Fun with coffee.

Last night, our youth held their first coffeehouse night in nearly two years. It was lots of fun seeing students showcase their creative skills, from solo guitarists to a worship band to a rock band to freehand drawing to molded-clay creations to original poetry to silly, silly songs.

We did these coffeehouse nights back in the day, but we seemed to run out of students willing to present and perform. Last night showed that we have incredible creative depth in our youth ministry. It also reminded me that despite some big challenges we've experienced since the beginning of the year, we have a core of kids committed to our group and committed to seeing it thrive.

We'll probably do more of these over the summer. We used our outdoor courtyard, a new venue for us, and the vibe was awesome. By 7pm, the area is in shade and by 8pm the candles on the tables shone brightly. Lots of fun.

I'd like to apologize: Volume 3

It's Thursday, which means it's time to get something off my chest...and I don't just mean the missed drops of antibiotics I'm using to treat my pinkeye! This week I offer my apologies:

* To anyone who touched my eye on Monday, for the possible pinkeye they will soon experience.
* To Jeremy White, for forgetting to give him my $5 for the PDYM lunch today; it'll get to ya, I promise.
* To people who've been using tax preparation software for years, for thinking they were silly; now I know why you do it.
* To Tyler Combs, for making jokes about what life will be like when he's away from Turlock for a few months.
* To Kaiser Permanente, for complaining about their quality of care, which was much better this week than I've had in the past.
* To the folks at Thunder Valley Casino, for not stopping off at their fine establishment and wasting money on Tuesday.
* To Jack Bauer, for thinking his world get any easier -- or more realistic -- this week.
* To Starbucks, for only visiting once over the last week.
* To our coffehouse crowd in advance, for hearing me doing something musically tomorrow that I might regret.
* To Dave Welborn, for using AIM to chat with him, even though he lives just down the hall from me.
* To Hillary Clinton, for taking yet another blood oath to never ever vote for her.
* To my neighbors, for still having Christmas lights up (but not used) even though it's almost May.
* To Jim Sanders, for not connecting with him last week like I had promised.
* And on a very serious note...to the family that visited our church on April 15, for the loss of their mom in a car accident just 2 days after they were with us. Your family remains in our prayers.

PDYM lunch day

So, today was the springtime Purpose-Driven Youth Ministry (PDYM) luncheon for our region here in NorCal. Drove over to Vacaville to Valley Church, and host Jeremy White did a great job once again.

This lunch was a bit different because we got to watch a cool training video from Doug Fields. He offered some great tips on recruiting and nurturing volunteer teams in youth ministry. As always, good stuff.

But I must share some fun moments from the event and video:
* Hearing Fields talk about podcasts and blogs -- especially considering his absolute love for blogs.
* I've never seen anyone indicate the number "2" by using the two index fingers on their hands. Most of us would hold up 2 fingers on one hand. Fields? Both index fingers.
* Jeremy got teased mercilessly because he has a soul patch -- just like Fields.

Anyway, great time once again. The video training added a lot; nice extra!

Guess what I got?

Nope...not a new iPod...or $1,000 in the mail...or anything really fun at all.

I got pinkeye. Yuck. Technically, it's called "conjunctivitis," and technically, it leaves my eye all red and icky. But I got some meds this afternoon and I'm on my way to looking and feeling better.

And remarkably, I got into and out of a Kaiser Permanente facility in just about an hour: got vitals done (blood pressure and pulse good), met with the doc, got a prescription filled, had some blood work done (to check on cholesterol and pre-diabetes issues from a few years ago). Pretty cool. In the past, I've sat in Kaiser facilities for a long, long time just to meet with a doc.

DOD: Discovery of the Day

OK, this isn't a NEW discovery that I made today. But it's recent, from earlier this month.

I love Togo's sandwiches. Truthfully, I love Quizno's sandwhiches more, but the price and value and quantity of a Togo's sub bumps the big Q outta first place for me. Subway? Hmm, isn't that a dirty place where people leave nasty grafitti? That's what I thought.

So, a few weeks back I ordered my usual sandwich (large #8, parmesan cheese bread, mustard only and a good amount, swiss cheese, little bit of lettuce, six or seven tomato slices, lots and lots of pickles, and black pepper) but at a different location. When I got to my "good amount of mustard, please" line, the employee asked me if I wanted Dijon mustard.

Flabbergasted was I. Togo's has more than just yellow mustard? Wow! So now, everytime I buy a sandwich at the big T, I get some Dijon mustard on it, too. Sweet.

Our worship experiment.

We did something in our youth service this week that I've heard discussed many times but never seen implemented. I've even talked about it in the past but finally felt it was time for us to attempt it. It's a pretty crazy experiment.

We turned the crowd away from the band. Or we put the band behind the crowd. However you want to say it.

And the world didn't stop spinning. Remarkable.

Our youth recently moved into a "new" facility. It's new for us; it's either the 10th or 11th "home" we've had on our church campus. Or maybe the number is much higher. I keep losing count.

Last month, on my mini-sabattical/personal spiritual retreat, this was one of the ideas I had as a way of helping our students focus more on what worship is all about. There really were two reasons for moving the band behind the crowd.

1. It's good for the band. It's too easy for student musicians to get involved simply because they get the attention and the eyeballs and the focus. That's not the purpose of worshiping God through music. Our goal is to lead young people into God's presence. Moving the band helps the band members remember what their role IS and what their role ISN'T in the service.

2. It's good for the crowd. One student asked me, "Well, what will we look at if the band isn't up front?" Well, the words on the wall -- if you don't know the lyrics to the songs. And if you do know the lyrics, you could close your eyes. Lift up your hands. Clap your hands. Kneel in prayer. Focus more of your energy on WHOM you're worshiping.

So, just as we entered that segment of the service, we explained to the crowd why we had modified the room. We asked them to not turn around and watch the musicians. We asked them to focus on the words they were singing and the reason we sing.

And then we led. And worship went better than it has in a long, long time. Our musicians felt freer. I felt free vocally. I didn't feel the need to "push" or "drag" people into worship. The students didn't turn around. Many of them lifted up their hands. Many of them really seemed to get what we were doing.

Only drawback? With no one up front, many people struggled to clap on the correct beat. You know what? If kids are more focused on the real reason for worship, I can live with that drawback.

