"Killing Floor" and other wonderful novels

I graduated from seminary this past Saturday and it was a joyous occasion. My parents were in town which was excellent and I got to have lunch at P.F. Changs with 11 of my favorite people (I had the double pan fried noodles with beef which was spectacular). Upon graduating and finishing all of the academic requirements necessary for graduation I have been doing what all graduates would do: READING NOVELS. My dad told me about an author named Lee Child. He has written numerous novels that revolve around the character, Jack Reacher. Reacher is a military burn-out who is now a loner, but seems to continually get caught up in fantastic stories of espionage and political suspense. Anyway, I love them. It is so refreshing to read a book without a pen in my hand and a worry that I am going to get tested on the contents (can I get an AMEN!). I am on my third of these books and would highly recommend it for those of you who, like me, spend most of your time in non-fiction books that hurt to read after about ten pages because you can't remember the argument that began 100 pages ago. This is also a friendly and necessary reminder that the biblical story is supposed to be read as a novel in many cases. Reading the stories of Abraham, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Saul, David, Solomon, Jonah, Esther, Ruth, etc, are supposed to be read on the edge of your seat. I truly need to re-discover these texts for the first time in order to truly experience the intrigue and suspense of these stories that are supposed to draw us into the text and, ultimately, closer to God. Praise the Lord for novels.

Just breathe ... it'll be okay George

It's hard to be annoyed at George Steinbrenner anymore, he's just so consistently irritating that if one were to be annoyed each time by his antics I imagine ones life would be considerably shortened. As noted in a previous post, I have personal issues with the New York Yankees, specifically with Derek Jeter (who, by the way, I struck out five times in one game while playing my game cube, and yes, you guessed it, Johan Santana was pitching to him for a complete game shut out against the Yankees). The Yankees just signed Roger Clemens for a ridiculous amount of money (I believe a conservative estimate is that he will be paid $40,000 per pitch). I honestly don't have much against Clemens, other than the fact that he has signed on more than once with the evil empire. I have come to the conclusion that it is time for God to step into this disturbing little world and have the Yanks finish below five hundred. I also believe that the Twins stadium should start sending around an offering plate at each game in hopes of raising enough money to keep Santana at the end of the year. Ok, all for now.

Oh Joy, graduation...

I am three days away from graduating from Denver Seminary. My thoughts right now are filled with immense joy and mixed with a incredible fear over what is to come in the next couple months. Here is my short list of to-dos:

1. Graduate sucessfully
2. "Assist" in the birth of our daughter (i.e. try really hard not to faint)
3. Figure out how to get the contents of our house to Minneapolis soon after the closing of our house on June 25th
4. Find a job that will provide financially for the fam along with feeling like I am being used in a meaningful way (also so we have some sort of income and can qualify for a loan on a home)
5. Locate a house that meets Erica's criteria (lots of character, really cute, built-ins, in the city, built before 1950) and my criteria (won't fall apart and cost lots of money to maintain)
6. Try to re-learn how to be in the same city with family and meet all the many expectations

So, that is my minor whining, but whenever I dwell too long on those realities I am quickly struck with our place in life right now. We "randomly" made it to Denver Seminary where we have met so many friends that we will be exceedingly sad to leave. Erica "randomly" got a job where she can be a worship leader, mentor for young women, drama director, choir director, and use her degree. We "randomly" bought a house out here in a 3 day weekend over 3 years ago that happens to be within 10 minutes of both the seminary and Erica's job. We "randomly" showed up at Mission Hills church and found some of our dearest friends.

Praise God from whom all blessings flow. "Why do you worry?... seek first the Kingdom of GOd and all these things will be added to you!" It is my prayer that these next months might be a time to become drenched in the Kingdom.

What would I really say?

My friend Josh just recently had their first baby and he had written some thoughts on his blog that he would like to share with little Roy. So, in honor of that and in thinking through our own child could arrive any time now I thought I might try the same exercise.

Dear ...... (I know your name, but we're keeping it a secret)

