Stuff for da house.

The day after Thanksgiving is a day of absolute insanity if you're anywhere near a shopping center or mall or grocery store or video rental or restaurant or Christmas tree stand or gas station or -- you get the picture.

Anyway, this morning I braved the crowds and went shopping. Kohl's had some killer prices on small kitchen appliances, which are needed in my new house. The line was loooooong but I got a big crock pot and a big griddle. Cool stuff. And because I have a home, I need more tools than just the screwdriver set that's been following me around for a few years. That meant stops at Home Depot, Lowe's and Orchard Supply Hardware. Found some good deals, but took a bit of hunting because the Turlock OSH store had already sold out on the stuff I wanted.

I stopped off at a few other places for DVDs and such, but came up empty. No great deals, and certainly nothing better than what I can find on Amazon.com, my favorite though highly addictive shoping website. (Don't worry, Josh, SYM is my #2 favorite shopping website.)

All told, a good day. And when those insane people were trampling security guards at 5AM, I was happily asleep. And safe.

The funny thing is, years ago I worked on the day after Thanksgiving, writing stories about these insane people. Which meant I had to be insane and join them at 6AM, with one of our newspaper's photographers. People ask me if I ever miss working at a newspaper. On a day like today? No way!

Steven needs a blog.

I have some awesome students. Many of them are funny. A few are funnier than me. Which really isn't that tough.

If you look through some recent posts, you'll see numerous comments from Steven Nelson. This is one of my students. Perhaps we can refer to him as the infamous, crazy, dependable yet unpredictable Steven Nelson. Or something like that.

Anyway, Steven should get a blog (if his parents say it's OK, of course). He ALWAYS has something to say. Even if it's right in the middle of a sermon. Or a leadership meeting. Or a missions prep meeting. Or a purchase at Wal-Mart. Or whatever. Steven is never at a lack for words, whenever I'm around him. His mother says otherwise, but that's probably because he's 15.

OK, Steven, there ya go. A whole blog post about you. You're the first student to get that treatment. Satisfied?

His answer will be "no."

Happy Thanksgiving.

Hope you're having a great Thanksgiving -- or hope you HAD a great one. I'm down in Turlock visiting my mom, my brother and friends. Just got down with our big feast. I've a strong suspicion some leftovers will be accompanying me home Saturday. Looked through the newspaper ads. May get up semi-early for some sales. Now that I own a house, I'm trying to round up tools and other things that are good to have around the place. But I won't camp out in front of Wal-Mart, don't worry. Anyway, I trust this is a blessed, relaxing week for each of you, your family and your friends!

Memorable and meaningful church.

Yesterday, I had an extended lunch with our student leaders and some of our adult leaders for Route 1 Student Ministries. We had great conversation and dialogue, and holding the lunch at my new house added to the relationship-building dynamic.

Much of our time was spent discussing the idea of how we can make our youth services more memorable and more meaningful. It wasn't a conversation about how to play more games or do more goofy stuff or entertain students. It was genuinely focused on how we can structure our services to allow God to work AND to leave lasting memories in students' minds.

I was surprised by how many of our team members remembered two specific sermons from the last year or so. One was called "United or Untied: I Make the Difference" about unity within the body of Christ, His Church. The other was about how God wants to open doors in students' lives and help them overcome and move ahead. For both sermons, we gave things away to the students: a piece of a Jenga game for United/Untied, and a blank key for the open door sermon.

Both were small, simple things, yet the "take home" element allowed students to remember the topics AND the main application point. The United/Untied sermon was from August 2005! Usually, I can't even come CLOSE to remembering what I preached on 15 months ago, let alone what someone else shared. But these students remembered, and the simple message has left a mark on their lives.

I know I get visitors of all kinds to this site: students, parents, family members, other youth pastors, ministry friends. If you have a thought on this subject -- making a service more memorable and meaningful -- I'd love to hear from you. You can comment below (even if you don't have a Blogger account), or fire off an email (PastorRobC@gmail.com).

Bought it on eBay.

I've never bought anything on eBay before. I never had an account, never really had an interest, never really wanted to get involved.

This weekend, I gave in.

In my first taste of Ebay life, I was the winning bidder on an item posted by the fine folks down at Simply Youth Ministry. They post items from time to time, with all the proceeds benefiting an international charity that helps people in the Third World become sulf-sustaining. So it's a good cause.

Anyway, I decided to bid on the galleys for Doug Fields' new book, "What Matters Most." I have a copy of the book, but with my editing and publishing background, I thought the galleys would be a nice complement to the hard copy of the book.

A funny thing happened...

So, I'm im Wal-Mart earlier today buying some last-minute items for our church's Outreach Celebration (a.k.a. missions banquet). I'm there with one of my students. We needed to buy name tags and Sharpie pens for each table at the banquet. We quickly find our stuff, we wait in line at the cashier, and when she scans my first pack of Sharpies, she does the unthinkable.

She asks for my ID!

I'm not sure if I've ever been carded before. I can understand needing to verify my age if I was buying, say, cans of spray paint or vials of pain medicine or buckets of Sylvester Stallone movies.

But Sharpies? Is this Wal-Mart's attempt the thwart the sniffing habits of our local teenagers? By far, this was the oddest moment of my weekend. And if I hadn't had a witness, people might not have believed the story.

Good times, PDYM style.

Had lunch over in Vacaville today with a group of youth pastors, as part of the PDYM (Purpose-Driven Youth Ministry) national luncheons happening all week. Jeremy White from Valley Church of Vacaville hosted, and did a great job. Kinda reminded me of Josh Griffin. Only with fewer children.

I'm involved with a couple of local groups of youth pastors in our area, but it was good to connect with an entirely new and different group of leaders. Most of the folks today were from the Vacaville/Solano County area, but a few of us made slightly longer drives; about 45 minutes for me.

The event's highlight had to be a "degrees of separation" revelation for me. I attended college at Evangel University in Springfield, Missouri. TWO OTHER GUYS at today's event attended college in the same town: one at Baptist Bible College, and another at Central Bible College. Evangel and CBC are both affiliated with my denomination.

Ah, but it gets better. The CBC grad, John Buckner, is good friends with Daniel Matsunaga, a missionary-in-training to Japan that our church supports. And the BBC grad, Travis, has a girlfriend who goes to church in Turlock -- the town where I grew up!

On the serious side, it was good to get together with a bunch of people from all sorts of denominations and backgrounds, and spend time enjoying the conversation, company and community.

Oh, they gave away some free stuff. And of course, I didn't win. I never win stuff from Simply Youth Ministry giveaways.

Thoughts from YS, Part 1

So, I spent the weekend down in Anaheim for the West Coast edition of Youth Specialties' National Youth Workers Conference. Overall, it was a good time, for several key reasons.

1. Let's face it. It's always good to leave town for a few days of evaluation, encouragement, challenge and soul-nourishing.

2. It's always fun to hang out with people I like spending time around, including my buddy Bill Rath, who's fortunate enough to have an awesome wife who works for Marriott hotels.

3. It's always cool to win free stuff. Well, I didn't win any free stuff. But lots of other people did. One of these days I'll win an iPod.

4. It's always awesome to reconnect with folks. Had lunch on Saturday with a friend; she and I were in the same youth group growing up and haven't seen much of each other since high school days of yore.

It's the end of a long day, so I won't write many details about the conference, but here are a few memorable moments:

• Meeting Kurt Johnston, the junior high pastor at Saddleback Church in Orange County. He's shorter than I thought he'd be. And for the record, he said I'm taller than he thought I'd be.
• Hearing YS' Marko and David Crowder discuss (on stage, in front of 3,500 people) who was the peanut butter and who was the jelly in this "peanut butter and jelly sandwich" relationship between YS and the David Crowder Band.
• Having Doug Fields remember me. OK, I'm sure there's SOME kind of pride issue here that God needs to be working out of my system. But come on, I've been in youth ministry for less than 4 years and Doug Fields remembered me. That feels good.
• Eating lunch with Josh Griffin. Oops, that one DIDN'T happen. Oh well. For the record folks, Josh missed someone ELSE buying lunch for him. Don't think that happens too often.
• Seeing comedian Ron Pearson pull his "balance a ladder on my chin" stunt. I knew it was coming; I saw the video blog from my friend Evan Mattei. But STILL, I was amazed to see him do it in person.
• Walking into my 8-hour critical concern session an hour late and finding out we were ONLY on page 2 of the notes. This was a highlight of the weekend, hearing some life-giving truths and ideas from Dan Webster. Well worth the drive down and the extra cost.
• Driving 6.5 hours in my car alone while listening to "Good to Great," written and read by Jim Collins. I decided a book on CD would keep me awake better than my iPod music. Another good investment that fed a weekend of new thinking and new desires in my heart.
• Spending a few days almost completely disconnected from my computer and the Internet. I should do that more often.

