without a reason, and that reason is the Great Commission; it is, as we have already considered, losing ourselves in the mission (Luke 9:23-25)".

Another interesting quote is in the context of speaking of myths that exist within our faith. The myth he is speaking of is that "Religion is a private matter." "Churches will exhort members to let their lives speak but won't ask them to say anything or take a stand. one of the most arrogant things a person can say is, "I will let my life speak for me." As Sam Shoemaker used to say, "that is too much about us and too little about him." Pg. 113

Finally, here is a quote for all ministers! This is a tough one. "When our daily self-worth and the measure of our effectiveness come primarily from the reaction of those with whom we work, then we are finished as Christian leaders." He actually quotes this from R. Rodin Scott. This is so true and so difficult to live by. One thing i have noticed in the last five years is that many people get convicted of something or influenced by someone in their life and out of this experience sparks a passion. That is all good! But many of those people think their passion should be yours and the churches passion and if the church fails to act on their passion, then they are failing to be Christian! Everyone has an opinion on what the church should be doing. But very few people are willing to actually take the next step and do it.

Hull gives a needed reminder that the job of the church is and always will be the Great Commission. We are to make disciples. That is the mission of the church! Jesus explicitly told us what we are to be doing! His mission far surpasses the rabbit trails that people can lead you on! More could be said on this, maybe later.

There is a marked difference between Christians and Disciples. Jesus called us to make disciples, religion calls us to make Christians. There are probably more Christians in our churches today than Disciples and that is apparent from the lack of any considerable behavioral difference between those who call themselves "Christians" and those who don't. For more depressing facts on that see pretty much any George Barna book!

I highly recommend Choose the Life to discover some ways of refocusing our attention on the Great Commission and making disciples that will live in the way of Jesus.

Oh, and if you are unclear of what Bill Hull might mean when he says disciple he defines it like this (which I like):

Believe what Jesus believed (transformed mind)

Live as Jesus lived (transformed character)

Love as Jesus loved (transformed relationships)

Minister as Jesus ministered (transformed service)

Lead as Jesus led (transformed influence)

Mosquito Bites, Cold Ones, and Hot Dogs

This weekend we went camping with about 50 others from the Evergreen Community at Milo McIver State Park and had a great time. Kelli and I are not necessarily what you would call "campers" but it was a blast nonetheless. Today we got home and I felt like someone had beaten me mercilessly but that might be because Devin made me jog with him yesterday and most of it was uphill. I'm not sure whether to thank you or curse you Devin. We played some Settlers of Catan, bathed in a freezing river, played some Bocce, drank some of NW's finest, and ended with our worship gathering around a campfire. I'm glad we went this year!

Wednesday morning we live for Illinois where Ben and Angela have asked me to officiate their marriage on Saturday at Augustana College. I'm really excited to get to spend time with my family whom I see too infrequently and get to marry a couple that I feel really confident will last a lifetime.

But my Hebrew studies call and I still don't know the alphabet! Yikes this is hard!

Another Gem from the Onion!

In The Know: Are America's Rich Falling Behind The Super-Rich?

Denied!

I'm at Western Seminary right now and a friend of mine invited me to join a church group on Facebook so i clicked on the link to go to Facebook and this came up at the school! Pretty hardcore!

I've never felt like more of a criminal in my life!

My favorite line is "Immediate action will take place." I'm waiting for people to come crashing through the windows and throw me to the ground. So far however, no immediate action has taken place! I'll keep you posted!

T Minus 30 (min)

Until my first Hebrew class! Yikes!

Triple Falls

As Kelli has already blogged, we hiked up to Triple Falls today which you can see HERE. It was a beautiful hike with a moderate grade although there were a few stretches that were pretty painful. We got there early, around 8:45am before anyone else was there. It was awesome being the only ones on the trails for a while. Even more cool was sitting on top of Triple Falls eating lunch without another soul in sight. Very peaceful.

The picture here is of the (middle) Oneonta Falls which you walk by under a large rock overhang. We also walked down the Oneonta Gorge a little while which was quite impressive. I'd like to explore that a little more. By this point we were pretty wiped out. 3 hikes done, 57 to go!

