Wednesday, August 31, 2005
Theft and Sensibility
It's tough to ignore the tragedy in the south in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. I've never seen such widespread devastation on American soil in my lifetime. It's time's like these that I love to see the church [universal] mobilize and reach out to those in need. It's a great testimony of Jesus.

I'm not sure how this might come out but I find it interesting that, with so much destruction and death around, the media have chosen to devote so much coverage to the looting going on in New Orleans. They're basically saying, "we can't believe that someone would take advantage of this situation and steal from stores." If you haven't seen it yet, I think Fox News is showing it on a loop.

You might think me crazy [apparently it's going around] but let me step out on a limb and defend these looters. I know all the arguments as to why their thievery is wrong, in addition to the obvious Ten Commandments reasons. Yes, the stuff isn't theirs in the first place. Yes, it's against the law. Yes, it's unfair to the store owners. Yes someone has to pay for it [we'll all be paying for it in higher insurance premiums and federal aid, whether or not these people steal]. But, then again, it's pretty easy for us to judge them while watching it on cable tv, lounging in our [dry] recliners.

But I find this situation somewhat different than others; this is not your normal looting situation. They're in the midst of a national disaster. Just check out the film they keep showing of the looters: they're not swiping TV's and stereos, they're taking food and clothes. After losing everything of the little that they had [25% of families there live below the poverty line] they're trying to survive.

So before you get all holier than thou and begin to pointing a finger honestly answer this question:

What would you do?

If your kids were starving, their clothes were ruined and it will take days for aid organizations to help you out, would you steal for them? Friends, I'm a minister. It's my job to take the moral high ground. But if all hope was lost and it was a situation between life and death for my family, I'm not sure I wouldn't be joining that mob.

So go ahead and rip me as a bleeding-heart liberal, but with all that's going on down there, you're telling me that this is the major problem? I'm not saying it's right, but I have a hard time saying it's wrong.
yet another musing of steve-o @ 7:39:00 AM   3 comments
Got a job!
I'm happy to announce that I won't be unemployed after leaving Christ's Church. Yesterday I was hired at the Panera Bread in Hyde Park. I'll do my training next Saturday morning and start regularly on Monday Spetember 12th. More on this to come in the weeks ahead.
yet another musing of steve-o @ 7:32:00 AM   0 comments
Tuesday, August 30, 2005
Dumb
Since we've announced our move, we've had an incredible amount of encouragement from people, reaffirming the decision to start Echo. It's been incredibly reassuring since I feel that we're laying ourselves out and taking a risk. I cherish all the positive words but, like in everything in life, it's the negative comments that ring loudest in your ears. There have been people that have made some ridiculous statements [not about us personally, but about what we're doing]. I'd like to share one such conversation I had with someone a few days ago. Please understand before I get into this that I've dismissed the comments as ludicrous, but I think it could prove helpful to address some of the claims.

This person, a man in his fifties who could be perceived as a mature Christian, came up to me shaking his head. The first words out of his mouth were, "I can't believe you're that crazy." Obviously, he had no idea who he was talking to, but I let him continue with little interruption. I might not nail his exact words, but here's the first junk he said to me:

"I can't believe you're going down there to work with 'those people.' I work with 'those people' at my job. They're out of their minds. You need to be careful about that place because, believe me, the armies of darkness are taking it over. It's downright dangerous down there."

One thing I've learned over the years from living in a more prejudiced part of the country is that any reference made to "those people" is usually not meant to be about plumbers. The racist detection meter in my mind becomes to turn on in anticipation of a slur. But at this point, I'm still operating under the assumption that he could be referring to impoverished people. Sometimes people say things that don't come out just right and I try to give them the benefit of the doubt [for instance, as for the "armies of darkness" comment, I instantly thought of the Bruce Campbell movie that I first saw a couple of years ago with some friends in Florida. The best quote, "Gimme some sugar, baby"].

Anyway, I stop the guy and tell him that's exactly why we're going down there, to prevent the "armies" from taking over. We're going to set up shot, talk about Jesus and see if that changes the neighborhood. Unfortunately my racist detector was accurate, for he continued:

"You can try all you want, but I doubt it'll do any good. I know how those people are. And the worst are their ministers. I went to a funeral one time at a church down there and the minister said, 'the reason this guy died is because of whitey. And the only reason you whities is here is because you feel guilty.' So go ahead down there and try, but it'll be about impossible. And it's dangerous, too."

At this point I did my duty and beat the man to death with a shovel.

OK, no I didn't, but I sure did want to.

I actually stood there and pretended to listen to his comments while nodding my head. It took a couple of more minutes of listening to that crap before I could work my way out of the conversation and far away. No, I didn't refute him and you could say that I didn't do my part to correct a brother who was wrong. But I was so angry that I was either going to ignore him or tear him to shreds. And for the next two weeks I'm still a minister at Christ's Church and I don't want to do anything that would reflect poorly on the church. But if this were a few weeks from now, I might indeed have warmed the back of my shovel with his nose.

I don't have the energy to deal with this subject in this posting, but racism is one of the biggest problems the church faces. And, this is the worst part, it's taking place from within. Some of the most racist people I've met are regular church goers. It makes me want to puke. Like I said, gimme a couple weeks and I'm not going to have to take it anymore.

Until our churches repent and do their best to rid the racism within, how can we ever expect to experience the blessing of God?
yet another musing of steve-o @ 8:31:00 AM   2 comments
Monday, August 29, 2005
Beit Carr Expansion
I apologize if I haven't been able to contact you personally, but I just need to get the news out here:

We're expecting . . .

. . . a baby, not a puppy.

We found out a few weeks ago, but wanted to wait until we had been to the doctor to confirm it. Once we were certain, we started to let the news out. Friday night we went to Lexington to make the rounds and Saturday morning we woke up bright and early [6:00am] to return to Cincy to tell my parents. We even swung out to Bright, Indiana to tell my brothers in person, but neither of them were home; at least their wives were [sorry sis, but I just couldn't get to Indianapolis]. Since then, it's been a whirlwind, dropping the news left and right to anyone who will listen.

The baby should arrive in early April. So if you're tracking at home that's new church, new home, new baby. Yeah, I guess you could call us crazy to be leaving a family friendly community/church to move to the city, but we don't care. We decided we wanted kids before we even decided to plant the church. While beginning the plans to start the church, we discussed whether or not to put off having a baby. We decided that we still should trust God to provide and proceed as planned. Sure, the timing could be better, but when is it ever perfect? Like I said, we'll bank on God and see how it turns out.

Kelly is doing well. She hasn't had morning sickness, but gets sudden, insatiable urges to eat. Mark Mueller, an elder here at Christ's Church, said his wife Heidi was the same way. He used to keep food around in his pockets for emergency food need. I might have to do the same. Kelly's the champ. I'll do my best to be "the good husband" in the weeks to come.

Blogging note: I guess I should state that, since it'll be something like ten weeks before we'll know if it's a boy or girl, I'm not sure what to call it. Until then, I'll be using "the baby" as the specific noun and "it" as the pronoun. I find this better than using Kelly's current terminology [Peanut] and WAY better than mine [Viking]. This is not meant to imply that I don't believe that this baby is a human being [work through that double negative], because we do. But it takes to long to type he/she. So be patient with me till we figure it out.

I have about seven months to wax on about this, so I'll try not ramble on right now. We're just ecstatic. So I'll leave you with our baby's first picture [unfortunately, I think it looks like me]:

Ain't it cute?
yet another musing of steve-o @ 7:33:00 AM   5 comments
Friday, August 26, 2005
"Come on, ride the train . . . "
I always found it fascinating that you could tell how old a tree is by counting the number of rings on it [by the way, apparently the study of tree rings is called dendrochronology]. Of course, in order to accomplish this, you have to cut the tree wide open and kill it. But at least you can do something to figure out it's age.

I always thought it a tad disappointing that you can't do the same with human beings. No, not cut them open with a chainsaw, but instantly tell how old they are. Just last year I went to a rated-R movie [Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, for you Focus on the Family types] and the girl behind the ticket counter asked to see my ID. "Are you serious?" I asked. She didn't say a word. Later I told Kelly that I couldn't believe she thought I was only seventeen. "Actually Steve,"she said, "if you were seventeen you could've gone in. That girl must have thought you looked sixteen." Brilliant. I'm closer to forty than to sixteen.

But I think I might have found a viable litmus test to figure out someone's age: take them to an amusement park and see how they react. Yesterday afternoon, Kelly and I took-off work a little early to use some free passes to Paramount's Kings Island [why isn't "Kings" spelled with an apostrophe?"]. What I discovered during our four hours there shocked me to the core. It was my tree ring moment, and even worse than the movie incident:

I think I'm old.

We decided that we were going to take it easy at first and walk around. We first rode the log floom or, how you might know it, "The Wild Thornberry's River Adventure." That cooled us down a bit. Then we worked are way past the Beast [yes, I understand that's blasphemy to you hardcore roller-coaster people, but work with me here], and ended-up in what used to be the old Coney Island area of the park. As we walked past the Zephyr, that ride with swings that goes round and round, Kelly suggested we go. I didn't worry about looking un-manly for riding this, but rather went along happily to enjoy the experience.

