Month: February 2006

when is it that you no longer have zits? i would have thought it was around 38 but apparently that’s not true because i am now the proud owner of a monster. this little puppy has been developing over the past couple of days and this morning it blossomed from a “little puppy” to a HUGE DAWG! it’s so large that when my oldest son saw it he shouted “wow! dad, when did that mole grow on your face?” thanks son. as you can tell he is a real barnabas.

don’t you hate it when people much younger than yourself show you how to do things? this past sunday our college ministry (people who i am honored to know) birthed a church. many of them have been dreaming about this for the past eight years. they have been working hard and heavy on this thing for the past year solid. they have done things right. so right in fact that our state denominational convention has decided to support them as a church plant. the cool thing is that these guys & girls were starting the church long before they even found out that there would be support from the state denominational or associational denominational offices. they aren’t dependent upon outside money to help them. i’ve learned allot watching them. i hate it when i get taught such amazing lessons but running nose little kids. 🙂

i am very proud to know these men & women.

i just wanted to publicly say “THANKS” to the guys & girls who helped me with the “image of GOD” sermon i did this past sunday. some of you posted your thoughts on this blog and many more of you gave up your time to discuss with me (voluntarily or reluctantly) what it means to be human. all of you became a part of the content of the message. thanks.

if you would like to hear the message here it is. I’VE UPDATED THIS NOW.

SIDE NOTE – the above picture is my favorite photo of myself. i just find it freaky. it looks like i could have just burned your house down, eaten your snack food, chopped down the trees in your front yard, thorn up your newspaper, run over your dog and enjoyed it so much that i backed over it again just to spite you. of course, pam hates this photo which makes it all the more fun to bring out every now and then. i use this photo anytime i need a photo of myself in a powerpoint. of course, it’s not often that i need a photo of myself but if i do then this is the one i use.

i’m doing research on a sermon for tomorrow on the imagio dei and i just found the above cartoon. it made me laugh because that’s pretty much the mindset that i’m trying to preach against (the idea of someone created in the image of GOD being used as an object).

the onion had an interesting article from the right reverend michael barrodale. rev. barrodale “honestly” declares “i am but a vessel through which GOD drones on indefinitely” and that none of what he says or does comes from his own needs or interests. of course, rev. barrodale is unlike most of the minsters i know, including myself, who have to constantly be on the watch for where their own needs and desires sneak into the ministry. i have to admit that i enjoy people wanting my opinion on things. i enjoy people considering what i say as important. if i’m not careful this enjoyment can begin to direct my actions within the ministry in which i am involved. i can start forcing my opinion and voice into conversations.

it happens in ministries all around us. if you are in the ministry you’ve probably seen ministers whose own interest, desires, and psychological needs have begun to direct their actions within their ministry. sometimes they speak longer and louder because they need to, rather than because GOD truly wants them to. if you’ve been to seminary you’ve probably seen people that if you had to guess you would probably guess were studying to be a minister merely because of their own needs and desires – they need to be someone important, to have some clout. the real problem for me here is that it’s just to easy for me to do this too and thus it’s not a problem that just “they” have.

i have to watch out for this all the time. i want to be someone who follows GOD’s desires rather than merely placing HIS name on my own agendas.

pam, my cute, intelligent wife, pointed me to the following video from some university prof’s studies on human observation. first time through watch the video to see how many times the white team passes the basketball to each other. the second time you watch the video just watch the video and see if you notice anything. this stat will probably mess up the experiment but i’ll try it anyway – 58% of the people who view the video don’t see anything odd the first time.

cool huh?

this thing has “ILLUSTRATION” written all over it. if you go to parkview, plan on going to parkview, or ever plan on having me speak at this church DON’T USE THIS VIDEO. if you do i will hunt you down and shoot you like a dog. you have been warned. 🙂

at the beginning of the super bowl noah, my youngest child, was a dyed in the wool seattle seahawks fan. a few minutes ago he announced he was actually merely an “undercover”seahawks fan. since it is the second half as i write this he says that he can now come out of his disguise and root for the pittsburgh steelers who he has actually been pulling for the whole time. surely the fact that the steelers are presently winning has nothing to do with his decision to acknowledge his alleginace for the steelers. surely i have raised him better than to be a “front runner.”