Oregonians

It might be that we finally got are Oregon license plates this past Friday (our Florida ones expired in April which probably isn't good). Or because we're going camping next weekend with Evergreen, but were feeling more and more like Oregonians as of late.

Anyway, today Kelli and I went for a hike (more a walk than a hike) out at Hoyt Arboretum and saw some Giant Sequoias which are amazingly soft and spongy if you haven't felt them. Growing up in Illinois we had never come into contact with the Sequoias and Redwoods that Oregon has to offer so it's all new to us!

After our hike we bought the book 60 Hikes in 60 Miles and really want to start spending our day off hiking more and seeing all the beautiful scenery in Oregon. Monday morning we're going to go to Triple Falls out on the Columbia River Gorge. Seemed like an easy starter hike and we are looking to slowly build up to the more strenuous hikes up by Mt. St. Helens and Mt. Hood. Obviously the weather isn't going to cooperate with us much longer but I think it would be fun to take a snowy hike a few times this winter too where possible.

Any other Oregonians have any hiking suggestions?

Fantasy Football

Fantasy Football Team #1 Starters:
Marc Bulger (StL - QB)
Plaxico Burress (NYG - WR)
Terry Glenn (Dal - WR)
Mark Clayton (Bal - WR)
Rudi Johnson (Cin - RB)
Willis McGahee (Bal - RB)
Randy McMichael (StL - TE)
Jamal Lewis (Cle - RB)
Ladell Betts (Was - RB)
Jacksonville (DEF)
Josh Scobee (K)

Not great, but I've had worse. Plus, at least it's better than Devin's team!

Fantasy Football Team #2 Starters:
Drew Brees (NO - QB)
T.J. Houshmandzadeh (Cin - WR)
Laveranues Coles (NYJ - WR)
Muhsin Muhammad (Chi - WR)
Joseph Addai (Ind - RB)
Thomas Jones (NYJ - RB)
Alge Crumpler (Atl - TE)
Ladell Betts (Was - RB)
Isaac Bruce (StL - WR)
Robbie Gould (K)
Denver (DEF)

Should be a fun year!

Leona's Eternity Mansion

Leona Helmsley thinks she is going to be spending eternity here.

She bought this for 1.4 million dollars. 1,300 square feet! What a steal!

She left another 12 million dollars to her dog! But she left out two of her grandchildren from the will "for reasons they know." Ouch!

This is one of the more ironic, sad, and misinformed things I've read for a while.

Other than Ron Artest (of all people) coming to Michael Vick's corner to comfort and support him. I'm telling you Michael, this is an offer that will NOT help your public image!

Speaking of Michael Vick, this is funny.

Opening Sept. 21

Into the Wild. A film adaptation of Jon Krakauer's book about Christopher McCandless, a college student who gives up everything to try to survive in Alaska on his own during the winter without any provisions or telling anyone else what he was doing. I don't think it's a spoiler to say that he obviously didn't make it. The book is a sad account of what happened as Krakauer retraces McCandless' steps and explores why a college student would spend his life savings to end up dying alone. It is truly a gripping and tragic read and I'm hoping that it will be a good re-creation of it on the big screen. I'm very excited to see this! I highly recommend reading the book.

Last Sunday

This past Sunday at Evergreen I preached on Psalm 8 which is one of my favorites, talking about wonder and awe at the power and creativity at God's creation, our role in it and how Jesus fulfills it.....

I showed this video as an example of God's creativity. This is truly amazing...


Throughout our series through the Psalms this summer our more creative types have been putting together a tree (which somehow we managed to NOT get a picture of?) as a way to express their worship to God creatively.


And what do you know but someone actually created a bird of paradise to put on our tree!

I've seen this popping up a lot lately so I thought I would give it a shot. I hate putting these things on my blog because I feel like I'm being a little narcissistic to think anyone would care what my personality type is but I usually throw them up there when I have nothing to say so there you go. Like when people post 10 bulletins a week on Myspace of their answers to 100 question long surveys! Drives me nuts!

Quote of the Week

“I could fully believe, completely repent, truthfully confess and be baptized on Easter Sunday in the Jordan river by Ed Young and it would mean absolutely nothing without the grace of God to enact my salvation.”

Congrats John V!

