those were the days
Right now ESPN is playing an "NFL's Greatest Games" that's recounting the 1998 Wild Card game between the 49ers and Packers. That was an awesome game. Steve Young was still the QB, Garrison Hearst was in his prime, and TO didn't have an ego yet. Not to mention that the Niners were a) in the playoffs and b) winning games. Watching the replay is pretty sweet.
Um, yeah. So the A's get rid of Tejada, Foulke, Hernandez, and Long...and they retain Rincon? The same Rincon that almost lost Game 1 of the ALDS for us last season? The same Rincon that is good for about one homer per time he's up on the mound? Harumph. As Netters chants to herself, I must chant to myself..."Billy Beane has something up his sleeve..."
Other than those sporting woes life is good. Janelle is in town and we're getting to spend time together. Return of the King opens tonight. Christmas is around the corner. Ministries in full swing and I'm busy, but not overwhelmed. Yeah, things are pretty sweet. Everything's not perfect but things are definitely good.
Also - up to this point at most staff meetings (which I have on Tuesdays) I have been missing Janelle. I am either planning stuff and wishing she were at least in town and not down in Santa Barbara or if she was in town wishing she were right there with me. Well today staff meeting was good - and I was really encouraged by the fact that I would get to go home to Janelle after it. My heart and mind were totally engaged in the meeting and I was stoked that my fiancee was in town. Okay maybe that doesn't make sense to you. But it does to me.
12.16.2003
12.08.2003
12.07.2003
Please please please. Sign Tejada! Sign Foulke! Ditch Rincon! We already got rid of Hernandez and Long...waaaah... I want it to be baseball season and I want the my beloved Athletics to stop breaking my heart by overachieving in the regular season and the first 3 games of the playoffs only to implode. Last season really hurt, especially after that extra-innings Game 1 against Boston. Just thinking about it annoys me. Oh well.
not that any of you care
This BCS stuff is a little annoying. I don't particularly care about the way the National Champion for college football is determined, considering Cal won't be anywhere near a title game for the forseeable future. I do, however, like to complain about things and I do like to try to point things out that I think are a little silly. I think it's silly that there's no playoff in College Football. This whole idea of a BCS is kinda stupid if you ask me. A playoff would really help the situation, or at the very least eliminate a lot of the whining that goes on in the sports world. Of course some people would just moan about the way playoff participants are chosen, but I'm sure more people would be pleased with a playoff. Whatevs...I'm just happy Cal is in a bowl this season. Hooray for Tedford. I hope we get to keep him around for a while.
This BCS stuff is a little annoying. I don't particularly care about the way the National Champion for college football is determined, considering Cal won't be anywhere near a title game for the forseeable future. I do, however, like to complain about things and I do like to try to point things out that I think are a little silly. I think it's silly that there's no playoff in College Football. This whole idea of a BCS is kinda stupid if you ask me. A playoff would really help the situation, or at the very least eliminate a lot of the whining that goes on in the sports world. Of course some people would just moan about the way playoff participants are chosen, but I'm sure more people would be pleased with a playoff. Whatevs...I'm just happy Cal is in a bowl this season. Hooray for Tedford. I hope we get to keep him around for a while.
Passion. The movie website is up, much of the content is still not functional but it's up nonetheless. I am really looking forward to this film.
12.05.2003
okay so every day might have been a little unrealistic
But I can still put stuff up here periodically. Once again the internet connection at my house is down, or so sporadically functional it's as good as down. Harumph I say. Harumph.
So I've continued to read through 2 Chronicles and 1 Corinthians. I have a thing for numbered C-books, what can I say. I also just realized that I've been sittin in the coffee shop with my headphones on for about 35 minutes, but I haven't been listening to anything in the headphones. I should try to fix that, or something. iTunes has a radio function, it seems to work rather well. Better than any streams I got from Winamp.
