The Givers In My Life

In the midst of this season of giving, I offer you three stories of those who share. 1. We had a good Thanksgiving Day with my parents and family. The night before Thanksgiving, my dad always asks if I'll help organize the neighborhood church Thanksgiving service. My friend Aaron was kind enough to preach, and Kelly and I led the music. A guy from the neighborhood showed up early for the service and hung out. Apparently he's new to the neighborhood, just experienced his second divorce, and is struggling to find employment. My dad struck up a conversation with him and, upon hearing that he had no Thanksgiving plans, invited him to spend the holiday with our family.

Side Note: this is just like my parents. I never realized how frequently they did this when we were growing up. Whenever someone didn't have anyplace to go to get a meal, my parents swooped in and had them over. It didn't matter whether or not they even knew the person, they were welcomed at our house.

So when the guy (his name is Ray) got to the house, he admitted that he was a former alcoholic who had made some poor life decisions. He had very little to his name, so my parents started emptying the house of things to give him. He didn't have any pots or pans to cook with, so they even gave him theirs. I ended up taking him home that evening and had the chance to see his little apartment. It was a rather crappy place that was completely bare. I naively asked Ray, "there's no bed here. Where do you sleep?" He answered that he was afraid of keeping many possessions in case he was evicted, so he chose to sleep on the floor. We had an unused mattress over at the church, so we arranged a time to get it to him, so he can now at least be elevated and not so cold when he sleeps.

At the end of the day, I was truly thankful for how God has provided for my family. And I felt blessed to have grown up in a house where the teachings of Jesus were lived out before my very eyes.

2. In the same vein, I think about my friends Scott and Robin. They live in Price Hill with their kids and remind me a lot of my parents. When you live in the midst of people who have constant needs, it's very easy to ignore them all together. The Duebbers refuse to do this. They have a third floor that they've used at multiple times to house people in need. My times we talk about giving, but we do so as long as it doesn't interfere with our personal space. When you open up your home to others, you sacrifice the sacred realm but receive blessings that few ever get to experience. I'm excited that little Toby and Aimee will have a similar experience that I did in my youth: witnessing their parents display unparalleled generosity.

3. This past Sunday I had the opportunity to preach at my friend Everett's church. I call Everett my friend, but he's actually my parents' age. I've known him since I was an obnoxious preteen and have been blessed to have maintained a relationship with him throughout the years.

Everett has become a hero of mine, because over the past thirty years he has ministered in one of Cincinnati's most difficult neighborhoods. Sure, Walnut Hills can be rough, but it's nothing compared to the Fay Apartments area. Ministering in the city can be exhausting but Everett (and his faithful wife, Bonnie) refuse to give up. Their church was one of the few inter-racial churches among the independent Christian Churches. Now, the population of the congregation is almost entirely African American.

Side Note: Preaching in a black church is like Red Bull for a white preacher; you get giddy from the excitement because of the vibe. People are fully engaged, they give you verbal responses, and a good joke will make you feel like a world champion. My time at the President Drive Church of Christ did not disappoint. Even though I barely had any voice because of a cold, it worked out great. I'm not sure I'm hard-wired, however, for worship services that last well over two hours.

Even as Everett and Bonnie inspire me, their church did as well. At the conclusion of the service they had a "sharing time" where people offer up prayer requests and what they're thankful for. An eighty-year old woman offered that she was thankful that God had taken care of her through all of her life's struggles. She then turned around and looked at me and said, "and I want to encourage our young preacher today. You did a good job today, and I really believe that God is going to continue to use your gifts to change our city." It was some of the best encouragement I've received all year.

Surrounded by such a great cloud of givers, I can't help but be in the mood. Who's giving around you? Where's the generosity in your life and how are you using it to impact others?

Our Finest Hour

At noon tomorrow the Cincinnati Bearcats will take the gridiron with a chance to claim their second consecutive Big East final and the possibility of playing in the National Championship. If Steve circa 2005 had the chance to see that previous sentence, he would have assumed that future Steve had become a drug addict prone to hallucinations.

It's amazing that the local college football program has come so far in such a short amount of time. Of course, much of the credit must go to head football coach Brian Kelly. Since he's arrived, the program has gone on a tear that has attracted national (also Notre Dame-onal) attention. But, honestly, some credit must be given to Bob Huggins as well, as his successful basketball program was the prime reason that the University of Cincinnati was invited into the Big East, setting the stage for tomorrow's opportunity.

I say opportunity while others claim catastrophe. As I've surveyed the media landscape, there is much skepticism surrounding the Bearcats; for some reason, people think they're 11-0 pretenders. The majority of football pundits I've seen are predicting a Pittsburgh victory which, if happens, could land the top-10 Bearcats in an obscure bowl game. Throw in the possibility that Brian Kelly could conceivably be on a plane to South Bend on Sunday, and it throws UC backers' stomachs into knots.

More than that, there's seems to be a Cincinnati inevitably, a black cloud that hovers over our city's sports teams. Since the Reds won the World Series in 1990, there have been some good sports teams here in town. Yet there's always been something happen to derail them from glory: UC basketball plays horrible against the Fab Five in 1992, the baseball strike when the Reds where good in 1994, Kenyon Martin breaks his leg killing UC basketball title hopes in 1998, a Reds dream season in 1999 is thwarted when the commissioner makes them play a late night game in Milwaukee only to come home and lose the play-in game to the Mets, Bob Huggins fired in the summer of 2005 when he had an amazing cast of recruits ready to come to Clifton, Carson Palmer's ACL demolished in the playoff game verses the Steelers in 2006.

Whew. Just typing that paragraph was depressing.

It would seem that tomorrow will be yet another addition to the list. I know a lot of people here in town are already buying into the storm cloud.

I, however, will not be discouraged.

WHEN the Bearcats win tomorrow, and we establish supreme dominance over the city of Pittsburgh this year by sweeping all their football teams, it will be our finest hour. And it will permeate the entire sports culture here in town. We will no longer expect the worst to happen. We will be able to speak confidently of our teams, trusting them to come through. We can speak of NCAA Championships, Super Bowls, and . . . yes, World Series and not be laughed at.

Look, I understand there's much to lose, but I am ready to move past the last two decades of darkness and enter into the era of unlimited possibilities.

It can happen . . . nay . . . it WILL happen.

Sleep well, Cincinnati. Tomorrow is day one of our sports dreams coming true.

Me VS Tiger [Rivalry Renewed]

As I have frequently admitted in the past couple of weeks, I have missed regular blogging. Transferring all of my old posts to the new blog reminded me of things I have overlooked during my writing famine. One of those was the gauntlet I threw down last year to one Eldrick Woods, known better to the general public as Tiger; as we were born on the exact same date, it's only logical that we compare our lives to see who's doing better. With the last scoreboard, it was a dead heat, but we now have to go back and tally things up to get the newest standings. Since last we checked in, Tiger had his second child. While I'm going to talk smack and say that my one child is better than his two combined, he still owns scoreboard. Congratulations, sir, you have procreated more.