Here are some basic ground rules of my life and I would greatly appreciate if you might be obliged to consider them important also. First, I try really hard to love Jesus and out of that love to take care of other people in the world. One of the things I am particularly passionate right now, which will probably have repercussions in your life, is the desire to get out of United States in order to show you that this place is not the normal way of existence. To be honest, I fail a lot at this goal, but I do pray that my life might be a small guidepost of what it means to love Jesus and pour that love to others. Second, I love your mom a lot. She and I have known each other for about seven years now. Our first year was filled with sadness for me because she was dating some guy (whose name shall not be mentioned), but she finally came to her senses. I know that you will grow to love and respect her because she is passionate about life and loves to envision a better and more profound world. You are really lucky. Third, the rest of your family is really anticipating your arrival. You have more clothes and toys than most people would ever need, particularly when they are still unborn. I hope that you take the time to know them because you will learn a lot and be challenged. They are a joyful group that embodies hope, joy, fortitude, passion, intelligence, and love. Fourth, I love to learn new things. This has actually a bit of an obsession for me lately, I am writing this while working at a bookstore. We just packed up the books in our house and it was about 30 boxes of books. You WILL like books because I will force them on you. I have heard it is not good to force things on your children, but this will just have to be the exception. Don't worry, I will not read you irritating books by angry people, but some of them might be a bit above your age. It'll be good for you. Fifth, our family roots for the Minnesota Twins. I guess this is probably another non-negotiable. I am ok if you don't root for the Vikings, Timberwolves, and Wild, but the Twins are an essential part of our unit. We particularly enjoy when Johan Santana is pitching in the second half of the season. You will understand what I mean when you are a teenager and he is about to win his 15th Cy Young award! Finally, I am not perfect. I know this will come as a shock, but I thought I should get it out of the way early. I have failed in many ways and will continue to do so in my life, but you need to know that I will always love you as well as I know how. I promise to respect you and be your advocate. I promise to be your protector and bestow worth upon you. I want our relationship to be one rooted in honesty so I thought I would initiate that here.

I love you and can't wait to meet you.

Dad

River City, IA in Littleton, CO

My wife directed three outstanding performances this weekend of the musical "The Music Man." Those of you who are not connoisseurs in musical theater, this show is set in the early 1900's and is the story of people in River City, IA and the nice little world they have created by being insulated from most things in the outside world. While in the midst of this commune, of sorts, Harold Hill comes into the town in an effort to scam the local people into selling them a boys band. Harold manipulates the people into believing they have serious moral problems in the town, as can be evidently seen by the presence of a pool table. Ok, now there is a love story and other interesting plot lines, this overarching theme is my focus. I found the setting of River City and that of many concerned parent groups at my wife's school eerily similar. Now, I have no idea if anyone from that group will ever read this, but this is not an attempt on my part to be vindictive, I am hoping to convey some of the facts.

1. A sense of moral superiority rooted in the desire to save "the children" and agitated to believe a lie based on manipulated evidence.

2. The need and necessity for credentials that fit within an accepted norm.

3. Becoming agitated by authors who are merely thought to be inappropriate, but have actually been engaged on rare and minute instances.

4. And finally, this sense of moral superiority blinds us to the fruits in our lives and others.

While I am aware if you don't know the situations I am referring to this is a bit cryptic, but the comparison is not exact. Anyway, great job Erica on an awesome job. You make those kids shine.

Evangelism...Jesus style

I was at our small group last night and my friend Michael made a really intriguing point that I have been thinking about. We were talking about the purpose and goal of evangelism, specifically in light of the common evangelical strategy of knocking on doors and getting people to say the sinner's prayer. We watched a clip from "Freedom Writers" that emphasizes the importance of gaining the respect of the people you are trying to teach before you have the right to speak truthfully into their lives (as a side note, that movie is a magnificent example of how I understand evangelism. This woman who does not really change who she is, but loves those kids so deeply that they desire to emulate her life). This discussion moved quickly into looking at the model of evangelism in the life of Jesus and his disciples. What did it mean for Jesus to send out his disciples to evangelize? What was the message before there was the death and resurrection? Matthew 10:7 says, "As you go, preach, saying, 'The kingdom of heaven has drawn near.' Heal sick people, raise dead people, cleanse lepers, cast out demons; without cost did you receive, without cost give." The reality is that it seems the message of the disciples was to be the message of both John and Jesus, but it was not to simply remain words, but necessitated the healing action and powers of God. While I believe that there is a sense in which after the death and resurrection there needed to be a re-working of the message, we cannot disregard the evangelistic style of Jesus. Maybe our message needs to be more about this present life than the future. If the Kingdom is at hand, what are we waiting for? I am just trying to learn what it means to live out evangelism...Jesus style. I would love your comments.

Mourning in the good of life

So, our house (pictured here) is under contract after approximately one week on the market, a miraculous fact in this market I am told. Upon realizing this momentous landmark in our journey here in Denver I have been hit with a deep sense of sadness. The last seven years in particular have been filled with this exuberant, yet lame, trend of engaging in meaningful and deep relationships only to see them dissolve with the changes in life. My roommate from college, Josh (see link on the side to Carn-dog's comments), just wrote a blog about one of his buddies moving on and he is one of those people that it is truly mournful to miss out on his friendship. I have some other buddies from college and even high school that I am just remembering and missing those moments of joy and laughter together. I am not sure what the next few months hold, while moving back to Minneapolis seems like the most likely option, but I ache at the thought of such a sudden change to friendships that I covet so deeply. Sometimes I worry because I don't feel things as deeply as others, specifically my wonderful wife, but I am realizing in this experience that I am starkly aware of those emotions. Well, here's to the good moments in life and learning how to deal with the undeniable pains that go along with those joyful celebrations.