Things I'm Thinking About...

- Who will my church pick for a consultant?
- Am I really supposed to accept my sin and that will help?
- How many people in Los Angeles will die from the nuclear bomb that exploded on 24 and will Jack Bauer and the rest of CTU get radiation diseases?
- What will I post about on Sanctity of Life Day this Sunday?
- When am I going to get time to prepare my teaching for Elevation on Jan. 28?
- Why did the Chargers lose and why did they do so many stupid things in that game?
- Will my parents be able to watch Grace when we go to Hawaii because I already paid for the tickets and hotel?
- How many kids are going to turn in applications for Africa because 36 have taken applications and I'm worried we will have too many?
- A big decision I have to make at church that everyone has an opinion about how it should be handled.
- Do I have issues with submission and authority?
- Will the baby be a boy or a girl?
- Will we get our money back for the adoption?
- Why is living simply so hard?
- Lots of other church issues I can't write in a public blog.
- Is Barack Obama the Anti-Christ?
- Why did Erin want me to say that her family is the best family ever?
- Why do I keep forgetting to ask her about her marathon?
- Is March 3rd (the day we leave for Maui) ever going to be here?
- Will I ever speak at a camp again?
- Am I going to drop my PhD program?
- Will Peyton Manning be able to finally beat the Patriots?
- When will the next U2 album come out?
- Where do babies come from?

My Favorite Family

My favorite family in the whole world is the Krusiewicz family. Erin and Jason are incredible people with perfect kids. They rock!! And in no way did they try to get me to say this on my blog. I swear.

Barack is Running

Well, the good old Anti-Christ leader is running for President.

Check it out on his own website for news on his exploratory committee.

(HT to Mark Elrod)

Bono said it best

For the Reverend Martin Luther King, SING

Early morning, April 4
Shot rings out in the Memphis sky
Free at last, they took your life
They could not take your pride

In the name of love
What more in the name of love
In the name of love
What more in the name of love
In the name of love
What more in the name of love...

Actors Who Play Jesus and then Play Rapists??

So I've been listening to the Bible Experience which is the TNIV New Testament read by a bunch of different African-American stars who have pretty awesome voices. I've loved listening so far - I'm only about halfway through Mark. It's funny hearing Samuel L. Jackson as the voice of God saying, "This is my Son, with whom I am well pleased," sounding like the speech from Pulp Fiction. Weird. Blair Underwood is the voice of Jesus and I think he's pretty good.

The craziest thing that happened to me this week was that I was watching Law and Order SVU and Blair Underwood was on it playing the role of a man falsely accused of rape who eventually commits murder because of his extreme frustration with being accused. It was just so awful hearing the voice of Jesus being the voice of a murderer and potential rapist. So stars playing Biblical roles can sure mess us up when they play other roles. I don't know if I can ever watch Jim Caviezel in another role.

Weigh-In Day

Alright, well I'm doing good.
Original weigh-in 2 weeks ago - 188 lbs.
January 8, 2007 - 179 lbs.
Today (Jan 15) - 175.8 lbs.

So I lost 3.2 pounds this week and 12.2 total. Not bad!!

I'm working to keep up the discipline. Join me with Weight Watchers Online. It's always better when you have accountability.

Would You Let Your Kid Play With This??

I can't stand these Bratz dolls. It's wrong on so many levels.
1. Spiritual level - It promotes young girls dressing sexually - really young - and promotes bad attitudes toward parents.
2. Values level - It promotes consumerism and valuing all the wrong things.
3. Strong feminine roles level - it makes women be all about sex and their bodies and their looks at the age of 7. That's just sad. At least Barbie had career based outfits and even promoted motherhood.
4. The makes me feel icky level.

This is one of those things that I would boycott if I was a boycotter (which I'm not) and I sort of want to cover them up at the toy store so my kid and other kids won't see. It's seriously just sad that little girls are being influenced by this stuff. I thought they were a joke or a satire when I first saw them, but no, they are real.

Sports Clips Recap

I was pretty pleased with my Sports Clips experience. I actually had a guy doing my cut for all of you that were calling it the Hooters of haircuts.