Yesterday as I read 2 Chronicles 9 a couple things stood out at me. Basically this chapter is talking about how magnificent Solomon's kingdom was. First the queen of Sheba visits, she is totally overwhelmed by Solomon's wisdom and his kingdom, and in verses 5-8 it says:
Emphasis mine, of course. I think it's awesome how the queen visited Solomon and saw all these wonderful things but Solomon made sure she understood why he had them all. He made sure that she understood it was because God was with him, that God provided it all. Not only that, but it was clear to her - she saw his life and what God had given him and actually praised God because of it. That's what I want my life to be like. Not that I have all these things or am particularly wise...but I want to make sure I am always giving credit to God for the good things in my life. I want people to look at my life and praise God, and be able to see him.
Now on to 1 Corinthians 5. Paul spends this chapter talking about "expelling the immoral brother." I note that this letter is addressed to the church at Corinth which apparently is going through some division and lack of unity. People within the church are trying to get supporters for themselves, they're carrying out their own selfish agendas within the church and messing it up. So Paul may be specifically talking about these people. He definitely does speak rather harshly about someone claiming to follow Christ but living differently. I tend to err on the side of mercy and not judging at all, though it would seem Paul wants me to think a little bit about that.
He differentiates between people that claim to be Christians and those that don't. He says:
I'm glad this isn't the only passage dealing with intrachurch discipline. There is a process to go through, you don't just 'expel' people when they do something wrong, because we all do wrong things. But this does communicate the idea that there comes a point when you have to tell someone that what they're doing is wrong and you will not tolerate it within the Body, especially if they are causing strife.
That's all for now.
But I can still put stuff up here periodically. Once again the internet connection at my house is down, or so sporadically functional it's as good as down. Harumph I say. Harumph.
So I've continued to read through 2 Chronicles and 1 Corinthians. I have a thing for numbered C-books, what can I say. I also just realized that I've been sittin in the coffee shop with my headphones on for about 35 minutes, but I haven't been listening to anything in the headphones. I should try to fix that, or something. iTunes has a radio function, it seems to work rather well. Better than any streams I got from Winamp.
Yesterday as I read 2 Chronicles 9 a couple things stood out at me. Basically this chapter is talking about how magnificent Solomon's kingdom was. First the queen of Sheba visits, she is totally overwhelmed by Solomon's wisdom and his kingdom, and in verses 5-8 it says:
She said to the king, "The report I heard in my own country about your achievements and your wisdom is true. But I did not believe what they said until I came and saw it with my own eyes. Indeed, not even half the greatness of your wisdom was told me; you have far exceeded the report I heard. How happy your men must be! How happy your officials, who continually stand before you and hear your wisdom! Praise be to the LORD your God, who has delighted in you and placed you on his throne as king to rule for the LORD your God. Because of the love of your God for Israel and his desire to uphold them forever, he has made you king over them, to maintain justice and righteousness.
Emphasis mine, of course. I think it's awesome how the queen visited Solomon and saw all these wonderful things but Solomon made sure she understood why he had them all. He made sure that she understood it was because God was with him, that God provided it all. Not only that, but it was clear to her - she saw his life and what God had given him and actually praised God because of it. That's what I want my life to be like. Not that I have all these things or am particularly wise...but I want to make sure I am always giving credit to God for the good things in my life. I want people to look at my life and praise God, and be able to see him.
Now on to 1 Corinthians 5. Paul spends this chapter talking about "expelling the immoral brother." I note that this letter is addressed to the church at Corinth which apparently is going through some division and lack of unity. People within the church are trying to get supporters for themselves, they're carrying out their own selfish agendas within the church and messing it up. So Paul may be specifically talking about these people. He definitely does speak rather harshly about someone claiming to follow Christ but living differently. I tend to err on the side of mercy and not judging at all, though it would seem Paul wants me to think a little bit about that.
