Can you smell . . .

I'm expanding my skills at Panera, working in the cafe sandwich line. It was rough at first, but I'm now getting the hang of it. The one drawback is that I leave work smelling like food. I could escape it when I was working as a cashier or in the bakery. I now have to immediately change my clothes and shower when I get home. I'm pretty rank right now.

I was thinking of my newly acquired scent the other night during our prayer meeting; we gather every Wednesday night to lift up Echo Church and this neighborhood in prayer. As I was praying, I was asking God that the people in this area might see Jesus alive in us and I went on to say, "And Father, as I leave work with the smell of Panera all over me, let all whom we encounter smell Jesus emanating from us."

At the time I might have thought I was being profound, but later I remembered that it was a thought that I stole it from the apostle Paul. He wrote in 2 Corinthians 2,

"For we are to God the aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing. To the one we are the smell of death; to the other, the fragrance of life. And who is equal to such a task?"

Hmmm, maybe Paul frequented the Panera in Rome. Good thoughts

* Yes, if you know me very well you know that, with the title of this post, I'm quoting the most electrifying man in sports entertainment today. Brilliant.

Drop It Like Its Hot

If I was still me, but I had Snoop Dogg's vocabulary, this is how Beit Carr would read. You gots'ta check this out, yo.

Thanks for the direction, Bob.

*Warning Note: After posting this, I discovered that there were some curse words on the translated onto the gizzogle site. I decided to leave it up here because I still find it somewhat humorous, but if you're offended by crude language, you might want to skip this one.

Jerry! Jerry!

The following is a true story . . . well, according to Mr. Albert it is.

Mr Albert is the fifty year old dish guy at Panera. This afternoon he told me that Jerry Springer came into the Hyde Park Kroger last night; Mr Albert also works a second job in the meat department there. He said that Jerry was trying to do a little grocery shopping but people mobbed him. Springer was so frustrated that he walked out of the store without getting anything.

For those of you uninformed, Jerry was once the mayor of Cincinnati. He got into some political trouble in the 1970's because of a check he wrote. In the 1980's he was a local television anchor which led him to hosting a talk show. The rest is history.

Interestingly enough, I saw him out in public a few years ago. I was in Sarasota, Florida with Aaron and Brad Budde. Jerry winters there, and he was at a single-A baseball game we were at. There were only a few hundred people there, so you noticed when Jerry arrived. Kids went up to him asking for autographs. As he left the game early, Brad yelled out to him, "See ya, Jerry!" And Jerry waved.

But back to Mr Albert's story, I find it hilarious. I'm sure Jerry expected a different response when he went into the Hyde Park Kroger. Hyde Park is a more "refined" Cincinnati neighborhood; a white-collar area where you'd think few people would be interested in The Springer Show. Jerry probably thought he could walk in, do some shopping and be left alone. He was wrong. Even in Hyde Park people slow down for car accidents.

It's a little pathetic that, despite the fact that Springer is a very intelligent guy, he will always be a cartoon character. Sure, he made a ton of money, but he sacrificed respectability to get there.

There might be a lesson in there somewhere but I'm afraid of a beat down at the hand of Jerry's bouncers, so I'll refrain.

Doing God's Work

Had a providential encounter with Russell Smith today at work. Russell [ blogs here] and I have emailed each other a couple times, but this was the first time I've met him in person. He pastors the Covenant First Presbyterian Church in downtown Cincinnati. Covenant is a congregation over 200 years old. They have deep roots and would have the tendency to be very inwardly focused, but Russell's doing his best to lead them into the future.

I have a lot of respect for what Russell is doing. Working with an established church, especially one with two-hundred years of history, is like steering an oil-tanker. But they're still trying to be innovative, even hosting a Star Wars Bible Study.

It's Bible believing/teaching churches like Covenant [and hopefully Echo] that will really change the city of Cincinnati.

Too Close To Home

Earlier this week Kelly and I were reminiscing about our wonderful trip to Jordan, Israel, and France. And just this morning I was telling a customer how safe we felt when we were in Jordan. Should've kept my mouth shut.

A few hours ago there were multiple bombings in Amman, Jordan hitting three hotels at which Americans frequently stay. We didn't stay in any of those places, but I'm sure we drove past a couple of them. Authorities think al-Qaida is to blame.

It's unfortunate because we felt really safe in Jordan. Late one night in Amman, we walked down the street to a local store and had [almost] no fear. Jordan is a beautiful country. Too bad Americans won't feel safe traveling there again. I'm glad we saw it when we did.

About Jobs

There's just too much I want to talk about today, so I gotta drop some some totally unconnected thoughts. But I will use my preaching skills to package them as a cohesive unit. So this afternoon, my friends, it's all about jobs.

