So it begins

In honor of starting my last year of seminary.

(Keep an eye on the synchronized guitar swaying. Its a lost art...it really is.)

Facebook | Videos from Kenya or Bust '09: The First Kenya Informational Meeting

Here is our first Kenya Informational Meeting. For all you parents visiting...this is a blog...lol! Just click the link below and play the video. You are now technologically advanced!

Facebook Videos from Kenya or Bust '09: The First Kenya Informational Meeting

Man points down the drain

Shaina is at work. I just finished up at the pizza shop for the day, went to get my haircut and then got home. Fixed myself a hot juicy man-burger, with sunchips and macaroni salad to boot. I decided to go down to the man cave, a.k.a. the basement and throw something on while I ate.

Keep in mind we have basic cable, which is about 25 channels, many of which are either Spanish or religious, so remove those and theres basically like 8 channels. I flipped to TBS, generally a surefire place to spend a lunch break mindlessly watching something.

Not so today...A Walk to Remember was on. As soon as I saw it, the batteries must have disintegrated in the remote or something because I watched the last half hour of it with out once changing the channel.

To make matters worse, either the spices I added to my burger got to me or I was freakin' tearing up.

Is it ok to watch a chick flick? Yes...if there is a lady you are trying to impress with you.
Is it ok to tear up at a chick flick? See above answer.

I feel filthy. I had to watch the first 5 minutes of Home Improvement just to cover up the smell of femininity coming from the man cave.

Alright Man-fession...what one movie would you secretly watch by yourself and even tear up at?
Ladies, ever caught your fellow watching a chick flick when you weren't even around?

The Cuban Pizza Prophet

I work at a pizza shop part time. I do the early morning pizza prep jobs like making dough, rolling out the dough and making sauce. Recently I met a new hire, Luigi who just made his way to Smithville with stops in Miami, Central America and Cuba. He was born and raised in Cuba and is a stellar feller.

He is a Christian and is adjusting to life in the U.S. We worked together yesterday and I just wanted to share some of the profound things that he said. (It is best to read these aloud with as thick a Spanish accent as you can muster."

1. "Today I work in the morning and then have to come back and work this evening. Then tomorrow I have to work 12 hours and I am exhausted."

2. "The American Church is dying because they have forgotten about God."

3. "You Americans have replaced Jesus with other gods...work, money, houses, cars...you have to have the best new car...you have forgotten God."

4. "There is no time for me be with Jesus. Every day I have to repent and ask forgiveness because I have not spent enough time with my Lord...but I am trying the best I can."

5. "The Methodist Church here in America is dying, but in Cuba it is not dying!"

6. "I try to find a sermon on tv and I find pornography. This is not good."

7. "Churches here have pastors who go to a seminary, but they are bad. They do bad things and they forget to invite people to Jesus for salvation."
__________________________________________

Any of these hit you like they hit me?

Important

Dear Mrs. Pro Life Ballot Lady

Dear Pro Lifer,
I have noticed recently that the word Evangelical no longer has much to do with the Gospel of Jesus Christ but instead has a lot to do with a social/political agenda. I don't blame you for this, but I do blame you when one issue, namely abortion causes you to check all Republican boxes on your ballot. It seems like being pro life for the unborn child yet pro capital punishment makes you a little hypocritical doesn't it? It seems like praying outside abortion clinics and then praying for God to bless our troops in the war in Iraq and Afghanistan... (rather than blessing the troops of the enemy...didn't some dude say we should be praying for our enemies?)...it seems that doesn't line up. It seems like when you vote a republican ticket that is allegedly 'pro-life', shouldn't it have more of a anti-poverty stance?

After all, you are advocating life right? Don't the electric chair, the AK-47 and the unjust distribution of wealth and taxation all lead to a cessation of life? Yet you are so passionate, with your 'abortion kills' tee shirts, your creative signs, disturbing images and million man marches (which all, by the way...don't offer much grace or healing to those struggling through the aftermath of a decision to end the life of their unborn child). I admire your passion and I believe the cause is an important one, but maybe you should be called something else...Pro-baby birth? Anti-infanticide? I'm sure you could come up with something more pithy. Just wanted to say 'hey'.

