What is more offensive?

Here is the scenario: It's a scrimmage soccer game, and is the first "game" of the season. You are coaching a team that has had a program for over 25 years, and playing a team in only their second year of existence. Your school is 7 times the size of the other school.

After some time, the score of the game is getting very lopsided. Say, 8-0. You begin realizing that the only coaching you have left to do is to make sure that you aren't embarrassing the other team too much. How do you do this? Is it more embarrassing to deliberately not score goals that you could, to sub off players so you aren't using a full team, thus leaving yourself without your goal scorers, or to just let them take their beating and continue playing normally.

Again, assume it is 75 minutes into the game, and without timeouts, you cannot just tell your team not to score.

What is your move?

What motivates you?

Another quick survey:

Besides God and Family (which should be one and two in everyone's life) what motivates you?

You can define motivate, but I generally mean that something impacts you and drives you to be better than you would be otherwise, or to do something different than you would otherwise.

Books and Covers

When is an "educated guess" judgment, and when is it an applicable use of knowledge? Tonight on Leno, a guy (actor from Soprano's) "guessed" what people's life was like just from watching them watch across a street in New York City. He got most of them right on some pretty specific insights.

It is pretty common to trust first impressions, and to go with our gut, yet we are still told not to judge by the cover. The Bible is clearly against judgment, but it is always great advice to follow your "better judgment."

How do you balance these areas of life?

I've been helping a college soccer team the last couple of weeks. Two days specifically were tryouts for new players. Two days. We evaluated 15 people that we only saw for two days. Some of them we "knew" within minutes just weren't going to make it. Some of them within seconds. Some of them before they ever even made it to the soccer field. Was this fair? It was pretty accurate.

I don't know where I stand. When I do end up writing a book though, I will spend significant time on its cover.

Kitchen-Aid My Marvelous Friend

In the last month, chances were good that you could find home-made cookie dough in our refrigerator. Not because we didn't want to finish eating it, but because we have made it many times.

We've tried the normal chocolate chips, the same recipe with, swirled chips, and currently we have a batch with white chocolate chips. Peanut butter morsels is on deck for the upcoming batch.

It is a wonderful thing. The sugar comes non-stop.

Jenny and I have slightly different tendencies when we make the cookie dough. We each do small parts of the process differently, and occasionally alter the ingredients slightly for our own flare or moisture preservation.

Sometime you'll all have to try the difference with us. Then you to can thank Kitchen-Aid for giving us the tool that is so helpful in making this wonderful food.

A Week's Wait

Seminary starts for me next Tuesday. I only have one more week before it begins. I'm getting pretty excited about it. I'm looking forward to using my brain again. I haven't been doing enough of that lately.

I'm actually excited to write my first paper. I have no clue what it will be on, but I'm giddy to begin. I'm looking forward to school. I'm looking forward to learning. I'm looking forward to again feeling like I'm doing something productive with my time.

What's a lot of driving?

I like to drive. I also don't mind traveling a hefty distance to get to something I want to do. Curious how others view this topic.

I see many people who organize their days around how to drive the least. Gas prices, rush hour, and time management all come into the picture. I seldom think about these things. Any drive under an hour seems short to me. That is without traffic. If it takes me 1 and a half hours to make the normally 40 minute trip, I still consider it a short drive. I've driven for 13 hours straight before. Actually, like 6 times. I really don't mind driving.

It is weird for me to see people who stay somewhere they don't want to be for a couple of hours, just because it will save them 20 minutes of driving. Granted, I'll stay somewhere convenient to avoid pointless round trips where you spend no time at your destination before leaving, but the extreme that it seems so many people put on this is mind boggling to me.

If you are that willing to organize your life around your driving time, you could probably save yourself money and use public transportation. I'm too greedy for that. But I love to drive, so I don't spend much time organizing my life in that manner. It is just another part of my day, often a relaxing one.

Some Things are Oddly Memorable

I've golfed enough to realize that it isn't always the best shot that is the most memorable one. In the movie "Rounders" they talk about how few professional poker players can remember the hands that built their bankrolls, but that all of them can remember each hand they lost when they went broke the first time. Sometimes it is just the odd things in life that are the most memorable.

