Time For A Change

For the second time, I felt the need to change the look of my blog. The picture at the top of the page is one I took of the cathedral of Notre Dame in Paris [not South Bend]. The number next to the blog post title is how many comments there are. If you want to chime in, just click on the number and you'll be able to comment.

I like it; hope you do too.

In Need of a Movement

Finally, one of our own has hit it big time. By "one of our own," I mean a member of a Restoration Movement church and by "hit it big time," I'm referring to Harriet Miers being nominated for the Supreme Court. Ms Miers is a member at Valley View Christian Church in Dallas where former Cincinnati Christian University President Barry McCarty is now preaching.

For those of you unfamiliar with the term, the Restoration Movement is a group of churches that dating back to the early 19th century, spawned by Thomas and Alexander Campbell and Barton Stone. We're the un-denomination, as we have no denominational hierarchy and congregational autonomy. I've identified with the group my whole life, and probably will until the day I die. Echo Church will be a part of this movement. I love it because no one can say who's in or who's out.

What's fascinating about us is that it's nearly impossible to nail down Restoration Movement theology down. There are both conservative and liberal extremes in our churches. This explains why the national media is having problems with Judge Miers: they're unfamiliar with our Restoration theology and they're not sure exactly where she stands on the controversial issues. This article has already identified her as a evangelical, but many in our movement would want nothing to do with such a label.

Yes, the media is confused but so are we. This Harriet Miers nomination is going to leave many leaders in our movement in a quandary. Many want some national legitimacy for our churches so they'll lift up Miers as one of their own. At the same time, as Miers is apparently getting support from homosexual advocacy groups, many in our movement will want nothing to do with her; they'll most likely try to distance themselves from her, claiming she never was "one of us" in the first place.

As for me, I'll just sit back and laugh because I don't care either way. Sure I'd love to see her approved, but because of her "liberal leaning" it could be the conservative Christian lobby that does her in. How ironic: the religious right finally gets the conservative justices they've always wanted, but assault them for not being conservative enough. Christians can be funny like that.

Wonder if I'll see Harriet at the North American next year . . .

Striptease

Stick with me here. I want to take you on a journey that begins with this confession:

I think I'm part of a cover-up.

As I was working this afternoon, I wondered why I didn't "flaunt" my minister status to my coworkers. By now, most of them know I'm a minister, but I haven't "unleashed the fury" of being a pastor upon them. Case in point: people drop f-bombs around me and I don't correct them. Plus, I've overheard a few of them talking about sexual escapades and I haven't rebuked them. Am I cowering from being the voice of God to a group of heathens? Why don't I go medieval on them?

Obviously, one of the reasons I wouldn't go Pat Robertson on them is because I don't have a deep relationship with them yet. Maybe some day I could be close enough to them to discuss topics of grace and sin. But right now, I really want to redefine their concepts of what a minister is like.

My job [minister, not Panera Bread Associate] could possibly be the most hated profession in the world. Why? Because the wrap on ministers is that they preach at everyone else not to do things that they themselves are probably doing. Our churches are full of hypocrites and preachers rule the roost. Just this evening I saw a news teaser about a local minister who plead guilty to embezzlement. With everything going on in this world, this is the story they lead with? Of course! Everyone loves to see the man of God fall. So I ask . . .

Am I proud of being a minister? And if so, why don't I want people to know?

Hmmm. That's a good one. Let me answer it this way:

Say I was a stripper [for some disturbing reason, I think I've written that before]. Not only that, say I was an awesome stripper, having the perfect combination of the stripping and the teasing. Maybe I even won critical acclaim for being a stripper [a Strippie, perhaps]. If I was a heathen, I'd probably be proud, but who could I tell? Not my mother, that's for sure. I doubt I'd ever brag to people about my awesome strippiness. Why? Because it's just not an admirable profession.

I'd say that's almost how I feel about being a minister. I know, not a perfect analogy, but that's how I feel. Yes, my friends and family are proud but to the person that's at odds with Jesus, I might as well be a murderer. Which is why I hide it so much. Those are the people who I want to reach so desperately. I don't want to be prejudged by them. I'd like for them to at least get to know me a little better before they hate me.

