day #23–question #23

average joes

what ever happened to this shirt?

i “acquired” this shirt from eric landry years ago. eric bought it from a kid in nicaragua. it is an “average joe’s gym” shirt from the movie “dodgeball: a true underdog story.” it is awesome and therefore i stole it from eric. it is the kind of thing i do. after stealing the shirt from eric i started wearing it to various places, take photos of myself in the shirt, and then sending them to eric. here’s an example, and another, and another. mocking can be fun for everyone. i’m sure eric enjoyed it. i know i did. 🙂

anyhow, all the mocking changed in january of this year when eric stole the shirt back, i then stole it back again from him, and then it disappeared. it just vanished. i’ve been waiting for it to reappear with eric but that hasn’t happened yet. i’m flummoxed. where could it be? i really miss that shirt and sending photos to eric.

day #21–question #21

why am i taking so long to finish the proposal for my dissertation?

i honestly don’t know. i can offer quite a few excuses but they are just excuses. it i time for me to get very serious about finishing my proposal and getting it approved.

and now a bonus question

why does the church so often reduce discipleship to mere bible study?

while studying the bible is an important part of being a disciple, discipleship is not just bible study.

i believe that JESUS teaches us through HIS example that discipleship is all about people becoming followers of HIM. after all, HIS call to HIS disciples was “come follow me.”  following JESUS is the goal of discipleship. studying the bible is one of the means for learning to follow JESUS but it is not the end in itself. still it is a very good means. my problem is that it seems to me that far to often we CHRISTians reduce discipleship to just one more bible study and after you finish that bible study you start another bible study. discipleship ends up becoming about biblical knowledge, and unfortunately sometimes biblical trivia, rather than about following CHRIST. over the years i have moved from viewing discipleship as mere bible study to viewing discipleship as life transformation. bible study is a very important part of the transformation of a person into a JESUS follower. i want to see people transformed into followers of CHRIST.

day #20–question #20

why would a “family size” bag of potato chips cost a dollar less at menard’s hardware store than it does at copp’s grocery store?

i have no idea.

this goes against my basic understanding of the “convenience” section of stores. typically you pay extra for being able to buy food products in places that are more convenient than going to a grocery store. yet for some reason the normal menard’s price for a “family size” bag of potato chips is a full dollar less than the normal price at our local grocery stores. it makes no sense to me. can someone tell me why? i ask this because surely menard’s isn’t using the price of these chips to draw people in to buy plumbing supplies.

catching up on questions

i was at the mwbc executive board meeting this weekend (i have no idea why i would be asked to be on our bi-state convention’s executive board but i was asked two years in a row so i finally agreed) and therefore i was little too busy to blog my questions on time. therefore, i am doing it right now

friday – day #16 – question #16

why is it that i love watching other people play football BUT i am very thankful that neither of my boys play high school football?

i feel pretty hypocritical watching other people’s kids play football while being very pleased that my own kids aren’t taking those hits nor therefore having the possibility of taking college football hits. i played football and i loved playing it. still i am glad my kids play other sports with less contact. the whole experience makes me feel as if i am watching gladiatorial games, enjoying someone else take punishment that i would never wish on those i love. i am, of course, still going to keep watching football.

 

saturday – day #17 – question #17

why do i want a tablet so badly?

i don’t know why but i really want a tablet. i check out android tablets all the time. it is not like i really need one. i use my netbook all the time. i also have access to pam’s ipad whenever i need it. pam’s ipad does have a pink cover and i am not a big fan of that but all i have to do is remove the cover when i need to use the ipad and everything is fine. so i have access to a tablet when i need it and i am typically better served by my netbook for most of the things i need to do, yet i still really want a tablet. why? i’m not sure i honestly want to know the answer to this question. i do know that this is one of the times that i am thankful for the genetic cheap gene i inherited from my dad because it keeps me from buying one. thanks dad.

 

sunday – day #18 – question #18

why don’t i just shut up when i feel like a sermon isn’t connecting rather than just trying to talk things out?

when i can tell that the message i am preaching isn’t connecting i try to word things in different ways during the message in hopes that it will begin to connect. to be honest i feel like this usually works. every now and then, tough, a message just doesn’t connect no matter what i do. i don’t feel like many of my messages fit into this category. i am not the best preacher in the world but neither am i the worst. thanks to the amazing threads of tapestry someone usually speaks up if something really isn’t connecting and they help me to reword things in such a manner that the message begins to connect with everyone. still there are times when a message goes completely awry and there is nothing i can do to correct it. those times kill me. i wonder what would happen if one time when i was sure the message was simply not connecting at all i simply stopped preaching? we could prayer, sing, or simply stop. i am curious how this would go.

 

monday – day #19 – question #19

why don’t i bathe the basset hounds once a week?

i bathed the basset hounds this afternoon. i always love the way they feel after they have had a bath. their fur is so soft. it is even more enjoyable than usual to pet them when they have been bathed recently. i usually bathe them around every 6 weeks. i really should bath them more often.

day #14–question #14

what book should i read next?

i tend to have three books going at a time: 1) a work of theology for theological growth, 2) a work of non-fiction to learn something new, and 3) a work of fiction for enjoyment and learning from the culture. i just finished “the girl who kicked the hornet’s nest” (which was pretty good though slow in the beginning, just like the previous two books in the trilogy) and now i need something else. i usually read my fiction at night before going to sleep. i am considering reading “traveller” by richard adam’s again. i’ll decide before going to bed.

i still need some other works of fiction to read in the near future. any recommendations.

day #13–question #13

is there a way to use an android phone without having a data plan? (i.e. can i use an android phone on a regular phone plan?)

i don’t need or want a data plan for a phone but i do want a smart phone for some of the apps. i would love to get a smart phone that had wifi capability and then be able to use it but i can’t justify paying $300 extra a year just to use a few apps.

day #12–question #12

why didn’t i get involved in a church plant sooner?

the short answer here is GOD but i do have a reason for asking this question. i love and miss my years in youth ministry so my question isn’t about any regret of being in youth ministry. in fact, this summer i’ve enjoyed leading tapestry’s first steps into youth ministry.

i still wonder why i didn’t jump into a church plant sooner. i love our church. i love all the messed-up-ness about tapestry. some weeks are better than others but every week is amazing. i mean they seem to get better and better.

jumping out of the traditional, established church culture was very scary and still is but it is also amazing.