OK, I'll call it quits for tonight. I'm heading to a PDYM lunch event Thursday but maybe later in the day I can post some more thoughts from NYWC.

Prayers for my mom.

Thanks to everyone who's been praying for my mom, Ruth. This week is her latest round of chemotherapy as she battles lymphoma cancer.

Overall, she continues to do well. After her last round of treatment three weeks ago, she experienced a little more fatigue than in her previous rounds. I think it's likely because she missed one cycle (her port, which the docs use for injecting her with chemo, had problems and a new one had to be installed) and therefore had gone 6 weeks without her body handling the chemo. I stayed at her house Monday night on my way home from YS in Anaheim.

Thanks for all your prayers. They mean the world to her. The cancer has gone away from her chest and her abdomen, and it's continuing to diminish in her lypmhnodes. Yes, chemo is working, but we also know that prayers and faith in God's healing power are working, too!

Yes, I'm alive.

Hey gang, I am still here. Sorta. It's been a very busy week. Moving in. Heading to Anaheim for the National Youth Workers Conference. Visiting my mom on the way home. Getting ready for our big missions/outreach vision event. I'll try posting some real content late tonight or sometime Thursday. For the 3 of you who read this.

Moving insanity.

The last few days have been a blur. I got the keys to my house on Friday, and this weekend was move-in time. One of my roommates and one of my students drove down with me Saturday morning to pick up some furniture at my mom's house in Turlock. On our way back, we stopped at the IKEA store in West Sacramento to buy a few things.

At this point, everything's going fine.

We get to the house. Some others show up to help unload. Boxes are being carried. Stuff is being unloaded. Furniture is being moved into the right rooms.

Then we hit a snag. The fridge won't fit through any of the doors.

You see, my house was built in 1957. The fridge my awesome mom found for me at a garage sale is, well, a little newer. And bigger. Which is good, for a house with 4 bachelor guys.

But the fridge wouldn't fit.

Finally, we came up with this plan: We removed the door from its hinges, we removed the fridge door (it's a side-by-side, and we couldn't remove the freezer side because it has a water line to the door. So, then 4 of us managed to hoist the fridge up two steps between the garage and the kitchen, swing the open-door freezer side in first, then turn the fridge so it would move through the doorway.

It worked, and now we're enjoying a nice big fridge with plenty of room for milk. One of my roomies drinks nonfat. I drink 1%. Another drinks 2%. And the fourth drinks whole milk. Pathetic, huh.

Whenever I sell this house, the fridge might just stay with it.

BTW, the pic up top...it's a view of my office today, after I've cleared out some stuff, moved other stuff, and awaiting still more stuff. Fun.

Me and my house.

Big day arrives.

This was the day I've been looking forward to for several weeks. I signed my life away -- more or less -- to buy my first home. Yes! My days of being a renter will soon end. Hallelujah. I'll post some pics later this week or this weekend. It looks like I should be able to start moving in either Friday or Saturday, which is super cool. Good youth service tonight, after a slightly rocky start. God's good, eh? Hope your day was good, too!

Have you voted yet?

Any candidate or campaign or ballot measure trying to grab my attention is wasting its time. I've already voted. Twice. Just kidding; this isn't Chicago, and I'm not dead yet. But I have cast my ballot, thanks to this wonderful thing called permanent absentee voter. My absentee ballots are sent to me automatically, which makes voting a much easier process. Only catch: If I change my mind between now and November 7 on any candidate or issue, I'm out of luck. Unless I can convince some poor soul to vote the way I should have.

Me and names.

I got an email from a friend this afternoon, writing me about my post on forgetting the guy's name at the grocery store. For the benefit of this friend and all the billions of other readers (OK, dozens at best), let me offer a more detailed explanation of me and names.

I used to be bad at remembering names. This is rather funny, seeing how I used to work in newspapers. But it's true. Then I moved up here to Antelope, and one of my prayers was that God would help me remember more people' names. When I arrived, I knew a grand total of 4 people in this church, so I had to start from scratch. Remarkably, I found that I could remember students' names. A lot of names. Seriously, a lot.

To this day, I can still recall some of the students who were attending here when I first arrived (but don't come here anymore). I've had students who came once or twice a year because of visiting family members in town -- and I'll still remember their name the next year. Sometimes a kid will remind me of their first name, and I'll immediately recall their last name.

So, Sunday's grocery store incident -- not sure if it's a significant event or not. Lately, my mind hasn't been AS sharp at retaining names. Perhaps I'm reaching my capacity with names. Or maybe I haven't been doing enough work on my end to recall names. Who knows. I'm not worried ... yet.

Happy anniversary to me.

On this day 11 years ago -- October 23, 1995 -- I started working at my first post-college job. Over the last 11 years, I've worked at 3 newspapers (including the one pictured above), 2 churches, a magazine start-up in Greece, and I spent a few months unemployed. And I have absolutely no idea WHY I can remember the date of my first day at my first job. I'm just weird like that.

Hate it when that happens.

So, I'm in a local grocery store Sunday night after a full day at the church. I arrived at the church around 7:30AM that day, and I never went home during the day. It's around 9PM, and I've stopped by the store to get some stuff for dinner. I'm paying for my groceries, and I'm leaving the line and heading toward the exit. I realize that the guy behind me in line looks familiar. But I can't remember his name.

And we didn't make eye contact. He just seemed familiar. I'm walking toward the exit, then outside, then to my car. I keep trying to peg his name and face. Then I realize: He and his family briefly attended our church a couple of years ago. What was his name, what was his name?

I'm loading my stuf into my car. What was his name? I'm moving around to my door. What was his name? Didn't it start with an "M"? I get my key into the ignition. Was it Mike? Matt? Yea, I think it's Matt. I turn the ignition. I shift into reverse. Matt... Hmm. Matt... Hmm. I leave my parking space and begin to pull away from the store.

Then I remember his whole name, and his wife's name. But I was about 3 minutes too late. Ugh. I hate it when that happens. I really do. It could have been a great chance to reconnect with someone, see how they're doing. Instead, it's a reminder that while I have a LOT of names stashed somewhere in my brain, I need to keep working on my recall.

Those traveling blues.

Great column today on SFGate (website for the SF Chronicle) from the editor of their travel section. It's the over-traveled traveler version of "You Might Be a Redneck" (even though the Chron would never admit it, I'm sure). I got quite a few laughs from the column, including these highlights:

When you find a 3-day-old copy of USA Today and read every word, including the NHL transactions, it may be time to go home. ...

When you stop Americans on the streets of Venice and ask them if they know who was eliminated this week on "American Idol," it may be time to go home. ...

When you begin to develop a disturbing obsession with CNN International's Richard Quest, it may be time to go home. ...

When you flip through the SkyMall catalog page by page, and there's not a single remote-controlled blimp or turbo nose-hair trimmer you haven't seen before, it may be time to go home. ...

When you are drawn toward the Golden Arches as if by tractor beam, it may be time to go home.

Ready for 'Indy 4'?

There's been buzz about this for years, but it appears a fourth Indiana Jones flick really, truly is in the works. Not sure how I feel about this. I thought "Last Crusade" neatly wrapped up the trilogy; adding a fourth chapter feels like Douglas Adams writing a trilogy in five parts. Hmmm.

Anyway, here's the latest on the Indiana Jones saga, courtesy of your monopolistic friends at The Associated Press and CNN-Time-Warner-Etc.

ROME, Italy (AP) -- Harrison Ford says he feels "fit to continue" to play Indiana Jones despite growing older.

Ford, 64, said at the inaugural Rome Film Festival on Friday that he was delighted to team up again with directors Steven Spielberg and George Lucas for the film. Lucas co-wrote and executive produced the earlier films, which Spielberg directed.

"We did three films that stay within the same block of time. We need to move on for artistic reasons and obvious physical reasons," Ford said at a news conference. "I feel fit to continue and bring the same physical action."

How safe are Macs?

Are Macs safer just because fewer people use them? Or are they inherently safer than their evil cousins with Windows? Interesting thoughts in this article from CNN:

One reason Apple has so far been shielded from nasty code is because its market share is relatively small.

Apple accounted for 3.3 percent of total U.S. computer sales in 2004, and for 4.3 percent in 2005, according to technology research firm International Data Corporation.

Experts say these low numbers, and the unlikelihood that Apple's share will ever account for much higher than the low double digits, is one reason why the Mac will remain relatively safe. These days, they say, viruses are written more for money than fame.

Taking over a Windows-based computer and using it to send millions of pieces of spam, often with advertising or scams attached, to other Window's machines can generate big money . Writing a Mac-based virus, which could only target other Macs, isn't nearly as profitable.

But perhaps a bigger reason for Apple's seemingly safe position is the stability of Mac OS X.

Christians and the Bush White House.