This one point lead will be stretched because last week Tiger had a traffic accident. No biggie, as I had an accident in 1992 when my Ford Escort got in the way of a Camaro, and I was t-boned on Tylersville Road in 2004, but I did not hit both a tree and a fire hydrant. Nor did I have to go to the hospital. Again, El Tigre pads his lead, now up by two. So the current scoreboard:

ME = 1

TIGER = 3

But now we have to take account of the events that have transpired since this accident. The facts surrounding the issue are hazy at best, because none of it seems to make sense. Why are you leaving your house at 2:30am the night after thanksgiving (I'm suspecting the Woods don't need to shop Black Friday)? If you're not drunk, how do you hit both a tree and a fire hydrant? And, seeing the pictures of the accident, why does the wife have to bust out the windows of your vehicle with a nine-iron? Apparently, it's all due to the fact that our opponent has a girl at every port; as Glen Frey lyrically shared, "you can't hide those lyin' eyes."

I'm not taking pot shots here, because I know there's now pain surrounding this family, and the innocent (his wife and children) will have to bear the burden. But it's yet another reminder why we need to keep things in perspective. Sure, celebrity life has it's perks, but I wouldn't trade it for the beautiful simplicity of the life I own. When things are so bad that you have to cheat on your supermodel spouse, something is jacked up. Now for the rest of his professional career, this episode will always be remembered. It's truly sad.

I'm hoping this whole situation will be a warning to spouses everywhere: no matter how crafty you are, you're going to get caught. If you don't think you have it in you to be faithful, then why get married in the first place?

Look, it can be done. For eleven plus years I've found full contentment in my spouse. She's been there through thick and thin, and has constantly supported all of my endeavors. She's absolutely amazing. Why would I ever think of screwing it up with a fling? Believe it or not, there's more to satisfaction than sex. What we have is worth far more than anything I could ever imagine. So my free advice, specifically to the gents, is to love your wife. Respect her. Make her feel beautiful. If you do that, you'll never have the need to search for anything else.

But we must revisit the game. In the category of fidelity, I'm going to claim victory. And since I will neither have to buy jewelry to compensate for my cheating ways, nor will voicemails to my mistresses make national websites, the point totals should skyrocket. It might sound arbitrary, but I'm going to say that this is a five-point category, and I'm taking them all to the bank. The current scoreboard now reads:

ME = 6

TIGER = 3

Tiger has a lot of making up to do.

Now I'm Ready

A week after promising a return to regular posting, I'm finally going to jump back in. It wasn't really sloth. I'm teaching a class right now, tried to enjoy the Thanksgiving holiday, and have been struggled with a cold. Plus, I was still in the midst of some web design work, formatting not only the blog, but our church website too. After three plus years of the same design, the Echo Church website has a new look that will be much easier to edit. Big thanks to Brian Coates for helping me take care of everything. Take a look at it and let me know what you think.

If you're an RSS'er, you can find my feed at http://houseofcarr.com/?feed=rss2

So I'm back. Seriously. Get used to it.

Five Years Down

Today is the fifth anniversary of my blog. Huzzah for our team. Of course, with the lack of my blogging this year, you could begin to question whether or not this blog is still functional. By far, this past year has been my most anemic when it comes to posting frequency. In determining why this happened, I have recognized that the problem isn't with blogging itself.

I've thoroughly enjoyed this blog. I believe blogging has made me a better writer. Sure anyone can leave a quick Facebook status update, but it takes a little more discipline to work out thoughts in multiple paragraphs. Plus, I appreciate that I can interact with the people throughout my life, a blessing I experience as the result of having this website.

So what has led to my blogging slow-down (other than the fact that we've had a rather hectic 2009)? Honestly, it was the blog itself.

Switching over to Wordpress to manage the House of Carr has been a great move. But what this change-over did was open up numerous design possibilities— and there ain't nothing I enjoy more than dabbling into good design. I find my current blog layout aesthetically pleasing; it's unique and eye-opening. But the look comes with a price: for every post I write, I have to find a corresponding image (preferably a free rights image, so I can sleep at night), and then I have to edit that image to fit within the layout of this blog. This task takes anywhere between ten and fifteen minutes. Add that time to the time that it takes to write a post, and it just wasn't worth it.

Since I started using this layout for my blog I've left many-a-blogable idea along the wayside because it would take too much time. And this has finally become unacceptable; I know I can commit endless time to design, but that's not the point of this blog. So I've decided to make yet another change and scrub this layout for a more streamlined look. I'm ignoring style for substance. So starting with my next post, you'll see a new look and a new functionality. And, hopefully, you'll also witness a resurgence in my posting.

That said, you're going to have to make some changes if you're a regular reader via RSS feed. I'm using this as an opportunity to switch the blog onto it's own server, so you'll have to add a feed specifically to www.houseofcarr.com. You'll still be able to reach my site by that url (as well as the time tested www.beitcarr.com) but you'll lose the feed if you don't update it.

So here's to five years and that sacrificing design will enable me to keep on blogging for another five years. Thanks for reading my stuff.

The Beauty of Children

I've always been fascinated at the things I remember. I have an incredible short term memory [this has been a great benefit in my preaching, as I can retain a large number of facts for about 24 hours]. After a day or so, however, I don't remember as well. For something to stick longer, I have to be really focused on it— practically forcing myself to assimilate it into my cranium. So the fascination I have with my own memory is mostly centered on those arbitrary observations that tend to stick around in my skull. Even more peculiar, though, are such items I remember that have absolutely nothing to do with me.

For example, I can remember distinctly a comment someone made about nine years ago about some friends of mine. That comment:

"You two are going to have some beautiful children."

Those two people being referenced here were my friends Charlie and Kelly Butler; I went to college with them. Charlie and I played soccer together [he was a terrific player] and Kelly and I were coworkers for a time. They are definitely my kind of people: simple folk who love God and love each other. Since they relocated from Cincinnati to Northern Indiana, I haven't seen them as much, but through the power of the interwebs, we've manage to stay in touch.

Over four years ago, Kelly and Charlie had their first child— a precious little girl named Brooklyn. When Brooklyn was around two years old, she was diagnosed with Rett Syndrome, a form of autism which affects the nervous system and reverses development. As heartbreaking as this was, the Butlers immersed themselves in this cause, doing everything they could to not only care for their daughter but to educate people about her plight. To learn more, check out Brooklyn's blog.

A couple of months ago, Kelly gave birth to their second child. Boston [they love those East Coast cities] was born premature and has spent his entire life thus far in the NICU. Last week, the Butlers received yet another diagnosis: their son has Down Syndrome. It's almost unthinkable. You can keep up to date with Boston on his own blog.

Observing the numerous comments of well wishers on Facebook and their children's blogs, I've been at a loss for words of what to say to Kelly and Charlie. Honestly, what else can be said? All the plans they've had for life have been hijacked. The proper words just do not exist.