That's true for Tiger Woods as well. He is in a familiar spot. Leading after two days in the World Golf Championship. He has won the last three tournaments he has played in. He shot well under par today, but nobody is going to remember his great putting, or precision iron play. They'll remember only one shot from today's round.

A nine iron. 167 yards away from the hole. He was in the rough. He hit it a little further than the 167 yards it needed to travel. In fact, it when over the grandstand of spectators, over the cart path, and hit the roof of the club house. It then actually struck the golf cart of an employee who was unloading boxes for the concession area. He simply though someone was throwing golf balls at him, so when he saw the ball, he picked it up, put it in the carts cup holder and drove away.

You get 5 minutes to find your golf ball in a PGA event. Seconds before Tiger's time was up, they realized what happened. Luckily, "over the clubhouse" is in no way officially marked out of bounds. Also, because the grandstand he went over is a temporary structure, but is also immovable, Tiger got to drop his ball to a place that was the same distance away, but with nothing between him and the hole. It was now just a matter of figuring out the distance. It took many officials, and lasers to finally get it right. Somewhere around 97 yards away. He chipped close, and two putted for his only bogey of the day, and is currently the tournament leader.

It's the math that is amazing to me. He hit a 9 iron 267 yards. Granted it got bounces off a roof (even a ride in a cart that didn't count in the distance) and probably on some kind of path, but that is further than I can hit any club.

It took almost an hour between his nine iron shot, and them finalizing the distance. It's just one of those things that will always be remembered, not because he won a tournament with that shot, or because it was a good score to put on his card, but because it was so odd.

Time for a Monsoon

It was an eerie day. I was supposed to help coach a practice from 2-5, then play a soccer game from 6-8. The weather was not co-operating when I woke up, but I headed out at 1:40 to find myself driving out of the rain. I showed up to a field that was breezy, but dry.

We practiced, and finished a little early, when it began raining at 4:45. Luckily, I was driving north for the game, and it looked clearer that way. I made it to the fields, and they were wet, but the sky was not raining on us. We started the game. Then the rain started. Then, either hail, or large drops, all I know is it hurt if I looked a certain way. After about 8 minutes of play, we called the game.

It was amazing while walking to the car, to know that I was stepping in an inch of water across the entire field and parking lot. It was raining almost sideways.

By the time I got home, there was no rain, and I was under a blue sky.

Mother nature just didn't want us to get our playoff game in today. I don't know what that means for the season, as the next round is supposed to be on Saturday, and we haven't heard when we are making this game up yet.

Oh well, playing in the monsoon was fun, and gave me a good reason to wash my uniform.

Healthy Sleep Patterns

Some studies say that to sleep the most "healthy" possible, you would actually wake up without an alarm. Studies also say that each individual needs a different amount of sleep.

Other studies would argue that everyone needs about 7-8 hours and that fluctuating far from that would be unhealthy for any adult.

I don't know what I think about sleep.

I do know that I can routinely sleep for 12 hours without waking up, before I naturally wake myself. Even sleeping for 10 hours seems short to my body. This isn't because I routinely get only 6 hours or something and my body needs to make up. I can routinely get 10 hours, and immediately spend the next night sleeping for 12 if possible.

What do you think about sleep patterns? Does everyone need the same? Can you train your body to need less? How do stimulants used throughout the day affect your requirements? What is most healthy?

Re-gaining the thought life

While being a Pastor it was easy to have a large chunk of my thought life consumed with Godly things. Lately I haven't found myself thinking those thoughts as often.

My actions haven't changed much. I still read the Bible, pray, and journal every morning, but throughout the day it just seems to pop in my head less often. I can't decide what I think about that.

Part of it is natural. I'm not spending my "work time" planning for the spiritual impact of a group anymore. I'm not even spending that time debating/discussing church practice with other staff members. Those conversations often spilled into my thoughts and conversations with others throughout the day.

I imagine that when I start at Seminary, my thought life will again be focused largely on "spiritual" (I hate defining things by this term) things.

I'm just curious why I spend so much less time doing that now.

A follow up to yesterday's question.

Yesterday I asked what makes for a successful church. I was astonished to have 5 answers by the time I woke up this morning.