1. Mayor
Fearing death at the hands of P Diddy [or Diddy, Puffy, Duffy, or whatever], I decided to vote this afternoon. This was my first election as a resident in the city of Cincinnati [I've always lived in the 'burbs] so I finally had the chance to effect the outcome of a mayoral race. Unfortunately, I really don't care for either candidate. Am I just reaching that point in life where no political figure is going to be able to gain my respect? At least I got one of those little voting stickers.
2. News Personality
Today was Channel 5 day at Panera today. Three of the news women from Cincinnati's NBC affiliate came in today and, by the third one, I had to make a comment about it. I told the anchorlady, "everyone from your work has been in here today." She said, "really, who?" This was problematic because I really don't watch Channel 5, so I had to respond [no kidding], "Well, that one woman who got mugged by that fake attacker in that one story." And she knew exactly who I was talking about.
3. Professional Athlete
-Terrell Owens wants us to feel bad for him. I just can't do it. Could you imagine a job where you could publicly criticize your boss [to the national media, at that] and get away with it? Good luck in your next job, T.O.

4. Cheerleader
I just can't ignore this story, but I'll do my best to tread lightly. About those two Carolina Panthers cheerleaders . . . um, yeah, that's messed up. It's stuff like this that give cheerleaders a bad reputation.

5. Lawyers
You think lawyers take a beating here in the US, life's not to good if you're one of Saddam's Hussein lawyer. It might be better to sell fruit or something.

That's about it for today. I guess I should give a shout out to this guy too. If it weren't for him, I wouldn't be posting this right now.

Peddle Faster

And now, a moment of vented frustration . . .

Cyclists. I just don't get them.

On my way home from work, I drove on a stretch of Victory Parkway that went down to one lane. Of course, I get behind a guy riding a bike, cruising at a brisk 4 miles per hour. He noticed that I was behind him and made no attempt to speed up. For some reason he refused to put his hands on the handlebar, keeping them behind his back. To this I exclaim, "what the heck?!?!"

It might just be me, but all the cyclists I've ever encountered think that the world revolves around them. It's as if they think the roads belong to them alone. And they want it both ways. They want to be recognized as if they were a motor vehicle, but they're unable to go as fast. If I was driving behind a car going 4 MPH, I might lose my religion and run the car off the road. And I think I'd be justified in doing so. What makes a bike any different? So take your yellow, wannabe Lance Armstong jersey and go offroading in the woods somewhere. When you can peddle your bike to go 45 MPH, come talk to me.

Oh, and about the spandex that cyclists feel obligated to wear: do us all a favor and give it up. No one wants to see that.

She Calls Out To The Man On The Street . . .

Among the things that made this Sunday a great day:

• It was a beautiful fall morning for a drive, despite the category seven winds.
  
• This morning at Amelia, a lady said the following remark about my sermon: "Well, that didn't suck." Brilliant.
  
• I was able to listen to a Mark Driscoll sermon on the iPod during the commute.
  
• This afternoon, we hit some Donatos for lunch. That pizza rocks.
• My wife watched the Bengals game with me and was sincerely interested.
  
• The Bengals are 7-2, and they get to play the Ravens again in three weeks.
  
• We had three more first-time visitors tonight, two of them from the neighborhood.
• Teaching Genesis 3 was awesome. The text practically teaches itself.
  
• We have an incredible core group of people at Echo Church that all kick in.
  
• Our employee meeting at Panera after church wasn't that bad.

*Yep, Phil Collins, just another day for you and me in paradise.

*True, Phil's Song Another Day In Paradise does not actually talk about a positive day, but I decided to use it for this post. It's a lot like the way people used Bruce Springsteen's Born In The USA to show American pride while, all the while, it was sarcastic.

Chad Johnson Is Sick

This guy makes plays like no other wide receiver I've ever seen. Sure, Randy Moss makes some amazing plays, but Chad is nowhere near Moss's size. He might not be putting up huge numbers right now, but he's doing everything he can to get his team in a position to win.

The Bengals will be 7-2 going into the bye week, with two weeks to prepare for a game against the [possibly still] undefeated Indianapolis Colts. This feels a lot like 1988.

Who-Dey, indeed.

Good Effort

I've been scanning the internet to try to find out how my alma mater's soccer team did at the national championship in Florida. They won two games in a row to make it to the final match where they were unable to overcome Manhattan Christian College. So a great season for the Cincinnati Christian University Golden Eagles who end up the national runner-up.

Well played, guys.