The Restoration Movement

Recently I received an email from a woman with a few questions about how I left things with the Independent Christian Church/Churches of Christ or also known as the Restoration Movement. When I was in high school the first church I went to was a Christian Church and then I went on to go to a Bible College that was associated with Christian Churches/Churches of Christ. Anyway, at one time back in 2004 I posted some thoughts which I honestly cannot find on my blog anywhere but remember writing in which I'm sure will keep me from ever getting a job at a really hard core Restoration movement church. Anyway, the email pertained to this so I wanted to post the email and my response because this is something I have thought about quite a bit.

"Dustin, I was raised in a denominational church with their myriad of rules and regulations that were not biblically based, even though they attempted to make the scriptures support their beliefs. For the last few years, I have attended and joined the Church of Christ. I ran across this statement in one of your Blogs from 2004, "That is not the Restoration Movement I read about in class. That actually seemed like a cool thing, how I am seeing it play out is not anything I want to be a part of. I wish you could just start a church and not have to play the bullshit denominational games because that is all it is. In the long run I doubt God is going to care who was Baptist, who was Independent Christian Church, who was Presbyterian." My questions are, do you still feel this way about the restoration movement or since this was posted a few years ago, have your views changed? If your views have changed, why do you leave it on your Blog and why have you not printed a retraction? Thanks for your time"

My Response:

Wow! This post is a blast from the past! I’ve got so many posts on the blog that it’s almost impossible to remember all of what I have written. What I can say about this one in particular is that I was extremely frustrated at the time with the political garbage that comes along with being a pastor and a part of a denomination (even if it was technically “non-denominational”). The reason I haven’t retracted this is 1. because I have so many posts that I could never read back through them again and correct all the ways I have changed over the past 3-5 years. 2. because this still sheds light and is a good record of what I was feeling in 2004.

But as far as the Christian Church/Churches of Christ I have much respect for this non-denominational “denomination” and have had great experiences with this network of churches. I found Jesus in a Christian Church, went to a Restoration Movement Bible College, and to this day most of my friends whom are fellow-pastors are a part of this network and I am very proud of the work they are doing within their church community. Today I work with a church in Portland Oregon that has no denominational ties and this is working well for us! As a pastor it gives you the freedom to minister to the people and do the work of the Lord without the denominational encumbrances that being a part of a denomination so often involves. Now, when I say that, I’m not even sure I’m talking about “non-denominational” churches having these encumbrances because they typically don’t. Looking back at the time of this post I was more upset at a specific incident which involved a “Restoration Movement” publication that was ripping apart my Mission Organization that I was working with in New York City for paying my salary to work at a Southern Baptist Church to help get it started. They railed them pretty hard and it upset me at the intolerance that this movement would exhibit when they claimed to be about unity! It was a total contradiction to everything I had been taught. That is where I see some of the older Christian Churches/Churches of Christ headed. To be honest though, those are far and few between and I realized quickly that this was a minority fringe group within the Restoration Movement that I should not even concern myself with! All that to say, I love the Christian Church/Churches of Christ and I love the freedom that they have and the principles that the movement was founded on. I could definitely worship and serve at a Christian Church again in the future, but at this point in my life I don’t really feel the need to label myself a specific brand of a church! I truly want to be non-denominational and have a great network with Baptist, Presbyterian, and Christian Churches and their pastors. They are all of my brothers in Christ and I want to treat them that way. Doing what I do now allows me to do that without focusing on the minuteau that we (Christians) so tend to get caught up in and distracted by.

I guess I would add one more thing that I thought about today. My friends who are pastors as Christian Churches (I believe) could care less about the actual "non-denominational" denomination. I'm not sure any of my friends read The Restoration Herald and I'm almost positive none of them could name more than three people involved at the beginning of the movement, or their major sayings (such as "No Creeds but Christ!" etc. Well, I imagine Jeff Gentry could, but that's because he's nerdy smart like that (no offense). Brad, Nick, Josh, Jon? Prove me wrong! Seriously though, do you have some heart-felt loyalty to the Restoration Movement that I don't know about? My belief is that you work there because it's how you grew up, there's not a lot of the denominational baggage, you enjoy the people you work with, not because you feel some kind of loyalty towards the movement etc. I don't even think you work at a Christian Church because you are completely sold on baptism being absolutely essential for salvation (by the way, that's another reason I'm truly non-denominational/I don't feel my theology fits in with the Arminian/baptism-crazy theology of the Disciples.)
Any thoughts?

