Christmas Eve

I once wrote in a Facebook update: "looks like I am working another Christmas Eve this year." One of my wife's friends replied to my update with "My pastor growing up worked every Christmas Eve. Don't they teach you that in Seminary?" Not able to control myself I replied, "Not in any class I took."

Being a Pastor you learn quickly that you have a different relationship with traditional Christian holidays like Christmas & Easter than some other folks. Taking Christmas Eve & Christmas off was always second nature & as a student the winter vacations made spending time as a family easy if not expected. Yet as my student days have faded away and I am "pastoring", being home for Christmas is indeed only happening in my dreams. My brother, sister-in-law and father are spending the holiday together in Oklahoma (where my brother lives), my mother is spending Christmas with her husband in California, and my wife and I are here in Ohio. Family spread far and wide plus Clergy will always equal separation for Christmas Eve. This is one of the lessons you learn early (some of my friends in seminary were required to be at their internship congregations for Christmas Eve) and though I still get the odd question here and there about my plans for Christmas Eve, most everyone knows that Christmas Eve is a working day for your local Pastor.

I don't want to give you the impression that I resent being away from my family during the holidays. Being able to serve this congregation & community here at Boulevard is a privilege that I am honored to have. Other than a brief foray into wanting to be a Dentist, I have always wanted to be a Pastor and now that I am able to help celebrate the birth of Christ with my church family I feel blessed that it was seen fit for me to answer God's Call into ministry.

Christmas Eve & Easter illustrate something that my sarcastic assertion on Facebook might obscure: following your Call, your dreams means that there will be sacrifice. Like my brother, a pilot in the US Air Force who has missed all but one of his anniversaries, my wedding, and other milestone events, it takes sacrifice in order to follow the call/dream that God places upon each of us. I know deep inside that he would have loved to been at my wedding & certainly his anniversaries yet we are all happy to go without his presence because the US Air Force with all their demands and requirements allows him to do what he wants to do more than anything else: fly.

(By the way, the photo is of my brother's plane, a C-17 Globemaster. This is the only photo the family has of him flying. The photo appeared on Stars and Stripes website.)

Like my brother who flies, or my many pastor friends, the things that we feel called to do will require something from us. For some it is their free time, for others it will be being home for the holidays, and for others they give up more than many of us could imagine. At the end of the day we all do so willingly, and thank God for the support of our loved ones, so that we can be the people we were created to be.

So to Mom, Dad, Reese & Laura, I, once again, miss you this Christmas Holiday but thank you for your support as I follow my call. Merry Christmas!

Predicatable Christmas Blog Post

I have been reading more than my fair share of Christmas emails, letters, blogs, and other communiques from a whole host of suppliers. I am starting to sense a theme. If you read my earlier post about December 26th you will see that I am not immune to the trend to "over simile" Christmas into a neat little package fit for quick consumption or inspiration. I am guilty but I am not alone.

Christmas the event & not the holiday suffers from an interpretation problem. So overcome are we with Christmas the holiday that we want to make sense of the event through the holiday vehicle we know best. So it is not surprising that we get "Jesus is like the Christmas Gift..." or "God's love is like lights on the Christmas Tree. Things just don't glow like they should without it" when Christmas comes around. The reality is that Christmas the event does not authentically fit into a "Christmas is like" form. Christmas the event - the day of Christ's birth - is so unique, so "other" that shoe-string similes seem hallow, contrived and perhaps dangerous to the true message of Christmas.

Christmas at its core is about a radical, profound moment in the history of humanity when the lowly are exulted and a child born to poor parents in a manger is given the same title as the Roman Emperor. When we hear the Shepherds call Jesus "Lord" our modern ears do not perk up yet there in that small manger was a Child who would be the true Lord, Savior and King over the Roman Empire's attempt to demonstrate Lord through might and law. Christmas turns everything on its head, upsetting the rules and giving hope to those who have been under the thumb of oppression. When word spreads to the lowly throughout the land that the true Lord comes to liberate the oppressed and not profit off of them we begin to see the Kingdom of God manifesting itself in the here and now. This is the good news that comes to us in Christmas. That Jesus' birth means that the ways things are are not the way things should be.

Christmas Eve is almost here. We here at Boulevard are putting the finishing touches on the services that will help us celebrate the birth of Christ in community. It is my prayer that as we celebrate Christ's birth we remember that the presents and the lights under the tree may help us celebrate but they are not the reason for the celebration felt all the world around.

