uh

so things are really bad. my sis called to tell us to come home early. My dad can't really even talk right now. Everything is up in the air right now. We are leaving in the morning.
thank you all for your love.

One By One

One by one the teardrops fall as I write you
One by one my words come falling on the page
One by one my dreams are fading in the twilight
One by one my schemes are fading fast away

One by one the flowers fading in my garden
One by one the leaves are falling from the trees
One by one my hopes are vanished in the clouds clear
One by one like snowflakes melting in the breeze

One by one my hair is turning gray
One by one my dreams are fading fast away
One by one I read your letters over
One by one I lay them all away

One by one the days are slipping up behind you
One by one the sweetest days of life go by
One by one the moments stealing out behind you
One by one she'll come and find not you or I

One by one I hear the soft words that you whispered
One by one I feel your kisses soft and sweet
One by one I hope you'll say the words to marry
One by one to one by one forever be



 

Criticism

Got this from Noel who got it from somewhere else.

"I have long prided myself as being a critical thinker. Through years of practice and perseverance I have developed a well-honed ability to spot weakness, problems, and things that suck in pretty much anything. The last few years of my Christian life have revolved around applying this nearly prodigious skill to understanding the church and helping it to become relevant. I am sad to say that I have become an expert at finding the bad in everything, and the worst part of it is that I am often proud of this fact.

Just this week I realized that there is nothing to be proud of in my critical nature. Yes I can spot weakness and brokenness a mile away, especially in the church, but what's so hard about that. Brokenness, sin, and imperfection are everywhere. We live in a world where very few things work the way they should. Those of us who are master critics are really just stating the obvious and fooling ourselves into thinking that we are really clever. Think about it… how hard is it to go out and find something wrong with a church or a person? Any monkey can do that.

I have decided that the real bright people are the ones who have learned to find beauty in everything or to find God in everything. Now that’s a challenge. The last few days have been a challenge for me since I am really trying to live this out. I want to learn how to be someone who sees God in the world today instead of being someone who is always focused on the crap. I’m hoping to get to the place where I am no longer surprised or judgemental when I see brokenness or garbage, where I acknowledge the crap but get truly amazed and surprised by the way that God’s grace is there despite it."

Temple

Anyone want to hit the show this Friday at the Temple? Rusted Root's frontman is playing along with some other guys. It's $8.

Michiganders

So we finally switched to 517 area code for our cell phones. Email me if you want the new number. We were thinking about going with Nextel, but T-mobile is having a great sale right now. Suz's work is paying for her plan, so we both got a 1000 mintute plan with free phones etc... Pretty decent.

Lock Your Doors

Ok, so Nicole and Suzanne's cars got broken into last night. The shoeprints are about Jr. High boys sized. The sad thing is the only thing worth taking was a $15 portable cd player and the burned, live, Wilco cd that happened to be in there. At least they might find some taste in music.

home again

We left for Ohio on Saturday, just in time to beat the snow. We spent time with the family, it was Mom running around taking care of everything- kevin playing guitar (all the time) like a pro- Patrick with his new girlfriend Ashley who happens to be a couple years older but is very cool- Rach and Javier, the steady two, sitting in the double chair, playing with Jaden-Suz in the kitchen where she is supposed to be... = -Dad on the couch. It's tough to see him so sick. Yes, he cracked a couple jokes about lost modesty in the hospital, but he was much more serious than usual. I wanted more time with him to talk. We stayed there today and I was hoping he would be feeling up to chatting more, but last night we had to take him to ER becuase of his fever. He'll be in for at least another day while they figure out if he has an infection or not. Now we are home where we can't help out much. A couple words now and then, but that's about it. Keep praying.

Not Good

So they found out that my dad has cancer in his nervous system also. They have to put a port in his brain tonight and administer more chemo there. Prognosis is "not good."

The Man

Travis is such a talented photographer.
And Kent is such a talented dancer.

Boasting

2Cor. 10:12 ¶ For we are not bold to class or compare ourselves with some of those who commend themselves; but when they measure themselves by themselves and compare themselves with themselves, they are without understanding.
2Cor. 10:13 But we will not boast beyond our measure, but within the measure of the sphere which God apportioned to us as a measure, to reach even as far as you.
2Cor. 10:14 For we are not overextending ourselves, as if we did not reach to you, for we were the first to come even as far as you in the gospel of Christ;
2Cor. 10:15 not boasting beyond our measure, that is, in other men’s labors, but with the hope that as your faith grows, we will be, within our sphere, enlarged even more by you,
2Cor. 10:16 so as to preach the gospel even to the regions beyond you, and not to boast in what has been accomplished in the sphere of another.
2Cor. 10:17 But HE WHO BOASTS IS TO BOAST IN THE LORD.
2Cor. 10:18 For it is not he who commends himself that is approved, but he whom the Lord commends.

It's interesting while preparing this message to read this passage in light of Don Miller's "Searching For God Knows What." He takes the analogy of an alien coming to observe people on earth and the one major thing that the alien notices is that everyone is comparing themselves to each other and how silly it is. Indeed it is! And it's amazing how our identity is wrapped up in man's approval! I hope I can take Paul's words to heart. “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.” Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me.

Eccl. 9:11

I again saw under the sun that the race is not to the swift and the battle is not to the warriors, and neither is bread to the wise nor wealth to the discerning nor favor to men of ability; for time and chance overtake them all.