It's a one-week experiment that worked well for us. We'll see how things go next week. Would I recommend it to others? Well, I'm not gonna write a book or build a whole theology around "band in the back." It's meeting a need in our group. A month from now, six months from now, a year from now -- at some point we'll likely switch back. When we're ready.

I'd like to apologize: Volume 2

It's Thursday, which means it's time to get something off my chest. And I'm not just talking about the salsa I dripped on myself last night! This week, I offer my apologies:

* To Sanjaya, for not voting for you.
* To true "American Idol" fans, for rooting for Sanjaya.
* To my brain cells, for watching "American Idol."
* To Kurt Johnston, for secretly orchestrating the whole "America's Top Pastor" debacle.
* To customers at Wal-Mart last week, who may have seen me walking around in a pair of far-too-holey jeans.
* To Dani, Gabriel and Sal, for making them eat the disgusting candy bars last night.
* To the fine folks at Mizu sushi, for being a little too intimidated by some of the sushi they were serving yesterday.
* To the federal and state governments, for being a last-minute filer once again this year.
* To my friends at Simply Youth Ministry, for taking far too long on a certain project.
* To Jennifer Gomez, for proving that some people WILL buy stuff for me at Starbuck's and pay for it.
* To Tyler Gillespie, for my jokes.
* To the rest of humanity, for my jokes.
* To Isabelle Read, for making her cry last night with our video testimony from a guy who passed away last week.* To "The Apprentice" and "Survivor," for no longer really caring.
* To "The Deadliest Catch," for missing an episode.
* To Round Table Pizza, for being very upset the other night when none of the local stores would deliver me a pizza, even though my house MUST be in someone's territory, thus forcing me to buy pizza from (yuck!) Domino's instead.
* To you, dear reader, for once again making it to the end of my weekly apologies.

I'm crying right now...

...over the departure of Sanjaya from American Idol. I thought he would last forever. I thought he would keep shocking us with creative, colorful hairdo's. I thought he would bring down that Death Star of pop culture.

But now he is gone. Tragic. What's the point in watching now? Seeing which victim, er, singer becomes part of the pop music machine? Nah, not worth it. Keep voting, America. I'll be watching "The Deadliest Catch" on Tuesday nights from here on out.

Rob has issues: Volume 1.

Today is Tax Day. Thanks to the quirks of the calendar and the holiday schedule in Washington, D.C., the deadline has been extended to Tuesday. And I'm grateful.

I don't owe anything to the feds or state this year. In fact, I'll be getting by largest tax refunds ever. That's pretty cool. Especially with the long list of "high-priority" items needed in my life. A new iPod. Patio furniture. Dues to my denomination's district. Ya know. The biggies.

This weekend I went into panic mode. I couldn't find my W2s. Or my forms from the last few years. Or the forms for this year. Ugh! So, first I went and bought software to do my taxes this year. Then I dug through my room. I found the W2s. Cool. Then I found a folder marked "2005 Taxes." Awesome. Oops. Files are missing. I hunted some more. Found old taxes. From the 1990s. Eventually, I did find all the "missing" elements that I needed.

Here's the funniest-yet-most-pathetic part of the whole story. I don't throw things away. It's a disease, an illness, an ailment. I keep stuff. And by "stuff" I mean all my federal and state forms going back to 1992. The first year I filed on my own. While in college. Yes folks, I have my complete history of tax filings still in my possession.

Rob has issues.

Have a happy day.

Enjoy.

Denegrating language.

Great article today from The Associated Press talking about hip-hop culture's attitudes toward women. The thoughts stem from all the controversy surrounding Don Imus and his unintelligent comments this month.

Fighting in vain to keep his job, radio host Don Imus claimed that rappers routinely "defame and demean black women" and call them "worse names than I ever did."

That's an argument many people made as the Imus fallout intensified, culminating with his firing Thursday for labeling the Rutgers women's basketball team "nappy-headed hos." Now that Imus has been silenced (for the moment), some critics are moving down the radio dial to take on hip-hop, boosting the growing movement against harmful themes in rap.

"We all know where the real battleground is," wrote Kansas City Star columnist Jason Whitlock. "We know that the gangsta rappers and their followers in the athletic world have far bigger platforms to negatively define us than some old white man with a bad radio show."

A tale of two companies.

Once upon a time, in a multinational corporation land far, far away, there lived two electronics companies, CompUSA and Fry's. This is the story of how these two companies' lives intersected at a crucial moment in both of their lives: as CompUSA was on its way to oblivion and as Fry's continued its rise toward its zenith.

You see, CompUSA is going out of business. It's selling all its products. It's selling all its furniture. It's even selling the shelves -- all in the name of liquidation.

Fry's is not going out of business. In fact, in Roseville, California, it's building a brand-new store. It's a huge store. It's a megastore. It's ginormous. And today, I visited one store and then drove past the other.

Because in Roseville, the new Fry's is just down the street from the soon-to-be-out-of-business CompUSA. And I found that, well, ironic. Not in an Alanis Morisette way. But there seems such rich irony that one store is closing its doors, while another its opening its huge rollup doors -- and both streets are practically within viewing distance of the other.

I'm sure there's a life lesson here. But it's my day off. Nothing too deep from me today.

To read a book, a book to read.

I bought a new book the other day. I'm trying to cut back. This book addiction can get quite expensive.

I try avoiding the places that feed my addiction, just as an alcoholic avoids bars, liquor stores and bingo halls. But earlier this week, I was hanging out with a student and we visited Borders. And I gave in.

Fortunately, I did pass over the "Inside Details of Anna Nicole's Death" and "The Notepad of Legal Paper," by John Grisham. What caught my eye was "The Jesus Way" by Eugene Peterson. Some of you know him simply as "the guy who wrote The Message translation of the Bible." Well, maybe not so simply.

This is the third book in his series on spiritual theology. I've bought and breezed through the two previous books, though both demand and deserve much more thorough readings. Last month we did a series with our youth on The Way of Wisdom, and this one feels like it'll be relevant and interesting, especially since I'm still kind of focused on the word "way" and the path of following Jesus.

So, this should be a good read.

Once I get around to reading it.

I'd like to apologize.