So in a way, I'm a fake, but I'm showing people [slowly] what I'm all about. I don't think I'm misleading people by withholding that part of me, just presenting it piece by piece. One day, they'll get the Full Monte. So I guess you could say that I am a stripper. Or am I just a tease?

Mom would be so proud.

Press On

I don't have to be into work until 11:00 this morning, so I'm sitting here watching Good Morning America. Watching TV is what prompts me to ask you this question this morning . . .

Why are depression commercials so depressing?

I'm not making light of depression. It's a horrible disorder that people don't take seriously enough. But whenever I watch commercials advertising drugs for depression they have these people that should be happy moaping around, showing how depressed they are. I then start to relate to those people and wonder if I'm actually depressed. Of course I'm not, but the commercials almost convince me that I am.

If I was making a good depression commercial, I'd show a bunch of happy people playing in a field, jousting or something. I know the reason they make those commercials so depressing is so people having one bad day will misdiagnose themselves and demand that their doctor prescribe them the drug. But I just don't like it. That's just sad. And I thought Victoria's Secret commercials [no hyperlink available] were the only ones that I needed to change the channel from.

I'm going to get me a Diet Coke.

Not So Great

I finally rented the movie Alexander. I've always been interested in the life of Alexander the Great, the most important in the Bible not actually mentioned in the Bible. 300 years before Jesus lived, Alexander conquered the known world. He helped shape its culture, religion, and infrastructure. And he did it all before the age of 32, when he died suddenly. He was part genius, but mostly lunatic. He indeed thought he was a god. Nonetheless, he's a fascinating historical figure. I have a biography of Alexander I got for Christmas last year [thanks Dave and Bev] that discussed in-depth his reign over the world.

So finally a new movie was made, chronicling his life. Sure it got some bad reviews, but I chalked it up to film critics playa' hatin'. I was extremely disappointed I didn't get to see it in the theatre but now, after watching it, I wish I had never even rented it.

Oliver Stone has served up some lemons in the past, but this one is huge. The film has ADD. Stone couldn't settle for simply telling the story, but made it a series of flashbacks and flash-forwards, enough to make JFK seem normal. Colin Farrel just didn't work here, Angelina Jolie was a bit much and I didn't even like Val Kilmer in it. And Stone just messed around with the facts and gave us a bunch of fiction to try to sell the story.

Not only this but, never thought I'd say this I'm finally getting fed up with the huge war scene. Braveheart, the first of the "modern movies" to show us a massive battle, was amazing. Unfortunately Mel Gibson messed up by trying to replicate it in The Patriot. It worked for Lord of the Rings, and I even liked it with Russell Crowe in Gladiator. But Brad Pitt in Troy, George Lucas' laughable new Star Wars episodes, and Oliver Stone's Alexander are just plain wannabes. Memo to Hollywood: huge battle scenes are the trucker hats of 2006- a bit tacky.

Where have all the good storytellers gone? It seems that unless Peter Jackson is making the movie, you're not sure what you'll get. I don't know about you, but I'm ready for some better movie choices. Can't wait for Good Will Hunting 2: Hunting Season.

Another Reason God is Good

I had a rough day today. The reality of this church starting has my mind racing with things to do. I guess that put me in a bad mood today as I wasn't too "perky" at work [instead of offering, "would you like to have some cream cheese with that," I told them, "I know a place where you can shove your cream cheese . . ."] Even tonight I found myself getting frustrated despite the fact that I was finally getting my sweet Explorer back [and they didn't even swipe the five gallon bucket of golf balls in the back].

Anyway, tonight we drove up to Mason to finish out the men's church league softball season. It's been a pretty frustrating league this year, but I thought it would be good to see it to completion; it would be a good opportunity not to think about anything but playing ball. We played a team way worse than us [if possible] and run-ruled them.

After the game I was talking to our coach Kevin, who just happens to be a lawyer, he was asking if there was anything legal he could help out with. Kevin has offered help on many different occasions, so I said I'd let him know if we did. But tonight I did bring up that was struggling with our 501c3 filing. This is the form that non-profit organizations have to fill out to be able to claim "official" tax-exempt status. Some of these church planting websites suggested to start filling it out and call a lawyer for help when you get stuck. It's a 48 page document and I didn't get past page two.

