Thursday, February 24, 2005

COMPLICATED SIMPLENESS

Basketball Posted by Hello


Well, I started playing this sport called basketball in first grade. My dad had a rule in the house that went something like this...."If you start something you have to play it for at least two years before you decide to quit." And so it was. I played my first year and wanted to quit, but I had to play one more year. I am glad I did because that second year is when I fell in love with the game. I have been playing ever since...from all star teams to AAU teams to all-state player to college. My basketball career ended after my first year of college when I met this beautiful girl and we were married. Here name is Julie. Now we have two awesome sons - JC and Colby.

......And as fate or God or destiny would have it, I am now coaching my two sons at the local YMCA. It is a blast. My oldest son is 8 and my youngest is 6. I am coaching 7 and 8 year old kids. (They let Colby play because I was coaching) We are officially team #5, but unofficially we are THE HEAT.

This experience for me has been a stretch to say the least. It is hard to coach basketball when your team doesn't "really" know the difference between offense and defense and what it means to transition. We are starting slow. We are learning where things are on the court, how to pass, how to do a layup, where to stand, when to move to the other end of the court, how to dribble, how to shoot, how to play defense and an array of other activities including keeping them focused during our stretch time. Also we are working on keeping them focused. Did I mention we are learning to stay focused?

Anyway, sometimes it is necessary to go back to the basics to truly appreciate the more complicated things in life. Sometimes it is necessary to let go of the complicated to appreciate the simple. Thank you HEAT for teaching me this lesson!

Tuesday, February 22, 2005

SILENCE MODE

Silence Mode Posted by Hello


Am I really that important that I need to carry around a phone. Are the people in my life important enough that I need to call them while going through a drive through? "Hey could you hold on a minute, I need to order a #9, cheese only. Sorry about that.....I didn't think I would get through the line that quickly. I can't believe how good the Coke tastes from McDonald's. I wish you were here so we could enjoy it together. So when are you coming to see me?"

You know how the rest of the conversation usually goes - two lonely people discussing mostly meaningless details so they don't really have to concentrate on things that truly matter in life.

Imagine how different the world would be if we spent our time encouraging others for real - not patronizing remarks that only add to the subtle self defeating thoughts that most people deal with anyway, but real authentic praise for something you admire in someone else either because you don't have it or because you do have it and you know how difficult it is to maintain.

I recently experienced this on a bus trip home from a camping trip with about 12 single adults. I was the only married person on the bus. The group was rather diverse and I used to be responsible for the group's spiritual growth. I was invited to go, but I really wanted to stay home that weekend with my family, but my wife said that she would be fine with the boys at home and that I should go...so I did.

We left on a Sunday afternoon, drove 5 hours, stayed one night and drove home in about 7 hours. It was on the way home that I experienced what it meant to genuinely and publically admire something about another individual and have them reciprocate the same courtesy. The crazy part about the "game" was that it was initiated by a visitor to the group. The group was a Christian group and she was a visiting atheist brought by someone who was concerned for her soul.

When the game started, it was so awkward listening to people tell one another good things about one another. In fact, no one was even looking at the person who was giving the compliment. Our society is so not used to hearing someone praise them that we didn't know how to react. As time went on, it became evident to me that our lives should be filled trying to catch people doing something good.

I happen to be the keeper of the cell phones during the game. When the game started everyone turned off their phones, gave them to me to put on the cell phone chair and focused on the people in the bus. No phone calls were accepted for any reason. I witnessed 13 people gladly give up a possible conversation and engage in meaningful conversation that I will never forget for as long as I live. It lasted over 3 hours. Unbelievable!

The experience recaptured my conviction that I need to do more encouraging and quite frankly, I need more encouragement. It feels good to know you are loved. Make someone feel good today!

Saturday, February 19, 2005

IT'S ME!

It's Me Posted by Hello


Is this what the world is coming to? A random spot called a "blog" where I can post my opinions, my views, my expressions, my commentary, my beliefs, my victories, my failures, my thoughts, my random behavior, and my life. I am not sure how I feel about this idea. It used to be that I would write "private" journals for my own release, now this private world is going "public" and the world gets to hear how I feel and what I think about stuff. On the surface, I think it is a good idea, but I am not ready to say it is a great idea. I suppose only time will tell.

There is a certain mystique about a me-centered world. A me-centered world suggests that all that matters is me. It becomes about me and only me. While this idea is rather more of a utopia than reality, it is still quite staggering to think about. I mean, imagine a world where the only thing that mattered was me. It didn't matter what anyone else thought about or suggested. It didn't matter whose feelings were hurt or who was blessed. All that mattered in life was me. Not YOU! ME! Not YOU! ME! Not YOU! ME!

Your opinions suck! Your thoughts trivial! Your ideas meaningless! UNLESS, they mattered to ME! I mean after all, the world truly does revolve around me. I am a selfish guy whose sole mission in life is to please myself. I am only interested in you in direct proportion to how it effects me. My life's pursuit is making me the greatest, me the most powerful, me the most intelligent, and me the most significant.

I think this would be an interesting way to live except that it would not matter to YOU!

I LOVE....


My Family Posted by Hello

My family rules! I love my wife. I love my kids. I love being a family. I love sharing values. I love learning to live in the same house. I love watching my boys fight and then making up again. I love rubbing my wife's back and letting her rub mine. I love watching Napoleon Dynamite together. Gosh. I love the process of discipline. I love coaching their basketball team. I love going out to eat. I love eating at home. I love playing outside. I love going to school plays. I love working from home. I love being a pastor. I love watching my wife sleep. I love watching my boys sleep. I love to sleep. I love trying to be a family that represents Jesus. I love our big backyard which means I love our big fence. I love writing I love things, but not so much anymore which means I am done.

HOLLYWIERD


A Building Redeemed Posted by Hello

Recently, my family and I moved to Downtown Hollywood, FL to learn what it means to truly love a neighborhood and a city. By recently, I mean about a year and a half ago or so. My wife and I with our two boys set out to obey a calling from God to start a church in East Hollywood along with some friends and other pastors.

I will never forget the first night lying in bed with my wife being scared to death of what we just did. I remember hearing every noise and wanted to get under the bed. This is a bit unusual for a 6 foot, 200 pound man. However, the unknown is always a bit fearful and we moved into a rather rough neighborhood. We are about 18 blocks from the beach and 10 blocks from downtown. It is a beautiful location, but some of the people are bit shady to say the least. This is the city that God has called us to love.

Our church was able to purchase a building as seen in the picture. This building was an Elk's club, then a sex club and then our church gathering space. It is an awesome thing to "redeem" a building. It is a perpetual reminder of the redeeming we all need.

Inside of the building meets a living, breathing body of Christ whose sole mission is to be the church in the city for the sake of the city! Outside of the building lives a living, breathing body of Christ whose sole mission is be the church in the city for the sake of the city!

Life has been an amazing journey so far in Hollywood. In fact, I was walking downtown with a friend of mine and we discoverd that someone had written on a park bench. The writing said, "Hollyweird - where the freaks come out to play". I really wanted to meet this person. I wanted to know if they were observing something or stating something about themselves. I would never know. What I would know is that they were totally correct. Our city is an eclectic place and I am so excited about living somewhere as culturally, educationally, spiritually, and socio-economically diverse as East Hollywood.

God is good. My family is doing great. The church is amazing. My neighbors are cool. I can only look forward to what God is going to do to make Himself famous here in Hollyweird!