With all the big-name people in our world who feel the need to apologize (this week alone, Don Imus and Paul Wolfowitz -- what a combo!), I've opted to go introspective and apologize to a few people:

* To that kid at camp in 2nd grade, for throwing his toothbrush into the river.
* To my downstairs neighbors in Berkeley, for creating lots of noise above them during my two-week stay in their multiunit house.
* To the National Weather Service, for stealing a few of their pamphlets on a trip in 3rd grade.
* To various hotels and motels, for permanently borrowing signs from their rooms and stairwells during my years of high school competitive speech trips.
* To Carl's Jr, for doing the same thing to their table numbers.
* To TBN, for the jokes I made at the network's expense last night when preaching about evangelism.
* To my friends at the Simply Youth Ministry podcast, for skipping past all the other questions until I reach mine each episode.
* To Sarah Simmons, for almost never replying to her emails.
* To one set of neighbors, for living in my house for more than 5 months without introducing myself to them.
* To the people in my cabin at camp last week, for all those smells.
* To my long-dead cat, for trimming his whiskers, which he never seemed to enjoy.
* To Jeremy Anderson, for never dropping the jokes about him causing me to sprain my ankle while playing racquetball...4 years ago.
* To Shirley Shedd, for missing her retirement party.
* To Trudy Bryan, for missing her funeral.
* To former newspaper co-workers, for marking all their newspaper designs with red ink.
* To the Turlock Journal, for calling it The Urinal, even when I was an employee.
* To all 3 of my faithful blog readers, for not writing more frequently.
* To my students, for repeating certain stories way too frequently.
* To employees at Burger King, for truly "having it my way" with my burger orders.
* To Vince and Anthony Battaglia, for the silly footage at the end of our camp video.
* To Ernie Lara, for not including his funny footage from camp.
* To that stalker chick, for screening calls and not taking hers.
* To Steven Nelson, for always beating him in chess.
* To America, for voting for Ross Perot back in 1992.
* To America, for voting for George W Bush. Twice.
* To you, if you've read all the way to the end.

Blogging patterns.

I've been trying to figure out why I struggle to blog frequently when I'm working real-life hours. When I spent a week+ at my mom's house, I was churning out 2, 3, even 4 posts in a single day. None of them will win Pulitzer Prizes, mind you, but I at least felt I had something to say.

Now I'm back at work, in the office regularly, meeting with leaders and kids. I'm back into routine -- and I've been silent here all week. Do I spend time in front of the computer? Of course. Are there interesting anecdotes from my life? Probably. Do I somehow have less to say when I work than when I don't? I dunno.

Very weird. Maybe I need a shrink's couch to help me figure this out...

Who are my true MySpace friends?

So, what's the proper etiquette for "ranking" friends on MySpace? Should it be based on the friends I chat with most frequently? Should it be the people who are my closest friends in life? Should it be my key student or adult leaders from my ministry? Should it be all the folks who send me free stuff or gift cards to Amazon.com?

I'd love to hear your input. Especially if you're a 14 or 23 on my list but you think you should be a 1 or 2.

Back from camp.

Wow, we pulled in from Easter Camp just a few hours ago. What a week! We took the smallest crew of campers EVER to any camp in my nearly 4 years here, yet I can't call the event a failure. Our guys had a great time. They behaved well (as far as I know!), and they all seemed to develop stronger friendships with God and others.

As we took our final camp photo this afternoon, at our traditional spot at Springs of Living Water camp, it reminded me of how much these guys have grown up, and all the other students who have come through our doors since I arrived in June 2003. Some of them have become leaders. Some of them have gone on to college. Some of them have slipped through the cracks. Some are struggling in their faith. Some of them are excelling in their faith. Some have chosen to walk away.

Through it all, God's been faithful. I've made more than my share of mistakes. These kids haven't led perfect lives. But many of them have dug deep and found a strength that only comes through that vibrant, living, active faith in Jesus Christ.

Our team had an awesome counselor this year, Mark Grueninger, and this is the first time we've ever included a non-Antelope counselor in our team pic. His wife attended these Radical Reality camps as a teen, and she wanted to return as a counselor for this year's 25th anniversary Easter Camp. Wow I'm glad Mark came along, too! If anyone needs a financial planner in the Los Angeles area, let me know and I'll see if I can connect you with him! Mark stands out as probably the most well-rounded counselor we've had for a camp...and we've had some great counselors...Sofia Acero, Luis Cruz, Melodie Gomez, Mike Lara, April Harlan, Jesse Dalton, Zac from the Bay Area whose last name I forget but who always seems to get our guys! And Mark stands out among that pack.

Anyway, I've thrown in some other pics for fun, just to show images from other camps...Easter Camp, Summer Camp, a Jr High Summer Camp one year. Unfortunately, I don't have a digital version of the team pic from the FIRST camp I went to with these kids, in Summer 2003. There's a print in my office, and I'll get it scanned next week so I can add to this collection. Incredible how much the students have changed as individuals, yet students in many ways haven't changed. They face many of the same struggles and battles, they have many of the same hopes and dreams, and they have the same need for acceptance, love, forgiveness, impartation, redemption, and ministry.

Gone for a few (again).

Hey folks, I'm outta town for this week. Taking a group of students to Easter Camp. Should be fun. Enjoy your week. See ya on the flip side.

I like my Moleskine notebooks, dangit.

On a recent episode of the Simply Youth Ministry podcast, our esteemed friend Josh Griffin made a critical comment about people who walk around with little Moleskine notebooks to jot down their thoughts and ideas and inspirations.

I, my friends, am such a person. I write in mine. I give them as gifts to family. I think they're really quite convenient and cool.

Why mention it in my blog? Because today, I came across one of my notebooks that I thought had been "lost." Turns out it was just misplaced.

But it jogged my memory on Josh's comment.

And gave me a great idea on a birthday gift for later this year. :)

'Blades of Glory' a witty escape

"Blades of Glory" is no "Happy Gilmore." Of course it isn't, you say. One stars Will Ferrell, the other Adam Sandler. One is about the elitist sport of ice skating, the other centers on the, well, elitist sport of golf.

To me, "Happy" remains the modern standard of a sports comedy: It pokes fun at a beloved sport but in a way that some of the sport's biggest fans and heroes can rally behind. "Blades" -- or BOG, as some have taken to calling it -- attempts a similar feat, and manages to have more celeb/athlete cameos than I would have imagined.