Your pro-life, non-partisan, largely apolitical, friend,

Ben

p.s. I don't sound very apolitical do I? haha.

Ok, sound off...you hate me yet? Want me dead? That's not a very pro-life attitude! haha. What do you think?

Take time to laugh

Michael Phelps at a very early age. haha. Thanks to Ben Witherington III's blog for this

Thanks alot

I was talking to a lady from church yesterday. She was talking about how the electric company in town had received a thank you from an elementary school class for all their hard work after the recent power outages by the remnant of Hurricane Ike. The electric company apparently never receives thank yous and since this was their first, they decided to show their appreciation for the kids appreciation and go visit the class.

I drove by the school on my way to the church this morning and wouldn't you know it, a couple guys from the electric company were there with one of their giant trucks and all the kids were just looking up in awe at these cool visitors.

The power of thanks is lost isn't it? All week, amidst the aftermath of the storms, while many were without power for days, the complaint was pretty consistent...what the heck is taking so long? why isn't the electric company doing anything about this?

I know we've all been there, to point where you're physically, emotionally and spiritually spent and feel underappreciated, underacknowledged, and suddenly undermotivated. Those moments where people say that you have done something meaningful is the only thing that keeps you from throwing in the towel. Think about it...who do you need to go out of your way to thank today? Make it meaningful. Plant a mustard seed.

Greatest Sporting Event of the Year

I don't know if you all had time this weekend to take in the Ryder Cup at Valhalla in Kentucky, but it is some of the most exciting golf imaginable. (I know some of you don't generally put golf and excitement in the same sentence). The Ryder Cup is a group of the best American golfers competing against a group of the best European golfers in a three day, team event. It happens every few years (maybe every three?) and is stinkin' fun.

First, professional golf is typically an individual sport, so to have a team event that puts each team member in a team atmosphere, depending and being depended on by other teammates is just a great atmosphere. If you watched yesterday as the U.S. moved toward recapturing their first Cup since the 90's, you saw crowds going nuts, golfers with more passion than they have at any individual event and some of the most intense moments ever to happen on a golf course.

So that's the Monday Question...What is the best sporting event around? World Series? Super Bowl? Olympics? Competitive Eating? Weigh in!

Dear Romeo Crennel

Dear Mr. Head Coach of the Browns,

Ok buddy, heres the deal. You have been with the Browns for three years and I have to admit the excitement levels have been up since your arrival. Last year's draft may have been front page news across the country, and then to come out and go 10-6 when the world believed you'd be lucky to win 5 games, that was equally impressive.

But here's the deal. The bar is set higher now. All the pieces are said to be in place. You have high caliber players on offense and your bosses spent all sorts of money on the defense.

And you're 0-2. Yes, I realize the Cowboys are pretty dominant and have to be considered the NFC favorite and maybe the superbowl favorite, but you could have at least had your team show up for that game. And Pittsburgh? No excuse. You are 0-5 against them or something horrendous like that. You can go 2 -14 and we'd call it a success if your two wins were against the steelers. Yes, they are a tough team, but they are in the division and if you want to be known as the team to beat in the AFC North then you have to beat that team of women from PA.

I've decided your job is on the line. This is do or die week for you. You have to go into Baltimore and take one from them and then take one from Cincy too the following week or you're done. To add insult to injury, if you don't pull off two wins in the next two weeks, we will hire Bill Cowher as sickening as that sounds. No pressure buddy, but its now or never.

Your potential #1 fan,

Ben

New Blogtastic Feature

I got a new feature added to my blog. It's a Bible reference tag. Any time I write a scripture reference, it automatically converts it so that you can put your mouse over the reference and see the passage right there. Try it here: Isaiah 3:17

You can get this pretty easy on your blog at www.logos.com/reftagger

Jesus For President

A few months ago I read portions of a book called "Jesus For President" by Shane Claiborne. I found myself agreeing with many of his statements. People in our country are so concerned with politics. Obviously now, Obama and McCain have taken center stage, and apparently we hope that the right candidate wins so that change can fix the messed up system we are in.