Well, that's when it happened. As the ride stopped I stood up and felt sick [spoiler alert: no chunks will be blown in this post]. I wasn't so much "throw-up"sick, but my head was spinning and I felt dizzy. Yep, after that I was done for the day. Fortunately, so was Kelly, so I didn't have to wuss out all by myself. We spent the rest of the time watching rides and doing all the "old people" activities like going to the top of the Eiffel Tower and riding the train. Honestly we had a wonderful time, but this has got to be a turning point in life.

Just a few years ago Kelly and I took a vacation to Cedar Point and spent three days riding rides. No problems at all. But then on our last trip to PKI [that's what everyone in Mason calls it] I got a little queasy after a full morning and afternoon of riding. And then there was yesterday. I looked around at all these parents taking their kids on rides and wonder if I'd be able to do it someday. I wonder how many of them fake enjoying the ride to give their kids the experience. Makes me respect them even more.

So even though I look sixteen, my amusement part rings show that I'm fifty-two. Maybe I should be looking forward to retirement.
yet another musing of steve-o @ 7:42:00 AM   0 comments
Thursday, August 25, 2005
These [NIKE ACG's] Were Made For Walking
OK, before I start taking hits for this posting title, I want to remind you that Jessica Simpson merely covered the "Boots song" song for the Dukes of Hazard soundtrack. It was originally recorded by Frank Sinatra's daughter Nancy. So there, take that Simpson Family [note: this doesn't include you Nick, because you're a hometown guy].

Into day two of the car under repair. Yesterday I was able to get in contact with the company with whom I have the warranty. They were very nice over the phone, but will be sending a representative over this morning to inspect the engine. The engine is no longer in my Explorer; James from Kings Ford called yesterday and asked permission to remove it from the car. "Go ahead. Why not?" I answered. It's not like it'll ever work again. So as long as the warranty company takes responsibility, it's no big deal. We see if I have to play hard ball with them.

The past couple of mornings I've had Kelly drop me off at the UDF up the street so I can get my obligatory morning Diet Coke. I then walk the half mile or so down Mason Montgomery to the church. I'm really enjoying the walk. It's been rather comfortable climate-wise [no rain] and the sidewalks are in great shape. I just put in my earbuds, enjoy tunes from Coldplay and Mat Kearney, and watch the sun rise. I swear, the whole walking thing makes me feel urban. And I like it. I'd love to get a job working in Mount Adams when we move down there so I could walk to work in the mornings. Of course, I guess if I had to do this in the middle of January, I might be singing a different tune.

I always found walking somewhat boring and an inconvenience. I also thought it was the way you stayed in shape when you were too old to do strenuous exercise anymore. But when we moved to Landen, we had access to the beautiful trail around the lake and began to take walks. Either I've matured in the way I view walking, or I really am a wuss.

It's interesting that, after two days, I have yet to pass by someone on the sidewalks. This pedestrian pavement only periodically perceives people and predominantly those who plod along at a prompt pace [or you could say "only joggers use the sidewalks every once in awhile"]. I wonder why more people don't walk to work around here. I don't think it's for a lack of businesses; there are office parks all over the place. I guess it's just the nature of suburban sprawl: we don't live near where we work. That's too bad because there are so many advantages to it. I've used at least half of the gasoline I usually use when I'm driving during my walks. I'm such a conservationist.

Walking is another reason why I think I'll love urban dwelling. Walking gives you time to yourself. Walking slows your life down. Walking makes you think. All scary things, but maybe if we all did it a little more we'd be happier, less stressful and live a little longer.
yet another musing of steve-o @ 7:49:00 AM   1 comments
Wednesday, August 24, 2005
Yikes!
There's so much I could write about today. So much, in fact, that I have designated this post as "Yikes." I had quite a few "yikes!" moments that I'd like to share with you. According to Merriam-Webster, "yikes" is "probably an alteration of 'yoicks'-- used to express fear or astonishment." Just thought you'd like to know.

Obviously, I'm still in a state of mourning after the ousting of Bob Huggins at UC. I was really planning on writing a lengthy criticism of President Nancy Zimpher [who really looked rattled at the news conference yesterday], but I'm going to hold back. It's not like Huggins ran an incredibly clean program; she had enough evidence to fire him with cause. I just hope she knows what she's doing because, unless she brings in a top-notch coach, she just cost herself a job. Good luck, lady. All I can say is, "Yikes"

I could also talk about the wonderful remarks by a Mr Pat Robertson concerning the President of Venezuela. Hugo Chavez is a tyrant of a ruler [which was quite visible when I was down in Venezuela last year], but you can't say things like this: "I don't know about this doctrine of assassination, but if he thinks we're trying to assassinate him, I think that we really ought to go ahead and do it." What a great example of spreading the love of Christ throughout the world: encourage the assassination of public officials. Yes, something should be done about him, but hearing a preacher encourage murder is a little icky. Yikes, sir.

But I had my own personal "yikes!" moment yesterday. As I was driving back to the Johnson house in the afternoon, just half a mile from their house, my Explorer felt like I ran over something. In an instant, the engine shut down [along with the power steering] and I had to maneuver my car off the major thoroughfare and into the parking lot of a business park. I popped the hood and could see that my engine belt was mangled around the center pulley of the engine; also, one of the pulleys was snapped. Fortunately, I have Micah Steele, car repair extraordinaire, on speed dial. He said to go up to the Car-X on the corner and see if they'll fix it. So I took a walk up the street and explained to the guy inside my problem. He was able to pull up a diagram of the engine and asked me to point out which pulley busted. Sure enough, it was the crankshaft. This would be a little more complicated than simply replacing the pulley: they could have to replace the whole engine.

I was actually handling it all pretty well considering this pretty sucky news. The Explorer's paid off. But fortunately, when I bought it, I went ahead and paid for the extra long warranty: the 10 year/100,000 mile kind. I have no idea why I did that [I never get the extra warranty on anything] but all this should be paid for. I'm sure I'll have to wrestle with Ford today to make sure they don't skimp out on the deal. So I'm not freaking out or anything, but I am in a some sort of stage of disbelief.

So all I can say is "yikes!" Yikes, indeed.
yet another musing of steve-o @ 7:38:00 AM   1 comments
Tuesday, August 23, 2005
Random Thoughts
Once again it's a Tuesday and I'm sitting in Panera, loving the Wi-Fi. I've been here since 7:30, enjoying my free time and the refillable beverages. I just realized that I really only have one more "Tuesday off" before I leave Christ's Church [because of Labor Day, I won't take a day off my last week]. I'm meeting Aaron for lunch in about an hour for lunch and there were a few random thoughts I wanted to share with you.

I'm addicted to reading other people's blogs. I've been able to fill a couple of hours reading blogs by religious/theological egg-heads. Really, y'all who read this should be thankful that I only get pensive every once in awhile. If I wrote some of the geeky stuff that some of these people write, you'd find other ways to occupy your time while searching the web.

Mozilla Firefox is cool. For some reason, Apple's Safari browser doesn't play well with Blogger. I downloaded Mozilla Firefox so I can blog without having to use html code. It's awesome because you can open multiple browsers in tabs at the top of the page. This way you can easily access numerous pages at the same time. I used to use it at church until we were banned because network administrators couldn't monitor it. There are a few rebels left at the church who have [against IT policy] Mozilla hidden on their computers. I refuse to rat them out [Minnie Clements!].

Diet Pepsi is horrible. How this beverage is still in existence bewilders me. That's the only bad thing about Panera: Pepsi products. Of course, if they had Diet Coke, I might never leave. Sure, I could drink Mountain Dew, but how healthy is that? I'm actually switching back in forth between tea and Diet Pepsi because it tastes so bad.

I pee alot when drinking caffeine. Sorry about the lewd nature of that statement, but it's the truth. I've had to use the bathroom three times this morning. Of course, with all the liquids I drank this morning [which I won't document for fear of being chastised by my wife] it makes perfect sense. Wait a minute, I'll be right back . . .

OK, that's better. Back to those thoughts:

Everything needs a charge. In anticipation of my day away from the house, I charged my cell phone, laptop and iPod. And I was afraid the rechargable batteries from the camera would die before I got Kelly's picture downloaded. If the power had gone out last night, I'd be screwed.

What are these people doing in the community room? I'm right next to that room at Panera that they let groups use. It's an ecclectic group of people of varying ages and sexes, all reading through some kind of notebook. It's not a book club and I can smell a Bible Study a mile away. I wonder if they're plotting out a world domination strategy. If so, I wouldn't mind joining their group.

That's all I have for now. I'll keep you posted.
yet another musing of steve-o @ 9:52:00 AM   1 comments
Worship Song Fridge Magnets
Kelly loves those fridge poetry magnets. When we finally get our own refridgerator again, I'll have to get her some of these.
yet another musing of steve-o @ 9:18:00 AM   0 comments
School Daze
I woke up this morning for the first day of school.

For a week or so, the Johnson's have been telling us of their first day of school tradition when they take photos of their kids before heading of to school. Kelly and I found this fascinating, so we were up by 6:00 to witness the photo shoot. Kelsey was up, ready to start her junior year of high school and they now had the pictures to prove it. Melinda asked if we did stuff like this on the first day of school when I was growing up and I responded, "My mom was a teacher. It wasn't exactly the most joyful time in the house."