"Happy" is a movie I'm comfortable watching with just about anyone. Sure, there's some colorful language, but it's largely a feel-good flick. Besides, who can resist the Bob Barker-Adam Sandler faceoff. On the other hand, I don't think I'll be taking a group of students from my church to watch "Blades." Too much sexuality. Too much crudeness. Too much ouch.

All that being said, I still enjoyed "Blades of Glory." I laughed for most of the movie, and I'm sure many of the characters' lines will take on a long pop-culture life. Would I recommend it? Yeah, probably. The overall premise is hilarious, and many of the scenes are gut-wrenchingly funny. If you aren't bothered by Will Ferrell's over-the-top silly sexuality, then you'll enjoy the pointed humor of these "Blades."

Chris Sligh, 4Him and American Idol.

Sounds like the opening line to an old Johnny Carson "Carnac the Magnificent" skit. Sorry kids, probably too old of a reference for ya.

So, I'm scanning through websites today and came across a news article about Chris Sligh getting bumped off "American Idol." Gotta be honest: I really don't care about the show, even though I've watched more of this season than all the other seasons combined. But I know Sligh has gotten lots of attention in Christian circles because he's a worship leader at his church.

This article pointed out that Sligh used to attend the ultraconservartivehyperfundamentalist (pretend you're speaking German on that one) Christian school Bob Jones University. Apparently, Sligh got kicked out for "attending a contemporary Christian concert featuring the group 4Him."

You're kidding, right? 4Him is still around?

Oh, and you're kidding about the college kickin' him out for such a silly "offense," right? Negatory, says the story. It's true.

This is crazy on multiple levels. First, 4Him hasn't had a "hit" song since at least the 1990s or so. Second, Sligh is the long-lost half-brother to Sideshow Bob from The Simpsons; this is absolute fact. Third, why is a 28-year-old singer/worship leader listening to drivel like 4Him? Fourth, Bob Jones kicking out a student for attending a concert like that makes my own alma mater look like a bastion of liberal hedonism. Back in the 1990s, Evangel College actually HOSTED a couple of concerts by 4Him. Crazy.

Well, I'm going public with my prediction. Sanjaya is gonna win "American Idol" this year. He has the support of all the non-fans, and they will bring about the show's demise.

Ain't democracy great?

Gotta love junior-highers.

Get a load of this:

Holtsville, N.Y. (AP) -- Some Long Island eighth graders apparently got an early start on April Fool's Day pranks on Friday, when they handed out doughnuts laced with laxatives to classmates, school officials said.

There were no apparent injuries, although ambulances were dispatched to the Sequoya Middle School as a precaution, a spokeswoman for the Sachem School District said.

"Approximately 18 students ate the doughnuts," the district said in a statement. "Although the students are feeling well, the school is taking precautionary measures."

Police were investigating and parents were been informed about the situation. Classes proceeded as usual, but parents were given the option to pick up their children.

The district said it would take "appropriate disciplinary action."

Yosemite Tales: #3 story from my trip.

Here is the third-funniest story from my five-day adventure in Yosemite National Park.

Apparently, the forces that control weather in Yosemite like to play with my mind.

A year ago, I visited at the end of March, beginning of April. It snowed on me -- on April Fool's Day.

Two months ago, I visited, expecting wintry weather. It was spring-like.

This week, I returned, unsure of what I'd get. It rained. It was cold. Oh, and it snowed. Again. Two straight years. Trips near the end of March. And snow.

It'd been years since I had slept in a tent while it was raining. Oh yes, did I fail to mention that I was REALLY camping? Wild. Rain turned into snow, as Monday night turned into Tuesday morning. I got up around 6:30AM and went walking around, taking a few dozen photos of the beauty.

The snow melted as the day went along, but fresh snow kept falling. Later in the afternoon, lots of snow fell but very little stuck. By the end of the day, there was almost no evidence of the snow. But it was still a pretty sight.

Hmm. March 2008...Yosemite, anyone?

Yosemite Tales: #2 story from my trip.

Here's the second best story from my five-day adventure in Yosemite National Park:

On Wednesday afternoon, I was sitting at my campsite preparing a healthy lunch of peanut butter and jelly. I even had some bread. As I'm completing this work of culinary genius, some forestry folks walk through and say they're going to be cutting down a couple of dead trees they had missed the week before.

Awesome. Cheap entertainment for my lunch.

This forestry person -- ranger? official? chainsaw handler? -- takes her chainsaw and begins to cut away at this huge tree. Only when I look closely do I agree with their assessment that yes, this tree is dead. Kinda like the ones right outside our youth warehouse.

She's working away, doing her thing, and after a number of minutes, she turns off the chainsaw and grabs an old-fashioned axe. She takes the backside of the axe and begins whacking away at the wedge she placed in the tree. One. Two. Three. She checks her angle. Four. Five. Six. The tree starts to sway. Seven. Crack. I watch as this huge tree begins to fall.

Have you ever heard the sound of a tree falling in the forest? Well, since I was there, I can tell you that it DOES make a noise when people are around. First was the crack of the actual tree. Then came the collision with the branches of the nearby trees as it fell. And finally came dual thuds, as the middle of the tree hit a large boulder, and the rest of the tree hit the open ground.

Awesome. Wish I had videotaped it. But then they might have suspected me of being some kind of ecoterrorist. I look the part, of course. Especially after going nearly three weeks without shavin' the beard.

Yosemite Tales: #1 story from my trip.

Here's the best story from my five-day adventure in Yosemite:

I've been driving for more than 17 years. In that time, I've had just one accident; it happened three months after I got my license.

I've had two silly tickets: one, in Berkeley, for parking along a street on the street-sweeping day; and two, also in Berkeley, for parking in a tow-away zone, and getting my car towed. Ooops.

I've never been caught speeding. I've never gotten a speeding ticket.

Things changed Tuesday: I got pulled over for speeding. In Yosemite. Yes, Yosemite.

They're doing some road work in Yosemite right now, so a stretch of road that's normally one-way now handles two-way traffic. That change has brought the speed limit DOWN from 35MPH to an astonishingly slow 25MPH.