But then I realized that I do have the words. They aren't mine, but they've hung around in memory long enough for just this situation:

"Charlie and Kelly DID end up having some beautiful children."

Brooklyn makes a difference in people's lives. She sparks emotions in many people— from children to adults— in her simple smile. And tiny, frail Boston has already brought joy to family and friends. In a world that can be rather loathsome, beauty reigns in these little ones.

And I've seen the way that the Butlers adore their daughter. Their hearts are plenty big enough for the new difficulties surrounding their precious son. In the midst of an imperfect world, God has given Charlie and Kelly a high calling, one which they will continue to excel at

So for children named after cities, a word from the Scriptures about our world's greatest city, which could also describe these treasured children.

"From Zion, perfect in beauty, God shines forth." Psalm 50:2.

Wager on Work

"It's about jobs."

This phrase will be the "Remember the Alamo" of the 2009 campaign season.

Backers of Ohio's Issue 3, a statewide referendum to construct four casinos across the state, have contextualized their issue in light of our county's economic downturn. This is calculated position because Ohioians have repeatedly defeated legalized gambling over the years and supporters needed a new angle. If voters could be convinced that Issue 3 could pull us out of the recession, the could finally be victorious.

It's the old bait and switch, and it seems like this bet is paying off.

Supporters for casinos tout an economic study which claimed that 34,000 new jobs would be created if the issue is passed. This statistic, created by the University of Cincinnati's Economics Center for Education and Research, ought to be rather persuasive. But when you realize that this study was commissioned by The Ohio Jobs & Growth Committee, a PAC in favor of Issue 3, you should resist trusting this figure. As the Cincinnati Enquirer reported in September, the study did not account for the potential job losses that could accompany casino gambling throughout the state; for example, casinos would likely mean the end of the horse industry in this state, which employs over 12,000 people.

There's another aspect that the study didn't take into account. You see, the creation of casinos in Ohio will mean an increase in gambling by our state's residents; this would likely mean them gambling away their discretionary income. While we'd like to believe that this money was formerly being directed towards savings, it was probably being spent in stores throughout the state. These stores employ people, but if funds are diverted from these establishments to blackjack tables and slot machines, people will lose their jobs.

In short, jobs are not being created, but merely being transitioned. Voting for Issue 3 and job creation have nothing in common. In actuality, Issue 3 is a battle over monopolies. The opposing parties both want control over gambling in the state— a position that would yield billions of dollars. Why do you think they're spending so much money campaigning?

Issue 3 is about creating one very lucrative job.

Gambling and Jesus

In examining the virtues surrounding Ohio’s Issue 3, we first have to examine the subject of gambling from a spiritual perspective.

There are those denominations, the Methodist Church being the most passionate, who decry gambling as sin. I would suggest that this view is most influenced by that movement’s founder, John Wesley, who held gambling as a vice akin to alcohol; Wesley viewed gambling as a corruptive practice that preyed on the poor. There are others today who claim that the Bible declares gambling to be a sin. This view is problematic as there is no specific verse that condemns the action; true, there are verses that decry the love of money (1 Timothy 6:10) but there are those who never gamble who have violated this provision. There are also verses that speak against attempting to “get rich quick” (Proverbs 10:4) but this could also be applied to playing the stock market. Using these kinds of verses to construct a biblical command like, "gambling is sin," is poor hermeneutic (biblical application). These biblical texts, and others like them, ultimately instruct the believer to avoid the idolatry of money worship— again, something that people who have never gambled can be guilty of.

In short, there is no biblical provision prohibiting government-instituted gambling. There is also no biblical provision that prevents a Christian from gambling. And while it should be acknowledged that Christians should practice moderation in all things (addiction to anything is sinful) this is not a sufficient reason by which to oppose gambling on biblical grounds. Our country’s history has taught us that simply enacting prohibition does not eliminate the problem*

And while I’m on this point, we Christians must be careful of criticizing those who gamble because there are people who can both enjoy it and refrain from becoming addicted to it; it can be a perfectly fine hobby.

I’ll admit, as an ordained minister, that I have gambled before. I don’t do it often or in large amounts because I do not find it enjoyable to flush my money down the toilet. On the other hand, there was a time in my life where I passionate about golfing. I bought golf clubs, magazines, lessons, and played frequently, all of which were not inexpensive. No one would criticize devotion to golf, or boating, or traveling or animal ownership as sinful. Yet all of these activities, like gambling, could be considered to be a waste of money.

So gambling is not necessarily anti-Christian.

I believe it important to distinguish this idea because too often opponents of gambling are dismissed for being prudish or attempting to impose their personal morality on others. As a result, their objections are ignored and the true issues behind them are never explored. I can be a Christian and be opposed to Issue 3 without having to state that, “God says it’s bad.” And you, as a Christian, have every right to disagree with me.

But what I hope to do as I continue this thread is to convince you that Issue 3 is not the best thing for our community— and to do so without having to pull spiritual rank.

_____________

*There are Christians who will counter this objection to prohibition by taking it to the extreme, suggesting then that we shouldn’t prohibit anything at all. That position is ridiculous, and I’m not going to go into that in this post.

You Should Be There

Four years ago this month we started Echo Church. I never imagined it would be like this, but I'm eternally grateful that God has allowed us to venture on this journey.

One of the unexpected blessings was to rent out the same building for the past four years. The Walnut Hills Christian Church is a beautiful building, the kind of structure you just don't see anymore. Echo has invested significant funds into this building over our history and this has helped to strengthen our bond with the church from which we rent.

That's why I want you to join us this Sunday for a special event. This Sunday morning, October 4th at 11:00a.m., Echo will meet together with the Walnut Hills Christian Church in a combined worship service. In addition to our four-year anniversary, this date also serves as the 200th anniversary of the founding of the Christian Churches in the United States. Since our two churches share a common heritage, it's the perfect opportunity for the two of us to worship together (these kinds of joint gatherings will be happening all over the country this Sunday). I'll be preaching and, after the service, we're serving a meal while we'll view the Bengals-Browns game on large projection screen. We're even canceling our Sunday night service this day for this celebration.

As Echo explores the possibility of starting a Sunday morning worship service, we'd love a strong showing of people this week. I've asked and I've asked and I'll do so again: if you don't have any other commitments, we'd love to have you join us this Sunday. It would mean a lot to me.

If you have any questions about the service or how to get to 1438 East McMillan, shoot me an email.

Again, thanks for supporting us and our ministry here in urban Cincinnati.

Women at Work

Last week was a full week for me. I had multiple collaborative projects at both the university and at church which left me exhausted. But in surveying the scene of accomplished tasks, I was served a valuable reminder— one which I don't often express publicly:

I know some hard working women.

I grew up the child of work-o-holics, having parents whose idea of fun was to do chores around the house. My father worked a full-time job while starting a business on the side, and still found time to do continual maintenance on our house and our church building.