Now I'll ask my follow up question:

When you look at churches that "everyday" people define as successful, what is it that got them there? Restated bluntly, what causes a church to grow at a rate that makes it a mega-church? Is it usually one of the things stated by the 5 that responded yesterday, or is it something different?

Please trust that I am not implying that only or all mega-churches are "successful" or that any church's strive should be to attain "mega" status. I'm just curious as to how some churches develop, and what is drawing people to them.

I need your answers.

One question, I'm curious. Please answer.

What is the most important thing a church needs to be successful?

You can define success.

Goofy Thoughts on the Golf Course

By far my favorite memory of the day took place on the golf course this afternoon. The four blood relatives were all out for an afternoon that turned into a best ball scramble for the second nine holes. That usually leaves us in a more relaxed state. And it had.

We were on a par 3 hole, and my tee shot was about 12 feet off the green on the downside of a hill. We had a shot safe on the green and were casually walking to go and putt from there. Walking towards my ball, I said to my brother: "watch me chip this in left handed with the back of my putter." He remarked, "I'm watching" and then proceeded to walk through my line. So I repeated myself and he turned to watch.

I then hit the ball, left handed, with the back of my putter, and proceeded to watch it role. When it clanged against the flag stick and fell into the hole, the excitement hit me. I just birdied a hole, with the back end of my putter, from off the green. That was pretty fabulous.

Asking the uncomfortable question

I like to go with my gut instinct. If my brain tells me someone has a little more of an agenda, or purpose to something they are doing, I always feel the need to ask them the uncomfortable question. I had an instance of this today.

I was asked to join one of the committees at the church today. The senior pastor actually called to ask me. I wasn't awake yet, so he left a message which stated that he wanted this particular committee to have some "fresh eyes."

I was curious. So I asked him, as bluntly as possible. "Usually when someone says something like this committee needs fresh eyes, it is because this committee is in trouble, or because you have a specific agenda for this committee that is not being met, that you assume I can help meet. So, what do you mean?"

The conversation was pleasant. I was more ready to accept being on the committee, not just because I feel I could help, but because I now have a specific purpose. I know the exact reason I was asked, and the exact reason that it was I the senior pastor chose.

I encourage all of you to become more comfortable asking the "uncomfortable" questions.

Good Bye Sunday

It happened this afternoon. I joined the fantasy football league I played in last year. It is time to defend my title. I'll be looking forward to seeing what my team offers me this year, but most importantly, I hope two things carry over.

I hope that I pick-up players early in the season with a better success rate than any other player. And I hope to avoid the injury bug. I had minor injuries last year, but won most of my games because I never lost a significant part of my team to injury. That always helps.

Good luck league, and good bye Sundays.

Break out the gloves

I can't hide from my past. I have played goalie successfully, even at the college level. I was called today to come use those skills and assist those who will be attempting that feat this year. I will likely spend a few of my afternoons next week working with some college freshman who are hoping for soccer success. I'll enjoy it.

Something fun comes with putting other goalies through the pains that I went through. I get a weird sort of satisfaction in teaching people how to play the position I didn't myself enjoy. I'll be looking forward to it. It will be fun to make contact with the new players, and to visit with some of those that I have coached before.

Passion

Passion is a key word in my life. It has been since my freshman year in college. I believe strongly that I am a passionate person. I am also a lazy person. That makes for quite a difference in areas of life. It's pretty easy to find out the things I'm passionate about, even on a day to day basis.

Going through the life change I'm going through (stepping down from youth pastor and heading back to school) this has again been made clear. During the evaluation process, a friend of mine asked me "What does it look like when you are passionate?" He was referring to the specifics of youth pastor, and I answered in terms of college soccer. It was an easy question for me.

How would you answer?

What does life look like when you are passionate? What parts of life are you passionate about?

I'll give my answer in the comment section, but not until someone answers before me, or asks me to.

Child of the 80s (question of the day)

Here was the question posed to me:

Super Mario -1,2, or 3?

It might as well be a test of my 80s knowledge. I can instantly narrow out number 2. Any person who actually picks number two is not a true video game fan. It just didn't cut it for the Super Mario Series. My answer, comes with the movies.