Tuesday afternoon, I was driving this stretch of road. I came around a corner. There sat a park ranger vehicle staring straight at me. As I passed him, I saw in my rear-view mirror that he had turned around and was following me. A minute later, the lights went on.

He checked out my license, proof of insurance and registration -- though that one took a while to find in my glove compartment -- and walked back to his vehicle. I sat there, waiting. I was chuckling to myself, because he told me I was driving 36 in a 25 zone...even though the zone NORMALLY is a 35 zone.

Mr Park Ranger returned to my vehicle, handed me my documents, and told me he was letting me go with just a verbal warning. I thanked him, and then he let me go on my merry way -- but not without asking why I had completely different addresses on my driver license, my proof of insurance and my registration. Easy, I explained. License: old, old address. Insurance: current home. Reg: old apartment where I was living when I renewed my reg last year.

He chuckled and let me drive away.

But not without putting the fear of God in me. Since Tuesday, I don't think I've driven more than 5MPH above any speed limit I've seen. Hey, I like having a nearly perfect driving record -- and the insurance rates that come with it!

Away for some days.

So, after getting back in the swing of multiple posts for days...I'm leaving for the mountains. I will have NO computer access until either Thursday or Friday. This is a good thing. Need a break. Need some days unplugged. Need some hardcore me-and-God time in the mounts. Phone will be off. Voicemail can be left. Emails can be sent. But ya probably won't hear from me until the end of the week.

Hope yours goes as well as I hope mine goes.

Life isn't worth living.

Just kidding.

It was just a basketball game.

The Kansas Jayhawks lost tonight, so their men's basketball season is over. Too bad. They had so much potential.

Only good thing for me? If the Jayhawks had reached the national championship game, they would have played on Monday, April 2. That's the first evening of the Easter Camp we're attending next month. And there aren't many TVs where we're headed. So, I would have faced the moral dilemma of being at the first evening service of camp, or skipping out and finding a TV somewhere to watch the game.

No dilemma now.

Alas.

Living with cancer.

It's been interesting watching all the commentary and analysis over John Edwards' decision to keep running for president, even though his wife Elizabeth is facing a renewed battle against cancer. My mom has been battling cancer since last year, and the combination of chemo and prayer have been aided by her resilience and desire to maintain life's routines.

Here are some thoughts about the Edwards family's decision from C.W. Nevius, a columnist for the SF Chronicle.

DOD: Discovery of the Day

I proudly own a Treo 700p smartphone that is apparently smarter than many other cell phones out there. When daylight saving time began, a simple reboot switched the device to the correct time. I love my smartphone.

However, having a smartphone does not necessarily make ME smart. Today's Discovery of the Day comes to me via my buddy Jeremy Anderson. He owns a Treo 650, and we were talking today about the beauty of texting. I made a comment about copying and pasting a text message for multiple people, and he told me that I could send the same message to lots of people at once, without the copy-paste method.

Really?

Duh, yes. I've seen the semicolon appear after I type the name or number of a new person to text. I know what semicolons and commas mean in the world of email and messaging. But it never occurred to me I could send just one message to lots of people at once.

Some of you need to stop laughing at me right now, because of how obvious this DOD was. But it was still a discovery for me.

Friends worth un-losing.

This is turning out to be an interesting week. Yesterday I hung out with a friend who I hadn't seen much of over the last couple of years. This evening, I got a phone call from a college friend; we hadn't chatted in many, many months. And then later in the evening, on a whim, I sent a text message to a old friend that I haven't talked to in probably two years; turns out his cell number is still alive and accurate. Tomorrow I'm having coffee with a buddy who caused my long-ago sprained ankle (he didn't really cause it, but I like to be lame and blame him for it), after a long period of time without chatting.

Any particular reason this has all happened? Probably not. But it's a good reminder that just when we reach points in our lives when we're struggling to see who's on our side, we should always remember that there ARE plenty of people who have our backs. And that's a nice feeling.

Hmmm...perhaps I'll label this as my Discovery of the Day. :)

Wow, that was close.

If Kansas can barely handle the defense of the Southern Illinois Salukis, the Jayhawks may encounter more impressive obstacles in their quest to win a national basketball championship.

Wow, that was an awesome lead paragraph for a sports story. You'd think I used to be a reporter or something.

Fortunately, my Jayhawks held on tonight to beat SIU underwhelmingly, 61-58. I think I grew two or three gray hairs watching the game, which will help replace all the ones I pulled out as Kansas struggled to play to its full potential. The Jayhawks will play either UCLA or Pittsburgh this weekend; not sure if it makes a difference which of those teams wins the game tonight. Maybe this will prove to be a wake-up call for Kansas. We'll see!

Can women be pastors?

Great post I can across today about the biblical position on ordaining women as pastors. Make sure you read the whole thing, or you'll miss the real point.

Came across it on Brad Boydston's blog. Brad apparently is now a missionary in Guam, but he used to pastor a church in my hometown of Turlock and was a regular source when I wrote religion articles for the local newspaper.

Game idea: Identity

At two recent events, we've played variations of the new "Identity" TV game show. It doesn't require the props of "Deal or No Deal," and you don't need 101 competitors, a la "1 vs 100." Here are two ways we've played it; there are a host of other variations you can try.

TEAM COMPETITION
Gather a group of students -- the "participants" -- away from the rest of the crowd. Learn 1 unique fact about each participant ("I've been to all 50 states" or "I teach kids how to bellydance"). The remaining students break up into groups of 3 or 4 people. The participants enter the room, each one holding a number 1, 2, 3, etc. The teams must match the participants number with one of the "identities" on the screen above; these are the unique facts you gathered from the participants. Winning team is the one that has the most correct matches for the participants. We used this variation at a United service with 3 other youth groups.

TEAM-BUILDING ACTIVITY
Similar concept, but this time, all the members of a group participate. We've used this with our team preparing for a Mexico missions trip this summer. Each person writes down a unique trait on a piece of paper and passes the papers to the moderator. On a separate piece of paper, each team member writes the numbers 1, 2, 3, etc. on the left-hand side. The moderator then randomly picks a piece of paper and reads that trait. Next to the number 1, team members then write down the name of the person. This continues until all the traits have been read, and the winner is the one who knew the most about the other team members. Worked well as an icebreaker and a reminder that as a team, we need to know each other and love each other for our missions trip to be a success.