All the while, my mother made sure her house was in order and her kids were cared for.* But while it might not sound as impressive, Mom was always moving. Ask anyone who's ever been over to dinner at their house and they'll vouch to this. It follows her upbringing as a farmer's daughter. She worked the tobacco fields, worked her way through college, and hasn't stopped working since.

I guess I just expect all women to be like that. As a result, I probably am not as observant as I should be of those ladies who are constantly giving their all to their jobs, families, and churches. And as we're in the midst of a mancession it seems like these ladies will be working even harder. I don't intend this to sound emasculating, but perhaps I shouldn't be surprised about this.

Living in a low-income neighborhood, I've been the object of virtually every panhandling scheme. But of those who have asked for money, I'd say well over 95% have been men; true, some have done so on behalf of their families, but this is definitely the minority. In our neighborhood, the women who are impoverished (many times single mothers to boot) are out there working. I'm not sure if I care to attribute the root issues of this situation, rather, just focus on the fact that these women are scratching out an existence for the betterment of their family.

It's sad, but it's downright admirable.

Anyway, this past week, I witnessed numerous examples of women going the distance to get the job done. In my department at work, there are three ladies who tirelessly do the work of dozens of people. When we were doing a late night orientation last week, they were constantly pushing to get the job done. Additionally, I've notice how many other women around campus work long hours for not enough pay, something I overlooked in my youth.

And as we remodeled a room in our church building this past week, there were many ladies (as well as men) that came out to get the job done. Even doing volunteer work, this women were going all out, nose-to-the-grindstone, removing carpet (Melissa, you're a beast) and painting without complaining. I was loving it.

And as always there's my wife who, even in her new-found state of unemployment, works harder that I could ever imagine. Yep, I married a girl just like my mother.

I'm blessed to witness Proverbs 31 lived out everywhere I go. I'm thrilled that my daughter is surrounded by these incredible examples of ladies who work like there's no tomorrow.

So dudes, no disrespect, but give it up to those working ladies.

_______

*Later on, my mother returned to the classroom and is still teaching now. Even when she went back to work, she made sure the house was always well-kept. As a result, my brothers and I had a demented view of homemaking, thinking it normal that the wife naturally keeps a house spotless, and thus making it difficult for our wives to keep up with that status. And yet the remain married to us . . .

Show Me The Money

I caught a glimpse of the movie Jerry Maguire this weekend. I must publicly admit that I bought a reduced price copy of that flick [the VHS version] a few years back. Not sure why I did that; I think it cost the same amount to rent it as it did to buy it, so I just went for it. Beyond Cuba Gooding Junior's catch phrase, the rest of the movie was mediocre, bordering on unbearable.

In our current economic downturn, it seems that many people have assimilated the Rod Tidwell's philosophy: right now, it's all about gettin' paid. It's the motivation behind the economic stimuli. It's driving marketing campaigns. And it's re-enabling a vice that needs no help in dominating our society: greed.

You see, now that people are unemployed, racked with debts, and uncertain how future financial foundations will sit, we're allowing fear to drive us towards greed. This is why politicians and the business community have adopted a similar apologetic: "Because of the present economy, we need to [insert applicable scheme here]." This teleological ethical approach [a.k.a. "the ends justifies the means"] empowers us to do whatever is necessary to ensure that we end up on the right side of this recession.

An example of this [and, quite honestly, the motivation for this post], examine my home state of Ohio. This fall, voters will be asked to, yet again, vote for legalized gambling; more specifically, Issue 3 would permit casinos to be established in four of our state's urban centers, including Cincinnati. Four times in the past twenty years, voters have rejected similar initiatives. "But this time it's different," the masses are informed, "because we'll create over 30,000 jobs in our state." This is the primary rallying cries for the Issue. So if we were to break it down into an equation:

Economic downturn + Need for new jobs = We need casinos in Ohio.

Additionally, the argument is presented that since Ohioans are already gambling out of state, we might as well keep those funds here in state. So again:

Economic downturn + Ohioans already gambling = We need casinos in Ohio.

Or, in layman's terms, "show me the money." It's that easy, right?

But lost in the simplicity of the math are some of the overlooked variables— the actual cost of permitting gambling in our state.

I go on very few crusades, but this is one of them. As a minister, and as a resident of the state of Ohio, I object to Issue 3. And since I know that readers of my blog have varying views on the issue, I'm going to devote a series of posts outlining my position. You might not like me getting political, but I fear for my city and for my neighborhood.

Just because the money is out there for the taking doesn't mean it comes without a price.

Walking Away

Never fear— I still walk in the land of the living.

I really think this is the longest that the blog has gone silent since our trip to Israel in 2005. I'm still adjusting to my new schedule and, when choosing between time with the family or time pontificating, I choose not to write. I'm also teaching a new class [new to me] which means there's much more preparation work required. Combined with everything else on my plate, it makes for a "no Steve on the web" cocktail that accompanies the meal perfectly— tastes somewhat bitter going down but it has just the right amount of calories.

Understand that I am not abandoning the blog. I'm just trying to get through the next few weeks. Unfortunately, I have a ton of interesting things I want to write about and not the time to get them out.

I thought I would use this occasion as an opportunity to unleash a major announcement on y'all. It's yet another transition in my life, but one I think we'll embrace.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

I hereby announce my retirement from fantasy sports.

When I started my fantasy career in 2000, I played fantasy baseball and actually won that first league. My team name was Manchester United, an ode to my love of the Red Devils, and an intention insult towards those who bash soccer [I've used that name throughout various seasons]. That fall, I played my first season of fantasy football. Sometime between then and now, I actually participated in a fantasy basketball league, but I never understood the point. I always preferred fantasy baseball, because there was a little more skill attached to it [a point I have made over and over again]. I consistently made the play-offs in most leagues I participated. My worst season was the year we planted Echo. Overall, I won about four baseball titles and one football title. Once the baseball season ends, I'm hanging up my . . . mouse . . . keyboard . . . whatever you hang up.

I can't express just what brought me to this position. Perhaps it's the constant Facebook posts by people talking about their drafts. Maybe it's the scene I witnessed at BW's a couple of weeks ago of people gathered around tables with laptops and video projectors to make their selections. Even worse was a table full of twenty-something women doing their draft. I'm really not a misogynist, but there was something wrong with it. It felt like the ladies were doing the fantasy football thing so they could brag to guys that they're in a fantasy football league.

Ultimately, I've just reached the point where it's no longer fun; I still love the sports, but I'm tired of the fantasy aspect to it. I've engaged in some ridiculous arguments with grown men in the past few years about the ethics of imaginary teams. I enjoyed it for a long time, but it's time to move on.

Don't worry about me going Brett Favre on all you, entering back into the fray next year. I'm going to appreciate keeping up with sports without having to worry about certain stats. I'll no longer face the dilemma of watching my home team while secretly hoping their opponent thrives to help me win that week's game. Plus, Kelly won't have to listen to me complain/boast on Sunday night anymore about how my team performed.

It's been real. It's been fun. I'm done.

END OF RELEASE.