It comes in 3's

I really haven't written about my third job. So many things have been going on that I just forget to post about it. I'm working at Panera weekdays in the mornings and evevnings. I'm building Echo on weeknights and Sunday nights. And for the time being, on Sunday mornings, I'm the interim preacher at the Amelia Church of Christ on the east side of Cincinnati. Amelia lost their minister a couple of months ago and, thanks to a JoLynn Handel connection, I was able to get in there. This will be my fourth week filling in tomorrow.

So far, it's been a good experience. Back in college [and when I worked at the college] I used to go around and preach at these little churches all over the area. I'd just show up, shake some hands, and preach my heart out. I've been doing the same thing out at Amelia and they've appreciated it. I'm preaching through Acts, tying in some Old Testament links to the book. So they get what they need [someone to preach] and I get what I need [the chance to preach and a little extra money] and everyone's happy.

I have to say that their building is one of the most interesting church buildings I've been in. It's designed with many different angles and absolutely no symmetry. I arrived early my first Sunday there and explored the place. There are four different levels in the building with stairwells all over the place. The building, which is about thirty years old, must have been designed by an architect with a sense of humor.

I don't know how much longer this gig will last; they're interviewing candidates to take the position full-time. But I'll live it up for all it's worth. I've got three jobs. How 'bout that for the American dream?

Me and Patsy Cline

Another crazy day at work. It's becoming more and more regularly crazy.

And speaking of crazy, at a slow point mid-morning a woman came in with her elderly father to get some coffee. As they made it up to my register, I could hear them talking about a Christian Church in the city. I mentioned to them that I knew that church because I was a minister here in town. This impressed them because apparently the elderly gentleman had been a minister for thirty years. After some small chit-chat, the woman then asked what I was doing working at Panera. I told her that we were planting a church in Walnut Hills. This, my friends, was her dead-pan response:

"Why would you want to do that?"

I don't know if could properly convey how she said that sentence to me. She looked at me in total disbelief, as if I had suddenly grown antlers before her very eyes. After I told her this personal info, she totally lost interest in talking to me. It was beyond her understanding that anyone would purposefully move to the city to start a church there. I laughed as they walked away, knowing that I am truly indeed loco.

Unfortunately it seems that it's only Christians who don't get what we're doing with Echo. But it's responses like this that keep me going. I love it when people think we're off our rocker because nothing world-altering succeeds criticism free. Since this morning, I've been thinking about some words the apostle Paul wrote in his second epistle to the Corinthians. He wrote,

"If we are out of our mind, it is for the sake of God; if we are in our right mind, it is for you.
For Christ's love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died.
And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again."

So Paul, the brilliant theologian, does his best to reclaim the charges of lunacy aimed at him for Jesus. It's a good example to follow. So tighten up the straps on my straight-jacket; it's not quite snug enough.

Or as my wife would say, "Crazy? I was crazy once . . ."

A Pastor Remembered

Today was a crazy day at work. I won't go into it, but sometimes life gets so frustrating you just want to kick something.

There's a sad story I've been sitting on the past couple of days because I wasn't sure what to do with it. This past Sunday morning there was a horrible accident at the University Baptist Church in Waco, Texas. UBC was planted by Chris Seay [who now pastors a church on Houston] and David Crowder. Their current pastor, Kyle Lake, was baptizing some people when he reached for a microphone and was electrocuted. He was only 33. Kyle left behind a wife and three young children. It's an incredibly horrible situation and it'll take a long time for the church and people who knew him to overcome this loss.

Although I knew little about Kyle and his ministry, times like this make you reflect on life, death and the lives you've touched in your life. Here is a transcript from the last sermon that Kyle ever preached that very morning he died. It's amazing how, as preacher, you never what a difference your words will make. Kyle was preaching for people, but he was also delivering his last sermon. He are a few of the words he spoke. It's certainly powerful . . .

"Live. And Live Well. BREATHE. Breathe in and Breathe deeply. Be PRESENT. Do not be past. Do not be future. Be now. On a crystal clear, breezy 70 degree day, roll down the windows and FEEL the wind against your skin. Feel the warmth of the sun. If you run, then allow those first few breaths on a cool Autumn day to FREEZE your lungs and do not just be alarmed. Be ALIVE."

No amount of crazy days could ever make me forsake the blessing of life. Reading those words of Kyle's makes you want to be alive, doesn't it? Now that's a good life lived. Why not try living it for all it's worth today.

It's beginning to look a lot like . . .

Yes, Christmas. Not because the holiday push is getting earlier and earlier [I saw a guy in Hyde Park setting up Christmas decorations on Monday] but because of the big gift coming my way:

The Cincinnati Reds have new ownership.

