a year ago today i climbed into a yellow penske truck full of my worldly possessions, and began the long drive to durango...which means that tomorrow will mark my first full year of living in colorado! what a year it has been...impossible to summarize in a neat and tidy post. there have been a wide variety of ups and downs, highs and lows, both personally and on the church level, and while the future continues to unfold in unpredictable, but exciting ways, the one thing i can say for certain is that this year has been one of the best, if not the best, experience of my life. i have no doubt that the growth that has occured this year could only have happened here, in this context...
...i can't wait to see what happens next!
Monday, July 30, 2007
Friday, July 27, 2007
Monday, July 23, 2007
06959
sports thought of the week...
- probably no one else cares about this kind of stuff except for me, but i thought i'd share it anyway...in light of the past week's events in the sporting world i have an observation to make: if soccer is ever going to make headway in the USA now is the time...
...consider the following: baseball is staring the steroids era right in the face at the moment as barry bonds is nearing and certain to pass hank aaron's all-time home run record. baseball is extremely successful right in terms of revenue, but faith in the integrity of the game is extremely low. football is far and away the most popular sport in america but it's image is being dragged through the mud by shady characters like pacman jones, the cincinnati bengals, and now the michael vick/dog fighting scandal. add to that the huge story of the weekend: an nba official with mob ties is accused of point shaving and gambling on games he was reffing...this is perhaps one of the biggest scandals in sports histoy and the implications run deep (in particular, the outcome of the spurs/suns series is even more fishy than it was a couple months ago).
...and then, in the midst of all this, here comes david beckham...i don't think soccer will ever occupy a similar position in the american mindset like "the big three." but, if ever there was a time for soccer to make a move, it would seem like there is no better time than now.
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/writers/greg_lalas/07/23/mls.stories/index.html
- probably no one else cares about this kind of stuff except for me, but i thought i'd share it anyway...in light of the past week's events in the sporting world i have an observation to make: if soccer is ever going to make headway in the USA now is the time...
...consider the following: baseball is staring the steroids era right in the face at the moment as barry bonds is nearing and certain to pass hank aaron's all-time home run record. baseball is extremely successful right in terms of revenue, but faith in the integrity of the game is extremely low. football is far and away the most popular sport in america but it's image is being dragged through the mud by shady characters like pacman jones, the cincinnati bengals, and now the michael vick/dog fighting scandal. add to that the huge story of the weekend: an nba official with mob ties is accused of point shaving and gambling on games he was reffing...this is perhaps one of the biggest scandals in sports histoy and the implications run deep (in particular, the outcome of the spurs/suns series is even more fishy than it was a couple months ago).
...and then, in the midst of all this, here comes david beckham...i don't think soccer will ever occupy a similar position in the american mindset like "the big three." but, if ever there was a time for soccer to make a move, it would seem like there is no better time than now.
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/writers/greg_lalas/07/23/mls.stories/index.html
06859
- no pirate stories this week but i did have a little brush with fame. i went to the MLS (that stands for Major League Soccer...rmac...) up in Denver. this was a cool experience for a couple of reasons...one, we got to drive through the center of Colorado, which i haven't done since i've moved out here. what an amazing and beautiful state! two, in Denver they (not sure who "they" is, but they are rich, that's for sure) have built a huge soccer complex, at the heart of which lies Dick's Sporting Goods stadium...a soccer only facility that is truly awesome. we were in the corner, but only three rows from the pitch (or field, fyi). three, david beckham made an appearance and at one point was only about ten feet away from me. here are a few pictures...
...the stadium...
...a little bit of goodness...
...the "becks"...
- we continue to enjoy all the visitors who are making their way to and through durango this summer...that's been a lot of fun!
- finally, for those of you who listen to the podcast, this week we finished up James/Colossians and next week we start an overview of the Old Testament.
peace
...the stadium...
...a little bit of goodness...
...the "becks"...
- we continue to enjoy all the visitors who are making their way to and through durango this summer...that's been a lot of fun!