So in mentioning it to Kevin tonight he said that his firm could definitely take care of it for us. This was the biggest "to-do" item looming over our church and it was basically taken away tonight. Oh yeah, feeling the flow, doing the bull dance . . .

Among the many lessons I've learned throughout this process, I guess one of the ones that's been most helpful would be this: don't be afraid to ask for help. Any of you that have observed me during this process know that I've done this more during the past year than during any time in my life. I understand that, as Bono put it [albeit, I'm taking this out of context, but at least it's not Scripture], "sometimes you can't make it on your own." But it's a constant struggle as my pride kicks in. I trust in God to do things, but sometimes I need to realize that God is sending me people to get those things accomplished. Yes, I'm an idiot, but I'm a recovering idiot.

So God is good. I think this whole church thing might just work out in spite of me. I'm fine with that.

Westside Remixed

Try this on for size.

"When you're a Jet . . . "

The Cookie Crumbles

A little baseball talk this afternoon. The playoffs start today and, once again, the Reds aren't in them. My father-in-law is in a good mood because the Braves made it in again [sigh], but all eyes are on the St Louis Cardinals who dominated the regular season. Adding to the excitement of their postseason run is the fact that their stadium will be demolished at the end of the playoffs; they'll begin play in a brand new ballpark in the spring. Old Busch Stadium, a "cookie cutter stadium," is last one of its kind to be destroyed.*

A "Cookie cutter stadium" describes multiple sports structures built in the 1960's and 1970's, seen as an affordable way to satisfy all of a city's stadium needs. Buildings like this were built in St Louis, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia and, of course, Cincinnati. All had a similar look and feel to them. I had no idea that there was any other way to watch professional football and baseball than in such a stadium. I thought little league was worse because we didn't get to play on artificial turf. At Riverfront, concrete was king. It was always an adventure finding your seats because the stadium was perfectly round, every gate identical. By the 1990's, ballparks like Camden Yard in Baltimore ushered in a new wave of stadium construction. Teams held cities hostage, demanding their own stadiums and thus ended the cookie-cutter era.

However much these structures were loathed at the end of their existence, they weren't when they were built. As quoted in USA Today, "In souvenir magazines commemorating their openings, Cincinnati's Riverfront Stadium was described as a 'palace' and Pittsburgh's Three Rivers was hailed for its 'style, sweep and brilliance.'" How quickly those days passed. Have you heard anyone around town talking about how much they miss going to games at Riverfront? Out in Blue Ash, they even made a replica of Crosley Field [the Cincinnati stadium preceding Riverfront]. I doubt we'll ever see the same done for Riverfront.

A few lessons we can learn from this:

- Just because something seems economically sound, doesn't mean it is. I'm sure the people that built these cookie-cutters didn't think it was a fad. Cincinnati spent almost $50 million to build Riverfront Stadium in 1970 and, just 30 years later had to spend about $800 million to build Paul Brown Stadium and Great American Ballpark. It would've been cheaper to build two stadiums back then.

- Aesthetics do mean something. People underestimate the value of a good looking product. Sure they want performance, but also something more. Look at the dominance of Apple.

- Everyone wants some old school in their lives. Fenway Park [go Sox], Yankee Stadium, Wrigley Field are national icons. Retro will always be cool. It just depends which era is cool at what time. I can't wait until the 1990's becomes retro. Hammer pants, here I come.

- The Cardinals still suck. Nuff said.

*It should be noted that the actual plural noun of "stadium" is "stadia." I just used it throughout this post because I didn't want to weird anyone out.

The Weekend Recap

Warning: this post is somewhat boring

We're less than two weeks away from the first service of Echo Church. It's tough to make time to blog right now, but here's my attempt to fill you in on our busy weekend.

A week ago, a friend passed away, and Kelly and I were asked to sing at the funeral on Saturday. This meant we would have to go over to my parents' house on Friday night to get my guitar [trip #1 to the westside]. Before we went over there, Kel and I went to see the Reese Witherspoon chic-flick Just Like Heaven. It also starred Mark Ruffalo, an actor I rather like; overall, it made for an "cute movie." Who else can make a "cute movie" about a comatose girl cute but Reese Witherspoon?