Saving My Teeth

At the beginning of the year we picked up the dental plan for Kelly's job and figured we better get it used up before we lose it at the end of the month. Kaelyn had her first check-up, and Kelly got a visit in as well. Today was the day that I made my pentannual trip to the dentist.

I'm not one of those people that fear the dentist, I'm just utilitarian when it comes to my teeth: when all is well don't complain. I brush twice a day, floss occasionally, so I've avoided major problems. Even my wisdom teeth came in OK, so I haven't needed a dentist. Still, if insurance is paying, then we're paying, so off I went.

When I arrived at the office, I had to fill out the extended questionnaire, laced with a few interesting questions [a couple of them made it in this pic I took with my phone]. My favorite question:

"Do you want to save your teeth?"

Still trying to figure out the context of this question. Is this a long-term goal I should be looking towards? Will they put them in a baggie so I can take them home with me? Should I be concerned about the salvation of my bicuspids? I checked "Yes," but no one asked me about it.

When I was called back to get my teeth cleaned, the hygienist decided to look for gold in my teeth. She was incredibly thorough, and my teeth have probably never been so clean. But hours later, they still hurt— probably more than they've ever hurt— the kind of pain that would cause me to go to the dentist. She kept insisting that I return in six months for another cleaning, but I'm not a masochist, nor will I have that kind of dental plan, so I doubt I will.

The dentist came in, looked me over and said cavity. I made an appointment for an hour later and they drilled me out and filled it in. It was on a wisdom tooth and I told the dentist, "I guess I'll have to try a little more to reach those with my brush." Her response, "Eh, you probably couldn't do anything to prevent it anyway."

Not quite the response I imagined.

As I spent the rest of my afternoon with a numb cheek, slurring some of my words as my inner cheek wall [if that's what it's called] would slide between my teeth, I looked over the receipt. Without insurance, the cost for all the work would've equalled a minor car repair. I'm sure that the older I get, the more money I'll be sinking into these things.

Maybe it'd be cheaper if I didn't save my teeth.

Newbie

Because of my long week [which included a funeral and our Walnut Hills movie night] I haven't yet been able to recount any of my experiences from working at Cincinnati Christian University. Starting a new job is always difficult but this was probably the easiest experience I've had in first week acclamation because of working at the school before.*

First, let me explain my new gig: I'm an admissions coordinator for the College of Adult Learning. Also known as the CALL program [it's an acronym that includes the words "Christian" and "Leadership"], this college was started about six years ago under the umbrella of Cincinnati Christian University to allow non-traditional students [read: adults over the age of 25] to finish their college degrees through an accelerated program. It has somewhat rapidly grown to where it now has over 300 students; this is the program in which I've been adjunct teaching this past year. As the program now has three campuses [on the main campus in Price Hill, at Vineyard Community Church in Tri-County, and in Indianapolis at Indian Creek Christian Church], with another campus on the way [this spring, we'll open a greater-Louisville campus across the river in Jeffersonville, Indiana] it was critical to add recruiting positions to keep up with the growth. While I might have a little to do in Louisville, and since they're adding a recruiter for the Indianapolis area, I'll be centering my focus on the Cincinnati campuses.

As far as my specific tasks, I'll be assisting prospective students throughout the admissions process as well as spreading the word of our program throughout the city. Since the admissions department of the College consisted of just one person until I was added, I'll also be attempting to install some systems that will keep pace with the program's growth. I'll also be looking for opportunities to use my expertise in marketing and technology to enhance the selling of our program.**

In order to work around the schedules of adult students, the college operates classes at night. Thus, my "regular office hours" will be all over the place. This week, I tried to get in early just so I could get a jump on things. What I realized is that, while some things are different, some of them are very much the same. I'd like to think that this transition has provided me with a list of easy things and hard things.

EASY THINGS:

The people I work with are great. I seem to fit very well with our department's staff and am sure that I'll have a stapler in a Jell-O mold by Christmas.

Already teaching in the program has been a plus. I've taught about eight classes this past year in all three of the College's campuses. So I'm familiar with the students, their stories, and what makes the program so important.

The main campus looks much better than it did ten years ago. My first time around, I was selling prospective students on a hole in the ground. And the walls hadn't been painted a new color since they built many of the buildings. While every college campus has archaic buildings, there's certainly a fresh feel to things now.

I still know many of the faculty and staff. I left my previous job at CCU seven years ago. In the meantime, I've been in the city so I've maintained a working knowledge of who was where.

My current job is similar to my previous role here. There are certain procedures that are in place that haven't changed. In short, I know the flow.

The computer database is still the same. While I loathed the database when I worked there before, I understand the power in utilizing it in this job. I think my former co-workers would laugh that I'm going to play the role as advocate for this system.***

HARD THINGS:

Getting enough sleep will be difficult. I went three years without having to be in the office at a certain time. While I've tried to get in bed by midnight, I haven't been very successful yet. And this is in the summer when there's nothing on TV. I already took two naps this week when I've gotten home, so I'm going to have to readjust my body quick if I'm going to make it.

My workspace is incomplete. Since they're going to be doing some wall-building in September to give me an office with a door, I've taken up residence in a conference room. I spent most of the week with papers all over the place. It'll be tough for me to get organized until I get settled into a new place.

I have to use a PC. Seriously, this is the absolute toughest thing about the job. I keep forgetting that when I "Command" click as a keyboard shortcut, the PC looks at me like I'm an idiot. I'm probably going to bring in my laptop from home once a week to keep myself sane.

Bringing in my own Diet Coke. CCU is a Pepsi campus. It is the last remaining demon that ought to be exorcised. Until then, it's a BYOB situation.****

Still. It was a great first week. It's [almost] like I never left. I'd predict my blogging pace will pick up a little as I continue to get settled. Maybe I'll find some interesting things to say as well.

_______________

*By my count, I've now held seven different jobs in my life. I'm not sure if that's a lot or not, but I'm thinking I've set myself up so that I could make it to retirement without crossing the double-digit threshold.

**True, I don't hold any marketing or technology degrees, but I have started a church which has provided me a depth of experience in these tasks.

***Ten years ago, when I was prone to having more fun, I actually entered Tupac Shakur into the database. Sadly, as I scanned the system for him this week, his name had been purged. That's twice I've lost him from my life now.

****Bring Your Own Beverage, obviously. I read in the employee handbook something about not being inebriated on the job that leads me to believe alcohol is prohibited.

Clocking In

The blog has gone very silent during the last couple of weeks. Tomorrow morning I start my new job at my old place of employment. I had two weeks between accepting this job and officially starting, so I've been processing through my own personal "bucket list" which included:

• Shampooing all of our carpets.
• Washing, waxing, and detailing our cars.
• Preaching at two different churches, not including Echo.
• Doing some leadership training.
• Wrapping up a final exam and a twenty-five page final paper.
• Grilling out at our church picnic.
• Meeting with four different people about life and career decisions.
• Spending some time with the dudes at our church and talking Jesus.
• Replacing the large blinds in the windows that face our street.
• Running an equipment check for our community movie night.
• Attending a wedding reception.
• Helping three different sets of friends move.
• Spending two days exclusively with my daughter.
• Celebrating our anniversary [didn't even have time for the obligatory, "I love my wife" post].