Merry Christmas and I hope to see you here on Thursday!

'Tis the Season

December 15th is upon us. 9 more days to Christmas Eve. 10 more days to Christmas. 11 more days to the Day After Christmas, which most retailers will tell you is the single most hectic retail day of the year, even over that of the so called Black Friday. But why? Why should December 26th strike fear in the hearts of Target employees nationwide? The answer is simple: Returns.

Hundreds of thousands of carefully selected, researched, and purchased gifts will be brought back from whence they came because we simply just don't want 'em. Mickey Mouse Popcorn Poppers, Bathrobes with fuzzy Teddy Bears, and a whole host of gadgets, DVDs, and other gifts that leave many asking themselves "what were they thinking?" will be unceremoniously heaped back upon the very same counters from where they were purchased. Temporary caretakers of singing robotic Snowmen & food dehydrators will ask that they be refunded for the mistakes their friends and family made and given the opportunity to shop for things that they actually wanted. The story goes that all the returned merchandise brought back to Targets nationwide eventually ends up in rows and rows of shopping carts in the storerooms creating a caravan overflowing with the failure of Christmas. The reality is that in a season when we champion & celebrate the spirit of giving manifesting with presents under the tree we must come face to face with the reality that some people just don't want what they have been given.

Let's set aside the clothes that don't fit or the DVDs that won't play & ask ourselves about the opposites of December 25th and December 26th. How is it that a mere handful of hours can drastically change the spirit and nature of what we have come to call Christmas? During this short period of time we make the judgment on what gifts we will keep and what gifts fail to meet our expectations or needs sometimes even before the fire dies out. I believe that this is a problem not about givers and receivers rather about what we have come to expect out of the gifts we have been given.

Gifts exchanged at Christmas or any other time is about what one person wants for the other. I give my Dad book because I want my Dad to read this book, to enjoy it, to be glad that he got it. Sometimes he won't be interested in the book, sometimes he might have already read it but I wanted him to have it. We receive the gifts we have been given because for some reason (and sometimes it is very mysterious) somebody wanted to give them to us. We might not know we wanted it, we might not know why we got it, but someone thought that we should have it. As we reflect on the "reason for the season" as we often say about the Christian celebration of Christmas we recognize that the birth of Jesus was a gift given to the world that much of the world didn't think it needed. The Baby born in Bethlehem was the single greatest gift of God and this life changing gift was first recognized by the lowly Mary and Joseph, and the Shepherds, and not the rich, the powerful, the popular who sets trends. This child comes to us because God gave Christ to the world in a way that befuddled many but God wanted reconciliation with us before we wanted reconciliation with God. Maybe we all thought thousands of years ago that a Savior born of Mary in a manger was a Savior that we would gladly return for something more to our liking yet this was God's plan for us.

Merry Christmas!

Ten Things I Learned This Weekend

10. If you are going to give blood at 11am it is a really good idea to eat breakfast first
9. Some Potatoes available for purchase can grow at least as large as both my fists
8. Teddy Bears & other stuffed animals are easier to wrap than Soccer Balls
7. Boulevard has 2 Vegetarians (I thought that there would be more)
6. Hilliard Davidson HS Football Team's uniforms look like the "traditional" BYU uniforms
5. If you are going to give blood at 11am on an empty stomach eat lunch right away
4. Like Chocolate Chips and Peanut Butter Chips there are also Cinnamon Chips & they are good
3. 4 Youth & 3 Adults can wrap a whole lot more presents in 90 minutes then I thought
2. There exists a product called Carrot Jam & it looks very funky
1. Boulevard folks always seem to chip in & help out when you need them.

Making Visits & Thinking about Community

Tomorrow I am heading out and making some visits to some members of our church who cannot be with us due to reasons outside of their control. Some are hospitalized, some are home bound, some find themselves in between but their situation keeps them from joining us for the happenings that are the life of the church. So tomorrow I am going to go out and pay some visits.

