Life Goals

I achieved one of my life goals yesterday...

Beth and I and a couple of our friends took a trip to Cincinnati to see the Pirates/Reds game @ Great American Ballpark. I had never been to GAB, so this was one step closer to my goal of seeing a ballgame in every big league ballpark. While the Pirates lost 4-0 we had a great time. I believe that I was the only Pirate fan in attendance (I referenced something about "Pirate Nation" and Beth told me that only encompassed myself and Erik Hoeke!), and one of the guys sitting below us even stated "I think that you're the only Pirate fan in the whole country!" Ouch. Anyway, back to my life goal...

I MADE THE JUMBO TRON! For a good 30 seconds, the huge video scoreboard showed ME dancing! I am a professional ballpark dancer, and it's my goal to try and use my mad dancing moves to get on screen every time I attend a game. I've accomplished this before many times at Minor League games (Altoona, Lexington, Harrisburg, Lancaster), but I had never managed this feat before at a Big League park. Yesterday, while dancing during the 6th inning, I finally made it. I didn't think that it would happen, especially as I was all outfitted in Pirates garb and we were in Cincy, but it did. The whole section cheered, and afterwards, I took a bow. Good stuff.

By the way (and this is how I KNOW I married the right woman) Beth wasn't even embarassed. She said that she's gotten used to it by now, and she supports me in my life goals. She was also the one who wanted to go the ballgame and suggested it! Awesome!

My Leadership project

I was reading Keith's blog about leadership, and thought that it might be interesting to post a presentation that I'll be giving today, I guess, on Christian Leadership. It might be dull to watch with just the powerpoint, but I'd love to hear some feedback!

I've taken John Gardner's 9 Tasks of Leadership and connected them with Christian Leadership and the three essential functions of Christian Leadership (Governance, Direction and Liberation). It's pretty self-explanatory, really...

Here's the link...

Shuffle Up and...

The Top 5 songs on my iTunes shuffle...

The First Time-U2
Great Indoors-John Mayer
Beauty and the Mess-Nickel Creek
Lonely Nation-Switchfoot
All Blues-Miles Davis

These are very different than the top 5 most played...

Still Fighting It-Ben Folds
Let My Words Be Few-Matt Redman
Annie Waits-Ben Folds
Zac and Sara-Ben Folds
Gone-Ben Folds

Obviously, I've been in a Ben Folds mood lately...Just can't beat a piano rocker...The Billy Joel of my generation.

I'm posting this because I know you all care so much. If blogging does nothing else for me, it brings to light all of my ego issues...

Brokenness...

Yesterday, I received a mysterious letter postmarked from Erie with no return address. This couldn't be a second letter from the same group, I thought. It was...A second letter from "Concerned Laity in W. PA" and it was even worse than the first one. As someone who considers himself 'conservative' and 'evangelical' I apologize for the hurt and confusion that those letters cause. I'm upset that the authors attack those that they don't know, use Scripture as a weapon rather than a transforming hope, and react rather than renew. As I thought about the letters, though, I thought about two interesting things that I want to share...

1. The letters main concern revolved around fear. Fear of closed churches, fear of "unbiblical" pastors, fear of dwindling membership, etc. etc. As the writers chose to write, they wrote out of a fear for what they know, rather than a hope for what they don't. They believe that the UMC is close to death, and the only thing that brings about life is a certain understanding of sexuality. I tend to believe that which brings life is the Gospel of Christ, not a certain understanding of sexuality. I have a hope for the future of the church, and I believe in a God whose mighty acts of redemption have shaped history, and continue to give life to the church. Is orthodoxy important? Yes. Will orthodoxy renew the church? No. What will? Probably orthopraxy, but even more, the Gospel will renew the church for mission and ministry as it renews the world.

2. There is much struggle and hurt around the issues of sexuality, and much the church doesn't understand. I had to laugh as I read the two positions regarding the Sexual Wholeness seminar at Bakerstown...While our concerned laity thought it was ruined by Tracy Merrick's presentation, First Pittsburgh thought it was ruined by our concerned laity! There is much more to sexuality than homosexuality, and the church doesn't really understand ANY of it! How do we minister to the sexually broken? How would the church respond to the woman at the well or Gomer, wife of Hosea? How do we speak healing to the abused? How do we understand sexuality as a good gift of God? What's even more interesting is that our discussion of power, politics and even the Gospel have become centered around our issue of unknowing when it comes to sexuality. When's the main thing going to be the main thing? When can we preach a redeeming, healing, transforming, discerning Gospel that speaks grace and truth to all? That's what we need...Not unsigned letters.