Many video games have been made into movies. Mortal Kombat, Street Fighter, Doom, even Super Mario Bros. It isn't an uncommon thing. What is uncommon though, is for a movie to be based around the release of a video game, and to market being the first place to see live game play footage for said game. This was the case for Super Mario 3.

The movie, Wizard. It had everyone's favorite Wonder Years star (I told you this was an 80s thing) playing in a movie where his friend/brother (I can't remember) competes in a video game competition. The championship match of which is a time trial start to the game Super Mario 3. Most points wins.

This movie showed everyone how to find the first warp whistle (if you don't know what I'm talking about, you didn't grow up in the 80s). It was phenomenal. The outpouring of media around such a game would usually raise expectation to a level which is unattainable. But Super Mario 3 didn't disappoint.

The original Super Mario for the Nintendo, was an instant classic. One that fuels the Nintendo Dynasty. But the success of Super Mario 3, after such a failure in number 2 and such high expectations puts it at the top of my list.

There's always room, but is there time?

JELLO! There is always room for Jello. But everytime Jenny or I want it, we get annoyed with how long it takes to make. We want it now. So we are making it. At 10:15, we are starting. We'll throw in some ice cubes to speed up the process, and we hope it is done by 11:45 or so.

So much for the recommended 4 hours. We've only got two before Jenny goes to bed.

Why does something that can be eaten so fast take so long to make? It just doesn't make sense to me?

My parents get back from their two week Alaska trip (one land week, one cruise week) tonight. I'll be excited to hear about there trip.

I hear my mom's a gold digger.

What's your purpose?

Why do people go to church on Sundays? Why do I? Is it because I'm supposed to get something? Or am I supposed to give something? What does "church" mean? What should it mean?

I've gone to church on Sundays pretty consistently for the last 8 years or so. It feels weird not to. But I'm curious, how necessary is it? What do you think? I'm always looking for biblical support to answers, so fire away. Is a small group enough? What does a group of 350 people listening to the sermon of a pastor accomplish? Is it productive?

Again, I'll give my thoughts when asked, but will withhold them until then.

Losing Sleep

I went to bed at 5:45 this morning. I had stayed up until then. I wasn't reading, or watching a movie, or even playing a game. Instead, I was watching the live broadcast of a poker tournament. This year, ESPN offered live coverage of the final table of the World Series of poker on pay per view.

Some of you know that Jenny and I don't have cable, so you may be wondering how I watched this. I'm resourceful. I found people who were broadcasting it over the internet for free.

So I sat, at a table, watching a poker tournament in Windows Media Player. It finished at 5:40 this morning. It was wonderful. I'd much rather watch the tournament this way, than wait for them to show only the highlights in the episodes they will air on television a couple of weeks from now.

That is all.

The Department of Transportation Gets It

Driving home a couple of weeks ago I pointed out a sign to Jenny and said, "I'll get one of those, or use the picture of one as a sermon illustration sometime." It was a Rest Area sign.

Rest Area 1 and 1/2 mile.
Next Rest Area 36 miles.

The department of transportation gets it. We are supposed to know when our rest is. The Bible commands a Sabbath, which traditionally was every Saturday. Culture has changed. Not everyone can give up every Saturday to be a rest day, and I don't think we have to be that legalistic, but God still wants us to keep the Sabbath.

You should know when your next rest is. If you can't think of the next day you get to spend, just being, you need to evaluate if you properly keep the Sabbath. I would recommend, like the DOT gives us, at least knowing when your next couple are. You might not have a life that lets you say, every Sunday is my Sabbath, but you probably can and should be able to schedule them in your life. Pick a day and start.

Communion

I have different views of communion than many people. I can't help but think that celebrating communion by eating a piece of a cracker and drinking a mini-cup of grape juice while I sit silently and someone plays a piano isn't getting to the heart of what Jesus was trying to accomplish with his thoughts during the last supper.

I get more passionate when it comes to communion during weddings, but that is a rabbit trail you can ask me about in person sometime.

Some people I know, don't think that communion (I assume meaning the way it is done as described above) is done often enough. It is also no secret that different denominations and sects of belief have different doctrines of communion, all of which are based (originally) in scripture.

What are your thoughts on "communion?" What should the Eucharist look like in a corporate worship celebration? Is it supposed to be part of a worship celebration? What would it look like in "everyday life?" Is it supposed to be part of "everyday life?"