The funeral on Saturday went well. Julie Budde was a friend of ours from the Oak Hills Christian Church [now iMPACT] and we still keep up with her two sons. Julie was a constant encourager of Kelly and me; she even talked about coming to check us out at Echo. The service took place at the Bridgetown Church of Christ [trip #2 to the westside]. Julie was a wonderful, unique person and I think the memorial service was a good tribute to her life.

Sunday, we went to iMPACT to church [trip #3 to the westside]. Aaron preached [he also spoke for part of the memorial service and did a great job with his part]. He's an incredible communicator. Once again, it made me feel good about partnering with him with this church. Between the two of us, we're not half bad. It was awesome to see where that church has come in a few years. When Kelly and I first visited there, the church was near death. Now it's more alive than ever.

Kelly went with Carol to see the musical Chicago in Lexington [interesting] on Sunday night. I spent the evening hanging out with Aaron and Larry and Brad Budde. I haven't been able to hang out with them for awhile, so it was great to talk with them.

And today passed without incident. My boss from Panera is transferring, so I'll have a new boss to deal with. My car should finally be finished tomorrow [with its brand new-used engine], so I'll be done driving around the massive, gas-guzzling F-150 and get back with my Explorer. Aaron and I hashed out some church stuff tonight; I think we've got the teaching texts planned out for the rest of the year.

Yeah, this was a really boring post. Sorry about that. As I sit here, I'm sorta exhausted from the past two days, but I think we're just entering the beginning of this "church planting busy season." I promise I'll try to bring my "A" game tomorrow.

If I even have an "A" game . . .

Don't Phunk [Mess] With My Songs

Part of our moving-in meant getting cable hooked up. The cable company quoted us a tremendous rate for cable, high-speed internet, and digital phone in a combined package so we took it. So now we're back to having a home phone again, and having one of those cable boxes where you get 100 channels. No HBO or Showtime, but all the really important channels like History Channel 2, VH1 80's, MTV 2, and CSPAN 3.

I flipped on this music video channel where they actually play videos [Fuse] last night and saw a new Weezer video. I guess Weezer is cool again, which is fine by me because they play good music. The name of the song in the video was "We Are All On Drugs." No, it's not a song glorifying drug use, but states that some of the un-drug induced actions people commit on a daily basis might as well have committed while being high on a carcinogen.

Anyway, I flipped on MTV 2 here this morning [once again, how ironic that MTV had to create a second network to play videos?] and the same Weezer song came on again. But this time there was something different about it. The lyrics [and title] of the song had been changed to "We are all in love." Obviously the network was so paranoid that the song would be interpreted as a pro-drug song that they changed the lyrics. Anything to protect the innocent minds of children. So a song with a pretty solid message gets "sanctified" because people aren't allowed to think for themselves. What really cracks me up is that kids know that the lyrics are changed, so it really accomplishes nothing.

Perhaps I'll feel a little different about this in a few months when we have a child of our own, but I doubt it. It makes no sense. I mean, where are you going to stop? There's much worse out there than Weezer. I find this kind of editing hilarious while rap songs that graphically describe sexual perversion are given a few minor beeps. And as Gaylord Focker alerted us, you know what "Puff the Magic Dragon" is really about.

Lest we all forget that this kind of song editing doesn't work, a few years ago a band called Puddle of Mudd released a song called "She ****ing Hates Me." They bleeped it out and it proceeded to go to the top 10 on the Billboard charts. Despite the best efforts, it doesn't work.

As much as I want to be for censorship, this is America. If we don't like it or disagree with the message, we should turn it off. Otherwise, it won't be too long that people will want to edit our messages.

When The Lights Go Down . . .

Decided to take advantage of our Eden Park location tonight as we went for a walk around the park then headed over towards Mount Adams. We ran into someone we went to college with, a guy named Jonmark who has spent the last few years traveling all over the world. It was crazy to take our first walk in the park since we moved here and then run into someone that we knew. Later, we stopped for a moment to take in the view by the Celestial restaurant parking lot overlooking downtown. It was an absolutely gorgeous evening.

