10-13-05

Actually, it is just a few minutes past my 28th birthday, making me officially in my late 20s. It has been a good one, and I just wanted to post about a few things that have been on my mind this week.

• I friend of mine led me to THIS SITE a few nights ago and I thought it was a must for all of you that, like me, hate to get painted with the same broad brush as someone like this. Who would have thought it was as easy as $48.

• Tomorrow we are starting our small groups again. This is going to be great because I am getting a chance to meet with a lot of guys who are just asking questions about faith. I love talking with people who have never been exposed to anything. I actually get a kick out of hearing responses to my faith based on what people see on the "Simpsons" or as I heard recently "The Office." It is just fun to see their faces when they see that being in a Jesus community is really nothing like that at all. Which brings me back to the idea that when a group of people really just cares about the things that Jesus cares about, we really do bring heaven to earth (and isn't that what Jesus prayed for us to do?)

• One final thought...I have been hit pretty hard from Yankee fans about the Red Sox getting swept by Chicago. And I have to say, they got me there. It was ugly and it was short. By the way, who are the Yankees playing tonight..........?

• By the way...I love being a pastor to students. Tonight reaffirmed that. Even with all the crap, it still is the best job ever. I love it.

brad

Makings of a Great Weekend

I am very thankful to travelocity.com for the opportunity to fly to Alabama from Ft. Lauderdale for $83. It gave me a chance to see the fam, expecially some "hang out" time with my bro.

Through his really great job that pushes him over the edge of sanity, we got tickets to the Alabama/Florida game on Saturday. SOOOOOO incredible. I have never spent so much time hugging 50 year old men (well, there was that one time). There is just a common bond between guys that love their football team that much.

My throat still hurts, I think I yelled things that were a bit edgy (is that how you spell that word) and more than that, I saw one of the greatest games of my life. Happy times.

ON A SIDE NOTE....

I was very disappointed that the Yankees (still hate em) won the penant. But I am happy that the Sox (Red) got the wild card. I would rather them play the White Sox anyway.

And I am really excited about Bill Simmons new book. I'm getting it soon.

Are you kidding me........

Listen...I know that things like this can cause a frenzy, but all of you be honest...
"NEW YORK (AP) - Lil' Kim rose to fame as a tough, raunchy gangsta girl, the Queen Bee of female rappers with rhymes that cast her as a powerful figure - a female Don in the male-dominated world of rap.
Now, as she prepares to release her latest album Tuesday while behind bars, the diminutive diva has added a new element to her persona - victim. In Kim's eyes, she's been preyed on by an overzealous government trying to punish hip-hop and jealous former friends who ratted her out in the courtroom.

"There's no reason why I should be going to jail. There's no reason why. There's no reason. I didn't shoot anyone, I didn't do anything wrong the way they would say," she told The Associated Press in her waning days of freedom. "It's not as bad as it could have been, but do I think it was fair? No."
Kim reported to a federal detention center in Philadelphia on Monday to serve 366 days for lying to a grand jury investigating a 2001 shootout involving members of her entourage and a clique loyal to her archenemy, rapper Foxy Brown.

On her new album, ironically titled "The Naked Truth," Kim casts herself as a scapegoat of a government bent on cracking down on gangsta rap through investigations and prosecutions. In recent years, the "government against hip-hop" theme has become a rap mantra, as reports of police surveillance of rappers have surfaced and prominent rap figures have gone to jail or been indicted for various crimes.

"Unfortunately, me as a woman, I had to take one for the team, and when I say for the team I say hip-hop, because I was the poster child for the federal government, for their investigations," she said, curled up on a couch in a posh Manhattan hotel suite, enjoying one of the last comforts of celebrity life before heading to prison.

Let's get some things lined up here...I don't like hip hop music. However, I think that like every other art form, there are some great things and there are some horrible things. It is capitalism at its best.

But, if you are intelligent at all, you have to agree with me

IF YOU ARE INVOLVE IN A SHOOTOUT IN THE CIVILIZED WORLD OF 2005, YOU DESERVE TO BE IN JAIL...AND IF YOU CONTINUE TO SAY STUPID THINGS...just sit the next couple of plays out (HT - Chet).

She's probably a Yankee (I HATE THEM) fan.........

brad

I Hate The Devil Rays Too

OK...most of you know that I am a Red Sox fan. To be honest, my affinity towards the Sox grew out of my complete and total loathing of the New York Yankees. What sealed the deal for me was the Aaron Boone (yes, the same Aaron Boone who cried when he was traded from the Mariners) home run off of Tim Wakefield in the 2003 ALCS series. I announced to all in the room that I was officially a Boston Red Sox fan and began what will I know be a lifelong romance with the team that will spend most of the time "breakin ya haat".

Although I knew all of these things, I had no idea that I would simply get so wrapped up in this thing emotionally. I mean, I am meeting perfect strangers in the parking lots of South Florida and we are sharing moments like brothers. I was even a part of several conversations in 04 as old crusty Bostonians would give me the ever quoted, "this is ah yeaa!!!" Praise God they were right.

But as of tonight, I am remembering a team that kept my stomach in knots and my mood swings in high gear from the 2004 ALCS. I was watching as Wakefield pitched through most of 8 innings and then the bullpen blowing the rest as Tampa Bay comes back in the bottom of the 8th.