Uncle Carl has finally decided to sell. And to a group that has invested money in professional baseball franchises. As a result of this news I declare, albeit a tad early:
Rev up the Machine, the Reds are back!

I know that fifteen years without a championship cannot compare to the recent droughts that both the Red and White Sox have broken, but it feels as if it's been eighty years. I was born between two Reds World Championships and, on the verge of fathering a child, would like to share such an experience with him/her [three weeks until we discover boy or girl]. We need a competitive team. You don't buy a professional franchise these days to make money, you do it to win. So I say welcome to the new owners. Please get us some pitching.

Nothing like a little hot stove to keep me warm through the winter.

Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!

*By the way, I've written about the Reds here and here and sorta here.

R-S-T-L-N-Ewwww

With November being the month I'll celebrate one year of blogging, I've declared this customer appreciation month. Horray! So let me sincerely say thanks for investing a few minutes of your day to read what I write. I'd probably still do this even if no one read my blog, but I'd slack off in my effort. And I definitely wouldn't have any pictures.

That being said, I'll admit that this past year has made me a blog geek. I read about fifteen different blogs a day and check on who is reading Beit Carr. And, in case you were wondering, readership is up. Tim Reed led me to this great service called Sitemeter that tells you who visits your blog [the best part is that the price is right {free}]. One of the interesting tools they have there is the ability to see how people arrived to your blog. While some of you have me bookmarked, some people find my site through a web search. But some of the searches are interesting. Just recently, a few people found me when they searched "'In God They Trust' NBC." So here are some of the websearches made in the last week that brought people to my website:

-Olsteen [wonder if they were disappointed?]
-Rob Bell, Mars Hill Church and Sabbath keeping [all in one search]
-Colorado Republican politics

And my absolute personal favorite:
"Pat Sajak and Vanna White had an affair"

Huh. The things people search for on the world wide web. I'm a little disturbed here. In case you're interested, here's the post that led that person to my blog.

This linking to my site necessitates that I make the following statements on behalf of my blog:

1. Beit Carr does not know if Pat and Vanna ever did have an affair.
2. Beit Carr is strongly against any extramarital sexual activity so it is disappointed if Pat and Vanna actually did have an affair.
3. Beit Carr finds it highly unlikely that Vanna would stoop so low as to have such a relationship with Pat.
4. Beit Carr is still wondering what was up with another Pat Sajak talk show.
3. Beit Carr doesn't even like Wheel of Fortune, so we will do our best not to mention Pat Sajak, Vanna White, Wheel of Fortune, or Bankruptcy in any future posts.
4. Beit Carr also will also refrain from buying any vowels in the near future.
5. Beit Carr thinks Steve is indeed a geek because he is referring to his blog as if it is an actual person or corporation [although it could be sold for a little over $500].

Thank you.

How To Start A Church

Step one: Choose Satan's holiday as the time for your first outreach event.

We chose to use Halloween as an opportunity to get Echo Church out to the community. This is the one evening of the year where the neighborhood is out and about, and they want to see you. We had coffee and hot chocolate for the adults and plenty of candy for the kids. Our people were awesome as they did a great job starting conversations with the adults. We probably made personal contacts with 50 to 75 kids and the adults that accompanied them. Plus, the weather was downright wonderful. Here are a few pics I took [in addition to this one of Aaron revenging the Sith].

Why some Christians avoid Halloween still befuddles me. Aaron reminded me of what we've been studying in Genesis about this. God is the creator of every day. And He declared that every day is good. What's better than followers of Jesus "reclaiming" this day by reaching out to people for Him? I say, "Boo-yah, Lucifer!"

By the way, we're planning on not meeting on Christmas night [it's on a Sunday], so how's that for making a statement: apparently our church celebrates Halloween but not Christmas.

Maybe this church is in trouble. Or maybe we're on to something here.

Too Much Time On My Hands

Time to flip the clocks back an hour tonight. Many of us are giddy at the thought of an extra hour of sleep, but we forget the price we pay for a sliver of extra slumber: darkness that begins at 3:00 in the afternoon. Kelly and I used the last afternoon of extra daylight to take a walk around Eden Park. It wasn't too chilly, and the sun peeking through trees was gorgeous. I'll try to get some of these photos up on Flickr soon.

So turn your clock back so you don't embarrass yourself by showing up to church early tomorrow.

Christian Idolatry? Follow-Up

As I've been marinating about my post from earlier today, my evening culminated in an NBC News special by Tom Brokaw called "In God They Trust." It covered the evangelical Christian effect on the nation, more specifically, in Colorado. The epicenter emanates from New Life Church. Ted Haggard, who is also the head of the National Association of Evangelicals, pastors New Life. New Life is a politically active congregation that sides rather consistently with the Republican Party platform. Pastor Ted gets weekly calls from the White House.