Great article on Time's website about the interaction of Christians and the Bush White House. It's a book excerpt from David Kuo, who was the No. 2 person in the Office of Faith-Based Initiatives.

George W. Bush, the man, is a person of profound faith and deep compassion for those who suffer. But President George W. Bush is a politician and is ultimately no different from any other politician, content to use religion for electoral gain more than for good works. Millions of Evangelicals may share Bush's faith, but they would protect themselves--and their interests--better if they looked at him through the same coldly political lens with which he views them.

Take a few minutes to read the excerpt. I'm sure the book will cause its share of discussion and dialogue -- as it should.

Some pics from Harvest Festival.

Here's just a sample of the pix from this weekend's Harvest Festival.

Harvest Festival was a hit.

OK, so I think I'm largely recovered from our fifth annual Harvest Festival. Usually on the Sunday after the event, I'm wiped out. But this time, I found myself less stressed in the week before, on the day of, and now the day after. Perhaps it was because we were more organized in most of the areas, had more volunteers in place, and we didn't encounter any major last-minute problems.

As best as we know, there were somewhere between 3,000 and 5,000 people here on Saturday. Our parking crew counted somewhere between 800 and 900 cars (I haven't gotten a final figure yet), and I don't think many people arrived solo. Most of the vehicles had at least 2, 3 or 4 people in them. We know that we served around 2,000 hot dogs and 2,000 portions of nachos; people were asked to pick either a hot dog or nachos.

Seeing the smile on the face of a kid is awesome, and we saw hundreds of those smiles Saturday. We don't charge for any of the pumpkins, or foor, or games, or crafts, or facepainting, or bounce houses, or entertainment. We just want to be a blessing to our community, and I think we accomplished that once again this year. It's awesome to hear and see the amazement of the guests when they realize we aren't charging them for any of this stuff.

Our volunteers are they key to the success of the festival each year. The youth ministry runs the carnival games, and for much of the day, I had more volunteers than actual places for them to work! That has NEVER happened on this scale before. We were a little shorthanded in our parking crew, with the crafts tables, and at the bounce houses, but other volunteers came through and carried the ball for us.

Could the weather have been any better? Probably not. Sunny skies. Highs in the 70s. A breeze at times. No smoke in the air from foothill fires. No risk of rain. No chill. No 100-degree record-setting temps. We've had those challenges in recent years. But 2006 will go down as the perfect weather year.

One of our TV stations came out and did a live remote around 9:50AM. I had several people -- both among our volunteers and among the guests -- say that they saw me on TV. That's always a weird feeling. I've given TV interviews before, but this is the first time I was on LIVE television. I could have said ANYTHING and it would have been broadcast right at that moment. Scary! The clip is online; check it out.

So, overall, this ranks up there as probably the best or tied for the best Harvest Festival I've been part of here at Antelope. We've done it five times; I wasn't on staff yet for the first event.

Let's do a quick score card of whether the event was a success:
VOLUNTEER NUMBERS: A-
VOLUNTEER ENTHUSIASM: A
NEW VOLUNTEER INVOLVEMENT: B
We had some newer people involved, but many new families chose to just attend. We'll work on them for next year!
SIZE OF CROWD: B+
I'm not complaining about the size at all. One year we had at least 7,000+ so I guess that remains my standard for crowd size.
CROWD ATMOSPHERE: A-
CARNIVAL GAMES: A-
PUMPKIN PATCH: A
CRAFTS: A
FACEPAINTING: A
FAMILY PHOTOS: B+
This was a new event for us. We took families' photos, and we'll now send them a copy of the photo, along with information about the church, if they're looking for a church home. We felt it was a low-key, non-intrusive way to gather some data for follow-up without feeling like a bait-and-switch. We needed more volunteers in this area, and we need to work out some kinks in the process, but good job for a first round, and we had more than 260 families get their photo taken!
BOUNCE HOUSES: A-
MUSIC AND ENTERTAINMENT: B+
Bands did a great job. Only reason for the lower grade is because I forgot to make sure we had bought watermelons for our watermelon eating contest. Oops!
FOOD AND BEVERAGES: A
SET-UP CREW: A-
CLEAN-UP CREW: A+
The event ended at 4PM. I was the last person to leave the church campus; I left at 6PM. Enough said.
SUNDAY MORNING ENTHUSIASM: A
SUNDAY MORNING NUMBERS: A
We had strong numbers in both of our AM services today. That's a contrast from other years, when we actually see a DROP on the day after because everyone's so tired. In fact, our 11AM service had a larger crowd than we've seen in several weeks!

So, based on all those criteria, I'd say we did a great job on Saturday. The team did well, people were blessed, our volunteers were engaged, and the bar keeps getting raised higher and higher!

My brief moment of fame.

OK, I know I should be in bed. But I got hunting around online and found the archive of our brief TV interview today. You can check out the video here. It should take you right to the video. If not, let me know and I'll see if the link has been modified.

UPDATE: If you arrived here thanks to Josh Griffin's link, and you want to see some photos from the event, please go here. And if you want a longer text post on the event, go here.

Awesome ministry day today.

Today was our fifth annual Harvest Festival. It was a great day, by almost any definition you can offer. We had somewhere between 3,000 and 4,000 people show up (we count cars, but not individuals, so that's a rough estimate). We had scores of volunteers, including newer people who are getting connected through serving. A local TV station came out in the morning and did a live remote, giving me 90 seconds of live TV fame (wearing my partially obscured orange "Simply Junior High" T-shirt, no less). My mom was feeling well enough to make the drive up to Antelope; it's the first time she's seen our Harvest Festival in the four years I've been involved. The weather was perfect; sunny skies, highs in the 70s, light breeze at times.

There's a lot more to share, but right now, I'm totally exhausted. I'll do some more blogging on Sunday, and post a bunch of fun pics from the day. Now? I'm headed to bed.

I hate being sick.

Ugh, I hate sickness. Got hit with a head cold Tuesday evening. Kept me in bed most of Wednesday. Pushed through the youth service that evening. Then went to store. Bought stuff. OJ. Drugs. Soups. Feel a bit better today. Need to feel better for Saturday. Thousands of people. Hundreds of volunteers. Great day of outreach. Perfect weather forecast. One TV station plans a live remote in the morning. Busy day. Worth it all.

I love pumpkins.

This weekend, thousands of people will come to our church grounds for our fifth annual Harvest Festival. It's a fun time each year. We don't sell anything. It's all free to the community: free food, games, crafts, hayrides, petting zoo, bounce houses, music and entertainment. And on top of all that, we give away thousands of free pumpkins -- some grown in our own pumpkin patch, others donated or purchased.

This past Sunday was our pumpkin delivery day. These are a few photos from that fun afternoon. We had more volunteers show up for the unloading than we've had in the 4 festivals I've been here. That should be a good sign for volunteers this weekend!

Our senior pastor really believes in this event. It's a churchwide thing, and our reason for it all being free is to create a living illustration of God's love for us: Freely we've received, freely we give.

If you're in the Sacramento area this weekend, you're invited! Or if you have friends or relatives up this way, tell them to swing by for a day of fun!

Onward Christian Voters.

Interesting article today from The Washington Post about evangelical Christians and how we're all voting next month.

A nationwide poll of 1,500 registered voters released yesterday by the nonpartisan Pew Research Center found that 57 percent of white evangelicals are inclined to vote for Republican congressional candidates in the midterm elections, a 21-point drop in support among this critical part of the GOP base.

Even before the (former U.S. Rep. Mark) Foley scandal, the portion of white evangelicals with a "favorable" impression of the Republican Party had fallen sharply this year, from 63 percent to 54 percent, according to Pew polls.

In the latest survey, taken in the last 10 days of September and the first four days of October, the percentage of evangelicals who think that Republicans govern "in a more honest and ethical way" than Democrats has plunged to 42 percent, from 55 percent at the start of the year.

Fun article to read, seeing how my closest friends know that I'm a diehard moderate who isn't registered with any political party. Maybe it's the former journalist in me that just loves to see a nice, messy, newsworthy election cycle. Maybe.

No Fields for me?

Wow, I was just scrolling through the list of workshops at the Youth Specialties' National Youth Workers Convention in Anaheim next month, and I realized something quite scary.

I might not attend a single workshop by Doug Fields this year.

He's doing the First Two Years in Ministry topic in Critical Concerns. I'm going to a different CC.

He's doing Small Groups from Start to Finish. Did that last year in Sacramento.

He's doing Beginner's Guide to PDYM. Been to its equivalent, I'm guessing, at the Purpose-Driven Church conference back in the spring.

He's doing Crafting Messages That Matter. Quite certain I went to that two years ago in Anaheim.

He's doing Marriage, Ministry and Family Q&A. Likely gonna skip that one, unless there's an arranged dating element to it.

Of course, I might still sneak into one of the sessions for a chance to win some free stuff from the gang at SYM. How can you say no to a chance at free stuff?