I remember moving a fair bit when I was a kid. Going from school to school or house to house you inevitably leave some people that you would call friends behind. I remember vividly thinking on the day of my college graduation that despite the fact that I would call many of these people friends the smart bet was that I would only see a small handful ever again. Life takes you to strange and new places and that is just the way life works. Eventually you settle in, become part of a community and put down roots. You become part of something that feels permanent and your participation in the life of the community is part of what makes the community unique if not great. Churches are communities in their own right and likewise people have the same effect. Yet while communities tend to draw their lines based on geography people are what make up the church. People are the church and so the men and women who worship with us on Sunday and have worshiped with us in the past help make up the very DNA of congregations. Here at Boulevard we are no different. Worship with us once and on that Sunday you are beloved member of this community. Settle here, worship here and serve here and you become a fixture that when you can no longer be a part of the "visible community" here at Boulevard we recognize that something is missing. When people because of the rhythms of life cannot worship, play and serve with us we miss them and so it becomes the job of the entire community to make sure that this absence does not go unrecognized. It becomes all of our jobs to find the places where we can reach out to show care and love to those people who helped make this community great. It is my hope that in the days and weeks to come you will find a way to show love, welcome, and care to those people who cannot be with us as we celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ our Lord.

I'm back, so let's check in

I am sorry for LONG break in blog posts. As you might imagine there is a lot happening around these parts during the season & the season leading up to Advent. But now that we are officially here Advent 1 in in the books and we are inching closer to the 1st of December I thought we could check in.

Life here at Boulevard is going well & the days are flying by. We have been worshiping in our newly redesigned & renovated chapel for some time now and I think that people are really starting to feel comfortable with the space. The new surroundings makes way for a lot of firsts and experimentation. For instance in the last couple of weeks we figured out how to do Ordain and Install New Members in a space that has little "up-front" space and light the Advent Candle. What it all really boils down to is understanding how the space "works" and doing our best to get out of the way. It is exciting to celebrate the events in the life of the church in a new space. I have been fortunate enough to be the 1st one to preach in the new space and celebrate the season of Advent. For me it was a privilege.

Right now the big news is all about this Saturday, December 5th. Like the Block Party, there is a ton happening in those short 24 hours that December 5th is giving us. The day begins at 10:00 am with the Red Cross Blood Drive taking place in Room 111. The Red Cross saw our last Blood Drive as so successful that they asked us they could do it again. This time we will pair the Blood Drive with our already existing Dinner & Fair Trade sale that is now in its 3rd year. To round out our exciting December 5th will be the work of the Dream Team, a collection of Members & Ordained leaders who are taking on the work of finding the dreams our congregation has for this church. The process they are working with is known as Appreciative Inquiry and was brought to our congregation by Rev. Tim Jones, a pastor and church consultant here in our presbytery. Through Tim's leadership our Dream Team Members will be sitting at tables during the dinner with the hopes of exploring with members and friends their dreams for this congregation as it grows into the next generation. I am looking forward to their findings!

Finally, by way of checking in, I want to let you know that the Advent Devotionals are finished and I have already begun to hear great things. Copies from the 1st printing are still available and I hope that you will pick one up. In the event that you can't get out here but would like a copy for yourself please let me know and I can drop one in the mail or email you a PDF copy. Either way I hope that you will use the words of Scripture and the people of this congregation to enrich your Advent expereicne.

Check in tomorrow for a trasncript of my sermon from Advent 1.

Eureka! Last Devotional Author Found

Today I am proud and thankful to announce the third annual Advent Devotional found its 27th author and we now have all the slots filled for our 2009 Advent Devotional. From here on in I will be collecting devotionals from the many folks who will be writing and then it is up to me to format these reflections into a single document that will go for printing and binding. In the end we will print off over 150 copies for the congregation and others.

Keep looking here for more updates and other Boulevard info.

Bad Theology...

Sure Catch Trout Pond

Today marks the 3rd time this week that somebody informed me that they don't know what to pray for. Do I pray for healing? Do I pray for peace? Do I pray for God's will to be done? Do I not pray at all? The inability to connect what it is you want with how you ask for it is maddening and no place is this more a reality then in prayer. Unlike the child who wants a Puppy and asks God for a Puppy, we often fail to ask God for what we really want/need in prayer in a move to hedge our bets if it does not pan out. Fearful to pray to a God whose will seemingly has other plans than our own we relegate our prayer life to the Sure Catch Trout Pond rather than contend with the Marlin. Let me explain.