This political agenda is found in many Americans, including many who call Jesus their Lord. Shouldn't this raise red flags? (not with white stripes and stars). Any novice who reads the scriptures sees that things generally went downhill and God became increasingly distant after they booted Him from the Theocratic head of state for Israel and replaced him with a king (Saul).

Fast forward and what is Jesus most concerned about? His Kingdom! Jesus seems to be ushering in a new movement that reseats God where only God should rightfully be...on the throne.

Yet 250 years after Jesus, Constantine comes on the scene, forces Christianity and the government to be bedfellows and whammo, ever since, we have placed way too high of significance on who the political leader is.

The government will not solve poverty. They've failed since democracy began. The government will not solve pro-life vs. pro-choice debates. Our government will not provide adequate, affordable healthcare for all citizens. Our government will certainly not bring peace.

Why you ask? Because God is seeking for his bride to solve these issues. The more the Church engages in the mustard revolution, the more God's kingdom is cemented into our world.

Neither McCain or Obama can bring the change they promise or you hope for.

"Enough with the Elephants and Donkeys...Long Live the Lamb" Shane Claiborne

--I know there are those who disagree...Engage me on this. Why should I vote? Why should I care about politics?

Dear Mr. Worship Artist

Dear Mr. (or Mrs.) Worship Artist,
I appreciate that you have written your own songs and I trust that you poured out your spiritual heart in doing so and that it has not been some endeavor with other agendas.

However, I did want to express some concerns that I have. It is my understanding that we have the same ultimate goal (Matthew 28). So I was wondering if you had thought about the copyright laws that you are maintaining on your music. I know I know, you want to make a living and I get that, but don't your album sales, your concert appearances and your interviews and such provide you stable income? Why then force people to purchase the right to use your song in worship? If you really had a heart for leading God's people into God's presence, wouldn't you want to do that without any reservations, snafus or hang ups?

I point to Acts 2 when the believers are said to have all things in common. Why then this property war? If I want to use a song by you, why should I have to pay a licensing fee and register that I am using your song? Why can't you relinquish your ownership of the song, the words, the tune, the chords for the sake of the Church?

I just came out of a staff meeting that has mentioned that image sharing is also to be viewed in light of copyright laws. So if I come across a sweet picture of the cross, I can't use it unless I have bought the rights to it, asked permission, etc. There is a reason that Capitalism and the way of the Mustard Seed do not go together.

So Mr. Worship Artist, what are you going to do, seek self gain? Use the gifts God has planted in you to reap your own treasure? Its your call. I will respect you either way, but if it comes down to you and the artist who has humbly relinquished the rights to their song for all to use, your song will lose every time.

Your friend in the Mustard Cause,
Ben

Living Philippians 2:5-11

I had someone come up to me who was discouraged that her mother was not a Christian and did not attend church. She herself has only been a believer for a short time.

I really felt the Lord move me to tell her to check out Philippians 2:5-11

5Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: 6Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, 7but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. 8And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death— even death on a cross! 9Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, 10that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

I challenged her to figure out a way to 'radically serve' her mom. I think sometimes we are so concerned with telling people about the change that we have experienced in Christ that we forget to show them the change we have experienced. I went about my week and ran into her later in the week and she was grinning from ear to ear. Apparently her mom's car had something wrong with it and was getting serviced. She decided to pay for the expenses, unbeknownst to her mom. Her mom later found out, hugged her and cried. She then asked her daughter to pray for her grandma.

Serving others is what Christ did. Our attitude should be like his. If we want to see a world transformed for God, how will we choose to serve?

A Tale of Two Adams

I'm sitting on my lunch break for day four of my week long class on "The Doctrine of the Holy Spirit". Dr. Luke Keefer took us through the first 8 chapters of Romans and did a phenomenal job. He is one of my favorite professors because he always utilizes his soapbox in very effective ways. He will lecture, lecture, lecture and then whammo, it turns into a sermon about the state of the church. Today was no exception.