Brokaw covered stories of different people from the church. One couple was completely immersed in church life, the husband an employee of Focus on the Family [why did I hyperlink that?]; they fully buy into the church's stance on politics. But also shown in the story was a family where the wife was a believer, but the husband was a skeptic. He was interested in investigating Christianity and enjoyed the Bible teaching that took place in the church, but was disturbed by the way they constantly used the pulpit to spread their political views. So in this instance [and perhaps others] their political agenda was getting in the way of their gospel message.

Friends, this is what I fear: that we Christians aren't confident in the power of the message of Jesus to transform the world around us. So we think that in order to make this country a better place that we need to win votes instead of souls. Politics is a polarizing realm: black and white with no room for grey. Obviously the message of Jesus is also polarizing [the apostle Paul talks about the divide created by the cross in 1 Corinthians 1], but I would much rather let Jesus offend people than my voting record.

I know some of you still don't get how I see this issue, and that's fine. I've always been a loon. But I'd encourage you to really struggle how you feel about this. We Christians always talk about putting stumbling blocks in people's way yet we're oblivious that politics is a boulder [full circle to Colorado] to many people. I'd rather people give their souls to the right One than their votes to the right cause.

I'm done. Thanks.

Christian Idolatry?

I don't do it much, so give me a moment to make a political comment this Friday.

I gotta throw out a "yikes" concerning the current woes the Bush White House is facing. Tough stuff. From the withdrawal of Harriet Meirs' Supreme Court nomination to the possible indictments of administration officials, Dubya has seen better days. These could be a couple of rough weeks for the President, that might tarnish his image and legacy.

Never before have I seen conservative Christians embrace a President in such a way. I don't think Reagan was as highly revered during his admission as Bush is currently. All you have to do is walk through a Berean Christian bookstore and observe the books [plural] describing the current President's Christian faith. It's almost as if we Christians were marketed his faith, told that he was "one of us." And I think we bought it. I've been in multiple churches in the past five years that, at the top of their church's prayer list, was the plea to pray for President Bush. Interesting that I don't remember seeing "pray for President Clinton" on any prayer lists in the 1990's.

Politics is a dirty business and it's virtually impossible to involve yourself in it without getting some slop on you [as the old joke goes, "politics" is derived from two Latin words: "poly" meaning "many," and "tics" meaning "blood sucking insects"]. Now, as miscalculations and improprieties start to come forth, how do Christians who allied themselves with the President synthesize his mistakes with their faith?

Don't get me wrong here: I'm not questioning the President's faith. But I am, once again, questioning how involved people of faith should get in our current political system. It's just not worth the mess. And, even more than that, we need to constantly be careful how closely we align our faith with people instead of Jesus. People are flawed, Jesus isn't. The higher we lift up people, the farther they have to fall.

And, if you have sound theology, you'd agree that Jesus is alive. It's not as if we need anyone else. So we do we set-up ourselves for disappointment by worshipping people?

Mommy, More Cocoa, Please.

For years I've had, what I call, a "don't go there" philosophy. There are three things that I refuse to criticize about people: their hair, what they wear, and what they eat. Unfortunately, I'm about ready go back on that last one.

The people who come into Panera everyday have a wide range of tastes. Sure some of them make me want to yak, but I can let most of it slide. Except for this:

Men drinking hot chocolate.

Today in the course of half-an-hour, three different men came in the store and bought hot chocolate. Every time this happens, I want to stop the guy and ask, "All out of testosterone this week, are we?" What kind of society do we live in where men confidently stroll into a store and ask for hot chocolate? And then I have to follow their request with the obligatory, "Do you want whipped cream of that?" Are you kidding? Of course they do. I mean, they're ordering hot chocolate for Pete's sake.

I'm just saying there comes a time in your life when you need to step away from the kiddy table and hang out with the adults. Imagine a burley guy in a pick-up truck pulling into a McDonalds drive-through. He's your basic "get-r-dun" guy, rocking out to Lynyrd Skynyrd finishing up a can of Skoal. When the voice from the menu box asks "can I help you today?" our manly man barks back, "Get me a Happy Meal. No onions on that. And don't forget the toy." Not gonna happen. You don't see it. There's a reason. Men must be men. Men, please be men.

Guys, do me a favor: either get a mocha [at least there's some coffee in there] or ask for hot water and keep your own hot chocolate packets with you.

Actually, that would mean you'd have to order hot water. That's even worse. Just forget about it. Enjoy your cocoa. Want whipped cream with that?