But I guess, more than our evening urban stroll, the city living feels really real tonight because, as we sat here watching Survivor, we heard yelling outside. I went over to the window to take a peek and saw a couple in their car yelling at each other. Apparently they chose right in front of our house as a break-up location. They've been at it for almost half-an-hour now. We've been hitting the mute button between commercials to try to catch the problem. All I could tell is that the ladt seemed pretty ticked off. I wonder how long they will last . . .

OK, they're not yelling at each other anymore. Maybe they're making up. Who knows. Life in the big city. Lovin' it.

Rocked It

Oh yeah, I killed during the lunch rush today. I finally know my way around the register well enough to get the orders in quickly and accurately. I had those orders flowing today. It was good.

"Doing the bull dance. Feeling the flow . . ."

Title Insurance

I've been getting good at greeting people at the store with a "Sir" and a "Ma'am." I've yet to have someone take it as an insult, as in, "I'm not old enough to be a ma'am." I've even said it to high school kids which is sorta humbling, but when haven't I needed some humbling?

April, the woman I work the bakery with in the morning, adds a "Miss" or "Mister" to whomever she talks to. For instance, if a customer who comes by to pick up an order is named "Sam," she'll call him "Mister Sam."

I found that interesting because of an incident I had with a pastor at the Walnut Hills Christian Church [the church we're renting out for Echo]. When we first met, I called her by her first name, Cheryl. This went on a few times until finally, at the end of a conversation, she had a request for me. She asked that I addressed her as "Pastor Cheryl." I didn't get snippy about it with her. Since that conversation, that's what I call her.

One morning, when I was talking to April about me being a pastor, she asked what title I go by; April is a Christian, so she knows that many ministers go by a certain title- pastor, reverend, or whatever. I answered, "just Steve. That's what my friends call me, so that's what everyone can call me." She didn't say much to me about it after that, but I think she thought it odd. I'm a pastor, so why wouldn't I want the title that comes with it? I think her background, similar to Pastor Cheryl's, teaches that the title does matter.

While I might not buy into all of it, it is true that the way we address someone shows the level of respect we have for them. Even before this job, I would call men "sir" and they would make fun of me. I just told them I was being respectful; I was raised that you addressed adults as "Mr" or "Mrs." I'm not sure if people buy into "title respect" any more. At the churches where I've worked with children, I always insisted that they, at the very least, called me "Mr Steve." You might find that funny but it's important that kids, especially today's kids, be taught how to respect. If they don't, they grow up treating people like garbage and society goes to hell in a handbasket. If you treat people with the level of respect you would like in return, you'll usually get it back.

I still don't want people calling me "pastor," "reverend," or even "padre," because all followers of Jesus are ministers [I promise it's in the Bible somewhere]. I'm fine with being "just Steve." But, unlike Mr Dangerfield and in keeping with Miss Franklin, I would like to get a little respect.

Why Baseball Rocks

I know many of you don't have the patience to truly appreciate America's Pastime, but were in the midst of seeing why baseball is such an awesome sport. The American League has four teams vying for three postseason spots and there's the possibility [still praying] that the Yankees could miss the playoffs all together. I anticipate losing a lot of sleep during the next few weeks as they extend the start times to let the left coasters watch the games in primetime.

It's been tough to keep up with baseball since the Reds are so horrible this year, but I still love the game. Baseball is the perfect blend of one-on-one and team sports. No one person can win the championship for you [see Barry Bonds in the 2002 World Series] and having the highest payroll doesn't guarantee you a win.

Sure, they've gotta stop the players from juicing up and need to get Pete Rose into the Hall of Fame, but what sport is perfect?

Worst Job

We were pretty crowded for lunch today at Panera. I was able to help get some things done in the bakery, but the sandwich line was backed up. This lady walked in who had placed a call-in order and couldn't understand why her order wasn't completed on time [even though she could see the huge line]. The woman proceeded to chew out this college-age girl [Elaine] at the register for the food not being ready on time. She didn't stop there. When the lady got back to her work, she called the store to continue to complain about her. Too bad for Elaine. I guess I really feel bad because it could've just as easily been me.

I began to think how, sometimes, this job of mine can suck. Constantly dealing with disgruntled customers can definitely wear on you. Elaine had nothing to do with that order being late, but she took the flack for it. Not fun. Fortunately, the Panera Corporation allows its employees to do whatever they can [legally] to make customers happy, but sometimes there's no way you can make some people happy.