A sad, sad day.

Larry "Bud" Melman has died. It's a sad, sad day in the world of late-night TV.

The balding, bespectacled nebbish who gained cult status as the oddball Larry "Bud" Melman on David Letterman's late-night television shows has died after a long illness.

Brooklyn-born Calvert DeForest, who was 85, died Monday at a hospital on Long Island, the Letterman show announced Wednesday.

He made dozens of appearances on Letterman's shows from 1982 through 2002, handling a variety of twisted duties: singing a duet with Sonny Bono on "I Got You, Babe"; doing a Mary Tyler Moore impression during a visit to Minneapolis, Minnesota, where her 1970s show was set; handing out hot towels to arrivals at New York's Port Authority Bus Terminal.

Don't be an iTarget.

Great article on the SF Chronicle's website today about iPod robberies. Not the first story written about this trend; not even the first written by the Chron. But it's interesting to see how teens and young adults appear to be the primary victims of these robberies. Makes sense, because of the popularity of iPods among youth. Also just a good piece of wisdom to pass along to teens...along with "turn the volume down so you won't be deaf at 40!"

The iPod is seemingly everywhere, signature white cords dangling from the ears of riders on buses, students at schools and people walking down the sidewalk.

The digital music players' appeal has also spread among a less desirable element -- thieves.

As the supremely portable devices have spread across the Bay Area, the number of iPod robberies has soared. Listeners, often lost in the music and oblivious to their surroundings, tend not to realize how attractive a casually protected high-tech device worth hundreds of dollars can be to a criminal, police say.

Discoveries: Tough to, well, discover.

I had a fun conversation with a parent earlier this week about my blog. I've been far too quiet of late, but this parent hadn't seen the posts, so it didn't seem so dead to her.

Anyway, she said she enjoyed my DODs...the Discovery of the Day. I've only written about two DODs so far, and I realized something significant: It's tough to have a true "discovery" every day!

I guess I could make it my personal quest, to never let my head hit the pillow without making some kind of discovery each day. That might work for awhile. But I'm afraid someday I'd end up wandering through the aisles of the grocery store, searching for an obscure ingredient in a mass-produced product. And then I'd call it my "discovery." And that would be pathetic, eh?

Small town news.

I'm in Turlock visiting my mom for a few days. She had a doctor's appointment today, and things continue to look good for her. Earlier this week, her blood pressure took a big drop while she was receiving her rituxan chemo treatment for her lymphoma cancer. Today, the doctor decided to stop the treatments for a few weeks, and do a PT scan in early May, after Mom returns from a trip back east with her sister.

Mom and I ate lunch after her appointment, and as I was driving back to her house, it occurred to me that I miss living in a smaller town. Turlock isn't a small town anymore; its population is closing in on 70K, I think. But I live in the Sacramento area, where town blends into the next town, where the sense of community is a little bit harder to grasp.

We ate at the local Togo's, and the long wall of the restaurant is covered in sports pictures from the local high schools and university. And maybe that's part of what I miss.

I miss walking into a store and seeing a teacher from back in high school.

I miss driving past a building and remembering what used to be there 10 years ago.

I miss spending time with people whom I've known for 10, 15, 20 years.

I miss being able to get across town in less than 15 minutes.

I miss local politics.

I miss living in an actual city, with an actual mayor and actual city council.

I miss having old friends who've hardly seen me in 4 years tell me that I'm looking slim and that I've lost weight (it's happened the last two times in town; gotta love it)

Just some thoughts for the day.

The way of wisdom.

We've been spending a lot of time lately in our youth ministry focusing on wisdom and choices and decisions. Our church and our youth program have been going through some tough times, but the Sunday and Wednesday series aren't a response. In fact, they've both been on the schedule for months! (Yea, I decided a while back that I should plan further than 72 hours ahead; it's been a life-saving change.)

For two straight Wednesday nights, we talked about The Way of Wisdom: finding it and following it. Sometimes it's through the junk of life, the difficult times, the painful experiences that we realize how much we need God's wisdom. That's what James says in James 1:2-4; it's what Solomon realized as he was about to step into David's shoes and God promised to answer any prayer. We find that way of wisdom when we admit that we don't have all the answers on our own.

But it's not just enough to find that way; we have to follow it, too. Solomon spent much of his kingly tenure on track, but eventually he got sidetracked by stuff and wealth and women and power; he had found the way of wisdom but he chose to walk away from it. In James 3, we read that selfish ambition and bitter jealousy lead to disorder and all kinds of evil. That's the result of NOT following the way of wisdom.

The good news is that when we find the way of wisdom and then follow it, we open our lives to a "harvest of goodness," is the way the New Living phrases it, I believe. That's what I want in my life. That's what most of our students want, even if they don't quite know how to express that desire. Who wants destruction when goodness and blessing are available?

My Jayhawks.

What can I say? I thought my Kansas Jayhawks might be walking into troubled waters in the NCAA men's basketball tournament this year, but my fears have disappeared. After strong wins in their first two games, the Jayhawks have proven they have what it takes to win -- and maybe even what it takes to win a national championship.

Now if I can just get my Kansas City Royals to do so well in baseball. Some of my students are trying to persuade me to drop the Royals in favor of another team. Specifically, another team that sports blue jerseys. The Dodgers. Sorry friends, that one ain't gonna happen. The Dodgers are from L.A., and rooting for an L.A. team would violate one of the foundations of my personal theology. One of these days I'll share all of those tenets. But not tonight.

Quite a fire.

Life in the Sacramento area got a little exciting last night. Around 5:45PM, a huge fire erupted along a train trestle near Cal Expo, which you could define as being right in the middle of our metro area. It created a huge plume of smoke that people could see for miles and miles. It didn't represent any real risk to people or property, but it was an incredible sight -- especially with local news coverage.

The NBC affiliate, KCRA, interrupted the network news right around 5:45, as the fire began, and didn't really stop until 8:30. The ABC affiliate began its coverage at 6PM, and eventually broke away around 8PM for its evening programs. CBS, however, was caught in a predicament: Thursday was the first day of the first round of the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament. So, the folks at CBS interrupted games with updates throughout the evening. But man, you KNOW the news people there were mad that they couldn't do wall-to-wall coverage. This was a big fire, talk of the town, and they're unable to do true live coverage.