Sovereignty vs/and Freedom

I'm about half-way done with Bruce Ware's defense of the compatibility between God's meticulous/exhaustive sovereighty and human freedom (which is defined freedom of inclination as Jonathan Edwards put it). I find this to be the strongest case so far that I have read. The Four Views book turned out to be a little dissapointing. It is clear now that a majority of their discussion on God's foreknowledge leaned towards more philosophical (Greek) leanings and influence than on theology.

Bruce Ware on the other hand establishes his Scriptural case for meticulous and exhaustive sovereignty and works from that premise on what human freedom looks like instead of the other way around (he makes a case that Arminians and their "step-child" open theists like to start with human (libertarian) freedom and then craft a model for divine providence based on holding on to libertarian freedom).

The crux of Ware's argument is the idea of "freedom of inclination" rather than libertarian freedom.

“Human beings perform our choices and actions out of what we desire in our hearts. That is, what we want most, what our natures incline us most strongly to-this is the pool out of which the stream of our choices and actions flows.” Pg. 79

If, as Arminians propose, our freedom consists in the power of contrary choice, then quite unlike what Jesus has taught us, regardless of our hearts and characters, we are always free to choose either good or evil. But Jesus indicated just the opposite: that a good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit.” Pg. 79

“But it stands to reason that if we choose to do what we want, then at the moment of that choice, we are not “free” to do otherwise.” Pg. 80

“If, as we’ve argued here, our freedom consists in our choosing to act according to our strongest desires or inclinations, then it stands to reason that we can change our behavior only when our strongest desires and inclinations change. Character transformation is the key to behavior modification. And, of course, this is why Scripture is so consistently concerned with the renewal of our minds, our hearts, our characters, and our inner persons.” Pg. 81

I think Ware makes a strong case of both meticulous sovereignty and human freedom and a solid argument against libertarian freedom. That being defined here as

“Libertarian freedom proposes that at the very moment of choice, we are free in making that choice if (and only if) in choosing what we do, we could have chosen otherwise. So we are free when choosing A if, at the moment of this choice, we could instead have chosen not-A, or B. And if this is not the case, then we are not genuinely free.” Pg. 63

I think "freedom of inclination" makes much more sense than libertarian freedom and is much more compatible with the sovereignty of God as revealed in Scripture.

Wow! I'm siding with Bruce Ware. I never thought the day would come!

Chew Toy

Get your Michael Vick dog chew toy!

The Onion is just TOO funny as of late.

'Gays Too Precious To Risk In Combat,' Says General

I love the matter-of-factness of the "general".

Churchgoer Tips God For Excellent Week

Views

Divine Foreknowledge: Four Views

I'm about half way done with this and I've got to say for those who love theology, this is a fantastic book! I love this series, I've read four of these books in the last year, I think I could read every book that has been made that has four or five views or whatever. I find them extremely helpful in understanding and appreciating other people's viewpoints on theological issues. It has gotten very specific though which I think is funny like "Four Views of the Warnings Passages in Hebrews." Really? There are four views on that?

Anyway, this one is really well done so far. The critiques of each others views are not necessarily harsh but very strongly worded as compared to some of the other "views" books. And it's funny because this is one of those things that (I would hope) no one's salvation is riding on yet you can tell it's a very passionate subject. Gregory A. Boyd's chapter (who is an open theist) was interesting but not very compelling. I honestly think Open Theism is a "fad theology" kind of like Moltmann's Theology of Hope or Process Theology. It's interesting for a while and it's new and kind of hip to believe but there's not much there beneath the surface (my honest opinion) but I do appreciate that they are thinking through what a relationship with God looks like and looking for other ways to explain suffering and evil. That is admirable. I would like to give it a fair shake however (as I think I am) and read John Sanders "The God Who Risks". I like John Sanders and Gregory Boyd and certainly count them as Christian brothers. I have much respect for them, but I just can't find anything compelling about this view. This is a solid book though and I believe our view on God's foreknowledge has a lot of practical implications for how and why we pray and really what we do with human suffering. I think the doctrine of God's foreknowledge is immensely practical in our lives and I'm glad that people are writing good books and helping us think through how we view what happens in our world (especially with all the craziness that is going on).