So even though my job's going well, like most jobs, it can suck at times. This idea of crappy jobs was ringing in my mind after I finished work and headed to my new doctor for a physical. I don't know how to say it politely, but the visit required that the doctor to "get physical" with me. So after experiencing something like this, I thought to myself, "hey, at least I don't have to touch other men in my job."

Then they needed "a specimen." Their words. My words: pee in a cup. So they send you into the bathroom and tell you to leave said specimen in a mailbox-sized cupboard in the bathroom. There was a little door on the other side of the cupboard for someone to grab the specimen. I wondered whose job it was to be on the other side of that cupboard. Could you imagine if part of your job was to open a mailbox and- surprise! Urine! "Yikes," I thought to myself. I'd much rather have people yell at me instead of handling pee-pee all day long.

It was then that I really began to think that my job could be way worse. I'll never complain again . . . at least for another week. I hope this helps out as you go to work today.

Time To Make The Donuts

Just in case you are curious, yeah I'm up right now getting read to leave to go to work. Fortunately, I don't have any more 5am shifts this week. Hi-ho, hi-ho . . .

No Fear

The reality of us living in the city is becoming "more real" daily.

Kelly's parents came up yesterday to help us get things settled here in the condo. Last night we went to dinner at a place in Northern Kentucky and made our way back north toward home. As we were getting off our exit ramp, there was a guy there who waved us down. I rolled down the window and he said, "Now don't worry because I'm black, I'm not going to kill you or anything."

Interesting way to start a conversation, but at least he had my attention.

He continued on to tell of a need for money. Someone asked, so we gave him some cash. He also said he desperately needed a ride to the top of Gilbert Avenue. So how about this situation: man at the end of an off-ramp, late at night, asking for money and a ride. For some reason, we didn't hesitate and gave him a ride up the street.

I've done stuff like this before. Not because I enjoy picking up hitch-hikers, but because I was asked. The man hopped in the car and thanked us for helping him out. I quickly explained to him that I was a minister. See, I have this theory that no one really wants to harm a minister. He told us, "God bless you," and asked us to pray for the relationship between him and his fiancee. It only took a minute to drive to the top of the hill, we dropped him off and he was gone.

Here's the deal: this isn't going to be our new ministry. We're not going to be able to give money to everyone or drive people anywhere they need to go. But we WERE able to last night. You might not think it the brightest thing to do, but people are still people. If no one helps out, who will? I just refuse to buy into the culture of fear preached in the cities. It's funny, Kelly noted later, that Jesus gave a command that, if your enemy asks something of you, you should go above and beyond that. So why do we constantly give into fear and not help?

I'm not trying to give guilt trips or make us sound like we're all righteous or anything [I've driven right by people in similar situations]. But I had people ask me if I was going to buy a gun now that we live in the city. Not gonna do it. This is our neighborhood now. We're not going to live in fear.

As I say that, I won't lie: I didn't sleep well last night. I was thinking how crazy it was that we picked that guy up. But God's taken care of everything so far; why doubt now?

Who Dey?

The Bengals are undefeated three games into the season. The last time that happened I was a student at the Bridgetown Junior High School. I actually went to the first game of that season. Cincinnati was playing Pittsburgh [tough break against the Patriots today, Steelers] and they were coming off a Super Bowl appearance. In the first half, fullback sensation Icky Woods was injured and was never the same.

I've loved the Bengals, so the past fifteen years have been rough. Marvin Lewis has definitely made the difference.

I'll telling you, people- we haven't even seen the best play out of the Bengals yet. I think [and I swear this isn't the homer in me] that this could be a Super Bowl kind of year.

Who dey, indeed.

Moved In

Click here for a few pictures of what the new place looks like. Ignore the mess . . .

Happy Birthday Babe!

I feel bad that, lost in all this move, that it's Kelly's birthday today. Fortunately she didn't have to work today, but it hasn't been the most exciting day. We did do some grocery shopping this afternoon and some of her high school friends are coming in this weekend to hang out. I think she's just glad to be here.

So just to show that I do love my wife, here's a link to an oldie but goodie from the Beit Carr archives.

I love you, Kel. Happy Birthday.