He was discussing Romans 5:12-19 about the two Adams, the first being Adam from Eden and the second being that of Christ. He talked about how the readers (presumably Roman Jews) were strapped to the Law of the OT which forced them to remain in the old Adam. There was a custom for capital punishment in Asia Minor (an area Paul would have frequented in ministry) that punished a murderer by strapping the corpse of the victim to the murderer's back, arm to arm, leg to leg, back to back, until the murderer himself died. It is this notion that Paul picks up on in chapters 5-8. The Jews were strapped to their spouse, the Law (notice the marriage metaphor in chapter 7). The Law was a bad spouse and they needed to turn to the New Adam and embrace Christ.

Something happens when we place our identity in the 2nd Adam. The score is not settled, Jesus did not even the score...he total obliviated the score. Jesus' payment on the cross far outweighs the totality of sin. If Satan's score was 100, the New Adam's was 100000000. The solution was far greater than the problem.

Here's the problem in our North American churches. Many Christians live as though first Adam still has dominion or mastery of their lives. They remain entrenched in sin, defeated, discouraged, and quite frankly ineffective in their call to Christ.

What needs to take place is that we realign our identity with the second adam in powerful ways. We need to know that we are MORE THAN CONQUERORS in Christ Jesus! Death no longer has victory. It no longer has sting. We are ransomed by Christ, we are resurrected with Christ, We are co-heirs of our Father the Most High Emperor. When we let the Holy Spirit lead us into this new identity we have the power and authority to stand against evil/temptation and simply say "That is not who I am."

What do you think? Which Adam do you live under?

Sinful Disobedience by Peter in Acts 1?

Here's an interesting twist to the Bible. In Acts 1, Jesus commands the 11 disciples (Judas is dead) to wait and pray until the Spirit was sent to them. They started out great...sitting, praying, waiting. Then, like many churches today, they decided to hold an adminstrative meeting. Jesus wasn't there and neither was the Spirit. Peter wanted to fill the void left by Judas' betrayal and suicide. They rolled dice to see who would win. Matthias wins the 12th spot and is never heard from again in the scriptures.

What if they would have listened to Jesus and waited for the Spirit to come? Perhaps God had a 12th in the works...Perhaps his name was Paul. Think about it! Paul had a heck of a time proving his apostolic status to those he was ministering to because he wasn't one of the 12. If the disciples would have waited, would Paul have joined them?

It can only be speculative at this point but the point is this: we sure do a lot of things without waiting on the Spirit's guidance don't we? I know I do. Even when an idea is birthed in my heart by the Spirit, I simply say 'ok' and go and try to accomplish it without waiting on his breath to lead me.

Can you relate?

I'm Sad

Browns 10
Cowboys 28

I'm Happy

We had our "first annual" cornhole tournament and GPS kickoff event on Sunday.

Here are some of the highlights.

We weren't sure how many teams to expect at the cornhole tourney. Thus we had no idea how to form the bracket. 64 teams signed up. Perfect for a single elimination bracket!

We found out that the store had lost our bun order for hot dog buns. Big problem. We prayed. As soon as we said Amen, the phone rang and they had found the order and would have them ready for us. Big Solution.

We had many people there who were not from the church. Our church folks spent time with them, getting to know them, making them feel welcome, etc.

We probably had 200 people there which was a great turnout and is perhaps the start of something new.

It was a great day.

I'm Angry

On Sunday, Shaina and I had a big day. We had to pick up a few things from WalMart to prepare for a big event/outreach the church was doing for the Wadsworth Community.

We had to get our stuff in record time, so I went in one door and she went in the other and we agreed to meet back out at the car.

I beat her back and got in the car to go pick her up. This is the scene that took place.

I saw a lady unload her cart and then put it on the little grassy area that divides parking sections. How hard would it have been to walk it 30 steps away to the nearest cart return space?