This brings me to my point.

I HATE THE TAMPA BAY DEVIL RAYS !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

There are several reasons..........

First off...Lou Piniella is a waste of oxygen and one of the worst managers of all time. He is a big dope that sits on his backside, gets fatter by the minute, manages a horrible team, and looks like a total idiot as he is cursing umpires and kicking his hat (or throwing 1st base). What a retard........

Second...here is the Devil Rays home-page....notice that you don't find the standings that you do on other baseball teams sites. The reason is...THEY ARE IN LAST PLACE...THEY ARE HORRIBLE...AND NO ONE CARES IF THEY WERE GONE TOMORROW.......

Yes, they beat the RED SOX tonight and combined with the Yankees (I HATE THEM) win, puts the Yankees (I HATE THEM) up by a half a game.

What kills me is to see the celebration. YOU ARE GOING HOME NEXT WEEK. No one cares about you. Jonny Gomez hit a triple to bat in his 50th RBI of the year. I will concede that it was good hitting, but your talk on camera needs to be matched with actual consistent play. No...I couldn't hit the measley 50 RBIs a year but I am not getting paid $10 mill a year to do so.

Basically, I am looking for Karma here (that Carson Daily is really smart). I am really upset because it might be me. I mean, the Sox still had a lead before I started watching. Maybe I need to do something nice tomorrow so that....ah whatever...I still hate the devil rays.......and the yankees (I HATE THEM)!!!!!!

Chet...the obscure references are for you. I am trying to get as good as Bill Simmons.

brad

Velvet Elvis

I told you guys a few weeks ago that I was reading a book by Rob Bell. I think that it is a pretty good book. There are a lot of things that he says in it that I have heard in sermons. I am pretty impressed with the fact that the guy is a thinker and that he looks at biblical ideas as they come out of an actual place and an actual time.

Of course, because he is not a staunch "fundamentalist," I am not sure that many people will like him. But for me, I don't agree with his entire stance on theology and doctrine, but for the most part, he has something to say. I have a link to the book somewhere a few "blog entries" ago.

A Cause To Get Behind

For those of you who have had your head in...well...a hole somewhere, Terrell Owens was the cause of a lot of press for the last several weeks by being a huge baby with the Philly Eagles. Wanting more money in his contract and then chalking up his whining to "wanting to feed my family," I think that he is a doofus and I personally hope that the Eagles lose every game for eternity.

How is this for a little perspective....

I love sarcasm.........
brad

Willow Creek Leadership Summit

This morning, I went with some of the team that I work with at FBC Pompano to check out the Willow Creek Church Leadership Summit in Boca Raton. I came away with some thoughts.

One of the tough things for me is that I have spent some of my formative years in ministry around people who didn't like Bill Hybels (pastor at Willow Creek) and Rick Warren (pastor at Saddleback Church). Both of these guys spoke this morning and I really took to heart what they said because I needed it.

Bill Hybels cleverly brought to our minds the old cartoon "Popeye" who, when pushed beyond his limit would blow up and exclaim, "I've had all I can stands, I can't stands no more!!!!"

He then took us through the story of Moses who, in Exodus 20, finally had all he could stand with the Egyptian beating up the Hebrew and Moses killed the Egyptian. The point was, Moses hit his breaking point and said in essence..."I can't stands no more!!!"

As he developed this, the idea arose about leaders whose vision often comes because they see something that drives them crazy and they want to change it. Great leaders have a "holy discontentment" and instead of wallowing in cynicism, they channel that to change things for the better.

So what is it that I can't "stands" no more...

brad

Things you haven't seen since little league...

If I didn't like the Marlins, I would be screaming something about Mike Lowell not being a true athlete and someone who can't get it together as a baseball player so he has to resort to "sneaky plays."

But I DO like the Marlins...so THIS was a GREAT play!!!!!!!!!!!!

A Book

For those of you who don't know, I am currently intrigued with a pastor named Rob Bell. There is no doubt that this guys is controversial at best...at least for staunch conservatives (biblical, not political). I listen to every sermon that he preaches and have watched a series of teachings called NOOMA that are made by his team from Mars Hill Bible Church in Michigan.

For that matter, Rob Bell is the inspiration behind the whole Mars Hill idea that we are using in the student ministry at First Baptist Church in Pompano (well he and Mark Driscoll, the pastor of Mars Hill Church - no connection - in Seattle).

I picked up Rob's new book called "Velvet Elvis" (Zondervan) today. I read through the first chapter today and I think that it is good and thought provoking. People like Bell catch my attention, because I am one of those people who, well after college, still sit and dream of something more to this thing that we call "Christianity" or the process of living out what it means to be a follower of Jesus.

So far I recommend it. I will comment later on what else I learn from it.

brad

T.O is a moron...

So the saga continues. It looks like T.O. was booted from training camp. It would be really great if management took the hit and just let him go...that way they got rid of him and his manager, Rosenhaus.

Crap like this..."Owens is unhappy the Eagles have refused to redo his contract as he enters the second season of a seven-year, $48.97 million deal. He hired Rosenhaus and threatened to skip camp completely. Instead, Owens reported, then injured his groin last Thursday"...is what I am talking about

This is one of the several reasons that I hope the Eagles fail completely.