Just up the road.

Today is Friday, October 6. Something big may be happening 3 weeks from today, and I'm so looking forward to it! And a week later, I'll be down in Anaheim for the National Youth Workers Conference, hanging with my buddy Bill Rath from Richmond, those crazy kids from Simply Youth Ministry, and at least 319 other people. Sweet.

Jesus Draft.

We launched a new, month-long series tonight for our midweek youth services. Our underlying theme for the series is discipleship, so we're taking a look at the first 12 disciples. What did Jesus see in them? Would we have picked them as our first 12 "players" if we were in charge of a spiritual "draft"?

For this first night, we had some fun with a skit featuring two of our students portraying sports analysts who offered their insights and opinions on each of the 12 disciples. We also talked about David Carr, the Houston Texans QB who was in a video clip we showed last week. He's a California product (from down in Bakersfield), and when he was drafted in the NFL, his high school alma mater created a web page with comments and notes from former teachers and coaches.

Great quote from one of the coaches:

"Dave, we all knew after the Bakersfield High passing league tournament that you were going to be something special. The first time I met you, all 5-4 105 pounds I knew you would be a number one draft pick in the National Football League (YEA RIGHT)."

Just goes to show that we never know what that 5'4" guy (or 4'2" girl) might become -- not just in areas like athletics, arts, or academics, but also spiritually. God looks at each of us and sees potential. Jesus saw potential in his first 12 draft choices. He knew they had weaknesses, but He also saw who they could become. He sees the same thing in each of us, even if we're just "jars of clay," as Paul wrote.

Should be a fun series!

PS: I know the Jesus football pic is absolutely tasteless. But somehow it seemed an appropriate image for this post.

Napoleon's a Mormon?

Apparently, Jon Heder -- the guy who played Napoleon Dynamite -- is a Mormon. And the writers and directors of that flick are Mormons. Wow. Wouldn't have guessed that, but I guess it's also not a surprise, considering how "clean" the movie is. Interesting.

Fire Buddy Bell.

I'm hoping to soon look at this list and find the name of Royals Manager Buddy Bell there. God, please answer my prayer. Please let my baseball team not suck. Please!

Minnesota owes KC money.

I'm pretty steamed about this one. As many of you are aware, I'm a Kansas City Royals fan. Why any sane adult would root for this baseball team is beyond me. Perhaps being born near KC would help. Going to college a few hours from KC could be an extra motivation. Maybe it was that bottle of Coke that "Mean" George Brett gave me after that game back in '79.

I digress.

The Royals lost 100 games this season. That means they only won 62. I should be proud of my team's mediocrity. I should extol the virtues of this sub-par, underperforming, underpaying, stuck-in-a-small-market squad of troopers. And I would. Except that they failed in their ultimate goal this year.

They weren't the worst team in baseball. They were ALMOST the worst team. The folks down in Tampa Bay -- they still play MLB in Florida? -- walked away with that dubious title, thanks to the Devil Rays' 61-101 record.

One game difference. That's it, basically. One more loss by the Royals, and they hold a tie for the worst record of 2006. Two more losses -- an average weekend for most of the season -- and the title is theirs alone.

Tampa Bay? Right idea. Go on a 4-game losing streak to end the season.

Kansas City? Offer a glimpse of hope to its hopeless and hapless fans with a 3-game winning streak. Oh, and these 3 wins weren't over just any podunk team from Pittsburgh or Arizona. No sir, these were the Detroit Tigers. This was the team battling for the AL Central Division crown against those pesty Minnesota Twinkies. The Royals won THREE STRAIGHT GAMES against the Tigers -- in Detroit!

And so, the Royals earn the distinction of having the 2nd worst record in all of baseball this year. Such a shame, when they could have been the best of the worst.

Royals update.

Well, my Royals avoided the 100-loss mark with a win on Wednesday night... just a few games left in the season...

A horrible baseball team.

In just a few hours, my Kansas City Royals have the opportunity to lose their 100th game of the season. If they hit this illustrious mark, it will be their third straight season of losing at least 100 games, and apparently they will become the 11th team in Major League history to have three-straight games with at least 100 losses.

Do I cheer my team to history? Do I congratulate them on their successfully horrid season?

Or do I sit in the corner and cry for my team?

Or do I change teams?

Hmmm...

Busy weekend.

Well, it's just past 9PM here on Sunday night, and I'm about ready to go home in a few minutes. Today was our fall ministry faire -- we call it Liftoff Sunday -- and then we had our annual church business meeting tonight. What a day.

Our team did a great job with our display: We made a cube from PVC pipe and then used some material around the edges. Then we hung pics, quotes, verses, explanations, and all kinds of other good stuff for people to learn more about Route 1 Student Ministries. Our other ministries did a sweet job, too, and we had lots of energy and activity between our morning services as people visited the booths.

Tonight we pulled off a 90-minute business meeting. My apologies if your church's go much longer than that. For us, the coolest part of the night came when the membership approved restructuring our long-term debt in a way that will allow us to do some capital improvements on our church facilities.

Big news for us: Our youth warehouse is one of the higher-priority items on the list! That means instead of freezing in the winter and baking in the summer, we'll have CLIMATE CONTROL and maybe some CARPET on the floor. So sweet. We have a cool warehouse for the youth, but it's basically just a metal structure with NO insulation or HVAC. In the winter, you can see your breath. In the summer, it can get past 100 inside the building. So tonight's decision is a definite blessing for our students!

Fire away.

Hi all, I've changed my settings in response to some emails from friends. ANYONE can now post comments; you don't have to be a blogger. If you are "anonymous" in your posts, I simply ask that you include your name in your post somewhere. Danke.

Free your hands.

Ahh, the beauty of California. Because none of us out here are smart enough to think for ourselves and make logical decisions on sensible items, our wonderful legislators have stepped in to help us make wise choices.

Drivers in California will need an ear piece or speaker to use their cell phones in the car under a bill signed Friday by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Motorists could face fines of up to $50 if they violate the law, which makes it an infraction to hold a cell phone while driving. It takes effect July 1, 2008, and is similar to laws in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut and Washington D.C.

A first offense will be punishable by a $20 fine, while subsequent violations will carry $50 fines. Calls made to emergency-service providers are exempt.

"The simple fact is, it's dangerous to talk on your cell phone while driving," Schwarzenegger said during a bill-signing ceremony at an Oakland hotel, citing highway accident figures. "So getting people's hands off their phones and onto their steering wheels is going to make a big difference in road safety."

Cell-phone use is the top cause of accidents triggered by distracted drivers, according to California Highway Patrol statistics dating to 2001.

A Harvard University study released in 2002 estimated that about 5 percent of U.S. traffic accidents are caused by a driver talking on a cell phone.

I find that I get just as distracted talking with a hands-free device in my car, as when I'm driving without one. The main difference, of course, is that it's really, really tough to drive a stick-shift when you're holding on to the phone, or cradling it against your shoulder.

Silly law, perhaps, but I can understand the rationale behind it. Still, I wonder if it's the most important thing for cops to be doing: pulling over drivers who violate the law.

My struggle with stuff.

I know I'm not alone in this battle. You face it, too. Maybe you're better at defeating it, or holding it at bay. Maybe you learned some hard lessons years ago, and it's no longer a struggle for you. Or maybe you find yourself tempted just as I get tempted on a regular basis.

I like stuff.

You know what I'm talking about. Things. Toys. Gadgets. DVDs. Books. Souvenirs. Stuff. I have way too much stuff. I have too much stuff in my office. I have too much stuff in my bedroom. I have too much stuff in my storage unit (which I rent, of course, because I can't fit all my stuff into my apartment).

My latest temptation in the War Against Stuff comes from my friends at Apple. They released new iPods this week, and for the first time in a long time, I'm tempted to buy a new iPod. Granted, my iPod works fine. It's white, it has a B&W screen, and it "only" holds 20GB of stuff. I have more music on my computer than it can hold, so routinely I have to shuffle things around to make room for a new CD or new tracks I bought on iTunes.

Now they have an 80GB iPod. That IS the size of my hard drive. AND they have an itty-bitty iPod shuffle that looks like it could be swallowed by a young child if you're not careful.

Do I actually NEED either of these iPods? Of course not. But that's the point, isn't it? So much of our stuff is driven by things other than needs -- or our stuff is sold to us by people who've convinced us that we have a perceived need. I need a new house. I need a new car. I need a better computer. I need new clothes. I need a new cell. Need. Need. Need.