Back home in California there is a sorry excuse of a lake that sits along the Southbound lanes of Hwy 101. Never having been there but reading the signs as I get stuck in the inevitable jam that comes with reducing 4 lanes of speeding California traffic into 2 I know this "lake" to be well stocked. Yet despite the abundance of fish found in this body of water, far more than would have been found in the "wild", you run a risk of not catching anything. Fishing is a game and like most Fishermen and women will tell you, you often lose. So the owners got to thinking...what would happen if we took out the variable, the chance of failure and made a way for every line to bring up a catch. Enter the Sure Catch Trout Pond, a very large and deep above ground pool of sorts stocked to the brim with hungry, underfed Trout just looking for a bite. Story goes that even the youngest angler can bring up their limit and pay for the privilege of doing so. With desperate, hungry fish everybody is a winner.

The point is this: it is impossible to fail when your bar is so low. It is impossible to feel as though your prayers have not been answered (what do we mean by that? topic for another blog post) when we pray on the fringes of our hearts desires rather than tackling head on the thing that we most want. Take for example the Lord's Prayer, the model prayer Jesus gave the church. If you recite it to yourself right now you might encounter some serious Marlins. "Your Kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven." "Forgive us our debts", "Lead us not into temptation", these are not Sure Catch prayers, these are some pretty aggressive topics to bring to God and this is our model.

I want to encourage you to think first about God when you pray and not about what to pray for. Ask yourself this: what kind of God am I praying to? Is it a God who dodges and ducks the difficult, the painful, the complex? It is a God that takes the path of least resistance? Or do you pray to a God who welcomes lament, who has the prerequisite amount of depth to invite bold prayers in difficult times? The God you pray to may have more to say about what you pray about then you might think.

I will close with advice. If prayer is difficult for you right now I would encourage you to continue to reserve that time usually spent in prayer and use it to discover God. Find a parable, a prophet, or something of Paul's and as you read ask yourself what kind of God are they talking about? My hope is that by getting to know God better we can find direction in our prayers.

Sermon: Blindness - Mark 10:46-52

It seems to me that when I get around to writing a sermon I am usually stuck with one of two things: an idea that I cannot shake or a question that I cannot answer. For our scripture for today it is the latter. I have listened, I have read, I have sat silently, I have researched but I am stuck with a question I cannot readily answer: Why did the crowd try to keep the Blind man silent and away from Jesus?

Descriptions of crowds following Jesus around are a normal part of the Gospel. They force Christ to preach from a Boat, they produce opportunities for healing, they attract spies and Pharisees but also miracles, yet up until this point we have never encountered a crowd that bared folks from joining. And this is what doesn’t make sense to me. Why did the crowd, a collected mass of individuals, decide at one point that their mishmash of women, children, labors, and everyday folks would became exclusive and prohibit a man who is obviously looking for a miracle?

When I think about the throng of people following around Jesus I get the image of the crowd that follows around Golfer Tiger Woods as he moves from fairway to green. Never having been to the Memorial Tournament, but watching some Golf on TV, I have a very clear image of what this looks like. Tiger tees off before a silent but jammed packed crowd of fans. They are 5-6 people deep all clamoring for a line of sight and then jockeying for position as Tiger makes his way down to his 2nd shot. The more aggressive of the bunch walks fast (if not jogs) to the second shot claiming the best, most perfect vantage point to see the magic that is Tiger’s Golf game, leaving the seconds for those who were either too civil or too slow not to claw their way into perfect position. Why are those folks there? Why don’t they do the same thing for some guy struggling to make the cut? Simple: because it is Tiger Woods, perhaps the greatest golfer of all-time. They want to see something special. They want to see Tiger drive a green on a Par 4. They want to see Tiger put for Eagle. They want to see what he will do next. The crowd follows Tiger around for the show. I am not sure the crowd that followed Jesus around was all that different.

They in their sandals and tunics are not that different from the polos and slacks that stand in the presence of Golf greatness. The crowd that we now hear of leaving Jericho heading down the road to Jerusalem was there to breathe in the greatness, perhaps even the celebrity of Jesus Christ. They have heard his dynamic teaching, they have encountered his dealings with the Pharisees, and by the 10th chapter of Mark – which would have been right around the last few months or so of Christ’s life – word of Christ’s healing would have traveled to Jericho and yet instead of having a ringside seat to Jesus himself performing a miracle in their very presence, despite having the ability to claim the very best seat for the most amazing thing they would have ever seen they instead tell the blind Bartimaeus to shut up. If it were me… I might have started yelling “OVER HERE!” but instead they tell the blind man sitting along the road to keep quiet, Jesus isn’t for you. It is at this point that it is helpful that we remember that this story is about blindness.