I'm not sure I would want to go back in time to remember my first days of school. The only "first day" I was ever excited about was my senior year of high school and that was because I'd never have to go through it again [I'm sorry but, in this instance, I don't think college counts]. In fact, I've never really liked school. This is interesting because I have a master's degree [which means I was in school a long time] and I absolutley love learning. But I hate school. Maybe it's because of all the useless stuff I was taught. Guess how much geology I've used in my adult life? If you answered "zero," you're being generous.

I've listened to the kids at church talk about what they do in school now and it's a joke. They take web design classes, everyone has a study hall, and they're always on some kind of early dismissal schedule. It's ridiculous. No wonder these kids love school so much: they do nothing and get credit for it.

So before I fall off this soapbox, I'll just let you know that the Johnson's inspired me and I took a picture of Kelly before she left on the first day of school this morning:Yeah, I know, it wasn't her first day of school, but if I was going to a school and she was there, I probably wouldn't have hated it so much.
yet another musing of steve-o @ 7:49:00 AM   0 comments
Monday, August 22, 2005
Open the doors . . .
Yesterday Kelly and I had the opportunity to meet with the folks at the Walnut Hills Christian Church. The congregation was voting on the proposal by Echo Church to rent out their building on Sunday evenings as a meeting space. We were able to get down there to the church just after their service had started. I was excited for Kelly because this was her first opportunity to view the inside of the building; she later agreed that it was indeed a blessing to have found this place. We made our way to a pew in the middle of the sanctuary and joined them in their time of worship.

I'll admit, it was a sparse crowd. There were twenty-four people there, including us. The people of the Walnut Hills Church would admit that they've been struggling as of late to find out exactly what God has called them to do. At such a discouraging time in their history, having a new church ask to move in and use their building could sound rather intimidating. But they embraced us with open arms. Literally. After the service, it seemed everywhere we turned we were getting hugged.

After the service we were invited to have lunch with church members in their fellowship hall; every week they have a meal after their service in case somebody of the street comes in and needs food. It wasn't something that we had planned on, but it was a good time. We sat at a table with people who have been at the church between twenty and fifty years. One of them said that even though their numbers aren't what they used to be, the spirit in the church is much better. It was enlightening to hear their perspective on how things were going.

So when it came time for the vote, they asked me to say a few words and answer some questions. I just laid it all out there: that we have no idea what we're doing, but we know that God was calling us to do something in that neighborhood. There were a few softball-like questions that followed ["Now what denomination are you?"] and that was it. When it came time for the vote, Kelly and I stepped out into the sanctuary and sat in the pews.

We sorta looked around at the empty room. I asked her, "Can you see it?" and she nodded. I guess if I were really marketing the Echo Church concept, I would've asked, "Can you hear it?" but I missed out on that one. After only a couple of minutes the chairman of the board came out and told us it was a unanimous vote: they're giving us [at least] a year to have our services there. It was an unforgettable experience. Once again, God moved and we were right there watching.

So with this out of the way, we can proceed with our first core meeting for Echo Church. If you're interested [or know of people who might be] in joining us on the ground floor of our new church, let them know. It's going to take place next Wednesday night [August 31st] at 7pm at the Walnut Hills Christian Church on 1438 East McMillan Street in East Walnut Hills.

Yep, that's where we'll be meeting.
yet another musing of steve-o @ 7:48:00 AM   1 comments
Sunday, August 21, 2005
You Can Go Home Again
We got a phone call yesterday morning from Shane; always a little bit of fear involved when you get a call from the guy who just bought your house. Fortunately, it was a good call; they had received some of our insurance mail [which is bizarre because State Farm has our change of address and has already forwarded mail to my parent's house] and he asked if we wanted to pick it up and stop by the house. So let me get this straight: we get a chance to see what you've done to the house since we left? You couldn't keep us away.

He left our mail in the mailbox, so we didn't have to come in. But as we pulled up front I looked at the grass by the garage. See, the day before we moved out, the POD people came to pick up our stuff. I received a call from the guy saying he had a slight leak with the hydraulic line on the machine that moves the POD. "No big deal," he says. "There's a little on the grass and some on the driveway. It'll wash out with the next rain." OK. I'm cool, until I see that the area in the grass was actually a five yard circle. At the house closing, I told Shane what the guy said and he was absolutely fine with it. Yesterday evening, when we pulled up, the circle was still there but all the grass was totally dead. I knew we had to go in. I was very apologetic about it, but shame said it was no big deal. Tomorrow I'm going to call the POD place to complain, so we'll see if that gets me anywhere.

So when we walked in you could see that they had cool taste. The place was awesome. All their furniture looks sharp and it fits well in the house. They've already painted the blue basement with a tan like color and it looks incredible. We enjoyed the blue basement, but they've made it look even better. That's the only painting they've done so far [yes, my red room still survives but its days are short]. They have a huge freakin' big screen in the den with surround sound hooked up to it. The place is like a movie theater. Ananda [hope I spelled that right] is Shane and Amy's beautiful little four year old girl and she's in what-used-to-be-Kelly's lime green room; we had painted it before we put it up for sale. It was a good time. We also had the chance to talk to them about neighbors, other people in the neighborhood, and the nuances of Landen living. It was a unexpected visit but it was awesome.

I was thinking, once again, how blessed we were to have such a great house selling experience. The house sold quickly and to a couple of wonderful, understanding people who love the house as much as we did. Yeah, it's tough to move on, but it's nice when God makes it this easy.
yet another musing of steve-o @ 7:38:00 AM   0 comments
Friday, August 19, 2005
O Me of Little Faith
I'll admit: I was doubting this morning.

We only have a little more than three weeks left here at Christ's Church. Then I'll have to be making money at some other jobs. I've filled out some applications and have a possible lead for a supply preaching gig but, as of this morning, I have nothing. I know I still have some time left to nail something down but in situations like this, I like to know ahead what I'll be doing. That's what happens when I have too much time to think.

With this on my mind, I walked out of the Johnson's house this morning. And I just happened to look up [which, unfortunately, I hardly ever do] and saw this:

Pretty cool.

Now usually when I see rainbows I think of finding the leprechaun at the other end, an 80's doll that lit up, or chewy candy that produces colorful spit. But this morning I actually thought of the spiritual application and the reason God gave us rainbows in the first place.

"And God said, 'This is the sign of the covenant I am making between me and you and every living creature with you, a covenant for all generations to come: I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth. Whenever I bring clouds over the earth and the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will remember my covenant between me and you and all living creatures of every kind. Never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all life.'"
Genesis 9:12-15

No, I'm not worried about being flooded, but this still gave me some relief. The rainbow is a sign of God's grace, His caring about what happens in the world. And my current job concerns, albeit small in light of all the great problems in this world, are still important to God. It's funny that even though He has continually taken care of things throughout this entire process, I still need a reminder not to doubt.

Thanks God, it worked.
yet another musing of steve-o @ 8:25:00 AM   0 comments
Thursday, August 18, 2005
"Yes, that's the book for me . . ."
OK, I'm gonna get all theological on y'all. This is just my pre-post announcement to say that there's no cute story in today's post. I'm going double-barreled this morning.

I love the Bible, but I hate what people do to it. My buddy Tim came by yesterday. He's going to be teaching my Bible Fellowship classes on Sunday and wants to do a lesson on Bible translations. We talked for almost two hours about it and, by the time we were finished, I think he realized that covering the subject in just forty-five minutes would be almost impossible. There are so many issues when it comes to Scripture it makes your head spin. I don't want to bore you here; I just want to give you some thoughts to make you think about the Bible. Here are a few random thoughts on the topic:

It's All Greek To Me
A perfect God had chose a medium by which to communicate His message to the world. And in a fascinating move, He picked language and the written word. I find it fascinating because language is a very imperfect form of communication. Just think of how many people you come across everyday who speak the same language as you and you still can't understand them. Or do this: define the word "bat" or "right." Homonyms make language even more confusing, don't they? Also, language never stays the same but evolves over years. For example, the word "hip" is not necessarily a part of your body.

This is why I'm amazed when I hear people say that one English translation is the best or that God has endorsed a selected translation. No Bible that we hold in our hands will ever be devoid of someone's interpretation. Scholars who translate the original Greek and Hebrew words into a language all have certain biases that prohibit them from being 100% objective. Plus as every year passes, discoveries in the fields of archaeology and linguistics tell us more about Biblical culture, allowing us to better understand the original languages.

Let's be honest: the biggest case of this kind of "Bible worship" surrounds the King James Version. In 1611, when the King James Version was translated, they did the best they could with what they had. The KJV was a good start but, at the same time, it's not the apex of Bible translation either. By the way, the last people who felt that strongly about a translation of the Bible weren't exactly the friendliest of sorts. The protectors of the Latin Vulgate used to burn people trying to translate the Bible into English.

Now, with all that we know, we can do much better with Bible translation. That being said, just because the knowledge is there doesn't mean we always get it right. The new TNIV ridiculously messes with pronouns in it's translation trying to be more PC. That's just dumb. And in defense of the KJV, though, I must say that I'm impressed with how they translated literally 1 Samuel 25:22,34. Did you know that "pisseth" is in the Bible? Nothing like Biblical potty humor. Good show. Still, I think the best translations are still out there to be completed.