"So I tell you, don't worry about everyday life-whether you have enough food, drink, and clothes. Doesn't life consist of more than food and clothing? Look at the birds. They don't need to plant or harvest or put food in barns because your heavenly Father feeds them. And you are far more valuable to him than they are. Can all your worries add a single moment to your life? Of course not.
"And why worry about your clothes? Look at the lilies and how they grow. They don't work or make their clothing, yet Solomon in all his glory was not dressed as beautifully as they are. And if God cares so wonderfully for flowers that are here today and gone tomorrow, won't he more surely care for you? You have so little faith!
"So don't worry about having enough food or drink or clothing. Why be like the pagans who are so deeply concerned about these things? Your heavenly Father already knows all your needs, and he will give you all you need from day to day if you live for him and make the Kingdom of God your primary concern.
"So don't worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today's trouble is enough for today."
Matthew 6:25-34

I'm a Survivor.

So, the season premiere of "Survivor" is less than 24 hours away, and everyone seems to be abuzz with activity about this thing. I've already made comments on my own blog about this, and I was involved in a lovely back-and-forth on YS Marko's blog around the same time.

Needless to say, the plan to divide contestants by race is designed to attact viewers. I'd be comfortable guessing that tomorrow's episode will be the strongest first-night episode the show has seen in many seasons, maybe ever. It's a TV program. They pander to our most basic instincts in the hope that we'll sit there, glued to the idiot box for 60 minutes (44 per episode if you wait until it comes out on DVD).

Tonight, I was scrolling through the SF Chronicle's website, one of my usual haunts, when I come across yet another commentary on the show. Consider these words from columnist CW Nevius:

In short, it has become this week's hot TV topic. And that's exactly, critics say, what "Survivor" creator Mark Burnett and the CBS network were hoping for.

Linda Holmes, a Minnesota attorney who writes "Survivor" critiques for the popular Web site Television Without Pity, said this is the cultural equivalent of watching contestants eat bugs. (A common challenge on the show.)

"Look," Holmes added, "Burnett is a guy that specializes in making people uncomfortable. And this is a topic that will make people uncomfortable."

Maybe so, others say, but what's the point? "Survivor" host Jeff Probst has been trying to make this year's show sound as educational as possible. In interviews, he's even suggested that this is a "social experiment."

"You mean like segregation was a social experiment?" asks Lisa Navarrete, a vice president with the National Council of La Raza, the largest national Latino civil rights and advocacy organization in the United States. "We tried that social experiment. It doesn't work."

Oh, c'mon, you say. Lighten up. Even Navarrete admits that "it's not the end of the world; it's just a TV show." So what are we getting so upset about?

Actually, most experts agree, the issue isn't race. It is stereotyping. ...

Wow. Stereotyping on a "reality" TV program. Please forgive me for a moment, because I'm about ready to type some stuff in all caps AND bold (!), in an attempt to communicate my frustration with the stupidity of all this.

FOLKS, IT'S A REALITY TV PROGRAM. THE GENRE WOULDN'T EXIST WITHOUT STEREOTYPES. EVERY SHOW, FROM THE REAL WORLD TO SURVIVOR TO BIG BROTHER TO ROAD RULES TO TOP MODEL TO ANYTHING YOU CAN THINK OF -- IT ALL HINGES ON THE USE OF STEREOTYPES TO CREATE CHARACTERS FOR THE SHOW!!!!!!

OK, I'll step off my soap box for a moment. I'm just annoyed by people who think a show like "Survivor" should dish out something more than entertainment. That's like expecting deep social commentary from "Desperate Housewives" or a solution to world hunger on "The Office." Come on, folks, it's entertainment.

Sept 11 thought.

I may blog more extensively late tonight on the Sept 11 anniversary arriving tomorrow. I may not. Just not sure if I want to attempt to say something meaningful about an event that lacked meaning. How anyone could cause such pain and suffering to families and cities and nations -- it's completely beyond me. I cried a lot that night after the attacks, but I don't know if I ever had a truly cathartic experience. I was working in newspapers back then, and we had daily deadlines, hourly updates, new turns, new twists. Not sure if I ever took the time I should have to let it all really, really sink it -- and not sure if I want to take the time to do it 5 years later.

Anyway, here's my simple thought, which will offend some, but I hope it causes you to think. Has our current administration made our country safer since that day? Well, regardless of your answer, here's one argument I reject: The evidence that our efforts have been worthwhile can be found in the fact that the U.S. hasn't been directly attacked since that day.

Why do I reject that argument? Simple: It was 8 years between the first attack on the World Trade Center and the one that ultimately brought them down. We all know NOW that the seeming quiet of 8 years meant we were any safer. Just a thought.

Long silence.

Hey all, sorry for the long period of silence! Last week was a busy week around the church, and then I went to a friend's wedding on Friday night. Moderately acceptable excuses, I realize, but I offer them nonetheless.

Observant. Very observant.

Overheard Monday evening inside Seattle's Best Coffee in a local Border's:
"Did Starbucks start the market?" one employee to a colleague.

Where were you when you heard?

So, last night I'm sitting around with my roommates, and we get talking about Steve Irwin's demise. We wondered: Will this be a defining moment for today's kids? Will it be their Pearl Harbor, their JFK, their MLK Jr, their Nixon resigns, their Challenger, their 9-11? Will it be seared into their collective mindset? Share your thoughts.

And share your thoughts on whether we should all get to watch the video where Steve Irwin is fatally stabbed by a stingray.

Some camping tales.

One of the most interesting people I met last week in Yosemite was a bus driver. He was working in Yosemite Valley for the summer, and during the rest of the year he's a veteran bus driver (10 years) for the L.A. Unified School District. Needless to say, spending time on a hybrid-powered bus in Yosemite surrounded by families and hikers was a nice change of pace for the guy!

Unlike some of the flight attendants for Southwest Airlines, this guy was funny. His funniest bit was the fact that we were riding around on his bus at night, in the dark -- and he's originally from Transylvania. Entertaining, light-hearted guy. He speaks several languages and really seems to enjoy being around people.

But still, that Transylvania thing got a little weird -- especially because he didn't turn on the bus' interior lights whenever he made a stop. The other drivers did, but not the guy from Transylvania. Hmmm.

**********

WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON JOURNAL ENTRY: "There must be an unwritten (or written) law that ppl should exchange pleasantries while hiking. It must be somewhere in Hammurabi's Law or the Magna Carta. But apparently, we don't have to be pleasant to each other once we're back in camp."

**********

WED NIGHT ENTRY: "Just had a guy, total stranger, walk through my campsite on his way to the restrooms. Probably doesn't greet ppl on trails."

**********

Deer count: 8. (Seen, not hit by my car.)

**********

WED NIGHT ENTRY: "Sometimes 'tampering' is bad, and sometimes it's good. I just 'tampered' with my fire, and it's doubled in size."

Crocodile Hunter, we hardly knew ye.

Remarkable. All the bookies in Vegas were sure Steve Irwin would die at the hands, er, teeth, of a crocodile. Alas, the fearless wonder "was killed Monday by a stingray during a diving expedition":

Irwin was filming an underwater documentary on the Great Barrier Reef in northeastern Queensland state when the accident occurred, Sydney's The Daily Telegraph newspaper reported on its Web site.

The Australian Broadcasting Corp. said Irwin was diving near Low Isles Reef near the resort town of Port Douglas, about 1,260 miles north of the state capital of Brisbane. ...

Irwin is famous for his enthusiasm for wildlife and his catchcry "Crikey!" in his television program "Crocodile Hunter," which was first broadcast in Australia in 1992 and has aired around the world on the Discovery channel.

He rode his image into a feature film, and developed the Australia Zoo as a tourist attraction.

Irwin had received some negative publicity in recent years. In January 2004, he stunned onlookers at the Australia Zoo reptile park by carrying his 1-year-old son into a crocodile pen during a wildlife show. He tucked the infant under one arm while tossing the 13-foot reptile a piece of meat with the other.

Authorities declined to charge Irwin for violating safety regulations.

Gotta love English.

Overheard Friday evening at a local Borders, an exchange between a father and his young son:

"OK, Daddy, we're running into the bookstore."
"No, no running inside."
"OK, we're not running."

Such a subtle language, eh?

wavemaker.

our lives are like waves crashing on a beach
always flowing
never ending
constant ongoing incessant unceasing
some waves impact
many lives
other waves impact
fewer lives
yet all make an impact
until they wash back home
into the lake of life all
at the hand and timing of the
wavemaker.

You just can't escape Saddleback.

So I'm up at Glacier Point in Yosemite National Park, and someone's talking about a camping area in the High Country. They referred to it as Saddleback Lake or Pass or Something Like That. So I'm thinking that, a la Doug Fields, I've got my OWN stalker (probably Josh Griffin, or maybe Andy Brazleton on his mountain bike). I mean, come on, is there NOWHERE we can go without hearing about Saddleback Church?

Well, OK, it turns out I either misheard them or they didn't know the right name of the place. Turns out it's SaddleBAG Lake. Saddleback, Saddlebag. No, I'm really not going deaf in my 30s. Seriously.