I got to watch the beginning of the Saints/Eagles game and enjoyed it. The cut was pretty good, but I was very specific with my instructions. At least they could adjust from any barbershop stuff they might normally do.

Would I go again? Yes. Will I leave my stylist? Probably not.

Sports Clips

So I'm going to this place called Sports Clips to get my hair cut today at 5pm. I will give an update after, but it's basically a place that you can watch sports on TV while getting your hair cut. I couldn't get any pictures of their website because they are all on a slideshow, but you gotta check it out. The whole place has sports memoribilia, there are games on, you get a nice shampoo and a little massage with a hot towel over your face. Should be good. I'm gonna get their just in time to watch the beginning of the Philly/New Orleans playoff game.

Cleaning Garages Sucks

That's what I did this morning. There is room to park one car now. That's good. But cleaning garages is a horrible task. I don't recommend it.

Barack Update

I liked this headline for my favorite pick in our ridiculous pool for Anti-Christ.

Barack Obama Can Be Whatever He Wants To Be

Does that include Anti-Christ?

Check this story out too. The headline is Bare Chested Barack Obama - A Beach Babe? Are you kidding me? A serious candidate for President and making the Us Weekly/People Magazine rounds. Perfect! He has to be the Anti-Christ.

By the way, one of my criteria for anti-christ is that I have to like the person or at least feel like I want to like the person. Good strategy, heh??

Weight Watchers Update

So I started about 10 days ago on my new diet.
My start weight was 188 pounds (but I weighed myself in the middle of the afternoon with pants and a t-shirt on)
My weigh-in day is Monday and so this past Monday I weighed myself at what will be my normal time of day, right when I wake up, and I was buck naked.
So, my weight as of 1/8/07 - 179 pounds.
The discipline is continuing.

Discipline in eating is a huge part of living simply. You can't just gorge yourself every time you eat and expect to have a disciplined life or a simple life. The simple life requires discipline. This is really hard for me because I LOVE LOVE LOVE food. I still will enjoy an awesome meal with big portions once a week or so, but just not every day or even every meal.

Camping Ministry Evaluation

(please make sure you read disclaimer at bottom before leaving page)

Positives of Camping Ministry:
Away from distractions and some temptations
Focus on God in nature
Time for relational ministry
Awesome camp staff who love students and care for the youth pastors
Quality time for worship
Fun

Negatives of Camping Ministry:
So much focus on "hooking up" by kids
Annoying 19-year-old camp lead counselors that think they know more about youth ministry than the youth pastors (and sometimes act like they know your kids better too)
Kids get so tired that they are almost too moldable
Rec and program leaders create a mob mentality through cheers and competitions
Speakers and worship leaders push for an emotional response instead of allowing the Spirit to work in His time
Too much focus on decisions and not long-term commitment
Decisions don't last down the hill

I think many of these negatives can be placed on youth ministries as well. I think the biggest thing in here is the push and shove for an emotional "altar-call" response. People need an opportunity to make decisions, but sometimes these camp altar calls are all about feeding the ego of the speaker and aren't really even about the kid as much as the mass of kids coming forward.

If any of my friends from Alpine, Ponderosa Pines, Forest Home, or Hume Lake read this I am sorry if this feels like an attack. As I process this, it is less an attack on camping ministry in general as it is a challenge to certain speakers, worship leaders, and camp programmers - including myself.

Live Simply

I'm feeling bad about my covetous post about the iPhone because I wrote on a rock that is a witness against me about trying to live simply this year. It was during an Elevation service where we were making commitments to God and the rock would help us remember like with Joshua and the Israelites at the very end of the book of Joshua.

Now, I'm not sure if this means I will never get an iPhone, but it does mean that I need to stop being so swayed by every gadget and gizmo that I think is cool because there is a part of me that thinks I actually "need" those things.

Apple Rocks!!

I want this so bad.



I just watched the whole presentation by Steve Jobs and I'm coveting. I just bought a Treo so it's gonna be about 18 months before I can get one, but this is the best phone ever made. My friend Reedo who works for Verizon Wireless is going to hate me because I will bail for Cingular (they are the only carrier) so fast they won't know what hit them.