He differentiates between people that claim to be Christians and those that don't. He says:
I have written you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people - not at all meaning the people of this world who are immoral, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters. In that case you would have to leave this world. But now I am writing you that you must not associate with anyone who calls himself a brother but is sexually immoral or greedy, an idolater or a slanderer, a drunkard or a swindler. With such a man do not even eat. What business is it of mine to judge those outside the church? Are you not to judge those inside? God will judge those outside. "Expel the wicked man from among you." -1 Cor. 5:9-13 (NIV)
I'm glad this isn't the only passage dealing with intrachurch discipline. There is a process to go through, you don't just 'expel' people when they do something wrong, because we all do wrong things. But this does communicate the idea that there comes a point when you have to tell someone that what they're doing is wrong and you will not tolerate it within the Body, especially if they are causing strife.
That's all for now.
12.02.2003
let's see how this works
I've got this idea to post up here each day what I've read out of the Bible and some of my thoughts/reflections/questions etc about part of what I've read. Not because I am the holder of any particularly useful insight, but because I think it'd be useful in the very least for me. It will help me to consider more fully what I'm reading and to process it a little bit. Maybe you will get something from what I write, or maybe you can help me with questions I may have, or maybe you'll get bored by it all and not pay attention. All of those things are fine...that's just something I want to try to do with my site here. I will still post as much as I currently do about other things, but I want to add this as a constant to this blog. That way I may have some kind of reason for people to come back regularly. Anyway, blah blah blah, that's the deal with this.
I am currently reading through 2 Chronicles in the Old Testament and 1 Corinthians in the New Testament.
Today I read Chapters 4-6 of 2 Chronicles, and Chapter 2 of 2 Chronicles.
In 2 Chronicles 6 Solomon prays to God to ask Him for various things. His prayer seems to focus on asking God to forgive those who honestly ask for it. The passage that stuck out to me most though was this:
This is similar to Matthew 5:22-24 where Jesus tells people to set their relationships right with others before they worship God. To me this shows a God very concerned with the way we treat other people and with the status of our relationships. We can't treat other people poorly, hate them or hold bitterness against them, and at the same time worship God in the way He wants us to. That's a pretty big thing. I also like how it communicates a constancy between the God of the OT and the God of the NT, who so many people like to say are night-and-day different.
1 Corinthians 2:1-5 talks about how when we talk about God it's not about being clever or convincing others with what we know. Preaching/talking about God should be about Him and His power to change hearts, not about our own cleverness. I wish I would have learned that lesson in high school when I was so concerned with arguing the right way to win people over to my point of view.
I've got this idea to post up here each day what I've read out of the Bible and some of my thoughts/reflections/questions etc about part of what I've read. Not because I am the holder of any particularly useful insight, but because I think it'd be useful in the very least for me. It will help me to consider more fully what I'm reading and to process it a little bit. Maybe you will get something from what I write, or maybe you can help me with questions I may have, or maybe you'll get bored by it all and not pay attention. All of those things are fine...that's just something I want to try to do with my site here. I will still post as much as I currently do about other things, but I want to add this as a constant to this blog. That way I may have some kind of reason for people to come back regularly. Anyway, blah blah blah, that's the deal with this.
I am currently reading through 2 Chronicles in the Old Testament and 1 Corinthians in the New Testament.
Today I read Chapters 4-6 of 2 Chronicles, and Chapter 2 of 2 Chronicles.
In 2 Chronicles 6 Solomon prays to God to ask Him for various things. His prayer seems to focus on asking God to forgive those who honestly ask for it. The passage that stuck out to me most though was this:
If a man sins against his neighbor and is made to take an oath, and he comes and takes an oath before Your altar in this house, then hear from heaven and act and judge Your servants, punishing the wicked by bringing his way on his own head and justifying the righteous by giving him according to his righteousness. - 2 Chr. 6:22-23 (NASB)
This is similar to Matthew 5:22-24 where Jesus tells people to set their relationships right with others before they worship God. To me this shows a God very concerned with the way we treat other people and with the status of our relationships. We can't treat other people poorly, hate them or hold bitterness against them, and at the same time worship God in the way He wants us to. That's a pretty big thing. I also like how it communicates a constancy between the God of the OT and the God of the NT, who so many people like to say are night-and-day different.