Yeah, I was kinda busy. And I'm kinda tired now. Will probably be asleep by 10:30 tonight.

Someone at church tonight asked me if I was nervous about starting tomorrow, and I'm not at all; I'm more energized by it than anything else. But since Kelly won't officially wrap up her job until the end of the month, we'll be pressing to make it through the next four weeks. The temporary awkwardness surrounding this transition pales in comparison to the benefits of everything involved with it.

It will be awesome.

But gimme a chance to look in the rearview mirror. As I look back at where we've been during the past four years, I see the fingerprints of God all over it.

When we first moved to Walnut Hills, we didn't know how we were going to make ends meet. I was working at Panera, making very little money and feeling exhausted. When I went "full-time" with Echo in January 2006 we still weren't sure how we would make ends meet, and within weeks, we were in the hospital awaiting Kaelyn's birth much earlier than it should have been. The flexibility of my ministry allowed me the opportunity to spend all my time at the hospital with Kelly, helping us keep each other sane. Then, after Kaelyn was born, I got hepatitis, basically shutting me down for weeks. All in all, it was about two months where I was out of commission. What other job could I have held where I could've been there for my family [and still HAVE a job]? And when we finally settled, Kelly was able to work out of the house and it allowed our family to be together all the time. I cannot imagine a bigger blessing than these past few years for our family.

My family is the main thing. Ask anyone who's started a church and they'll tell you that their family time suffers. Mine actually increased. So even as things are changing, that foundation is there and I know for whom I am working. I love my girls, and this is only going to get better.

Additionally, our church has benefited in having me fully devoted to Echo during the past three-and-a-half years. We haven't experienced huge growth, but we have definitely gained momentum. If I had to go bi-vocational the past few years, I'm not sure we're able to keep this thing going. Again, there is now a solid foundation underfoot, people are emerging as leaders, and we're finding our niche in this community.

So while I never could've imagined how things would've turned out, I couldn't have scripted it any better. Tomorrow we turn another page, but I really like how the story has gone so far so I'm not sweating it.

Hi-ho, Hi-ho . . .

About Preaching

In planning my transition to full-time employment, I've had to determine what tasks are critical for me to perform in my ministry at Echo; more specifically: what jobs can I give up so that I can be released to do those things that only I can do? The most critical thing for me to do each week is to prepare my sermon.

This is somewhat peculiar to verbalize, but it is very true: the most important task I perform every week is the forty minutes of teaching I deliver in the pulpit. It's here that I instruct, inspire, and pull-together our church so that we can be all that God needs us to be. It's a job I take very seriously, a craft I've been developing over the course of twenty years.* It's never easy, but it's something I absolutely love. That's why I try to stay up-to-date on the latest trends in preaching.

The state of preaching in the Protestant Church has changed greatly in the last two decades. A more "seeker-sensitive" approach has transformed the way that most pastors teach from the pulpit. Gone [for the most part] is in-depth biblical exploration, replaced by elongated metaphors, personal stories, and needs-based instruction. The result of this shift is that preaching has become less about content and more about delivery. Basically, if you are a good storyteller [even if the story has nothing to do about anything] then you can be anointed a good preacher.

Another trend that's emerged in the last ten years is the elevation of a certain core of speakers to the status of preaching superstars. Now this trend is nothing new, as there have always been certain preachers who have received national attention. The difference now is two-fold: 1) popularity is directly connected to church size, not necessarily content and giftedness; prevailing wisdom dictates that if you can draw a large crowd then you must have something important to say. 2) The iPod era has allowed churches to disseminate their sermons/resources with great ease. Add this to the fact that most pastors are bloggers, and these pastors name-drop other "cool" pastors, and an entire network of hip preachers are lauded for their contributions.

Finally, the megachurch era has proved that church expansion can be an incredibly costly endeavor. Constructing a building that seats several thousands is not entirely practical as the expenses are astronomical. With the development of better video technology, churches decided that they could simulcast [or multi-site] their services for the masses and the people would still show up. Since many larger churches used some video technology to zoom in on the speaker anyway, what difference would it make to watch an entire sermon on video? Video venues are the "it" thing among growing churches now, and it has enabled megachurches to grow much larger than they could ever have imagined. My prediction as a result of this video venue revolution: there will be an 100,000 member church in the USA in my lifetime.

While progress is usually great, it is sometime detrimental. These trends are transforming the act of preaching, raising the performance bar to a level higher than it has ever been. This, I assert, is not good. Preaching is an incredibly intimidating act: spending the week preparing a message that people need to hear [as opposed to what they want to hear], standing in front of the church and delivering it while some obviously couldn't care less about what you're saying, waiting after the sermon to hear feedback, and then receiving the random email the following week questioning your assertions, then doing the whole thing all over again the following week. It's a tough gig. While there will always be type-A personalities who are up to this challenge, some people who should be preaching are discouraged, feeling inadequate, and choose an entirely different vocation.

And this new era of superstar preaching has made this inadequacy even worse. Now, to hear an incredible speaker, I don't necessarily have to live anywhere near him to do so; I can just go to the nearest "campus" and eat it up.** And since people in the pews can go online and hear the best preachers from all around the country, they're better informed as to what "good preaching" sounds like. When the local preacher doesn't measure up, some will claim that they are not "being fed" and will go elsewhere.

This might sound like sour grapes, but I'm not convinced this is a good idea. And this is best illustrated by the recent unveiling of videoteaching.com. This website will provide free sermon videos of some of the best preachers in the country to be downloaded and shown in churches. They have a list of reasons why this is a great things for churches, but it's merely spin. I propose that, while it might fill the preaching time on Sunday morning, this is a horrible idea. A few reasons:

1. It restricts the act of preaching to a precious few. And the fewer people that are able to work on the craft and preach some terrible sermons, the less likely that they'll ever preach a good one. Preaching is trial and error; you don't become good at it unless you practice as you go. If we only let the superstars play, the minor league system will dry up.

2. It eliminates the important contexts of location and life. A friend of mine pastors a church that only shows videos of another preacher during the sermon time. He's criticized his "video preacher" for including information that could date the sermon he's preaching [ex: what if the minister remarks about a snowstorm that week but they don't show the video until summer?]. Additionally, a guy preaching to his church in a suburban city in the Bible Belt isn't necessarily going to be able to speak to our church in urban Cincinnati. One of tools that the local preacher can wield is a story from the headlines of the local paper— capturing a thought for Christ. This cannot happen over video.

3. It downplays the act of preaching. In 1 Corinthians 1, the apostle Paul discusses the foolishness of preaching. Yes, it seems odd to give so much importance to this act, but God definitely works through it. If we who pastor are content to pass off the responsibility to someone else, thinking that we can "put more energy into reaching [our] community by freeing [us] from weekly message preparation," then we have essentially given up on something God believes in. Sure, we might be horrible at preaching, but it's not about our skill anyway. It's about elevating Jesus so He shines above everything.