On a related note, the Goodyear blimp flew overhead this afternoon, perhaps on the way up to the Sierra to get some video footage for later in the day. The arrival of a Goodyear might not be a big deal to some of you mega-metropolis people, but we don't see it everyday.

Teen angst.

Wow, we've finally arrived in March. I'm still struggling to find the words to describe February. It was challenging, it was stretching, it was new, it was fresh, it was tough, it was rewarding, it was draining -- it felt like 6 months of ministry experiences squished into just 28 days.

Our youth program, Route 1 Student Ministries, decided to take all of our gathering times in February and focus on love, romance, dating and sex. What a month. Our Wednesday night entry-level services tackled the love, romance and sex part. Week 1, we redefined love. Week 2, we defined intimacy. Week 3, we redefined sexy.

(Yes, there were 4 Wednesdays in February. But I was out of town for one of them, and our young adults led the service with their own theme and message for that night.)

Sundays were set aside to the dating focus. But for much of the month, I felt like the dating issues flooded over into Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays. We had more "dating drama" in one month than we've had in several years. Sure, we have issues from time to time -- it's inevitable when ministering to teens. But last month, we had breakups, we had gossip, we had rumors, we had betrayal, we had rebound relationships, we had musical-chairs relationships (you know, when one person breaks up with someone and then three days later starts dating someone else, who also just got out of a relationship -- can somebody say unhealthy?).

Wow. What a month.

Last Friday I was at a luncheon with a group of youth pastors, and the topic of "who talked about relationships in February" arose. One guy said he decided to tackle the topic in January, to be prepared for the February onslaught.

Wisdom.

But then someone else chimed in: "We started back in September to get ready for February!"

Even greater wisdom, perhaps.

Faith in my team?

My Kansas Jayhawks square off Saturday against Texas in the final regular season game. KU is now ranked #3 by both the coaches and the sportswriters. This can mean only one thing.

Kansas will fail.

I hate to write those words. But #3? I've watched the Jayhawks play this year, and as much as I want them to win and win and win, I'm not convinced they're the third-best team in the nation.

They might be good enough to beat Texas. But I get nervous when Kansas gets high in the rankings. 'Cause that's when KU tends to stumble.

We'll see.

DOD: Discovery of the Day

Today's DOD is brought to you by our little friend, the pebble.

Until this morning, I didn't realize that small rocks could fly through a side window of my car and hit me while I was driving. But it can happen. And it did happen. To me. This morning. Now I know. And knowing is half the battle.

More snow in the mtns.

Today and tomorrow, our youth are participating in the 30-Hour Famine. It's a great event that raises funds for World Vision and awareness of hunger issues around the world.

But wow. Selfish confession here. I so wish I could be up in the mountains today. The day after a snow storm is always a wonderful experience in the Sierra. Check out some of these photos from Yosemite and surrounding areas.

Just what we need. Really.

It's raining here in the Central Valley, and it's snowing up in the Sierra. When I flew back to Cali this past weekend, it was VERY noticeable how dry our winter has been. I saw large stretches of the Sierra bare when they should have been covered in snow. This storm is helping, even if it's just a little.

DOD: Discovery of the Day

I might do more of these in the future. Or not. Deal with it.

DISCOVERY OF THE DAY

If I stay in Starbucks long enough, and consume my Shaken Iced Tea Lemonade while staying in the cafe, I can get a refill for just 50 cents -- instead of paying $3 for a new one.

Perhaps some of you knew this. But for me, this was my DOD: Discovery of the Day.

Some recent reads

OK, folks, here are some books I've recently read -- or recently FINISHED reading. Some were from last week's trip back to Iowa. Others were finished earlier this month.

The Starbucks Experience, by Joseph A. Michelli

Offered some interesting perspectives on how Starbucks' corporate values could be translated into other organizations. Author is definitely a Starbucks fan, perhaps to a fault. But still had good ideas about why Starbucks is a valued "third place" in our culture. Lotta ideas that could be applied in church settings, especially for front-line ministries like greeters, ushers, grounds, etc.



The Gospel According to Starbucks, by Leonard Sweet

Takes the idea of Starbucks' popularity and appeal, and finds some spiritual application. Sweet focuses around the EPIC concept: that Starbucks is experiential, participatory, image-rich and connecting. Sweet isn't a gushy fan of S'bucks in the way Michelli is, but he recognizes the social and cultural impact the corporation has, and he makes a good argument for how Christians can live EPIC lives. Seems like a great book for small groups, or for front-line ministries.



Second-Guessing God, by Brian Jones

Wasn't sure how good this would be when I bought it, but I read it in a span of just about 3 days. Jones tackles some intense topics that Christians face. He doesn't shy away from addressing the challenges -- things like feeling distant from God and wonder where He is and what He's doing -- but he also doesn't offer cheap, simple, easy answers. Wrestling with these issues is part of the Christian experience.



The Rock That is Higher, by Madeleine L'Engle

Great book. Not sure if I agree on every theological tenet L'Engle holds, but she's a superb writer with mature spiritual insight. The book follows her path as she recovers from a car crash back in the 1990s, and she offers her unique brand of wisdom along the way. No easy answers about what comes our way in life, but she's a good companion for the journey.



Preaching Re-Imagined, by Doug Pagitt

Wow, this book has challenged me more than almost any book I've read in the last year. Pagitt makes a rather strong case that our approach to preaching isn't really consistent with how the earliest Christian circles understood or practiced it. He makes the case for "progressional preaching," which uses the experiences, insights and understandings of the WHOLE congregational community -- not just the pastor/preacher -- to create and present sermons that are more than just memorable or cute or funny. He talks about finding ways to interact with the body of believers and battling the image that a pastor/preacher has all the answers to people's challenges. I found myself doing a LOT of thinking in recent days. Not sure if I have any real, solid, strong answers yet, but I'm thinking and praying and wondering how this whole notion could apply to our youth ministry here, and our whole church ministry.



The Three Hardest Words (in the World to Get Right), by Leonard Sweet
We're doing a Love/Relationship/Sex/Dating series all month with our youth, so I've spent time reading through love-focused books. Sweet's book proved a fast read for me: two airplane flights on Saturday. He breaks down the words "I" "love" and "you" to discover how Christ-followers need to receive a new identity, new integrity and new intimacy. Good February read!