- finally, for those of you who listen to the podcast, this week we finished up James/Colossians and next week we start an overview of the Old Testament.
peace
Monday, July 16, 2007
06759
- today my parents have been married for 30 years...way to go mom and dad!
- soccer news: i'm going to the MLS all-star game on thursday up in denver at the beautiful new Dicks Sporting Goods Stadium...it's supposed to be a pretty incredible facility. also, David Beckham was introduced by the LA Galaxy this week. i wanted to point something out...on thursday the NYSE finished up over 200 points, the highest one day increase in several years..."experts" said this had to do with a spike in retail sails...hmmm....maybe i'm just reading too much into it, but that was also the day that Beckham arrived in LA and had his new jersey revealed.
- story time...
the other day at the manna house i could tell that my friend james was feeling lonely. he was sort of following me around all morning, and then finally he asked me if i wanted to play frisbee with him that afternoon. i like to toss the disk around a little bit and, again, it seemed james just wanted to hang out with someone so naturally i said, “sure.”
later that afternoon we met up at the park and discovered that neither one us had a frisbee. we decided to go on a quest downtown to find a disk (by the way, if you are ever in durango and you need a frisbee for your dog there are a number of establishments that you could acquire one at on main street in the old town section).
we were not successful (since the only disks we could find we for dogs to catch) so i said, “hey james let’s go to the Steaming Bean and get a smoothie.” james, for whom everyday is National Talk Like A Pirate Day, said, “Arrggh.”
we sat down at the counter and i ordered a smoothie (peach delight..highly recommended). the following conversation then took place:
james: “so what is this place?”
steve: “it’s a coffee shop.”
james: “but what’s this thing you just ordered?”
steve: “a smoothie.”
james: “arrggh...that’s like with ice cream, yeah?”
steve: “no...it’s fruit and juice.”
james: “but no coffee.”
steve: “no, it’s a smoothie.”
james: “arrgghh...but this a coffee shop.”
steve: “yes.”
james: “then why didn’t we go to an ice cream shop.”
steve: “because you can get good smoothie’s here.”
james: “even though it’s a coffee shop?”
steve: “yes.”
james: “arrgggh...that don’t make no sense.”
steve: “would you like a smoothie?”
james: “no...i’ll just get a cup of coffee.”
it was kind of funny to try to explain to james what kind of place i had taken him to...that you could order coffee and smoothies. the lightness of the moment though was short lived. you would think that it would be way faster to pour a simple cup of black coffee than to make a smoothie but in fact it took the worker longer to get james his cup of coffee than it did to make my drink. i wasn’t sure how to handle this, and james didn’t seem to mind (maybe he’s just used to it), but it seemed ridiculous to me.
that incident aside i had a great time that afternoon hanging out with my pirate friend, james.
- soccer news: i'm going to the MLS all-star game on thursday up in denver at the beautiful new Dicks Sporting Goods Stadium...it's supposed to be a pretty incredible facility. also, David Beckham was introduced by the LA Galaxy this week. i wanted to point something out...on thursday the NYSE finished up over 200 points, the highest one day increase in several years..."experts" said this had to do with a spike in retail sails...hmmm....maybe i'm just reading too much into it, but that was also the day that Beckham arrived in LA and had his new jersey revealed.
- story time...
the other day at the manna house i could tell that my friend james was feeling lonely. he was sort of following me around all morning, and then finally he asked me if i wanted to play frisbee with him that afternoon. i like to toss the disk around a little bit and, again, it seemed james just wanted to hang out with someone so naturally i said, “sure.”
later that afternoon we met up at the park and discovered that neither one us had a frisbee. we decided to go on a quest downtown to find a disk (by the way, if you are ever in durango and you need a frisbee for your dog there are a number of establishments that you could acquire one at on main street in the old town section).
we were not successful (since the only disks we could find we for dogs to catch) so i said, “hey james let’s go to the Steaming Bean and get a smoothie.” james, for whom everyday is National Talk Like A Pirate Day, said, “Arrggh.”