I guess I'm trying to say that part of our faith is believing that God has preserved His Word throughout the ages so that we can access it today. We still have the texts in their original languages with remarkable accuracy. If you're really serious about the subject and have never studied Hebrew or Greek, you should. There's a whole new world out there for those who wish to explore it.

Commandment 4 of 10
No, not the one about keeping Sabbath. If you take the Ten Commandments [Exodus 20] as Jews split them up [which makes "I am the Lord Your God" commandment number one (a division that I think we Christians should adopt because that first statement makes all the others important)], the fourth one is this:

"You shall not take the name of the Lord Your God in vain."

We usually interpret this as only referring to cussing with God's name, but that's a limited view. I believe this commandment is also a decree not to manipulate the Word of God, i.e., making the Bible say what you want it to say. I hear people all the time saying something absurd followed by the phrase, "and that's what it says in the Bible." If you ever say that phrase, you better be darn-tootin' sure that it really is in the Bible. Otherwise, you're a blasphemer. Be careful, little mouths, what you say.

God Revealed
I ask you, "What's the most important revelation God left us to help discover who He is?" You, prepared to give your average Sunday School answer, reply with, "The Bible." I would then tell you, "you're wrong."

Before Gutenberg's printing press, there was only one Bible per town. Even if people had Bibles to read, they wouldn't know how. We forget that the world has only experienced wide-spread literacy during the past two-hundred years. It's because of this that some in the Roman Catholic Church were able to manipulate people in the Dark Ages, teaching a voodoo type faith. The people depended upon the educated clergy to tell them the story in Scripture and many of them took advantage of the people. The Bible accessible to the masses is only a few hundred [or less] years old.

I would say that the most important revelation God left us to figure out who He is would be the world itself. God has spoken, for all to hear, though general revelation. The apostle Paul proclaims this at the beginning of his letter to the church in Rome. He writes that you can't look at the world and not know that there's a God [pardon my double negative]. So while the Bible is important to our lives, somehow people made it thousands of years without having their own copy. And despite all the abuses, Christianity survived. His Word is definitely powerful, but don't limit his Word to what can be printed.

All the Answers?
And you might not want to accept this, but the Bible doesn't have all the answers for your life. It just doesn't. Through examining Scripture you get a vivid picture of what God wants from you, but you still have to take the next step and exercise your judgment. It's called free will. There's a world of gray out there and God wants you to figure out how you're going to live in it. Great example in Acts 15 as the leaders of the church in Jerusalem are trying to figure out how to mesh Jew and Gentile Christians. In verse 28, in a reply to Gentile believers in the north, the leaders write, "It seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us . . ." Why did they write "to us?" Wouldn't God's Word have been enough? I think they're acknowledging here that they needed to make the decision while seeking God's guidance.

What I'm saying is that the Bible won't make all our decisions for us. It's a wonderful guide for what God wants, but we have to figure out how to live that out. And finally . . .

DON'T MISINTERPRET ME [like people do the Bible]
I might have written some things here you find heretical, but understand what I'm really saying. I love Scripture. It's the most powerful book every written, inspired by God Himself. When we start this new church, our focus will be teaching out of the Bible. We want people to be familiar with it and see what a difference the Word of God can make in their lives. I'm just tired of people using the Bible in ungodly ways. I'm not saying I have it all figured out, but I'm not sure any of else really do.

You don't mess around with the Bible. It's not a toy, it's a weapon used to cut people up. In the wrong hands, you can really do some damage. So stop playing with it. Get serious, get dirty, and learn what God is saying through this beautiful book.
yet another musing of steve-o @ 8:49:00 AM   0 comments
Wednesday, August 17, 2005
"You clean the outside of the cup . . ."
If you're attentive enough every day can be a learning experience. Yesterday I was paying attention and I learned something that will forever change my life. Well, maybe it won't change my life, but it will keep me from getting sticky. And I hate sticky.

Yesterday afternoon I decided to do some laundry. Yes friends, I do some household chores, I'm just selective about what I do. Laundry is the best chore in household cleaning; nothing else can compare to it. Laundry appears to be a laborious task while it's actually a piece of cake. Sure it takes a little work to lug the laundry to the machine but all you do is drop in the clothes with the detergent, press a few buttons and walk away for forty-five minutes. And to finish the job you drop everything in another machine for an hour. Then when someone asks what you're doing, you tell them you're hard at work doing the laundry while you're really watching Dharma and Greg re-runs, flipping through a People Magazine. Two hours later, you get clean clothes and a sense of accomplishment while you wipe the Doritos crumbs from the corner of your mouth. It's hard work being this pretty.

So anyway, as I ascended the stairs to do the laundry, I was totally unaware of the knowledge that was about to come my way. Melinda was showing me where the machine was [I had yet to do laundry at the Johnson's] and I started chucking stuff in there. As the machine began to fill with water I did my "pre-wash-clean-the-soap-cup-out" routine. Do you know what I'm talking about? I hate, after you use the detergent, the collection of gooey soap that accumulates at the bottom of the cup. So you try rinsing it out, but that stuff is caked at the bottom so you have to use your hands to dig it off. But if you do that, your hands smell like Tide the rest of the day. So you think about ignoring the problem, but it's worse if you wait. Then the next time you do the laundry you find the cup all sticky [did I mention that I hate sticky] and collecting fuzz and junk in it so that you're grossed out. It's a lose/lose.

Melinda sees me attempting to solve the great cup problem and offers her simple solution:

Why don't you just throw the whole cup in the machine? It won't hurt anything.

Absolute brilliance. I'll never forget where I was when this happened. And I'll never look at laundry the same way again.

So that's what I did. I just threw the cup in the laundry and, as you can see from the picture above, the cup was spotless. Such a small piece of information seems trivial, but I'll remember it the rest of my life. That got me thinking about little life lessons like that. Isn't it sad that you go throughout life not knowing all these tidbits of info that can make living more enjoyable? Perhaps we should start a forum where we can share this learned information. Allow me to offer two simple ones here. I learned both of these in college but constantly tell people about them for the very first time:

1) You might despise those little square napkins they give you at restaurants for your beverage. Inevitably, the napkin gets stuck to the cup, it becomes a soaked mess and you forget trying to use the fake coaster. Instead, when they first bring out your drink, shake some salt on the napkin. This forms a protective layer and your cup won't stick to the paper. Problem solved.

2) In a related tip, say when your food comes out, you want ketchup for your fries. You pound the bottom of the bottle like it's a disobedient child and still nothing comes out. I remember my dad would solve this problem by using a knife to guide the ketchup out. That just seemed plain wrong. Here's the proper way: on normal Heinz bottles, there's a raised "57" where the neck of the bottle begins. If you aim the bottle where you want ketchup, then firmly strike the 57, your tomato paste will come out with ease. It's just that easy. Try it out.

OK, so maybe you've been enlightened by reading this but now it's your opportunity to share with the masses your knowledge. Do tell. Anything that can keep me from getting sticky will be appreciated greatly.
yet another musing of steve-o @ 7:53:00 AM   0 comments
Tuesday, August 16, 2005
It's All About People
Since I'm half homeless, I'm using the afternoon of my day off hanging out in Panera. I can sit here, surf the web and get continual refills on my beverages. And no employee hassels me for staying here. That's why I love this place and wouldn't mind working for a Panera: they care about people.This blog post by Seth Godin tells how paying even a little attention to what people want/need can pay off in huge dividends.
yet another musing of steve-o @ 2:16:00 PM   0 comments
Get A Job
I have a Master's degree.

I'm not really bragging or anything [I mean it IS from the Cincinnati Christian University, so draw your own conclusions], but I wanted to make sure you knew that as I start telling you this.

I used the morning of my day-off to put in some job applications this morning at business establishments in the area where we'll be moving. In order to start Echo Church with a minimum of overhead, I won't be a full-time employee at first. We've figured out that the church will pay me a little at first, and I'll have a few other jobs on the side in order to make a living. Hopefully, I'll be able to find a church to preach at on Sunday mornings [since our church will meet on Sunday evenings] and that will bring in some income. But I'm still going to have to get a part time job to make ends meet. I really need a place where I can come in early in the morning, so I can have afternoon and evenings open to do church stuff. Pretty much, this limits me to coffee-shop type places.

First, I went up to Mount Adams because I could walk to work if I got a job up there. Unfortunately, there are only two possible places up there: a coffee shop that apparently isn't hiring now and United Dairy Farmers. I think I'd love working at a UDF, since I go there at least once a day. I'm not too sure that they're hiring right now either.

Then I headed up to Joseph-Beth Bookstore in the Rookwood Commons area where I've already applied on-line, to see what they'd say. They said they're going to start doing some interviews at the end of the week, so I left my business card with a manager. This would be my pick of the litter: a job where I'm around books all day long would rock. I stopped by the nearby Starbucks where they said they were hiring but they were out of applications and would be getting some in by Thursday. I'll go back there [and the 2145 other Starbucks on that street] a little later. Finally, I ended up at the Panera Bread in Hyde Park before calling it a morning.