Unfortunately, it seems there's nothing we can do to stop this superstar/video movement  . . . for now.

Eventually, people will be overloaded on video preaching. One day it'll be novel to listen to an actual person preaching a real sermon that they themselves wrote. Things always come full circle.

So while popular preaching is headed in a direction much different from that of my own, I'm going to hang out and do my own thing. Plus, I have an amazing church who absolutely "get me" and always come back regardless of how harsh I can be while preaching.

And for you in the pews, cut your preacher some slack. When he lays an egg in the pulpit, show some sympathy. Try encouraging him a little. Let him know when he says something that challenges you. As I've previously stated, it's a tough gig. Before you run off to the next hippest thing down the road, be a little patient and see what God is saying through your very imperfect pastor.

That said, I really need to get my sermon for Sunday finished . . .

_______

*Yes, I delivered my first sermon at the age of 12. I'm not saying it was very good, but that's when I got my start. One of the blessings of growing up in a smaller church was the ability to hone my preaching even before I went off to seminary; by the time I went off to college, I had probably preached fifteen to twenty times. This opportunity gave me a head-start, allowing me to feel incredibly comfortable speaking in public as well as increasing my efficiency in preparation.

**Multi-site churches are starting to really take off, even outside of a church's city. There's a certain church in Texas that opened up a new campus last year in Miami, Florida.

***Think about how dedicated Christians were in former eras. For centuries, people weren't nearly as transient as they were today. In most cases, you never left the town that you grew up in. And since denominational loyalty was firm, you'd get a preacher and be stuck with him. And back then, preachers stayed with a ministry much longer than they do today— sometimes for life. So if you're preacher was bad, there was no church-hoping. Of course, because you'd rarely hear another preacher, you might never know how bad your preacher truly was.

Additionally, the whole "being fed" excuse is incredibly ambiguous. It's the church equivalent to "it's not you, it's me."

Changes

In less than three months we will mark the fourth anniversary of Echo Church. This is exciting as new churches that survive through the fourth year tend to have emerged from the "newness" stage, tending to survive for the long haul. When we first moved to Walnut Hills in September 2005, we weren't sure of this. In fact, we [intentionally] stacked the deck against ourselves. Among other things:

1. We didn't give ourselves a proper incubation time. Within one month of moving here, we started having services. Most church planters [insider term for someone who starts a church] are on-site for well over a year before beginning their church.

2. We didn't raise any support for the endeavor. Yes, some family and friends contributed to give us our start-up funding, but it was totally unsolicited. Our belief was that we would do whatever it took to get this church started without fighting for funding with other works that desperately need missions funding in order to survive.

3. We meet on Sunday nights. This is still perhaps something that keeps our attendance lower than what it could be. I am aware of a few people who have loved Echo but no longer attend because it cannot fulfill their desire to worship on Sunday morning.

But all of these things were done deliberately so that we could be the best stewards possible. As a result of these decisions, we kept our overhead low and were faithful with our funds. If the people at our church stopped giving today [I would cry], we have enough in savings that we could function for an additional year.

As the minister, I am the biggest financial liability the church has. In order to offset this, I've fought to keep my income low and have hustled to make up the deficit. I've probably spent half the Sunday mornings in the past few years preaching at other churches to make some extra money. I've performed more weddings than I'd like to because it's an easy gig.* I've also been teaching in order to bring in some more funds. And when we started the church, I worked at Panera to make ends meet. The only way we made it through is because Kelly maintained her job with Standard Publishing. This brought us enough income to make ends meet and provided us with the all-important health insurance we needed.

The importance of having health insurance was demonstrated when Kaelyn was born prematurely. At the end of that experience, our medical bills totalled almost $200,000. Because of insurance, we payed only a small fraction of this figure. If we had not been insured, we would've been forced to declare bankruptcy and Echo would've probably ceased to exist.**

Over the past couple of years, the church has been able to pay me a little more, but Kelly has still had to maintain her job; since Kaelyn's birth, she's been able to work at home, but she's still had to work. Even though it has been an immense blessing— including the fact that we worked together and were able to have professional flexibility, it was not the arrangement I desired for her. I've desperately wanted Kelly's only job to be "Mommy." I sought to make this happen, having occasionally interviewed for jobs during the past couple of years but nothing emerged. As a result, we just went on with life.

So last Monday I got a potential job offer; basically, the position was mine for the taking. It caught us off-guard, because I hadn't been looking. But the more we thought about things, the more we decided that it was the right move at just the right time. After some back and forth, everything is finally settled. Starting in August, I will once again be employed by the Cincinnati Christian University working in their College of Adult Learning [where I have been an adjunct professor] recruiting potential students. It's a similar job to what I was doing the last time at CCU almost ten years ago.

It has been interesting to digest this move in such a short amount of time. Within three days we went from totally contentment to me taking a job while Kelly quits hers. Still, we see the many blessings that will accompany this change. Among others:

I can continue to develop Echo. I would never do anything that would detract from our ultimate mission in the city: to build a church that will be a blessing to our community. And I truly think that the church is in better shape than it's ever been. I'll be working for an organization that values ministry, so if there's some issue that demands my pastoral attention, I'll be granted some leeway. Campus is only eight minutes away from our house, so I won't be too far away, nor will I have to fight the commute. And it's close enough so I can occasionally catch the girls for lunch.

I'll be forced to play to my ministerial strengths. Since I was the only staff member at the church, there were many aspects of my job that were secretarial in nature. Additionally, if there was something that needed to be done, I rushed to do it because I felt obligated. This robbed others of the opportunity to contribute. I'm going to have to let some things go in order for the church to become what it needs to be— and I know people will step up. Kelly will take over those day-to-day administrative tasks for the church [our new church secretary?] and I'll focus on preaching, vision, and leading.

We can reclaim some semblance of normalcy in our family hours. Since Kelly had to assign hours that she worked to specific job tasks, there was little flexibility in time. Often, she/we had to work while Kaelyn slept, which made for late hours— working well past midnight. Now, we'll be able to get to bed earlier. We won't miss Conan, Letterman, or Kimmel [and if we do, we have DVR].

I'll be doing something I'm good at for something I believe in. I love my alma mater. It's changed a lot since I worked there last [this program didn't even exist when I was there], but it's all for the better. Some of my best friends work on staff at CCU so, in effect, I'm coming home.

And, finally, Kelly can devote herself fully to Kaelyn. This will make me incredibly happy.

I cannot stress how important Kelly has been to Echo; without her, the church doesn't exist. I'm so proud of her. She's sacrificed as much [if not more] as I have in this endeavor and it's time for her to take a breather. No doubt, the transition will take a little getting used to, but it will be great for our family, my new employer, and for our church.

In this instance, change is very good.