we sat down at the counter and i ordered a smoothie (peach delight..highly recommended). the following conversation then took place:
james: “so what is this place?”
steve: “it’s a coffee shop.”
james: “but what’s this thing you just ordered?”
steve: “a smoothie.”
james: “arrggh...that’s like with ice cream, yeah?”
steve: “no...it’s fruit and juice.”
james: “but no coffee.”
steve: “no, it’s a smoothie.”
james: “arrgghh...but this a coffee shop.”
steve: “yes.”
james: “then why didn’t we go to an ice cream shop.”
steve: “because you can get good smoothie’s here.”
james: “even though it’s a coffee shop?”
steve: “yes.”
james: “arrgggh...that don’t make no sense.”
steve: “would you like a smoothie?”
james: “no...i’ll just get a cup of coffee.”
it was kind of funny to try to explain to james what kind of place i had taken him to...that you could order coffee and smoothies. the lightness of the moment though was short lived. you would think that it would be way faster to pour a simple cup of black coffee than to make a smoothie but in fact it took the worker longer to get james his cup of coffee than it did to make my drink. i wasn’t sure how to handle this, and james didn’t seem to mind (maybe he’s just used to it), but it seemed ridiculous to me.
that incident aside i had a great time that afternoon hanging out with my pirate friend, james.
Monday, July 09, 2007
06659
- 0 comments last week...i must have scared everyone off with that quote from "the blogging church." =)
- we had our first baptism yesterday...in the river nonetheless...i was a little worried how this was going to work (considering it's boating season), but it worked out great...we weren't in anyone's way and no one ran over us with their raft!
- i saw "Transformers" last night...the cartoon was a major part of my life from the ages 5-8...i actually saw the animated movie in the theater many, many years ago. the movie is pretty cheesey but a ton of fun...the perfect kind of summer, popcorn flick. the effects and some of the shots in the movie are unbelievable...it's one of those movies where you can't wait for the DVD so you can see all the bonus features.
- i've been listening to the new Derek Webb album, "The Ringing Bell." i loved derek's songwriting when he was with Caedmon's Call and i always longed for solo material from him. and then he left the band and my dream came true. unfortunately, through three albums, he never really lived up to my expectations. with caedmon's derek wrote these very personal, inward looking songs about faith and girls. but when he went solo his focus turned outward...two popular subject matters: the church and social justice. these are great topics, and very close to my heart, but they did not always produce great songs. i still preferred stuff like "Bus Driver," "Table for Two," "Faith My Eyes," and "Me," to his newer stuff. "The Ringing Bell" though is my favorite work since he's gone solo. In particular, if you have itunes, everyone should download the song "This Too Shall Be Made Right." I think this song perfectly represents Derek's strength as a songwriter by combining both an inward and outward perspective. It's a thought provoking, moving song.
- have a great week...i'm going tubing!
- we had our first baptism yesterday...in the river nonetheless...i was a little worried how this was going to work (considering it's boating season), but it worked out great...we weren't in anyone's way and no one ran over us with their raft!
- i saw "Transformers" last night...the cartoon was a major part of my life from the ages 5-8...i actually saw the animated movie in the theater many, many years ago. the movie is pretty cheesey but a ton of fun...the perfect kind of summer, popcorn flick. the effects and some of the shots in the movie are unbelievable...it's one of those movies where you can't wait for the DVD so you can see all the bonus features.
- i've been listening to the new Derek Webb album, "The Ringing Bell." i loved derek's songwriting when he was with Caedmon's Call and i always longed for solo material from him. and then he left the band and my dream came true. unfortunately, through three albums, he never really lived up to my expectations. with caedmon's derek wrote these very personal, inward looking songs about faith and girls. but when he went solo his focus turned outward...two popular subject matters: the church and social justice. these are great topics, and very close to my heart, but they did not always produce great songs. i still preferred stuff like "Bus Driver," "Table for Two," "Faith My Eyes," and "Me," to his newer stuff. "The Ringing Bell" though is my favorite work since he's gone solo. In particular, if you have itunes, everyone should download the song "This Too Shall Be Made Right." I think this song perfectly represents Derek's strength as a songwriter by combining both an inward and outward perspective. It's a thought provoking, moving song.