So the most tedious part of this process was filling out the applications. They all asked the exact same questions from previous employer info to educational background. It was with a smug expression on my face that I would fill out the educational part of the application. "I have a Masters Degree," I thought to myself. "I'm the type of highly educated person this company would love to have." But the more I thought about, the worse I felt. If I were in an employers chair and came across and application like mine, I'd probably be skeptical. "I wonder if this guy's ever done a day of hard work in his life," they could question. Sure, higher education gets you a leg up in many professions, but it doesn't mean squat when it comes down to making a latte or cleaning a toilet.

Plus, all my expertise is in the ministry field. Unless a bagel tragically hits the floor and they need a funeral conducted for it, or a self-help book is in desperate need of some counseling, I'm not sure that my background will be that useful. I now find myself at the bottom looking up, hoping that someone is willing to take a chance on me. I'll admit, it's an intimidating and humbling process. And that's exactly why I need to do it.

Everyday people in this world wake up and go to jobs that they despise. How many people really get the opportunity to work at a job that they're passionate about? In ways I've never truly appreciated before, I've been blessed these past seven years. I've been paid to teach Scripture and tell people about Jesus. It's been a good gig. So now I'll get a chance to see how well I do in another setting. And no one will care about my experience or my educational background; it'll all boil down to how hard of a worker I am.

It almost makes me want to hide those degrees, so people don't judge me. I won't hide it, but I don't want people to judge me by it. It's a really good lesson for me. And I'm excited to see what else God teaches me. We'll see what happens.
yet another musing of steve-o @ 12:54:00 PM   1 comments
Monday, August 15, 2005
Aspartame Is My Friend
OK, so my Diet Coke addiction is really a cult. At least I know I'm not alone.
yet another musing of steve-o @ 4:36:00 PM   1 comments
Uncle Steve
Mikayla, Tyler, Kasey and me at my Mom's birthday party.
Kids love the digital camera.
yet another musing of steve-o @ 1:13:00 PM   2 comments
Sometimes you don't have the words
It was a somber weekend in the Greater Cincinnati area as five local Marines were laid to rest after being killed in Iraq in a roadside attack. Not since the Vietnam War [which concluded before I was born] has our country seen these extreme numbers of combat casualties.

Greg McDaniel, co-pastor at the Impact Church, performed the funeral for one of the soldiers, Lance Corporal Timothy Bell Jr, yesterday at Lakota East High School. I'm sure it was a difficult service to perform, trying to say the right words and ignore the intense media coverage. It seems God gave him exactly what he needed to say to comfort the family and the community.

Whether or not you agree with the Iraqi conflict, you have to be proud and thankful of the sacrifices of these brave soldiers who gave their all for our country. If it were not for people like them that have risen to the occasion throughout America's history, we wouldn't have the freedoms that we hold so dear.
yet another musing of steve-o @ 8:37:00 AM   1 comments
Sunday, August 14, 2005
Happy Birthday Mom!
Yesterday was my mother's birthday. We had a get-together at their house on Friday to commemorate. She's quite an incredible woman, that mother 'o' mine. I wrote about her on Mother's Day, but I thought it would be good to talk a little more about my Mom as we remember the day of her birth. So two stories for ya [in retrospect, these stories seem to be more about me than my mom, but she's an important player, nonetheless].

The last time I was spanked was 1989. I was thirteen years old, a Bridgetown Junior High School eager beaver [our stupid mascot]. It was a weeknight and I was frustrated with a conversation I was having with my mother. At the peak of the dialogue, in pure anger, I yelled something to the effect of, "whatever Margaret!" Yes, Margaret is her first name; I called my mother by her given name. Unfortunately, during this outburst, I neglected to realize that my father had just arrived home and was ascending the basement stairs, listening to our entire exchange. By the time he made it upstairs he was visibly upset [to say the least] and came after me. I didn't get a good jump so he caught me and sorta knocked me to the ground in the hallway. Before I knew it, my father's knee was in his back and he was taking his belt off to show me his style of justice. As he wailed on my rear-end I, in a fit of adolescent cockiness, began to laugh at him. Not the brightest move, because this caused him to strike me all the harder.

It was at this point that my mother felt a sense of empathy towards my cause and said to my dad, "Stop it, Ken! You'll kill him." This plea by my concerned maternal parent ended the corporal punishment and I was dismissed to my room in quite a lot of pain. If not for my mother, my father would have continued treating me like a human pinata and perhaps candy would have come forth from . . . somewhere. Thanks Mom, for saving my life.

Additional P.C. Note: Hopefully this little story didn't disturb you folks out there who are against spanking. My father isn't a monster or anything; he was just rearing me as he thought best. And all these years later, I'm thankful he got through to me. I have [yet] to commit a felony and have led a [somewhat] productive, normal life. Trust me, I needed those spankings to help make me the person I am today. So save your phone call to Oprah and keep reading.

OK, now a second story that's a tad more heart-felt. Mom likes to sing. She has a beautiful voice, and always sang harmonies to every song growing up. Unbeknownst to me she sang the alto part so, as I taught myself to emulate her harmony, I was singing a woman's part. To this day, I find myself slipping from a tenor harmony into an alto. As I write this I'm laughing at myself because I've always been paranoid of someone accusing me of being a girl for singing women's harmony, but it's not like writing an entire paragraph on singing harmony is the most manly thing in the world. Interesting.

Anyway, I've always been complimented for singing harmony in songs while leading worship. Not a lot of people know how to do that. And I probably wouldn't know how if it wasn't for my mother. Thanks Mom, for teaching me how to sing. Perhaps I can duplicate your efforts to the world and provide them with some carbonated beverage to keep them happy.

Thanks mom, for always being there for me and teaching me so many things. And thanks for still being as wonderful today as you've ever been.

So happy birthday, Margar . . . um, I mean, Mom! You're the best!
yet another musing of steve-o @ 7:31:00 PM   1 comments
Friday, August 12, 2005
When I say, "Gone" . . .
So I'm here in the office on a Friday afternoon and everyone is gone. By "gone," I mean this place is a ghost town. There are a couple of support staff wandering around, but I think I could set fire to my office chair right now and no one would notice. So that means, it's a three post day! So here's a quick story to get your weekend started off right.

I went to Bethesda North this afternoon to do my hospital calls. I went into the room where this guy from church was supposed to be and saw an empty bed. It was a double room, so there was another person on the far side of the room behind the curtain. I knocked on the door and called out, "Mr Darby?" [not his real name], to see if it was him. A guy in his fifties peeked back through the curtain and responded, "No, he's gone." Knowing that Mr Darby's illness wasn't life-threatening I playfully responded in a somewhat somber voice, "Oh, you mean he's gone?" as in, "he's dead." To this the man immediately blurted out, "Oh no, no, no! I mean, they sent him home. He's not gone gone." I told the man I was relieved and walked away with a smirk on my face.

My advice: never use the word "gone" in a hospital.
yet another musing of steve-o @ 3:33:00 PM   3 comments
This can't be true . . .
But I guess it makes total sense. Now you know another reason why I don't play Halo with the guys.
yet another musing of steve-o @ 2:57:00 PM   2 comments
Darby and Joan
wordsmith [n]: a person who works with words.

I'm become somewhat of a wordsmith; I've developed a love of words and a passion for using them; especially words that take a little more effort to work into a conversation. I'd say that, since college, my vocabulary has increased exponentially [see, I did it right there]. The beautiful thing about the English language is that we have so many words at our discretion to use. So why don't people make the extra effort to use a few of them? The usual excuse is that people don't want to seem stuck-up. I think that's a cop out. I can think of two main reasons why people don't like new words:

1) It's hard work. You can't just start using a new word. You have to find out what it means, then figure out how to use it and work it into a conversation. And the bigger reason . . .

2) The fear of looking stupid. As exhilarating as it is to use a new word, it's frightening to mess it up. Those familiar with the TV show Friends can see Joey standing there saying to himself, "Supposably? Supposably!" The risk not seeming to be worth the reward, we hold back and choose to stay at the level where we're at.

It saddens me to think that we can't continue to learn and excel without fearing chastisement from other people. Just because you want to speak and write well doesn't mean you think you're superior to others [I've listened to and read material by people who have incredible vocabularies but are the scum of the earth]. Why should we let other people's attitudes determine what we can be? It's junior high peer pressure all over again. So I want to challenge us all to become wordsmiths. Discover new words or phrases and use them in everyday language. I make it a point, while teaching kids, to always use a word that I have to define for them. I'm not saying it's easy, but here are a few tips for making it happen in your speech:

1) Read. More than the sports page. Read books with no pictures. Read books by authors who are genuine wordsmiths. And when you come across a word you don't know, look it up.

2) Write. Blogging has certainly helped my vocabulary grow. I don't want to use the same words over and over and over and over again, so I'm always looking for new words. Write emails to people and deliberately work in words you might not normally use.

3) Listen to people smarter than you. Whether at work or church [or at home?], hang around people who know how to use those big words. Maybe tune into NPR or download a podcast. Even if you don't agree with the content, you can learn something about your language.

4) Word of the day. There's more than just toilet paper and calendars out there that have a word of the day. I receive a daily email from Merriam-Webster with a word of the day.