____________

*It's not the point of this post, but I know some ministers who are incredibly selective about whom they will marry. I, on the other hand, feel as if I am a better equipped justice of the peace. If I do a couple's wedding, they are forced to engage with their spirituality [or lack thereof]. So while I do get paid for the task, I figure that it's more benefical that I do the ceremony than some public official who has no spiritual dimension in their lives.

**It is absolutely shocking how cheap some churches are. I understand that there are pastors who take advantage of their position and make much more money than they ought. But I know more ministers who live near the poverty line than I'd ever like to admit. I have ministerial friends working two jobs, whose children are on medicaid, and the churches have money in the bank. No, ministers shouldn't make a fortune, but if a church thinks it deserves a full-time minister, it should pay enough so that their families don't have to suffer.

7 July

Wha . . . ? Back to back days of posting? What is this, 2005?

Anyway, I had a few more things that I felt like sharing today.

1. Sunday night I preached about people who tend to over-spiritualize their decisions, constantly stating things like "God opened this door for me." I suggested that we should be incredibly careful of trying to force God's hand, giving His endorsements to our decision. Anyway, I came across this cartoon that doesn't exactly speak to my point, but it's hilarious nonetheless.

2. Our city is facing a huge budget crisis. Just this past week two people were killed in a drug deal gone bad in my neighborhood. I'm thinking that honoring MJ is the last thing that our city council needs to do right now.

3. Kaelyn is taking swimming lessons right now. No, she's not really learning to swim, but she's inherited her mother's love of the pool and we're making good use of the benefit of having a community one nearby. Kaelyn, however, is afraid of the boy lifeguards, crying whenever they teach. While this is disappointing, I'd say it'll bode well that she's not yet enamored with boys.

4. Another huge problem in our community, as is all over our country, is absentee fatherism. It was definitely tragic that former NFL quarterback Steve McNair was killed this past week, but sports writer Jason Whitlock says the thing that most of us our afraid to say: the true victims were McNair's sons.

5. Reciprocating the blog love, my friend Dan and I are working on developing a new Architreks tour for Walnut Hills. Who am I kidding? He's developing it, doing all the deep research, and I'm just a sidekick. Still, he's done a great job lately advocating my 'hood, and you should check out some of his latest posts.

6. The Reds lost 22-1 last night. Yes, this is depressing, but this is also baseball not the BCS; there are no weighted victories. The team went out there tonight, broke a tie in the 8th inning, and picked up the 4-3 win. At the end of the year, losing a game by 21 runs is no different than losing by 1.

7. So I've been reading this blog for a few months now. This guy is doing a rehab of an old house off Harrison Avenue on the westside of town. He makes some incredibly persuasive points about Cincinnati's lack of vision concerning abandoned houses; they usually bulldoze them, leaving empty lots. It is pretty ridiculous considering . . .

8. . . . this article and these pictures about the abandoning of the suburban landscape. No, this isn't the end of the 'burbs, but it will be amazing to see what our country's definition of housing is in another ten years.

9. It's been too long since I've linked to this. Trust me, turn down your volume if you're at work.

10. Tomorrow we'll hit the once a century moment where the clock/calendar will hit 12:34:56 on 07/08/09. Go ahead and live that second up.

6 July

Now I'm back.

It's been a crazy couple of weeks, jumping from my grandmother's funeral to my friend Larry's wedding. Larry and Kristen got married in Branson, Missouri. Aaron and I rented a car, left at 7am Friday morning and drove the 9.5 hours to get there. Within a couple of hours of arriving, we had the rehearsal. Not much time to check out the Branson scene because the wedding was the next afternoon. Then, after the reception, we got back in our car and drove through the night (hit an opossum and almost hit an unknown werewolf creature) making it home by 7am Sunday morning— a blur of 48 hours.

Anyway, I'm experiencing a travel hangover but thought I would run down some items of interest.

1. Fireworks are interesting. Since we drove through the night on July 4th we witnessed firsthand many redneck usages of pyrotechnics, including someone who thought it would be a good idea to set them off next a gas station. FYI, the urban celebration of the holiday lasts much longer; I guarantee I'll hear fireworks throughout the week.

2. Not only did I perform Larry and Kristen's wedding ceremony but I went Adam Sandler/Wedding Singer at the reception. Of course, Bon Jovi supplied the soundtrack.

3. The final trip related note: Missouri's interstate system sucks.

4. So, yeah, Michael Jackson died. In the past I probably would've devoted an entire post to the topic, but I just didn't feel like it. It's truly sad that it took death to transform him from societal pariah back to musical legend. It's also sad that he's worth more dead than alive. Now begins the parade of those who will capitalize on his death, including legions of people who will claim to have always have been fans.

6. We have new neighbors on each side of us. After almost four years of living here we are finally feeling completely settled but all the people we've met keep transitioning out. Such is city life.

7. When will people learn never to mention the accomplishments of Hitler? It is never helpful, so don't be like this guy and avoid mentioning it at all costs. No, not every one of Hitler's acts were evil, but after attempting to systematically eliminate and entire race of people all his other exploits, even if positive, are overshadowed. I'm sure this isn't the first time "big misunderstanding" has been used to defend positive Hitler comments [a little web search yielded this, and this and this] nor will it be the last.

8. Crossroads Church just started a sermon series entitled, "We Love Cincinnati." If you're a local, I hope you can agree. The messages are/will be available online. It also makes me feel good about Echo Church, because I know are folks have been living this out as well. In case you're wondering, our new teaching series is from the Old Testament books of Jonah and Nahum. Both books deal with the Assyrians, whose army is considered one of the most diabolical in human history. I'm calling it, "An Assyrian Summer." Here's our introduction slide, definitely worth a look.

9. Kaelyn's getting older. This is no secret, but she just continues to show it. Today she was constantly singing various songs she's learned while better articulating the words. No preschool next year, as she's still under my tutelage.

10. Not sure if you've heard of The Holy Land Experience, a theme park in Orlando dedicated to the Christian Biblical story. Apparently, it's actually registered as a church giving it a huge tax break. As a result, the park is supposed to allow free admission one day per year. The catch: the owners are secretive about letting the public know this date. Sneaky, sneaky, people. I actually think it's unethical for them to operate as a church. If you're going to be in a for-profit business as a Christian, you shouldn't expect the government to give you competitive advantages because of your faith.

11. Firefox Verson 3.5 is now open. There are a lot of good features, and one you should be careful of using. There's a privacy mode that, when enabled, keeps all your browsing secret. So if you're looking at sites you don't want other people to see [do I need to spell this out: P-0-R-N] no one else will need to know. While there could be other useful reasons for using this feature [ex: checking email on someone else's computer] it's still a good rule of thumb is never to mess with your history settings. Keep your integrity in tact and steer clear from private browsing. Nothing is ever truly secret, anyway.

12. Still knocking out my summer to-do list. Almost finished the first website redesign, so I thought I'd let you take a look. This will be the official Walnut Hills website. It's nothing special and still under construction, but feel free to leave me some feedback: www.walnuthills.us.