Baby's Got Book!

You have to watch this.

about time

Wilco has won two grammys for their latest album. One was for best album cover (ok, I guess it was a cool egg) and the other which carries more significance is Best Alternative Album. About time.

DP up for three!

Well, I was reminded again tonight how much I suck at basketball in general. To console myself, on the way home I tried to think of the things I did well. hmmm.... eh, um well... I hustled? Does that count for something? No? Dang it! Personally I got a good work out? Not that anyone else there cares. I did make a few 7 footers, the outside edge of my range. I made a couple good fouls. So....yeah, I think I'll be back next week.

Darwinists Strike Again In Ichthus Fish Car Emblem Battle

D&D

Sex etc...

Noel said penis, orgasim, and masturbation in church this weekend. He missed a couple of good ones that he could have used, but I think the point got across. Suz and I got to sit together in church at Riverview for the first time ever. Crazy. Good week for that to happen.

Question: When you boast about God (like we are told to do in Jeremiah and Paul's letters) what does that mean? I get this picture of Nelson from the Simpsons saying "ha ha! I love God. Ha Ha!" But I'm pretty sure it's not like that. I'm actually planning on teaching at Riverview on this topic, so if you have any insight, share the wealth.

Skating party next Saturday after church for Holly B's birthday. I think she's shy about inviting people, so please come.

V-Day dance this friday was pretty sweet. Met some new people, did the "dpiddy" (my own invented dance) and even grooved on the floor with Noel a bit. I think he danced with me as much as my wife did, she was probably embarrassed of me, but hey, that's what dancing is.

9.5 Theses on Worship

Thanks to Goodmanson and Christianity Today for their thoughts on Worship.

1. Our heavenly Father wills that the whole life of believers should be worship.
2. The word worship, when applied to public gatherings of the saints, must not be reduced to a synonym for singing praises to God.
3. Worship involves a rhythm of revelation and response: God graciously reveals himself to us, and we faithfully respond—all the elements must help worshipers participate in this rhythm.
4. Those who lead the congregation in song must be theologically equipped for this important task.
5. Faithful response to God involves more than praise—we need a much broader range of songs available for congregations.
6. The body of Christ in worship is more than an assembly of individual worshipers—we need more we songs.
7. The body of Christ is far bigger than what we see in the gathered community—and our songs should reflect this.
8. Those who lead the church in song are called to assist the congregation in its singing, not to replace it—technologies such as amplification must be used with theological and pastoral sensitivity.
9. The Seeker that we must serve in our worship services is, first and foremost, God himself.
9.5. In its services of public worship,the church must obey such Scriptures as Philippians 2:3-4: “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others more important than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.”

Suz Hottie

Suz Hottie, originally uploaded by groovingdan.

Yeah baby...

BRRRRRR!!!!

I'm looking around and no one has a tan around here except for me. I looked normal in Florida (ok, no sacastic comments) We blew in last night from St. Pete and had a 60 degree swing in weather. Crazy. The people and relationships here are worth it though (I think).

UPDATE ON MY DAD
-He's not doing so well. The first couple rounds of chemo have done nothing for his cancer and so they are moving him to a more aggressive form of chemo in which he will have to be hospitalized for 3-5 days every round. If you are a praying person and would like to encourage my dad, he has a pager 330-504-9408 (and then press "1") You do not need to leave him a message--the pager will just beep to let him know that someone just prayed for him. Thanks.

UPDATE ON JADEN
-He has learned so much this week. He is crawling. He claps. He says "da da" and "ma ma". He can pull himself up on his feet if he has something to hold on to. He knows the meaning of the words "no", "more", "bonk" (head butt) and "kiss". And he has four teeth. He is going to be keeping us busy here, that's for sure.

UPDATE ON SUZ
-She is rockin' on stuff for the crepe shop, she will be opening in March. I'll post a pic of her. She is hot.

UPDATE ON ME
-I'm just getting back into everything. Music, Together, Leader's Retreat etc... I won't be traveling for a while, got that all taken care of in a month. I'm here.

Super

So I'm watching the Super Bowl in a hotel in Orlando. We've had a unique opportunity to catch up with Scott and Tammi here as they are on their way back from a family cruise, pretty sweet.

We've been suffering some cold weather, it's dipped down into the 60's (pout pout, please pretend that you feel sorry for me), but today was warmer the rest of the week should be nice.

I've had an amazing time, just relaxing. I've never been on a vacation where I've actually relaxed. I've always had work or it's been like a two day vacation, or their was so much going on that the vacation was a lot of work. But this is nice. I'm almost done reading "Brothers, We Are Not Professional's" by John Piper. It is a book written to pastor's about remembering what is important. Piper challenges pastors to think about hard things and to sacrifice and to feel deeply about what they are doing. I don't agree with everything he says; for instance he suggests that the purpose of our sleep is just to refresh ourselves for our work, where I don't think it's quite that simple, but overall the challenges that he raises are important to remember and are easily ignored by those in the "profession." Scott called the purpose of the book "the perfect way to do church in a modern culture. Nice summary, although I would add that most of Piper's comments carry relevance and should challenge emerging leaders.

Sun

Well we are in Florida. It is 77 degrees. Nice.

now, listen to Steve's last sermon if you weren't at our church on Sunday. It was great.

I will post more if I get the chance.