1 Corinthians 2:1-5 talks about how when we talk about God it's not about being clever or convincing others with what we know. Preaching/talking about God should be about Him and His power to change hearts, not about our own cleverness. I wish I would have learned that lesson in high school when I was so concerned with arguing the right way to win people over to my point of view.
11.29.2003
The happy couple. I'm tired right now so there isn't much ado about the picture, I just wanted to put it up because I finally got my home computer's internet connection working again. This pic was taken in October at a diner in Carlsbad - we didn't even know about the Coke poster in the background until it was developed.
11.26.2003
uber
Okay so I have now notified the proper authorities and I can post this here: I am now officially engaged to the most amazing woman ever to walk the earth.
On November 14th I called Janelle around 6 in the morning as I usually do. She was in Santa Ana at a conference for Campus Crusade and I told her something was supposed to be delivered to her room. When she opened her hotel room door to check for the delivery she found me with a dozen roses and an engagement ring. I asked her to marry me and she said yes. So yeah, I'm engaged now. Just thought I'd throw that out to share with y'all. I meant to post it up here earlier but wanted to make sure that I told everybody I was supposed to first. AFAIK that's been done. So yeah I'm lucky, luckier than you. Or maybe I should say blessed, because lucky doesn't really give God the credit the way it should. So yeah, I'm blessed, big time.
Okay so I have now notified the proper authorities and I can post this here: I am now officially engaged to the most amazing woman ever to walk the earth.
On November 14th I called Janelle around 6 in the morning as I usually do. She was in Santa Ana at a conference for Campus Crusade and I told her something was supposed to be delivered to her room. When she opened her hotel room door to check for the delivery she found me with a dozen roses and an engagement ring. I asked her to marry me and she said yes. So yeah, I'm engaged now. Just thought I'd throw that out to share with y'all. I meant to post it up here earlier but wanted to make sure that I told everybody I was supposed to first. AFAIK that's been done. So yeah I'm lucky, luckier than you. Or maybe I should say blessed, because lucky doesn't really give God the credit the way it should. So yeah, I'm blessed, big time.
11.18.2003
11.03.2003
mike yac
Mike Yaconelli died a few days ago. You may not know who Mike was, but I certainly do. Mike was the founder of Youth Specialties and a totally amazing man of God. I suppose I can't really describe how much this guy inspired me; not as a youth minister but as a follower of Christ. Mike was so all about being real, being honest, and falling at the feet of Christ. He has had a big influence on me and the way I live my walk. Mike constantly reminded us to love God and love kids. Don't worry about numbers in your groups, cheer when smoking druggie kids come to your church, be honest about how messy your life is. Live a life radically devoted to Christ, walking with Him daily and resting in Him. Being real when you are far from God, and realizing that you are such a work in progress. I have never really been sad before at the death of a celebrity, or an author, or speaker, or someone I don't personally know. I met Mike once at a conference but he was such a real guy and honest heart that I felt like I knew him in some way. He inspired me so much and I am truly sad to see him go.
You owe it to yourself to read his books and listen to any of his tapes that you can find. This man was honestly visionary and such an inspiration. I will miss hearing him and I look forward to seeing him again on the other side of eternity. I sincerely hope that Jesus is patting him on the back, and I fully believe he is hearing "well done good and faithful servant."
One thing I loved about Mike was the fact that he challenged others to think differently but at the same time he was such a humble man. Truly a sinner saved by grace, and he never let himself forget that. From the above article:
I hope I'm as messy as him when I grow up.
Mike Yaconelli died a few days ago. You may not know who Mike was, but I certainly do. Mike was the founder of Youth Specialties and a totally amazing man of God. I suppose I can't really describe how much this guy inspired me; not as a youth minister but as a follower of Christ. Mike was so all about being real, being honest, and falling at the feet of Christ. He has had a big influence on me and the way I live my walk. Mike constantly reminded us to love God and love kids. Don't worry about numbers in your groups, cheer when smoking druggie kids come to your church, be honest about how messy your life is. Live a life radically devoted to Christ, walking with Him daily and resting in Him. Being real when you are far from God, and realizing that you are such a work in progress. I have never really been sad before at the death of a celebrity, or an author, or speaker, or someone I don't personally know. I met Mike once at a conference but he was such a real guy and honest heart that I felt like I knew him in some way. He inspired me so much and I am truly sad to see him go.