Back from Camp

Well I just got back from the weekend speaking at Alpine for their Jr High Winter Camp Week 1. Overall, it was a good time. The speaking seemed to go well. It was fun playing in the snow with Grace and hanging out with Bea. The band were some cool guys from all over Orange County, but the leader was from First Baptist HB/FV where Ashdown used to work and Steve Gioelli and Bill Staffierri work now. They were pretty good - maybe forcing some dancing and stuff that was cool, but sometimes I just want to be able to worship without some dude telling me what to do all the time.

As for the whole camp as manipulation or brainwashing thing, I feel pretty proud of what we were able to accomplish up there. We didn't do the whole "come forward and cry because I have emotionally charged you up to respond to Jesus" thing. I gave kids an opportunity to pray about believing in Jesus and wanting forgiveness for the sin in their lives. This was just quietly and privately in their minds and hearts - not out loud, no standing up, no coming forward. Then I immediately dismissed them in a discipline of silence to their cabin time where they were to talk with their leader about any decisions they made. A few leaders came up to me at the end of camp today and thanked me for not doing the whole emotional thing. They really appreciated it. I think that sometimes the altar call is more for the speaker than for the student. It feels good to see a bunch of people come forward. But the scary part is that you start to think that it's because of you somehow - instead of from the Holy Spirit.

So yes, I do think that camp can be brainwashing and manipulation, but I also think it doesn't have to be. More thoughts to come...

Up to Alpine

I'm headed up to Alpine this afternoon and I hope to do some observing for my thoughts on "camp as manipulation" post. Maybe this could be a dissertation topic. I'm sure it would ruffle some feathers. I don't suggest this stuff to be mean or hurtful to people in camping ministry. I'm as guilty of this as the next guy. It's just when someone suggested the concept to me, it really got me thinking and I couldn't shake it.

I might have my first day in a few weeks without a blog post tomorrow while I am up there. Maybe I can get to a computer. But if not, I will see you all on Sunday afternoon.

Leading Worship

You know, it's possible that it would be better for me to play my guitar more often than when I'm on stage leading worship or in rehearsal right beforehand. My timing is all off and I haven't been feeling comfortable on stage which makes me think too much and then I'm not worshiping because I'm worrying. My amp or my effects processor or my Rat pedal did something weird during No One Like You. The volume just got crazy loud all of a sudden coming out of my amp, but I hadn't touched anything. I was trying to turn down the volume on my guitar, but it wouldn't do anything. So that song just sucked because I was trying to figure everything out while singing a song that has a lot of lyrics which are hard to keep straight. Aaaggghhh!!!! At least that was just the second song of a two-song first set in Jr High. The second set was much better. The kids seemed to really be worshiping and everything was OK, but in my mind I just wasn't there. I was trying to force myself into being "worshipful" but there was just an odd disconnect in my head and heart. I joked with somebody afterward that I just need to pray more. That's probably more true than I would want it to be.

So my new prescription for better worship leading is pretty revolutionary - prayer and practice.

Sad Day for Coffee Lovers

Today is the last day you can enjoy one of these at the Diedrich's in the Orange Plaza (circle).



It makes me very very sad. Starbucks bought all the Diedrich's franchises which are much less corporate and have Free Wi-Fi. I go there all the time and now I'm just bummed. And guess what, of course there is another Starbucks right across the street. Stupid. At least some of the employees are opening up a small privately owned coffeeshop down the block in a couple months.

Favorites of 2006

Alright, I've been seeing all these different posts on people's favorites of 2006 and so now I will give it a shot.

Favorite Movie - I haven't seen enough to deserve to say.
Favorite Christian book - Simply Christian by NT Wright
Favorite Secular Book - Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs by Chuck Klostermann
Favorite Blog by a "famous" person - Marko Ostreicher
Favorite Blog by a "non-famous" person - The Wonderful Noise by Victor Estrada
Favorite Worship Song - Inside Out by Hillsong United
Favorite Sermon I preached - Resetting Our Hearts - Part 2, Malachi 2:1-9. Check it out on iTunes under Podcasts for Calvary Church Elevation - January 22, 2006 or HERE
Favorite News - Finding out that Bea is pregnant - Baby due on July 5

That's enough for now