Then I saw a random cart rolling across the parking lot. I proceeded to pick up Shaina and noticed that a young woman who was Asian and spoke broken English had just turned from her vehicle, where she was loading something in, to her cart to grab the next thing. Only, her cart was gone! It had rolled across and ended up either bumping another lady who was unloading her cart, or bumping her car. Keep in mind it was moving about as fast as I run (slowly). I drove by and watched the remaining interaction in my mirror. The Asian girl, timidly but playfully realized her cart had pulled one over on her at the same time that the older lady realized she had been assaulted by a slow moving cart. The lady looked outraged, started yelling at the Asian girl and then shoved the cart violently either at her or into her vehicle.

Welcome to America my Asian friend, a land where you are more likely to get shot at, mugged or raped before you will be welcomed into someone's home. A land that needs mustard hope.

September Diet Update

Monday-ran a mile ate salad for lunch grilled chicken for dinner- no pop

Tuesday-watched an Indians game (does that count as exercise?)-had chipotle for dinner (bad)
I also had my one weekly mountain dew at staff.

Wednesday-I played basketball for 2.5 hours, had an italian sausage for lunch (bad) and had
salad for dinner-no pop

Thursday- I played tennis for 1.5 hours and had salad for lunch and a chicken deluxe sandwich
for dinner. I had a fruit smoothie and a dq arctic rush...I'm not sure if either of those
are bad for me or not.

I don't know if I've lost any weight but I am definitely staying disciplined.

If you see me around, don't tempt me with bad things haha.

The First Annual Backyard Olympics

We hosted the young adults from Crown Hill Mennonite Church to a Backyard Olympics Competition yesterday. 9 events. 3 team events, 3 dual events, and 3 individual events. Here's how it went down.

We lost whiffle ball to start the competition 6-2

We won volleyball in two games (best of three)

We lost the obstacle course team event which was hilarious and laced with controversy lol.

We won bocce ball

We won Cornhole

We lost Badminton

We lost the obstacle course

We won the frisbee toss

We were tied 4-4 in gold medals going into the last event CROQUET. It was me, Shaina and Peaches against three of their croquet ringers. It was a nailbiter and as suspense filled as croquet can get. It ended up being between me and one of their players and I got lucky and knocked her out for our 5th gold! Perhaps the most meaningful moment of my life. haha.

This was a fun day and it was good to get to know another group of young adults a little bit. There are already conversations about next year and an expanded field of teams. In the words of my friend Lauren who organized the event, "I think this could be the next ALIVE."

So it begins...

During Vacation my sister Mary Beth and I made a friendly, competitive wager. We both desire to lose some weight (she just had a baby and wants to shed a few of the pregnancy pounds and I just eat alot).

September is the time line for weight loss. Weigh in was today. I weighed in at 209. Thats right. Pick your jaw up off the floor, stop raising your eyebrows and believe it...(although I am a firm believer in muscle weighing more than fat...so maybe I'm just muscular.)

One month. Who ever loses more pounds gets olive garden paid for the next time we see each other (shut up about going to olive garden defeating the purpose of the weight loss competition.)

Here are three strategies I am incorporating to win this competition.
1. Exercise Daily
2. Eliminate pop from my diet (except for one mountain dew a week during staff meetings!) I love staff meetings, but they are in my "Zone-Out Zone" The part of the day where I am least productive, least clear in my thinking and most likely to fall asleep with my eyes open.
3. Eat salad whenever I go out to eat and eat salad everyday for lunch.

Here are three problem areas that I hope get addressed on my body this month.
1. My Mountain Dew Gut. I don't drink beer so the gut issue is certainly stemming from overconsumption of the Dew.
2. My pectoral muscles...or...I guess when they cease to be muscles they become "Man Boobs". I need to firm up here.
3. My leg muscles/flexibility/endurance. I want to play basketball without noticing my hamstrings being tight or my groin being ripped to shreds.

I need to do a better job of honoring God with my body. It begins today. I can smell a free plate of manicotti in my future!