Deerly beloved.

Growing up, my brother Rick and I had our own name for this kind of sign: "Deer dancing like idiots by the side of the road" sign. Come to think of it, that's still what I call it.

Ugly gas prices.

Get a load of this. True story. Seven people, picked to live in a house... never mind...

OK, so I kinda lied. I didn't pay that price for gas. But it's a legit sign from Lee Vining, Calif., which I drove through during my trek to Yosemite. Here is what gas actually is around the Sacramento area these days. SoCal friends, view it and weep.

New friends.

So, this is the first of many posts that will come out of my trip to Yosemite National Park. I had a lot of fun interactions with people and great visits to cool places up in the mountains.

First up: Mike and Janet Paden, a retired couple I met on Monday while visiting Glacier Point. This locale offers some of the most spectacular views of Yosemite Valley, including a "side shot" of Half Dome that you miss if you never leave the Valley floor.

Anyway, I got talking with Mike and Janet about their adventure as they're traveling across the country. I later learned that they've been on the road since April -- wow! -- and their trek has taken them from Illinois all the way to Florida and now way out west. From Yosemite, they (and their two dogs) planned to head north to Lake Tahoe, British Columbia, and maybe as far north as Calgary. It was fun talking about places they've visited and their planned sites along the way.

Remarkably, I ran into the Padens a day later while up in the High Country. I had decided to make a trek over to the east side of the mountains. There's a wonderfully steep route for Highway 120, and it leaders to Lee Vining and Mono Lake. After driving around a little while, I stopped by the "south shore" of Mono Lake and checked out the south tufa formations.

On the way back into Yosemite, I pulled off to get a nice view of Ellery Lake, and after snapping a couple of photos (with my PDA; I didn't bring a "real" camera on this trip), I saw a couple waving at me -- and I realized it was Mike and Janet! We talked for a few minutes about their plans to head to Route 395 and go up to Lake Tahoe for the next leg of their trip.

So, I promised them an email (to be sent in a few minutes) and I decided they should get the first "real" post from my Yosemite trip. I'm looking forward to hearing about their continuing adventures as they head north and then east.

And for the rest of you folks, I promise more posts about mountains and gas prices and deer signs and Saddleback and people from other countries and books I read while up in Yosemite and hikes I took and all kinds of other fun stuff. Enjoy.

Final thoughts on Star Wars.

1. I will wait a long time until I spend 13+ hours watching all the movies.
2. If I watch them all with students again, I will make sure no one steals my chairs.
3. If people steal my chairs, I will make sure the chairs don't get broken.
4. I will commission a leader to make a late-night McDonald's run.
5. I will reinlist a friend to bring food again from Olive Garden.
6. I will do less commentary during Episode I.
7. I will do more commentary during the rest of the movies.
8. If I need to fall asleep during Empire Strikes Back, I will do it.
9. I will remind students that it's not a date night, so cut the PDA.
10. I will plan another vacation right after an all-night event because it took me several days to recover from this one.

Back in business.

You know, every time my blog gets linked from the SYM Podcast, my hits jump through the roof. Guess that means: 1. People watch/listen to the podcast; 2. People also look at the links; 3. People follow the links. Hmm...I must have gone to college, to have figured that one out. "Yeah, well, your mom went to college." Thanks.

So yes I'm back in civilization now, after several days in the mountains, and I have LOTS of stuff to blog about. In fact, I'm going to ask my senior pastor if I can spend half my week in the mountains, because I have more blog material from 4 days in Yosemite than I typically get in 4 weeks in the Sacramento area. Go figure.

Might be a post or two later tonight. Right now I'm visiting my mom, who has lost ALL of her hair from her two rounds of chemo. She's letting me take pics of her, so I'll post something tonight or tomorrow on how she looks bald. Never thought my mom would go bald before me.

Gone for a few.

I'm up in the mountains for a few days of spiritual R&R. Got my Bible, my books, my tent and some food. Should be fun. Just praying it's not too hot. I'm trying to get away from the summer temps, although it's only been low to mid90s around here lately. Anyway, no new posts until late Thursday night. Cya.

Hurray for Star Wars.

I'm sitting here in the middle of a group of students watching the 5th of the 6 Star Wars movies (that would The Empire Strikes Back, in case you're not a huge Star Wars fan). It's been quite an adventure, and we still have about 3 hours left until we're done.

Most of the gang stayed awake through the first 2 films; outdoor basketball between games helped, I think. But with each passing Episode, the number of still-awakes continues to shrink. The low point was about halfway through Episode 4: A New Hope (the "original" Star Wars), I think there were maybe 4 or 5 of us awake. Right now, as I scan the room, I observe at least 10 or 11 of us awake, even though I (and others) continue to battle the desire to sleep.

I'm supposed to take a few days of vacation after this, and I'll need it. But overall, it's been a fun event for the students (and the brave adults who are still here), and I highly recommend to any of you looking for a way to spend at least 14 straight hours with your students.

Star Wars mania.

Tonight we're holding a Star Wars Movie Marathon for our students. It was a student-initiated idea, which means it will deprive me of much sleep. But it'll be fun. We gonna flip on Phantom Menace (by far the weakest of the 6 flicks) right at 6PM sharp, and then go until 8 or 9 in the morning. It should be fun because we've got a projector set up in our "fellowship" facility, so we're gonna project big on the wall and run sound through a decent stereo system. Should be fun.

I've already got games and activities lined up (thx, JG!), and the event is just 3 hours away. But if you have thoughts on silly or fun in-between-movies activities or games, fire off an email or post a comment here. Maybe we can squeeze in some other stuff to keep everyone awake all night!

Pluto gets the boot.

Poor Pluto. It's got an identity crisis. For 74 years it thought it was a planet. Today, astronomers ripped away its planetary status. I'm sure there's some deeper thought about self-identity here somewhere, but I don't feel like searching for it. Anyone else is welcome to take a stab at it.

PRAGUE, Czech Republic (AP) -- Leading astronomers declared Thursday that Pluto is no longer a planet under historic new guidelines that downsize the solar system from nine planets to eight.

After a tumultuous week of clashing over the essence of the cosmos, the International Astronomical Union stripped Pluto of the planetary status it has held since its discovery in 1930. The new definition of what is -- and isn't -- a planet fills a centuries-old black hole for scientists who have labored since Copernicus without one.

For now, [planetary] membership will be restricted to the eight "classical" planets in the solar system: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune.

Much-maligned Pluto doesn't make the grade under the new rules for a planet: "a celestial body that is in orbit around the sun, has sufficient mass for its self-gravity to overcome rigid body forces so that it assumes a ... nearly round shape, and has cleared the neighborhood around its orbit."

Divided Survivors.

The new season of Survivor is just a few weeks away, once again bringing meaning and purpose to Thursday nights. They have a new twist for this season:

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Get ready for a segregated "Survivor." Race will matter on the upcoming season of the CBS show as contestants will be divided into four tribes by ethnicity. That means blacks, whites, Latinos and Asians in separate groups.

The announcement was made on CBS' Early Show. Host Jeff Probst says the idea "actually came from the criticism that 'Survivor' was not ethnically diverse enough." He says the twist fits in perfectly with what "Survivor" does, saying the show is "a social experiment. And this is adding another layer to that experiment." Probst says contestants had mixed reactions to the racial divisions.

This time the new Survivors are stranded on the Cook Islands in the South Pacific. The castaways include a police officer, a heavy metal guitarist, an attorney and a nail salon manager. The new season of Survivor debuts September 14th.

Haven't had a chance to look through the cast profiles yet, but I'm sure they've tossed in a few token roles once again (probably at least one Christian among the batch). Not trying to be cynical about it. I enjoy the show, but come on -- it IS television. It's not some redeeming force for our world.

Signs of wonder.

Marko from Youth Specialties has a hilarious post about silly, obnoxious, horrid church signs. Go check it out. Lots of fun, if you have a sense of humor about such things. If not... well, you probably shouldn't be looking at lots of these blogs, anyway.

Another #33 hero.

Just as I'm going to bed, I swing by SFGate and find a story on Joe Rosenthal, the photographer who captured the classic image of the U.S. flag being raised in Iwo Jima. Turns out he was 33 years old when he took the pic. He died Sunday at the age of 94.

He was a 33-year-old Associated Press photographer on Feb. 23, 1945, when he captured the black-and-white image of five battle-weary Marines and a Navy corpsman struggling to raise a flag atop Mount Suribachi on Iwo Jima.

He took the picture on the fifth day of the furious 36-day battle that left 6,621 American dead and 19,217 wounded. All but 1,083 of the 22,000 dug-in Japanese defenders were killed before the island was secured.

It was of that battle -- one of the bloodiest in Marine Corps history -- that Adm. Chester Nimitz, World War II commander of the Pacific fleet, said: "Among the Americans who served on Iwo Island, uncommon valor was a common virtue."