Let me know your thoughts. Use the Bible as necessary.

God's Standard of Goodness

Tonight at small group we spent time listening to some of "The Way of the Master" programming. "The Way of the Master" is a program designed to teach people how to evangelize the lost with one on one conversation. It is not designed as a relational approach to evangelism and is what most people consider street witnessing, they just happen to be doing it over the radio, or at a large event.

It bothers me. I won't go into complete detail. I listened to about 20 minutes of it and have a page full of notes on why it bothers me. I'll just talk about one.

The 10 Commandments. "The Way of the Master" uses the 10 Commandments to show a person that they are not "good" enough to enter heaven. They boasted to one person: "to find out if you are good enough, lets use God's standard of goodness, the 10 Commandments." I was immediately offended. The 10 Commandments are not God's standard of goodness. The 10 Commandments are God's standard of what it takes to be human. Don't steal, or lie, or kill, or covet, or worship false things, or take my name in vein.... Not doing these things doesn't make me "good" it makes me "normal." They treat this like these are somehow God's rules only. I don't consider anyone I know that has murdered someone normal.

People who are habitually breaking the 10 Commandments are not normal. People who are habitually not breaking them, likely your upstanding citizen. These are basic principles of living, not a standard of goodness. What is unfortunate, is that "The Way of the Master" program uses other parts of scripture (which aren't the 10 commandments and have a far different purpose than the 10 commandments) to "prove" to people that they aren't "good enough."

Jesus does say that lusting is as bad as adultery, and that hatred is as bad as killing, but NOWHERE does it say that these are God's 10 commandments. These are "God's standard of goodness" but are not His commandments. There is a distinction. The 10 Commandments were given to provide the bare minimal rules to existing in a community together (the Israelites were just starting to do this now that they weren't slaves). The reason Jesus added to them is precisely because the Religious leaders of the day were using them as a standard of goodness. They do not suffice for that standard.

Don't tell someone to answer a list of questions about the 10 Commandments and then ask them questions that have nothing to do with the 10 Commandments. There are better logical, spiritual, and academic ways to show people how they fall short.

This is only one of many things I don't like about this particular style of evangelising. Maybe someday I'll get into others.

Cautions, Side Affects and Recommendations

I often find myself infatuated with prescription medicine commercials. They amuse me. Not because they are creative, or well filmed, or funny, but because I find irony when listening to their cautions, side affects and recommendations. Here are some examples.

First a thought. How long would your doctor's appointment be if you actually asked him about all the drugs that instruct you to "ask your doctor about...?" Would your doctor be annoyed at this line of questioning?

What about funny side affects? I've seen migraine medication which boasts a side affect of "severe headaches." Has this medicine accomplished anything? There is a bladder medication that had the side affect of constipation. I guess you can't have healthy bowels at all anymore.

Funny cautions also make me laugh. Yesterday, a different bladder medication, posed a caution. Do not take if you have stomach problems. Later to find out, it has a side affect of stomach problems. What about the medication that boasts not to take when sleepy, but has a side affect of drowsiness? I suppose you can only take these medications once.

I look forward to new prescription medication commercials that I haven't seen before. Actually listening to that fast talking announcer as he lists all of these things can be quite amusing.

Organizing Rant of the Day

This one is about soccer. Let me set the stage. I play on a team that has games scheduled at 6:30 every Sunday night. There are two brackets of teams. Both of them play Sunday nights at 6:30. After playing each team in your bracket twice, the top four teams from each bracket make it into a single elimination playoffs. We have secured our place in this years playoffs.

Here is the rant. If say, I, was in charge of organizing this playoff experience, I would assume that 6:30 on Sunday nights would probably work for all 8 teams. However, the league organizes differently. They have instead decided that they will let all their leagues have weekend playoffs and schedule everyone at either Saturday at noon, or Sunday at noon. I don't get it. I can't think of a team that will have the same number or level of players on a weekend daytime during the summer as they would if they just played at their normally scheduled time. The playoffs aren't done any quicker by having them on the weekend days, you still only play one game a week.