For instance, today's vocabulary phrase from my Merriam Webster email is "Darby and Joan." Here's the definition and the accompanying explanation:

[n] a happily married usually elderly couple

"Old Darby, with Joan by his side, / You've often regarded with wonder: / He's dropsical, she is sore-eyed, / Yet they're never happy asunder." Thus ran the lines of a poem published in 1735 under the title "The Joys of Love Never Forgot: A Song." By the mid-1700s, the elderly couple introduced in that poem had become symbolic of devoted couples.

I did an informal survey around this place of people between the ages of fifty and eighty. I asked them if they knew this phrase and not one of them has heard it used before. If they don't know what it means, you know that no one under fifty knows it. So now that you have some new words, see where you can use them.

Who are the "Darby and Joan" in your life? Let them know or tell other people about them. And after you refer to them as "D&J," and the person you're speaking with says, "Excuse me?" Let them know what the phrase means. This way we all get smarter, using the mass of goo between our ears.

And then we talk real gooder too.

*One of the most interesting messages I heard on this topic was by Richard Allen Farmer and entitled, "Making the Mummies Dance." It's available for purchase on the Willow Creek Association website.
yet another musing of steve-o @ 8:55:00 AM   0 comments
Thursday, August 11, 2005
A Walk In The Clouds
OK, first off, I should be beaten with rods for using a sucky Keanu Reeves movie as the title for this posting, but stick with me here and you'll see it fits. Tuesday was my day off, and I really had nothing to do. It was so bizarre that there was no work to be done on the house [obviously, since it's not our house any more], nor was there any other "assignment" I needed to complete. I found myself with a wide-open day. I've been reading this book, Walking the Steps of Cincinnati, by Mary Anna Dusablon which details different walks you can take around the city via stairwells. Somewhat inspired by the book, I decided to use my day to walk around the city.

I had an ulterior motive as well. I've been searching the internet for Cincinnati pictures to use for Echo Church stuff, and I discovered that there aren't many good quality [free] pics of Cincy out there. So I grabbed our Canon Powershot A95 digital camera and decided to take some myself. Honestly, this camera rocks; I absolutely loved the photos I took on vacation. So I was pumped up at the thought of my walking the streets alone, with just my camera.

By the end of my trek, I took over 160 pictures. I started the day in Eden Park, then headed over to Mount Adams. I rarely slowed down, vacillating between jogging and briskly walking. From there I parked my car by the Taft Museum and walked a circle from the P&G building to the Roebling Suspension Bridge and back again. I drove across the river to take a few shots from the Devou Park overlook, then drove down to the Covington Landing and, after that, went down to the Newport riverfront area. I finished the day by the Walnut Hills Christian Church to take a couple more shots in the area. Interesting enough, the church used to be covered with vines, and vines are where grapes grow, and that's the whole premise behind the Keanu Reeves movie A Walk In The Clouds. Boo-yah! Told you I'd make that title work! By then I was exhausted and headed for home.

Overall it was a good time. It was very uncharacteristic of me; I'm not the type who roams the streets alone. And I never take pictures like that. But I really enjoyed the time to myself. I was able to think, to get some exercise, and to see the city in a way I haven't in a long time. I'm excited about moving down there now. I'll probably have many more city/photo excursions.

So I figured out a way to post some of the pictures online through a free service called Flickr. Click on that link to check them out. I'll admit that, because of my artsy-fartsy ways, I digitally edited some of the pictures to make them look cool. Go ahead, view and enjoy, and see what I did on Tuesday.
yet another musing of steve-o @ 9:14:00 AM   2 comments
Wednesday, August 10, 2005
Velvet Elvis Part Two
Just in case you missed it, this post is part two of a two day posting, so if you want to read this cohesively, you need to check out Velvet Elvis Part One. I'll warn you once more, you might find this stuff boring so you might want to skip today's post.

When Rob Bell's new book came out, I knew I would get a copy and read it. The Bible teacher from the Mars Hill church in Grand Rapids has been speaking all over the country the past few years, so a book was long overdue. It only took me a couple sittings to polish it off; even though it's over two hundred pages, the layout doesn't include as many words per pages as other books, so it was a short read. The reason it looks longer than it really is, is because it was designed to look uber-hip and urban. To the publishers I say, "Congratulations;" they totally succeeded.

In the book itself, there's not a lot of new material. I would say three or four chapters are sermons which he elaborates on to make book worthy. Since I've listened to many of Rob's sermons through the early years of his church, nothing he said came across as new. But his book is sparking a ton of debate among Christians on whether Rob is correct [right on] or a heretic [right out]. So you've been waiting long enough; here's what I think.

Rob is right along the line of the Emergent Church movement who are wanting to make the church relevant to the ever-changing world. The most prominent person in this movement is a man named Brian McLaren, a pastor in Washington D.C. and a former literature professor [McLaren is taking it on the chin right now too because of things he has written lately]. The driving force behind this movement is the belief that we are headed into a new culture where a new way of thinking will dominate the world [postmodern thought] and the church has to adapt or will become out of touch. I appreciate the passion of the Emergent movement for a missional church that is constantly focused on reaching out to people. I do struggle, however, with some of the things they put out there like Christian yoga [not gonna do it] and their incessant tree hugging pleas.

I think the entire conflict, from Bell's and McLaren's books to the Emergent movement, comes down to semantics [I always think of Mel Gibson in Lethal Weapon 2 where he says, "I'm always up for some antics"]. Emergent leaders are trying to repackage 2,000 years of Christian truth into a new vernacular. This is always going to tick of the old guard because, to them, the language becomes just as important as the truth itself. Quick example: the argument of belief in "absolute truth." Sure, these Emergent folk believe in absolute truth but won't call it that because the language doesn't jive in a postmodern context. So the old guard [I'm not quite sure who I mean by "the old guard" but I hope you can figure it out] brands them as non-conformists and questions their salvation. I really believe that if these differing sides could get past the language barrier, they'd discover they're really not that far apart. But that's just my take on it.

We're in a new age in American Christianity with the advent of the internet. From sermon mp3s to blogs to Amazon, information spread at lightning speed. If I come up with a new theology this morning, the world can know it by this afternoon and I'm condemned by nightfall. In this age, everyone is a critic, everyone has a voice and whoever's the loudest wins. When everyone's right, everyone's wrong. And I get a headache.

So getting back to Rob Bell, I'm not sure that his book will necessarily resonate with people who aren't Christians [of course, if he really wanted that, I'm not sure Zondervan would be the best publishing company to have used]. I think the most affected group will be Christians who feel they don't fit in with main stream evangelical Christianity. This is a bigger group of people than you can imagine and that's why, I believe, that battle lines are being drawn. All I know is it's going be interesting to see what happens among followers of Jesus in the United States in the years to come. This book is just the beginning.
yet another musing of steve-o @ 8:16:00 AM   0 comments
Tuesday, August 09, 2005
Velvet Elvis Part One
I'll give you a heads-up and warn you that the next couple of posts are aren't going to be humorous reflections on my life, but dialogue about religious stuff. If you find this kind of thing boring, check back later in the week. I'm sure I'll be in a less pensive mood by then.

My wife had a friend growing up, Emily, who went to Cornerstone College in Grand Rapids, Michigan. One time while she was in Cincy visiting, Emily told us that she went to a newer church in town, the Mars Hill Bible Church, that was growing at an extreme rate because of her pastor's teaching. She claimed that he was an awesome speaker. I remember laughing to myself thinking, "everyone thinks their pastor is an awesome teacher." About a year or so later, Kelly represented Standard Publishing at a youth workers convention in Sacramento and I tagged along. The first speaker of the main session for the convention was the preacher at Emily's church. "We'll see how good he really is," I thought to myself. Emily was telling the truth: her pastor was an awesome speaker.

The first time I listened to Rob Bell preach, I was excited, not so much at what he was saying, but at a truth being confirmed to me. I had finally found someone doing it the way I always wanted to. I was naive enough to think that, in preaching, you could take people deep into the Scriptures and still make it interesting. Rob Bell accomplishes that, and quite brilliantly. We had Emily send us some of his sermon tapes and became familiar with his blend of relevant insight and sharp humor undergirded by a love of the Bible. He's also a master of the object lesson, using whatever it takes to drive a message home. On a vacation to Cedar Point, we swung by Grand Rapids and went to Mars Hill on a Sunday. They meet in a rehabilitated shopping mall. The main worship area is a warehouse area, painted battleship gray, with a stage in the middle of the room. They have about 10,000 attendees every week. Rob wasn't even speaking that weekend but we saw church being lived out simply and passionately. We purchased tapes of the very first sermon series he taught in the church: a series on Leviticus.

About two and half years ago Rob hosted a teaching conference for pastors at the Mars Hill so Aaron and I went up to see what we could learn. He walked us through a series he was preparing about the Ten Commandments and basically showed how he prepared for sermons. He reads and ton of books and uses people like local Bible Lands expert Ray Vanderlaan [who taught that weekend Kelly and I attended] as resources. While our time in Grand Rapids was enlightening [except it was in the middle of January and cruddy Michigan weather] we did a catch a disturbing glimpse of how Rob is perceived by some.