Wartime Navy Secretary James Forrestal said of Rosenthal: "He was as gallant as the men going up that hill."

Birthday go bye-bye.

My birthday has ended. It fell on a Sunday, so that made it weird. We had a funeral in the afternoon, so that added to the unusualness of the day. Now it's Monday. And now I should head toward bed. Adios.

Give it up for #33.

So, yes, today is my 33rd birthday. I decided to do a little research and find out what other people had accomplished by their 33rd birthdays:

* Thomas Jefferson. Wrote the Declaration of Independence when he was 33.
* Jesus Christ. Was crucified and resurrected when He was (probably) 33.
* Bill Gates. Was facing a legal battle from Apple over Windows 2.0 when he was 33.
* Joan of Arc. Had already been dead for 14 years.
* Billy Graham. Was into his first year leading the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association when he was 33.
* Katie Couric. Was a national correspondent for the Today show when she was 33.
* Doug Fields. Was working on a book called "The Purpose-Driven Life," which somehow was lost and discovered by someone else years later.
* Winston Churchill. Was Secretary of State for Trade and Industry for the UK government when he was 33.
* Julius Caesar. Was just launching his political career when he was 33.
* Susan B. Anthony. Was just beginning her involvement as a leader in both the women's suffrage and anti-slavery movements when she was 33.
* Alexander the Great. Had conquered most of his known world by the time he was (almost) 33; he died just a month shy of his 33rd birthday.

So, how 'bout them apples?

I'm old. Not really.

Happy birthday to me
Happy birthday to me
I spend time around teens
Who laugh that I'm 33

The next Harry Potter?

So I'm sitting at my mom's house this evening. She's just gone through her second round of chemo to battle lymphoma. We're watching the evening news (yes, people DO still watch it, apparently), and ABC World News decided to name the newest Sesame Street muppet as its Person of the Week.

This new character is named Abby Cadabby, a 3-year-old fairy-in-training who apparently is the first new character in 13 years to be introduced on the show. Her appearance is an attempt to create a strong lead female presence on the show. Cool.

But she's a fairy. She flies around and has a magic wand. And it got me thinking. Is Abby Cadabby the next Harry Potter? Are some evangelical Christians going to latch onto the idea of a "magical fairy" teacing their kids on Sesame Street, and become irate about it?

If so, I'll be disappointed. But I should at least get some kind of applause for predicting the trend before it happened... maybe I'll write a book about it... maybe I can retire early or buy a house or travel the world... hmmm...

Did the Dog go wild?

For all you fans of "Dog the Bounty Hunter" comes this lovely tale of a Bay Area lawsuit...

The brawny, long-haired, leather-clad ex-con with a soft side -- known to reality television fans as "Dog the Bounty Hunter" -- swept into a Daly City park last year with cameras rolling and city police officers in tow.

Duane Chapman and his Hawaii-based "posse" of family members, who star in A&E's most popular series, were after an elusive bail-skipper who had played for the Daly City Renegades semipro football team.

What happened next is the subject of an unusual civil rights lawsuit filed Wednesday at the U.S. District Court in San Francisco. ...

"This is reality TV run amok," said (Simaile "Cisco") Lutu's attorney, Jim Hammer, a former San Francisco prosecutor and television legal commentator. "There's got to be a bright line between television entertainment on one hand and real police work on the other."

Tag. I'm it.

Yet another example of viral activity on the Internet. But this has a little bit more depth to it than funny videos that tell people to part the Red Sea. Thanks, Josh.

1. One book that changed your life: This is tough. Best answer is "Visioneering," Andy Stanley. Challenging, thought-provoking, encouraging book for leaders.

2. One book that you’ve read more than once: "Fahrenheit 451," Ray Bradbury. Sorry Michael Moore. I'll pick the original book over the knockoff film any day, and twice on Tuesday.

3. One book you’d want on a desert island: "War and Peace," Leo Tolstoy. It's really, really big, so it will take me many, many days to read through it each time as I lament my desert experience. BTW, shouldn't this be "deserted" island and not a "desert" island? If you're on an island, you have water nearby, which seems to limit the impact of being an alleged desert. Just a thought.

4. One book that made you laugh: "The Know It All," A.J. Jacobs. It's a hilarous account of a guy who decided to read the entire Encyolpaedia Britannica. Fun.

5. One book that made you cry: "The Last Battle," C.S. Lewis. I admit it. I really like the whole Narnia series. I've lost track of how many times I've read each book. Some may criticized Lewis' work, but I love it. I still get a little misty-eyed at the end of the seven-book series (any time I read 'em, I read 'em all in a row).

6. One book you wish had been written: "All the Winning Lottery Numbers of the Early 21st Century," Nostradamus.

7. One book you wish had never been written: Hmmm. Tough one. Let's go with "My Life," Bill Clinton. Is he really deep enough to warrant such a huge tome?

8. One book you’re currently reading: Just one? I'm in the middle of reading three. "Franklin and Winston," Jon Meacham. It's a down-to-earth biography of the friendship between FDR and Winston Churchill during WWII. Good read.

9. One book you’ve been meaning to read: Just one? There are so many unread books that line my shelves. Let's pick "Leading from the Second Chair," Mike Bonem and Roger Patterson.

10. One book you’d like to write: "Entering Ministry When You're 30 OR Ministry as a Single Guy and other humorous tales"

So, now it's my turn to tag some friends. My choices: fellow youth pastor Evan Mattei; missions man extraordinaire Matt Wilkie; and other superduper missions guy Tom Hammond.

One rough day.

Today was one of the most difficult days we've had at our church in a long time. We're preparing for a funeral tomorrow -- our senior pastor's dad, who had been active in the congregation for decades -- which we know will be a mixed day of celebrating his life and mourning his loss.

This afternoon, another member of our congregation died -- but in much more tragic circumstances. Today's loss has torn at different emotions, but both deaths have left wounds on the hearts of many here.

There are never easy answers. Why do certain things happen in our world? Why did I lose this family member? Where do I go from here? How do I handle this pain? What do I tell our kids? What can I do to ease their pain?

Easily answered? Hardly. But the questions will be asked. The questions must be asked as we grapple with our Christian experience, as we do our best to life God-honoring lives in a sin-filled world.

"It was sin that made death so frightening and law-code guilt that gave sin its leverage, its destructive power. But now in a single victorious stroke of Life, all three -- sin, guilt, death -- are gone, the gift of our Master, Jesus Christ. Thank God!" 1 Corinthians 15:57 (The Message)

One small (mis)step for NASA.

In case you lose things in your office, you're in good company. It happens to our friends at NASA, too. Of course, you probably don't keep original copies of the Magna Carta sitting around in your office...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- The U.S. government has misplaced the original recording of the first moon landing, including astronaut Neil Armstrong's famous "one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind," a NASA spokesman said on Monday.

Armstrong's famous space walk, seen by millions of viewers on July 20, 1969, is among transmissions that NASA has failed to turn up in a year of searching, spokesman Grey Hautaloma said.

"We haven't seen them for quite a while. We've been looking for over a year and they haven't turned up," Hautaloma said.

Viral Christianity.

Tomorrow morning, our senior pastor won't be preaching. His father passed away this last week, and he's feeling the need to stay away tomorrow -- which I think of us would feel in similar circumstances!

So I've been working on a sermon for tomorrow morning, borrowing a few loose concepts from the Being a Contagious Christian material that Willow Creek produced back in the 1990s. Our focus tomorrow will be on "Viral Christianity," noting that our call as Christians in the Great Commission is similar to the viral videos and marketing techniques of our generation. They're addictive, they're agents of change, they spread rapidly, and they're active not passive. Those strike me as characteristics of what a genuine Christian life should be.

So go be viral for God.

Such a busy week.

This afternoon, I was sitting down and looking at this blog, and I realized that it's been silent for several days now. I've done a pretty good job of keeping this thing semi-active since I launched it back in June; just a few breaks of silence now and then.

It's been a wild week around here. My senior pastor's father passed away yesterday, so our office has been busy with phone calls and preparation and discussions about the funeral next week. Tonight several of us are gathering at his house so we can spend time with him and his wife, along with his mom and other family members.

Loss is never easy. Anytime we lose a loved one, a part of us is gone. As Christians, we know that there's the opportunity to see that person again, if they also know Christ, yet we feel part of us is gone forever.

I've lost all 4 of my grandparents, as well as a stepgrandma. Frances (who married my dad's dad after they had both lost their spouses) was the last one to pass away, earlier this year.

The older I get, the more I appreciate the memories and the times I shared with my grandparents. I look back and wish I could relive some of those experiences. I wish I could ask my mom's dad, who was a pastor for many years, how he handled some of the "stuff" pastors deal with each day. I wish I could hear some of those stories now -- when my grandparents were alive, I wasn't involved in full-time ministry, so the tales didn't mean as much. Today, they'd be more meaningful -- especially this week.