We specifically are at a loss with either game. I know of players who work on Saturday and wouldn't be able to make it if we played that day, and much of our team wouldn't be able to make a noon on Sunday game because of their church commitments.

MRSL. Get a clue. Organize your playoffs so that we play the teams at the same time we have played all year long. How hard is that?

Can I Be a Member?

I don't know that I will ever be the senior pastor of a church. I haven't narrowed it out, but am not currently planning it. I did pose myself with this question today though. What requirements would I have for membership? What lifestyle arrangements, beliefs, service and giving tendencies would I make a pre-requisite for membership of a congregation I was in charge of.

I cannot firmly answer this question at the moment. I'm sure they would be more strict than many people would like, but I'm confident they would be supported biblically, and healthy for anyone to try.

What about you? What requirements would you want to see a church put on its members? Does it even matter to you? Does membership to a church even matter to you?

On that note, what, to you, is the point of church membership, and maybe more importantly, do you believe that membership to a particular church is a biblical or healthy practice? Is church membership too much of following "Paul, or Apollos" or is it a healthy practice? I'll leave my thoughts to your comments.

Why do you keep coming back?

Haven't I bored you enough yet. I'm amazed that any of you keep coming back to read anything. My thoughts seem so plain and normal to me, that venturing out on the internet to read them seems like it would be a waste of time.

If something I write makes you think, or helps you in any way, or just makes you curious, then I'd love to have coffee with you. You can even pick the topic of conversation, discussion, argument.

As much fun as I have writing for you all to read, I would have more fun if we hung out.

Are you having an affair with virtual Nate and not hanging out with real Nate? I think he'll notice. Let's interact.

On another note, any new questions or thoughts out there for me to write about?

What Does "Hell" Really Mean?

When it comes to theology, and my take on the Bible, hell is something I can't claim to have any kind of grasp on. I've read lots of different opinions, and know many different doctrines, and yet have no clue where I stand.

Jenny is in the midst of reading one of those books on hell, so we've briefly talked with each other about how much we'd enjoy having a conversation about hell with other people. We however, know that we won't agree with the mainstream version of hell right off, and that might scare many of the people we would want to talk with.

So here I am, asking all of your opinions. What is hell? Where is hell? How long is hell? Are people in hell now? Who rules in hell? Where did your beliefs of hell come from?

RedBox DVD Rentals

I've converted. I used to think that renting movies inside a McDonald's was a silly idea that would never catch on. However, I am now unemployed and live across the street from a McDonald's.

It's nice to know that when/if I need to kill a couple of hours that I can go rent a movie for a dollar. It's easy for me to get them returned quickly (usually 2 minutes after I'm done watching it). I'm even at the point where I am excited that their website shows which movies are currently there. I can make my selection before leaving my house, have the movie 2 minutes later, and begin watching it.

It's been wonderful. It's been something to do with my time when I get bored with whatever book I am reading. I've only got a month to finish the rest of the books I own that I haven't read yet, as my reading will kick in overdrive when school starts.

Any other books I should read before that time, I'm open for recommendations?

Class Registration (the Fast Track)

Registered for classes today for my first year at Seminary. I got them to approve some sort of fast track that will graduate me in under the three year traditional program, but won't quite make it for two years.

I'm excited to get the Hebrew Language under my belt, as after doing so I will get to take my Old Testament classes half in English, half in Hebrew. I'm nerdy enough to be looking forward to that.

Registering today made me feel excited about school in the fall. My first class will start at the beginning of September and is one of those that will be completed in two weeks. Nothing like starting off intense right?

Liberal Conservativism

Seminary is right around the corner. I can't decide if my teachers will like me or not. I am always a participant in class, I learn from the discussions and pay attention pretty well. I am concerned though, for the areas of theology in which I will disagree with them.

I wouldn't classify myself as either liberal or conservative, as I have no desire to be grouped with the emergent church (liberal) or Calvinism (conservative). I have pretty "edgy" beliefs on lots of doctrinal issues that I think are more biblical, but in less of a neat package than most church doctrines.

It will be interesting for me to see how often I write my papers for grades and not for conviction. It won't be a problem for me to discuss these things in class, but where will I stand when asked to write a theology paper for a theology class if I know my view is not supported by the teacher.

I guess only time will tell.