- have a great week...i'm going tubing!
Monday, July 02, 2007
06559
- i survived my first trail run...i got beat by the durango high school cross country team, but i'm ok with that...i got ninth out of the men (twelfth overall...yes, i got beat by three girls)...but i ran the whole way and i accomplished my main goal which was to not get lapped by the hardcore guys running the long course (7 miles vs. the 4.5 mile course i was on).
- thanks to bruce for the information that an echidnas is a spiny anteater...april also informed me that they, along with the platypus, are egg laying mammals. the more you know...
- the echidnas did not have a good week: i'm currently in first with 93.5 points...the enraged one has fallen to 86.5.
- i finished "the blogging church" this week. the whole point of the book boils down to this: blogs are a good way to tell the story of your church...duh!!! i had to read a whole book to find that out?! actually there were some good tips and ideas about promoting blogs and stuff like that...the most interesting part of the book, though, was the section on comments. the author interviewed various church bloggers asking the question: "is it a good idea to allow comments on your blog?" most people were in favor of allowing comments because, in many ways, that's the whole appeal of the blog: interaction and community in cyberspace. however, even those in favor of allowing comments had this to say: be prepared to get hammered on occasion. and then came this sad commentary:
"one of the most surprising and unfortunate developments has been the popularity of Christians attacking and criticizing other Christians online. If you write often about the theology and methodology of your church, you'll find that the dominant critics are not unbelievers but the already convinced. Even more strangley, these naysayers are people who have never stepped through the door of your church. [But] they may post comments on your blog, send you an email, or share their vitriol from the comfort of their own sovereign corner of cyberspace."
luckily i haven't really experienced that too much, but it was interesting to read that this week while preparing to teach on James 3, which is all about the tongue and how we are supposed to talk to each other (by the way listen to the podcast this week to hear a funny story from the race!)
- barry bonds was voted in as a starter in the all-star game next week...wierd...he's supposed to be the most hated man in baseball and the fans voted him in...what a strange world.
- thanks to bruce for the information that an echidnas is a spiny anteater...april also informed me that they, along with the platypus, are egg laying mammals. the more you know...
- the echidnas did not have a good week: i'm currently in first with 93.5 points...the enraged one has fallen to 86.5.
- i finished "the blogging church" this week. the whole point of the book boils down to this: blogs are a good way to tell the story of your church...duh!!! i had to read a whole book to find that out?! actually there were some good tips and ideas about promoting blogs and stuff like that...the most interesting part of the book, though, was the section on comments. the author interviewed various church bloggers asking the question: "is it a good idea to allow comments on your blog?" most people were in favor of allowing comments because, in many ways, that's the whole appeal of the blog: interaction and community in cyberspace. however, even those in favor of allowing comments had this to say: be prepared to get hammered on occasion. and then came this sad commentary:
"one of the most surprising and unfortunate developments has been the popularity of Christians attacking and criticizing other Christians online. If you write often about the theology and methodology of your church, you'll find that the dominant critics are not unbelievers but the already convinced. Even more strangley, these naysayers are people who have never stepped through the door of your church. [But] they may post comments on your blog, send you an email, or share their vitriol from the comfort of their own sovereign corner of cyberspace."
luckily i haven't really experienced that too much, but it was interesting to read that this week while preparing to teach on James 3, which is all about the tongue and how we are supposed to talk to each other (by the way listen to the podcast this week to hear a funny story from the race!)
- barry bonds was voted in as a starter in the all-star game next week...wierd...he's supposed to be the most hated man in baseball and the fans voted him in...what a strange world.
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