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow

Hey everybody! Especially you Californians enjoying 70 degree highs! It's snowing right now in Iowa. It's cold outside (maybe 13 degrees) and a light snow is falling. I took some pics and vids with my cell, so I'll try get them posted later. Enjoy your weather today, however hot or cold it might be!

Hoover didn't suck. Get it?

Before today, I had never visited a presidential library. It wasn't too high on my list of goals to accomplish in my lifetime. But this afternoon, my dad, stepmom and I drove out to the Herbert Hoover Presidential Library and Museum, just about a half-hour away from their home here in Iowa.

It ended up being a really educational and enjoyable visit. History fascinates me, and politics intrigue me. A presidential library, at its best, combines both topics. The Hoover Library did a great job of telling his life story and the story of his political life.

Granted, it's HIS presidential library. There's going to be a positive spin on his legacy. But at the end, I'd say it seems he got a bum rap for the Great Depression. His legacy includes a lot more than just being the president in office when the stock market crashed. So, all in all, it was worth the drive over.

Of course, it was COLD again today. When the wind was still, it wasn't bad. It was sunny, and the sun was pleasant -- until the wind returned. It was a sharp, bitter breeze, the kind you'd expect when it's about 12 degrees outside. Beanie. Scarf. Gloves. Jacket. Ooops, I left my scarf in the car for the walk around the museum's grounds to see the house where he was born. Man did I miss that scarf.

Cold yet crazy.

My dad and I went out earlier to get a newspaper. It's cold outside...around 21 degrees. We were bundled up, me more so than him because I'm a wimpy Californian.

We walked into the nearest convenience store. He grabbed a newspaper. He paid for it. As we're climbing into the car, we see a kid wearing shorts. The kid was probably 9 or 10. And he was wearing shorts. In the cold. As if it was no big deal.

I was in my dad's car, wearing an undershirt, long-sleeve shirt, jacket, jeans, socks, shoes, beanie and gloves -- and I was kinda cold. Not sure if I admire that kid's bravery or question his sanity. Or both.

The joy of travel.

I'm back in Iowa for a weeklong visit with my dad and stepmom. It's been snowing lightly for much of the day, and it's really pretty. And I'm glad I'm inside, where I can enjoy it behind insulated walls and windows.

Traveling here was quite an adventure Monday. Here are some highlights:

• Being able to see our church grounds from the air as my flight left Sacramento
  
• Seeing a layer of fresh snow covering much (but not enough) of the Sierra
  
• Bouncing all over O'Hare International Airport as my flight into Iowa got moved, shifted, delayed, undelayed, redelayed
  
• Pulling up with my dad and stepmom for dinner at a pizza place -- only to find that it had closed at 8PM; pizza places shouldn't do such things
  
• Walking into a nearby Mexican food restaurant and being asked, "Smoking or nonsmoking?" Wow, another reason to love California
  
• Having a waiter at that restaurant who used "amigos" with every interaction; got old real fast
  
• Feeling the cold, sharp wind when it was already 20 degrees outside
  
• Sleeping in this morning!

An Apple a day...

Wow, big news in the world of apples today.

IPod maker Apple and the manager of The Beatles' Apple Corps resolved their long-simmering dispute on Monday about who has the right to the Apple trademark.

The settlement offered greater hope to fans of George, Paul, John and Ringo that the two sides could now focus on permitting downloads of the band's music through the iPod maker's iTunes online music service. The catalog of all Beatles songs, including "Let it Be,""Get Back" and "She Loves You," is the largest holdout from iTunes and other online music services.

You can read the rest of the story here.

I hate being a pastor.

It's true. Not every day. Not most days. But every now and then, I have days when I hate being a pastor.

I hate dealing with messy situations that I didn't create but I'm asked to resolve. I hate cleaning up my own messes created by my insensitivity or hyper-sensitivity. I hate running into people who think I've got it more together than I really do. I hate feeling the pressure to live an unbalanced life, to do things and be places I'd rather avoid, and to have the right answer for other people all the time.

Perhaps hate is too strong of a word. Today was just a tough day for me. I found myself battling emotions I haven't experienced in a long time. I found myself regretting the way I handled situations. I found myself snapping at people who don't deserve that kind of treatment (does any of us, really?). I found myself wanting to withdraw and avoid and ignore and diss.

Maybe I'm on edge because my mom gets to hear some test results Monday. She'll learn if the combo of chemo and prayer have done their work in overcoming her lymphoma cancer. I'm down here in Turlock to be with her when she gets the results in the morning. I guess I'm a bit nervous at what the doctor will say. And part of me -- the Pentecostal-Charismatic-Spiritfilled part of me -- feels some level of shame that I'm nervous.

Tonight I feel overwhelmed and underwhelmed and hyperwhelmed and angerwhelmed. I know those last two aren't really words, but I can't find the right words to explain what I'm feeling and experiencing and sensing.

I treated one of my student leaders poorly today. He and I spoke earlier, and I apologized. That felt good, to get it off my chest. We need to talk in greater depth this week, but the pastor in me wonders what I should share. When do I take off the "pastor" hat and become "Christ-follower"? Why do I feel this pressure to be more "complete" or "finished" simply because I'm a pastor? Sometimes showing my weaknesses allows me to draw closer to the people around me. And sometimes those revelations seem to become fodder and ammo in the hands of others.

Today is one of those days I hate being a pastor.

Awesome pic.

Check out this view from a Yosemite webcam. Usually night views don't show up at all, but the moon behind Half Dome creates a super-cool silhouette. Enjoy.

Painful to watch.

Oh, tonight was such a tough night. My Kansas Jayhawks were on ESPN again, giving me another chance to see my team win. Alas, KU was unable to hold it together near the end of the game, and the Texas A&M Aggies walked away with a victory -- the first time the Aggies have beaten the Jayhawks in basketball.

Before the game began, I texted and then spoke with Evan Mattei, a die-hard Aggies fan, who reminded me that until this year, A&M wasn't really known for its basketball squad, just the football team. Methinks that's all-a-changing. Tonight's game showed A&M has a real team, worthy of national recognition. Kansas showed it has a lot of work to do if it expects to survive past the first or second round of the NCAA tournament next month.

Alas.