thanksgiving

is thanksgiving america’s modern holiday of pilgrimage? it seems that thanksgiving is the one of the least commercialized holidays within the united states yet possibly the most well traveled. holiday within the u.s. during the thanksgiving holiday you travel, eat, sleep, and watch football.

deck the halls


every thanksgiving day the fam and i go to see a movie. it’s a fun thing to do on a lazy afternoon. this year we went to see “deck the halls“. the trailer looked funny and therefore we had decent hopes for an at least adequate movie. it looked funnier than “the santa clause 3” so we felt okay about choosing it. it was a pretty decent movie until the last 10 minutes. it was during the last ten minutes that the moview began to produce more cheese than the state of wisconsin. it was so bad that pam and i started singing “calling all angels” to each other in memory of the greatest of all cheesey movies “pay it forward“. if you really like cheedar in your movies then this is worth seeing at the theater, otherwise rent it on a very dull night.

happy turkey day

happy thanksgiving to everyone. to those who called and left messages or text’s on my cell phone thanks. i would respond but i am at my parents’ house right now with no cell phone coverage for my phone or pam’s. i’ll call and wish you a happy holiday when we get back home.

JESUS project rules video

i figured i would post this for those who wanted to see it again from the JESUS project.

my run for the day
distance – 3.0 miles
total time – 28:30
pace – 9:30/mile
note – up and down a half mile hill – very different from running in flat baton rouge

thank you, information, and a rant

three things i need to say:

  • thank you – to everyone who made our fall retreat (the JESUS project) a success. thank you for your time and willingness to be a part of the weekend.
  • see you tomorrow – i just wanted to remind anyone who is reading this thing that tomorrow we will not have a normal “view” at church. instead we are doing a potluck together. i’m deep frying chicken for everyone. else join us in the student center at 6:15 p.m. and bring something for everyone to eat.
  • my rant – i’m tired of people sending me protest emails that are unfounded. i’ve received three this week (and it’s only tuesday). all three of them have been based on unfounded or at least inaccurate information. i don’t expect businesses to act like they are believers because most of them are not. i do expect businesses to be run ethically and treat people fairly but i don’t expect them to spread a gospel they don’t have as their highest priority. i figure it’s believer’s jobs to spread the gospel – not unbelievers.

my run for the day
distance – 3.0 miles
total time – 24:35
pace – 8:12/mile

[Listening to: I Need You – Jars of Clay – The Eleventh Hour (3:40)]

now, for the rest of the story

thursday i was listening to paul harvey and was stunned by what i heard him say. during his normal routine of slightly funny stories and personal experience based commercials harvey read a study on whether or not people actually listen to commercials on the radio. he said the study showed that most people actually did listen to the commercials and this prompted him to say over and over again “good for you.” he then began to expound why it was good for us to listen to the commercials by saying that often the commercials that we heard were more true than the stories of the programs/news we would be listening to. he stated that if it wasn’t for commercials we wouldn’t know that there really was a bed that could help us be healthier by improving our sleep or that there was a radio that could produce sound so true to the source that you couldn’t tell the difference between it and a live concert. i kept waiting for him to laugh or something. sadly he didn’t. it’s hard to believe that at one time paul harvey was pretty controversial. at an early age pam and i taught our kids to shout at the t.v. “that’s a lie” whenever they saw a commercial that was making false claims (which is quite often).

thursday i was shouting “that’s a lie” at paul harvey.

my run for the day
distance – 4.1 miles
total time – 35:54
pace – 8:45/mile

should CHRISTians preach against sports?

almost twenty years ago tony campolo wrote an article within his book “twenty hot potatoes CHRISTians are afraid to touch” called “should pastors preach against footbal.” if i could find a link to the article online i would link to it for all of you to read. as i remember it campolo’s point was that football within america had reached a point where it might be causing more trouble than it is worth. he discussed not just the amount of resources put into the game but also the way families are effected by an intense love of the sport.

now before i say anything else i want to say that i love the game of football (and sports in general). for a significant part of my childhood and youth playing football was very important. my family took me to practice, we went to games, and we watched games regularly. i still love football. there is little that is more inspiring than a great sports story and watching college games on saturday and pro games on sunday are both enjoyable times for me (both conscious and unconscious).

yet i’m really getting to a point where i am disturbed by almost all the “major” sports within america. this week i went to a middle school basketball parent meeting where it was said that the purpose of the middle school program was not to win middle school championships but rather to act as a feeder program for the high school basketball team. the coach said the middle school team’s purpose was to make it where the high school team could win championships. these were 6th,7th, & 8th grade kids that are now a part of a “feeder program” for high school sports. of course, this is nothing new for some middle school football programs.

there is so much more than a simple parent meeting that concerns me. parents sent home with play books and drill books so that they can practice their kids when they are at home (i’m all for dads and sons doing things together – but is it really family time when all you do is practice for a sport? – for some this might be “yes” because they are able to do this with their child and make it a bonding time). kids who are basically in year round practice that is done in ways to avoid the state regulations (practices with the coach sitting in the stands rather than being on the field). team programs that constantly sell their kids supplements to encourage a body shape that probably won’t be kept after high school. these are all things that concern me.

the catch for me is that i really love the good aspects of sports. i love seeing a team form together and strive after a common goal. i love seeing people push beyond themselves in order to achieve what others think is impossible. there is so much that is good about sports which is why i encourage my own kids to play and participate (though within the past few years i have become much more in favor of promoting the non-major sports – i.e. wrestling, running, etc). i’m just concerned at this point.

the retreat videoes


as i have posted over the past couple of entries i have mentioned some of the animations i’ve made for our fall retreat that is coming up next weekend. to goof off a little before each gathering we’re going to starteach one with a random “up front” game. to add a little most ziest to these games i’ve set up sound effects for each one and i am working on videoes to introduce each one. i finished the rough draft on the first one today. this is just the rough cut of the video. i’ll be making more changes tomorrow.