At a lunch event during the conference we sat with a woman who seemed obsessed with Rob Bell, to the point that she was wanting to move from Chicago to Michigan just to join his church. Through other dialogue we discovered that his teaching was THE driving point in the church's growth. Now before you think I'm negative or skeptical about this, I should emphasize that I don't believe this to be Rob's intention. In fact, I think he tries to deliberately downplay himself as this "cult leader" type figure. I think he sincerely is trying to elevate Jesus above all things. There are just some people out there who get caught up in following a certain leader [see 1 Corinthians 1:11-17] and take it to the extreme. It's sad but true.

I guess all of this is to preface the fact that Rob Bell just published his first book through Zondervan Publishing Company. It's entitled "Velvet Elvis," an interesting title to say the least, which he explains in the beginning of the book. This book is stirring up a bit of a controversy in Evangelical Christian circles because some of the stuff he has written in the book. Honestly, it's the same stuff he's been teaching for years now, but since it's in book form it's more accessible.

I want to allow ample time for those interested to check out some of what's being said by other people about the book. I just finished reading it yesterday so I'll offer up my reflections about Velvet Elvis and the Rob Bell controversy in my next post.
yet another musing of steve-o @ 3:03:00 PM   0 comments
Monday, August 08, 2005
Put Me In Coach
We played softball yesterday. A lot of softball.

Yesterday was the tournament of our co-ed church [sorta] softball league. A few of the teams are from churches, while most of the teams are "loosely associated" with the sponsoring church [for instance, one of the teams was called "the Lunatics," sponsored by WEBN]. We struggled through the regular season and only won two games. And we were short four players for the tournament; we had to recruit a pitcher and a woman to play the infield. But we found the right combination of talents to play through the day. You may call it cocky, but I scheduled our Sunday night Catalyst activities thinking that we would be a little late. I had a good feeling about our chances.

Our first game was against one of the best teams in the league [yes, the aforementioned "Lunatics"]. They were solid at every position and they hit the ball well too. We were able to grab a lead and hold on to beat them. Then we had a rematch against our other CCM team and narrowly won that one. The third game we cruised to a victory, which put us in the championship.

Playing our fourth game in four hours, we were all a bit tired. It didn't help that we gave up five runs in the first inning. But we clawed our way back, tacking on a few runs here and there. And we kept them from scoring, which made the margin attainable. Going into the bottom of the seventh, we were up by five runs. Of course, we gave up a couple of runs in the last inning, but were able to hold them off and get the win. Yep, we won the entire tournament.

Just a few thoughts from the experience . . .

Kelly has been playing like a champion. She consistently hit the ball hard and finds the holes in the field to get on base. I don't know if it's really that fair that all the fielders play in when a girl is up to bat; it reduces the area on the field where they can place the ball. She hit one yesterday harder than I've ever seen her hit. And she had the glove working too. She made a catch at first base that was unbelievable. Some guy scorched it down the line and she snagged it jumping up into the air. Good job, wife.

I didn't hit the ball that well yesterday. I had a few good hits, but it really didn't matter. Everyone else hit it good. I'm the type of person who replays the game in my mind to see what I could've done better. Despite my flaws yesterday, we were able to win. So I'm not too concerned today about the times I didn't perform yesterday. I did have the glove working yesterday, though.

The coolest thing was that everyone contributed. We were able to win it as a team. And our attitudes were great during all the games. So here's the roll call of my gray team homies:

Eric Hounshell [coach], Nate Grella, Gary Hube, Kelly Carr, Elizabeth Bough, Randy Preston, Patty Hube, Leah Mason, and subs Carol Carlile and Brent Mowry. And to Bryan Comstock, Jim Scott, Josh and Beccy Stinson- you were gone, but not forgotten. Congrats, team.

So as I sit here wrapping up this post, I'm sore. But it's a good sore. We played some softball yesterday. And played it quite well.
yet another musing of steve-o @ 7:33:00 AM   1 comments
Sunday, August 07, 2005
Living on the Edge
"How's your house guest experience working out?"

Let me answer that in a roundabout way . . .

Ten years ago this summer, I did a ministry internship in a town called Croton, Ohio. Croton is about twenty-five miles northeast of Columbus. When I decided to apply for the internship, I couldn't even find the place on a map. It was a tiny town five miles from the middle of nowhere; you could walk a circle around the town in half an hour. I had always wondered if I could survive rural living. The answer is no. I was bored out of my wits [I did teach myself to play soccer that summer, though]. I couldn't fathom a life where you had to drive ten miles just to get to a McDonalds, and another five after that to find any other kind of restaurant. It is interesting that, ten years later, Columbus suburban sprawl is now getting so close to Croton that soon all those farm folk will be able to sell off land to those city slickers; it won't be rural much longer.

The people of the Croton Church of Christ where absolutely wonderful to me, and I experienced it from an inside perspective. Instead of just having me stay with one family all summer, they passed me around like I was a lucky silver dollar [I don't know where that analogy came from, but it sounded rural]. In the twelve weeks I was there, I stayed in eight people's houses. Some of the places were less than admirable [one family had a gaggle of cats and a certain feline smell infested the house], while others were amazing [two of my weeks were spent at a Bed and Breakfast]. It was at that time that I learned to survive being "the house guest." If you ever find yourself in a house guest situation, here are four keys to survival:

1. Early to bed, early to rise
This way you could avoid unnecessary hallway contact while heading to the bathroom.

2. Always inspect the bathroom
I feared the dreaded Dumb and Dumber moment of using a toilet that wasn't functioning. Or if you unknowingly hop in a shower that sprays of to the side and soaks the floor. I always do a preliminary bathroom inspection.

3. Make dinner plans in advance
When I first arrived for my internship, they asked me about my food dislikes. I told them the only food I don't like at all is fish. Of course, I was served fish on three different occasions. I wasn't stuck up; I ate what was put in front of me, but later had to refrain from puking. I always found convenient excuses to skip the evening meal so I could drive the fifteen miles to Subway. I didn't always exercise this devious plan, but I knew when to walk away and when to run.

4. Remember they're always watching
You never have privacy in someone else's house, so I always made it a point to be extra paranoid about what I did. No loud music, no private phone calls, and always sleeping in pajamas. This way, I never set myself up for any stories about what I freak I was.

So now back to our current house guest experience. We're just a week in, but I can honestly say that this is the best house guest situation I've ever had. I've even gotten lax on my four keys to survival. The basement is totally secluded from the rest of the house so we actually have privacy. There's never any pressure for dinner and we'd enjoy the Johnson's company if we did. The bathroom is in great condition. In addition to all this, the bed is comfortable and we've made great use of the entertainment room. Oh, and the pool table rocks; Kelly and I are now addicted to playing it.

So I hope we don't find ourselves in another house guest situation, because I've been caught of guard. I'm in danger of forgetting my survival skills. Everything after this will be downhill.
yet another musing of steve-o @ 7:44:00 AM   0 comments
Friday, August 05, 2005
Web Fads
This feels like a good Friday topic: web fads over the past ten years. This article is fun and includes links to all top ten. My top three:

3. Star Wars Kid [wonder what this kid is doing with his life?]
2. Hamster Dance [I'm singing the song in my head even as I type]
1. Dancing Baby [thank you Ally McBeal]

I remember the first time I used the internet. I was in college and Brian Morris had his computer connected to his phone line so he could go online. I was clicking things with the mouse, worried that I was doing it wrong. I specifically remember asking, "What do I do now?" "You look up stuff," was his reply. "Oh," I said.

That summer, trying to make some extra money to pay for Kelly's engagement ring, I spent my evenings at my alma mater wiring the entire dorms for internet usage. By that fall, I was online all the time. The best thing since the internet is definitely high-speed internet. One day you'll be telling your grandkids, "Back in my day we had to multi-task waiting for pages to download." And they'll say, "Whatever Grandpa." And you'll say, "here, let me see if I'm hot or not."

I love that internet.
yet another musing of steve-o @ 8:53:00 AM   0 comments
Thursday, August 04, 2005
Demolition Derby
So Kelly's car was in an accident yesterday. Notice I didn't write, "Kelly was in an accident." Nor did I write, just in case you think I was mistaken, "Kelly Carr was in an accident yesterday." Nope, she wasn't involved at all. But her car was.

We've had her Nissan Altima for about two years. It was the first new car that we've ever purchased. The people at King's Nissan have been really good throughout the process, and Kelly still returns there to get her oil changed. But things have been slipping. After making an appointment to get her oil changed, she showed up and was told that it would take them an hour to get it finished. Yeah, an hour for an oil change! She called me and we discussed whether it was worth the wait. We discussed that since this would probably be the last time she ever went there, she should just wait it out. About forty-five minutes later, I got a call from Kel. Here's how it went:

Wife: Hey Steve!
Me: Hey babe, what's up?
Wife: Well, I got my oil change for free.
Me: How'd that happen?
Wife: Um, they wrecked my car.

Yep, they wrecked here car pulling out of the car bay. Brilliant. I didn't get to see the damage first-hand, but Kelly said there was an indentation the size of a basketball on the corner of her front bumper. Even now I'm dumbfounded that you can wreck a car so badly while driving it twenty yards. It's not like it was a stick or anything. You apply your right foot to the break, position the automatic shifter onto the little "D," put both hands on the steering wheel, gently remove your foot from the break and you're rolling out of the bay. Even in idle, they could've made the trip in thirty seconds. But somehow they managed to do a couple thousand dollars of body damage to the car. I'd love to see the video. I can't imagine that you could hold on to an employee that wrecks a car during an oil change.