You owe it to yourself to read his books and listen to any of his tapes that you can find. This man was honestly visionary and such an inspiration. I will miss hearing him and I look forward to seeing him again on the other side of eternity. I sincerely hope that Jesus is patting him on the back, and I fully believe he is hearing "well done good and faithful servant."
One thing I loved about Mike was the fact that he challenged others to think differently but at the same time he was such a humble man. Truly a sinner saved by grace, and he never let himself forget that. From the above article:
Last year, Yaconelli wrote in his latest book, Messy Spirituality, "I just want to be remembered as a person who loved God, who served others more than he served himself, who was trying to grow in maturity and stability. I want to have more victories than defeats, yet here I am, almost 60, and I fail on a regular basis.
"If I were to die today, I would be nervous about what people would say at my funeral. I would be happy if they said things like 'He was a nice guy' or 'He was occasionally decent' or 'Mike wasn't as bad as a lot of people.' Unfortunately, eulogies are delivered by people who know the deceased. I know what the consensus would be. 'Mike was a mess.'"
I hope I'm as messy as him when I grow up.
the niners are so schizo
Halloween was a better time than I initially imagined. Had some random people over for a party at Laura's behest. Turned out well, I enjoyed playing the host and explaining how awesome Janelle is to interested people. The wallpaper in my room survived its first real exposure to the general public and I made it out with very little actual ridicule.
Saw bits and pieces of "The Big Hit," enough to realize I need to watch the movie all the way through. I love movies that don't take themselves seriously. There's a lot to be said for that kind of attitude, in life and in art. Not that I'm calling that movie art, mind you. I'm just saying. Pretentiousness is lame.
I'm still alive, just letting you know that. I swear at some point in the future I'll have interesting things to say to you all. This is a very interesting time of life. It's weird, I'm busy but I'm not entirely certain where all the time goes. I sure don't spend it typing in here.
Oh yeah, you should all read the Old Testament. It really has some good stories. And I swear, I feel like I'm learning so much about God's character through reading it. The way He deals with people and whatnot. Also, you may be familiar with the sentiment that God changes character in the Bible. That is, in the Old Testament He is a vengeful, lightning-chucking deity, while in the New Testament He is a docile hippy of a Creator. Those are both mischaracterizations, evidence of a sad misunderstanding regarding (1) who God is and (2) what the Bible says. God is totally stinkin' awesome, and loving, righteous, just, perfect, and holy. That is such a constant throughout the Bible. Anyway.
Halloween was a better time than I initially imagined. Had some random people over for a party at Laura's behest. Turned out well, I enjoyed playing the host and explaining how awesome Janelle is to interested people. The wallpaper in my room survived its first real exposure to the general public and I made it out with very little actual ridicule.
Saw bits and pieces of "The Big Hit," enough to realize I need to watch the movie all the way through. I love movies that don't take themselves seriously. There's a lot to be said for that kind of attitude, in life and in art. Not that I'm calling that movie art, mind you. I'm just saying. Pretentiousness is lame.
I'm still alive, just letting you know that. I swear at some point in the future I'll have interesting things to say to you all. This is a very interesting time of life. It's weird, I'm busy but I'm not entirely certain where all the time goes. I sure don't spend it typing in here.
Oh yeah, you should all read the Old Testament. It really has some good stories. And I swear, I feel like I'm learning so much about God's character through reading it. The way He deals with people and whatnot. Also, you may be familiar with the sentiment that God changes character in the Bible. That is, in the Old Testament He is a vengeful, lightning-chucking deity, while in the New Testament He is a docile hippy of a Creator. Those are both mischaracterizations, evidence of a sad misunderstanding regarding (1) who God is and (2) what the Bible says. God is totally stinkin' awesome, and loving, righteous, just, perfect, and holy. That is such a constant throughout the Bible. Anyway.
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