I also recomment "God's Greater Glory" by Bruce Ware (for an exact opposite view than Open Theism) and Terrance Tiessen's "Prayer and Providence" which I have only skimmed so far but look very valuable. Paul Helm has written a book simply called "The Providence of God" and this would also be a good example of the Calvinist/Augustinian position or rather that of "Meticulous Providence". I find the idea of "Middle Knowledge" espoused by Molina very interesting and would like to read more about that but I'm not really sure besides William Lane Craig (who is almost too smart to understand) writes about it.

Right now (although I know views change) I am a compatiblist meaning that I believe God's foreknowledge and sovereignty are compatible with human freedom but I'm not exactly sure of the how yet. I think middle knowledge provides a good answer but I need to read more.

Anyway, I have just totally nerded out here and I know some people will probably never read my blog again but hey, this is what interests me so BACK OFF! Just kidding, kind of.

A Perfect 10 out of 10!

I'm only pages from the end of The Brothers K by David James Duncan and I've got to be honest; I've read A LOT of books in my short 27 year life, but this might be the most enjoyable novel I've ever read. This is a book you never want to end! It's funny..I actually laughed out loud in places which is very rare for a book. It's suspensful, the storyline is gripping, the characters are unusually developed, and the social and religious commentary is spectacular. This might be the perfect novel! I cannot say enough about this book. I have a feeling that everything else I read this year is going to be disappointing after reading this.

Although, Kelli and I just ordered our copy of Atlas Shrugged yesterday so we're pretty excited about that too!

Anyone else reading anything exciting right now?

Human Head Found In Hamburger

An Internet Fast

I think i'm going to take a break from non-work related internet things for the next week or so. That means, no checking the news pages 10 times a day to see if anything freakishly weird or seemingly important happened. No checking baseball scores throughout the day to see if the cheater has broken (by technicality) the record yet or my cubbies are headed into first. No checking bloglines to see what all my friends have to say about whatever (no offense!). No checking Myspace (which sucks anyway, not sure why I have a desire to check it). No checking Pitchfork reviews, no checking to see what new albums leaked, no checking my fantasy sports team three times a day to see who's going on the DL.

You can waste so much...ok...I can waste so much time on this stupid thing that you can start to live in a virtual dreamland where you waste hours a day looking at almost entirely worthless stuff and stop living real life. I'm not saying that I'm not living real life, but i'm just tired of the media telling me how to feel about stuff or what to get excited or sad or angry about. So, i'm going to go this next week without caring what pitchfork, cnn, myspace, or blogs have to say about anything and everything. For as fun, entertaining and enlightening the internet can be, sometimes I wish it would have never have been invented. Stupid Al Gore! Anyway, we'll see how it goes!

In other news, I had a nice Sabbath on Saturday and read the book of Exodus in one sitting. I've never really done that before and it always seems like it would be a hefty task but honestly it only took like 2 hours! There is something so refreshing about seeing the big picture of a book like that all at one time. It's hard to read two chapters, put it down, come back two days later, read two chapters, etc. and really get it. I've never felt that Scripture was so alive as I read through the entire narrative and was able to experience the highs and lows of the Israelite community throughout their struggle. I suggest it! Give it a shot sometime.

The Bourne Ultimatum

Finally, someone knows how to end a trilogy!

Go, now and see this. Seriously, go. Get off my blog and go to the movie theatre.

For those of you disobeying my direct command...
My favorite parts were 1) the fight scene with the Moroccan dude (one of the assets). 2) the car chase in NYC. 3) I enjoyed how the movie backtracked into stuff the last movie left out and then came the point where the last movie ended with him talking to (can't remember her name) on the phone in New York.

Finally, has anyone read the books??? This is one of those adaptations that I haven't heard one person say, "the books are so much better." I've never known anyone that has read them. Anyone???? Are you out there?

Quote of the week!

"It's got to be the last days, bridges are falling down, toys are being recalled...."

----Kelli

For something completely different...

Thirteen Cities by Richmond Fontaine (whom I just learned is based in Portland, OR) is Americana at it's best. Brilliant song-writing, story telling, and creative sounds make this one of the best records of the year.

You can check it out at www.myspace.com/richmondfontaine