Maybe even better than that is the way they chose to explain the situation to my wife. A woman came into the waiting room with a bunch of paper work and these were the first words she said:

"We've already called Enterprise Rental Car. Please come with me."

What the heck? They didn't say, "Ma'am, I have some unfortunate news," not even a, "Houston, we have a problem," just straight into the rental car call. It's a shame because, up until this point, things were going so well. So now Kel is driving a Red Altima that smells like the funk and they've given no estimate on when the car will be back. Suffice to say, I don't think we'll be returning to Kings Nissan in the future.
yet another musing of steve-o @ 8:20:00 AM   0 comments
Wednesday, August 03, 2005
Good Punctuation
My wife the editor would appreciate this. All you have to do is forget a comma and the cops become drug dealers. I never did trust the DARE program.
yet another musing of steve-o @ 4:47:00 PM   0 comments
Can you hear it?
Before we went in to the meeting with the board of the Walnut Hills Christian Church last night to ask about using their facility for Echo Church worship gatherings, Aaron and I sat in my car and prayed; we were going to be content with whatever God brought our way. We made our way into their parlor [one of only three rooms in the building with air conditioning] and stepped back in time. Their parlor is straight out of the 1960's. The room has a yellow tint to it a furniture that made our couch look contemporary. It's like they had done their best to preserve a room that time forgot. It was here that we began meeting all the board members.

There were eight people, not counting the two co-pastors. We began with a word of prayer and I began to share our backgrounds and the desire to start this new church. The early questions were softballs [which perhaps isn't the best analogy considering how poor I hit in our game late last night], things like, "Why this area?" But then one of the gentlemen began asking a question that was less a question and more a release of frustration caused by twenty years in a church that's been sputtering along. His point blank question was, "where were you two when we were looking for new pastors?" The question was awkward, considering that the two current pastors were sitting in the room with us. Aaron did a great job answering that one.

All we did for the remainder of our time was talk church with them. They all seemed frustrated with where they were as a church and we did our best to encourage them along their path. That was the amazing thing that I observed last night: those people are so desperate to see something happen that I don't think they give a rip about specific areas of our theology; they just want to feel like their labor isn't in vain. The most amazing comment of the evening was when one of the board members said, "your new church is an answer to our prayers."

It still has to be approved by the congregation but, as we left, I'm confident that's where our new church will be.

A few thoughts about last night: first, there's nothing like being in a place when God shows up. I never doubted God through this, but I was doubting whether he'd let us meet there. As much as God has been preparing us for this venture, he's been preparing that church to receive us. It reinforces the concept of different dimensions by which to view the workings of God.

Also, I still find the utter desperation of those people intriguing. I guess you forget that even though a church shrinks in size, there are still those who want to see it thrive. Unfortunately for them, they can't perceive that the problem is their lack of being in-touch. I'm going to file this thought because I'm sure that, one day, I could be sitting on the other side of the coffee table. I think there are a lot of snot-nosed punk ministers who think doing church today is all about incense and indie-rock worship music. I'm convinced that it all comes down to teaching God's Word in a relevant, comprehendible way.

Finally, and this might be over the heads of some of you unfamiliar with my church background, our "movement" of churches has been obsessed as of late with striving for unity with the non-instrumental Churches of Christ because they viewed them as the most accessible. Here we are in a productive dialogue with the Disciples of Christ, who also share our Restoration Movement roots, but with whom many say there is no reconciliation. Maybe we've been barking up the wrong tree.

All I know is that we had a chance to be front row when God did something really cool. It was good to be there.
yet another musing of steve-o @ 7:54:00 AM   1 comments
Tuesday, August 02, 2005
Game Day
Here's a big day in the life of our new church. Tonight at 7:30, Aaron and I will meet with the board of the Walnut Hills Christian Church to see if they'll let us use their facilities for our Sunday services. When we first started we thought this would be a rubber stamp, but now realize it might not happen.

We fell in love with this building at first sight. It's absolutely gorgeous. The stained glass windows are breathtaking. Above is a picture of the oak pews. The sanctuary has a certain ambiance that allows you to focus on the reverence of God in a not-so-reverent world. It would be perfect for what we want to accomplish in that neighborhood. That's why we want it so bad.

The problem is that we have different theological beliefs than the Walnut Hills church. Those differences might keep them from letting us use the building. I thought about maybe stretching the truth and eloquently, ever so gently, stating our theology to not make it offensive, but what's the point? Our focus of this new church is teaching the Word of God without reservations. Eventually we'd say something offensive to them that would set them off. Better to just get it all over with, put all the cards out on the table, and start the potential relationship in total honesty.

Surprisingly, this is the most relaxed I've ever felt about such a big meeting. Regardless of what happens, I'll be fine with the outcome. If they go ahead and let us use the building, praise God. If not, He's not failed us so far so we'll just let Him show us an even better place in which to meet. I'll let you know how things turn out tomorrow.
yet another musing of steve-o @ 9:48:00 AM   1 comments
Monday, August 01, 2005
What is Monday?
As I finished my last post, I was thinking that it might be nice to comment that today is our seven-year wedding anniversary. It's been such a bizarre couple of weeks that both Kelly and I have almost forgotten about it. Fortunately for me, Kel isn't one of those foaming at the mouth, "we WILL make this day special," type of wives who insist on presents and dinners and the like on a day like this.

I know some of you are thinking right now, "the poor schlep has no idea. He's being set-up. When he comes home with no gift or card, his wife's gonna beat him down." To those of you I say you are wrong. That's one of the things that has made our marriage work so well. Kelly is a "little things" kind of person; she appreciates when I do things unexpectedly to express my love for her. Our marriage is nowhere near perfect, but it's absolutely wonderful. God hooked me up with an amazing mate, way better that I ever deserved.

Happy Anniversary, baby! Seven years later, still the best decision I've ever made.
yet another musing of steve-o @ 8:26:00 AM   1 comments
This World Is Not My Home
I was wondering this morning if I should change the name of the blog because there's no longer a "Beit" in "Beit Carr." But of course, as Bono so eloquently put on U2's last album, a house doesn't make a home so I think I'll let it slide for a little while.

So we got everything moved into Jamie and Melinda Johnson's basement. They live further north than we did, near the Golf Center in Mason. They have a beautiful house and we're able to access the basement through an outside entrance, which means we don't have to walk through the front door all the time. Apparently they specifically designed the house so the could host missionaries and ministers who needed a temporary place to stay. What an awesome ministry that we're able to take advantage of. In the basement, there's a comfortable futon [in its own bedroom area] bed, a little kitchen area and a full bathroom. They also just so happen to have the entertainment room downstairs [can you say "surround sound?"] along with pool and air hockey tables. Kelly and I remarked to each other that we could get used to this type of living.

This led me to remark that the place was bigger than our old apartments. So I thought this would be a good time to reminisce about those two places.

Apartment 1: Hosbrook Road, Madeira
1 bedroom, 1 full bathroom

There isn't a surplus of affordable rental in the Madeira area, so when we found this place we were ecstatic. The place was small but fortunately we were newlyweds and didn't have anything anyway. Most of the tenants in the building were senior citizens, so there were never really kids around. Our unit was set back in the complex next to some beautiful trees, so we had a nice obstruction from anyone looking in. There were four different apartments in the wing and ours was on the second floor. We had a tiny balcony that we never went out on for fear it would collapse. It was nowhere near perfect, but it was our first place so we really didn't know any better.

The apartment building was right behind the football field for the Madeira High School. We used to hop the fence to go run around the track. What we didn't expect was the first Friday night football game. They chose to celebrate Mustang touchdowns by firing a cannon, which just happened to be situated behind the endzone, thirty yards from our apartment. Just a month into married life I thought we were under siege by the Russians and Cubans. Beyond the incoming mortar rounds, it was a fun little place to love.

Apartment 2: Bridgetown Road, Bridgetown
2 bedrooms, 2 full bathrooms

This place was an easy sell for us after our first place. This apartment was double the size of the Hosbrook place and half the price. The neighbors were all quiet and kept to themselves, so we never had any issues. The only drawback was that we were on the ground level, facing Bridgetown Road. Once it got dark, people would be able to see inside the windows, so we always closed the blinds when it got dark. This tended to make it a gloomy place to live. But having all that new found space was awesome.

The craziest experience we had there was after we had been traveling for CCU to a teen conference for a week. When we pulled into the driveway of the complex and there were fire trucks everywhere and we saw one of the apartment building smoldering. It took us a few seconds to discover that our building was unscathed, be we had the initial heart-stopping feeling as we surveyed the scene. It turned out that, in that summer of drought, someone had lit a firecracker that landed on the roof and smoldered until it caught the whole building on fire.

So reflecting on where we've been, this momentary lay-over is no big deal at all. It's just another place to live, a place to lay our heads.
yet another musing of steve-o @ 7:36:00 AM   0 comments

Here Am I


steve-o
Cincinnati, Ohio

I am disciple. I am husband. I am father. I am pastor. I am friend. I am Cincinnatian. I am westside. I am thirty [plus five]. I am what I am. I am Spartacus.

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