The dangers of fishing.

I'm familiar with various fish-slapping dances, but here's a new twist:

Wildwood, Fla. (AP) -- A man riding a personal watercraft on the Suwannee River was injured after a 4-foot-long sturgeon jumped out of the water and hit him, wildlife officials said.

Blake Nicholas Fessenden, 23, was heading north on the Suwannee River Sunday just north of the Hart Springs Sand Bar when he was hit and fell off the craft, according to a statement from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.

Fessenden was knocked unconscious.

Lieberman vs Extremists

Today, Democratic voters in Connecticut will decide if Joe Lieberman will become their nominee for another term as their junior senator, or if he will be forced to launch an independent campaign if he wants that job for another six years. One of the most intriguing aspects of this election has been the activity of liberal online groups, including MoveOn.org, that have activated their angry base of supporters. The primary issue: the war in Iraq.

This one Senate race may be getting lots of attention, but it's not the only example of online groups using their power and influence to affect a political or social campaign. And liberal groups aren't the only participants. Conversative bloggers and talk-show radio hosts are doing their fair share of blowing on the fire.

It all concerns me because the loudest, most vocal, most influential voices and outlets represent the Left and the Right -- not the moderately liberal or moderately conservative views, but the Extremes.

I've never been a big fan of the Extremes. I'm a registered non-partisan voter. My liberal friends think I'm conservative. My conservative friends are convinced I'm a liberal. I've voted for Republicans and Democrats (but never Bill Clinton), and I've even cast a few votes for third-party candidates (including, yes, Ross Perot in '92).

The Extremes are great at talking. They're great at shouting, actually. What they're not very good at is communicating. It's like having two friends who've gone through a huge fight, and they never fully resolved the issues. You bring them together, and they can talk AT each other, but they never seem to be able to talk TO each other.

So as the Left and Right go at it, the Moderates are stuck. Where is the dialogue? Where is the true concern for the big picture and the legit national interest? Where is the willingness to find a real Third Way (not the Clintonian version)?

I don't live in Connecticut, so I won't be voting today. But our fair state of California has an election this fall, and the Extremes are already gearing up. The presidential election is more than two years away, and the Extremes are lining up their forces. The bullhorns are ready. The picket signs are painted. The demagogues are tuning up their voices.

Such a shame.

Music affects teen sex. Surprise.

This article won't really surprise youth pastors. It has some good observations and research on the impact sexually oriented music has on teens. The bottom line, of course, is that the more parents can be involved in the lives of their teens, the more parents will know what their teens are hearing and watching and reading, and who they're hanging with. All that good stuff.

CHICAGO, Illinois (AP) -- Teens whose iPods are full of music with raunchy, sexual lyrics start having sex sooner than those who prefer other songs, a study found.

Whether it's hip-hop, rap, pop or rock, much of popular music aimed at teens contains sexual overtones. Its influence on their behavior appears to depend on how the sex is portrayed, researchers found.

Songs depicting men as "sex-driven studs," women as sex objects and with explicit references to sex acts are more likely to trigger early sexual behavior than those where sexual references are more veiled and relationships appear more committed, the study found.

Teens who said they listened to lots of music with degrading sexual messages were almost twice as likely to start having intercourse or other sexual activities within the following two years as were teens who listened to little or no sexually degrading music.

Fashionable phones.

Check this out. Pretty good article from the SF Chronicle's website about the fashion side of mobile phones.

Alison Hong never thought she'd be turning heads with a cell phone, but that's exactly what's been happening with her latest gadget.

The 22-year-old San Francisco paralegal just bought an LG Fusic -- a sleek, white phone from Sprint with colored face plates -- and noticed the reactions immediately.

"You know how people leave their phones on the table? People will always grab my phone first because it catches their eyes," she said. "They think it's an iPod phone.''

Long an afterthought, cell phone design is in the spotlight with a host of new phones sporting stylish and eye-popping looks. While there is still a market for unremarkable silver-and-black phones, throwbacks to the dawn of the cellular age, a new generation of devices is playing like never before on color, form and materials.

For the record, I don't have a pink Razr. Or a blue Pebl. I opted for function over form when I got a new phone earlier this summer. My choice: a Treo 700p from Sprint. Great phone. Lot of functions. Easy to use. And not cheap -- but worth it.

dear wrkr: u r fired

I've never been fired from a job before, but I don't imagine it's a pleasant experience. Imagine how much worse it was for this woman:

LONDON, United Kingdom (AP) -- Katy Tanner's cell phone beeped with a startling message — you're fired. The 21-year-old had a migraine headache and took a sick day last week from her job at Blue Banana, a chain body-piercing studio in Cardiff, Wales, she said Monday. She turned on her cell phone the next day to discover she'd been terminated from her sales position.

"We've reviewed your sales figures and they're not really up to the level we need," shop manager Alex Barlett wrote in the message. "As a result, we will not require your services any more. Thank you for your time with us."

Ian Bisbie, a Blue Banana director said the company does not usually fire employees by text message, but had no other alternative after phoning Tanner five or six times and calling her boyfriend.

The company also defended the sacking-by-text message as a way to keep modern.

Ouch.

Deepish Thoughts. Friday Style.

One of my roommates has a pet hamster. The rodent escaped from its cage-condo last night and made its way into my room. (I refer to the rodent as "it" because I've never asked and never looked.) I didn't notice its presence until it had been in there awhile and was safely protected by all the storage boxes under my bed. Eventually, we captured the creature. But I was starting to wish we also had a cat...

I was clearing out some out text msgs today, and came across one to my good friend, Bill Rath, who loves the Doug Fields Podcast and will be happy to know that I've finally used the names "Bill Rath" and "Doug Fields" in the same sentence. I sent Billy Boy a text last week in which I asked, "Did u do anything fun for ur bathroom?" I meant to ask if he had done anything fun for his birthday. I wonder where I was when I typed the msg...

Our youth group is holding a Star Wars movie marathon later this month. All six movies. All night long. I wish we could skip Episode I, but we have to be true to the entire Lucas genius (such as it is). Yesterday, I came across a sweet movie from The Skit Guys that stars Leia, Chewie and Han Solo. It's a riot. I highly recommend you download it. Unless you have dial-up. It will take you forever...

And speaking of Lucas, do you know the only city name mentioned in his classic movie "American Graffiti"? If you know where Lucas was born, that will put you on the right track. His hometown isn't the right answer, but the right answer isn't far, far away...

My students gave me an early birthday present on Wednesday night, which is really cool since my birthday isn't until October. (Just kidding, it's this month; you're welcome to send cash, iTunes cards or Amazon gift certificates.) Among the unique items:

• a "Sportcap Buddy" for washing my dirty, disgusting baseball cap
  
• a writing pen that also includes a red laser and a blue light
  
• a box of instant popcorn, a bag of pretzels and a box of Slim Jims (all inside jokes)
  
• and a Dr. Pepper T-shirt

That was all pretty cool, in my book. But I'm still tryin' to figure out where they stashed the cash...

Sweet podcast.

OK, so Josh Griffin says the latest Simply Youth Ministry podcast episode is their most depressing ever. I'm glad that I had a part in creating a tad of that depression. If you need help for depression, there are many options.

I know that Fields and McGill are leaving soon for their Kenyan adventure, so no clue if any of the following will ever be heard live on the podcast, so I offer this for your consideration.

On Episode 25, Fields, McGill, Natalie and Griff (with a little Brazel help) debated how many of my emails had been read on their fine show. Here was the email response I sent to each of them...

**********

Hey gang! It turns out that Natalie was right, though I'm not sure everyone heard her guess of "7" for the number of my emails that have been read.

Let's break it down.

#1: The sexually charged comment/"P.S. I'm movin' to Brooklyn"
Emailed: 17 March 06
Read: Episode 8

#2: Purpose-Driven vs. 7 Checkpoints
Emailed: 23 March 06
Read: Episode 9

#3: The non-humor coach
Emailed: 21 March 06
Read: Episode 9

#4: State abbreviations list for Natalie
Emailed: 5 April 06
Read: Episode 11

#5: Questions for Austin Carty (including Pat Robertson leg-pressing 2K lbs.)
Emailed: 26 May 06
Read: Episode 18

#6: The best time to start writing small group curriculum
NOTE: Was read anonymously
Emailed: 11 Feb 06
Read: Episode 19

#7: The risks of humor
Emailed: 17 July 06
Read: Episode 24
Re-read and answered: Episode 25

And I'm glad to know that at least 3 items on a Top 10 were funny. That's batting .300, and they might put me in the baseball hall of fame with an average like that.

Sure hope my future emails get ready...I've probably exceeded my quota...

**********

Anyway, I hope they read your email soon. Good luck. Just kidding. Sorta.