We should not underestimate Mark as a storyteller. He is at work painting a story for us about sight. As Jesus is restoring sight to the blind the disciples are having a hard time seeing anything. Blinded by their expectations, their intuition causing them to stumble over the reality that Christ is not here to lead a nation or command an army, the Disciples are having a real difficult time making out even the biggest letter atop of the Eye Chart that is Christ’s Mission. They have had the best seat in the house, private lessons with the master and yet at the end of the day they still have to feel their way through. I don’t want to rag on the disciples, Lord knows that I am as blind as they come but I would like to think that if I had the opportunity that they had; if I could have traveled around with Jesus, seen him do the things and say the things that he did, I would have seen correctly, I would have not been blind. But we all know that is a lie.

We all wrestle with seeing Jesus. We can’t quite make out the face of the Son of David who came to redeem all of life. We have a hard time focusing in on the Teacher who tells us to trust above all else. The reality is that despite the witness of scripture, the tradition of the church, the community of those around us we still have a real hard time seeing Jesus – truly seeing Jesus for who he is. It is here that I like the image of the difference between following Jesus and being a Follower of Jesus.

These days some of the hipper Christian communities reject the term Christian. It has too much baggage they say, preferring instead to call themselves Followers of Jesus. Rejecting much of the tradition of mainstream religion they want to see themselves as folks who follow the teachings of Jesus, believe in the Gospel and seek to live in community with fellow Christians with the relationship they have in Christ as the bond that brings them all together. Not a bad idea I think but certainly different from the crowd of folks who are following Jesus. Over hill and over dale, along the dusty trail they follow Jesus around seeking to occupy the same space, lean into the celebrity of a man who speaks of forgiving sins, who heals people, and seemingly rewrites the rules as he goes. Jesus as a historical figure would have been crowd-worthy. Following Jesus around as he spoke of grace and peace, love and forgiveness, community and redemption, could have been a formative spiritual experience but if you were there for the celebrity, the “what will he do next”, if you were there for the show then your proximity to Christ would far outweigh anything that he could have ever said. It reminds me of an old friend of mine who was a fiend when it came to working out; a real Gym Rat. He was especially proud of his arms and one day while down in Southern California he walked into a gym right at the precise time as Arnold Schwarzenegger, who at the time was running for Governor of the Great State of California. Schwarzenegger in his prime was known for the most amazing arms in modern bodybuilding, and sure enough sitting amongst a quickly filling gym was my friend sitting literally at the feet of the Master. To hear him tell it, Arnold spent about 35 minutes talking about Bodybuilding and answering questions before singing to the choir asking about voting in the upcoming gubernatorial election. You talk to my friend about this experience and he couldn’t tell you a single thing Arnold said about bodybuilding, the decision to run for Governor, anything about how to obtain the most amazing arms in Modern Bodybuilding. All he has to say is “I was sitting right next to The Terminator.”

Some folks are followers of Jesus and some folks are following Jesus and perhaps the way to go from celebrity to savior is for our eyes to be open to the full measure of a Savior who is the Word Made Flesh but in the end of the day I am still not too sure why it is that he crowd said No to blind Bartimaeus. Maybe it isn’t a question to be answered but rather a lesson to learn or an example for the church and us. Maybe it is a wake up call reminding us that Christ is the Word Made Flesh and not a Poster Child. Maybe it is a call to listen, a strong suit for blind Bartimaeus but not so much for us, and not get caught up in the glitz and glamor of a mainstream, accepted faith. Maybe it is meant to remind us that we shouldn’t be the ones setting the terms on who gets to have an experience of the Risen Savior. Perhaps it is a call to start paying attention to the cries for healing coming from outside the group. Maybe it is all three.

Anyway we slice it at the end of the day in Christ the Blind see, the Hungry are fed, the Thirsty drink deep from a Living Water, and perhaps what we need more than anything else is to either get on board or get out of the way.

Amen.

New & Exciting Delevopments @ Boulevard

So much is happening around here these days that I thought that I would share it with you as a way to keep you in the loop about the stuff that has me excited.

Sunday School
Last week Wiley Elliott informed me that he had completed and "installed" our brand new Puppet stage for our Rotation Sunday School. The stage is something that I have been dreaming about for about a year and thankfully Wiley stepped up and knocked it out taking all the initiative on his own. Roughly 6 feet long, 6 feet high and 3-4 feet wide, this PVC Pipe stage is light but sturdy and once we cover it in fabric we can begin adding puppets to our Rotation Sunday School program.

Youth Ministry
Amy Smith and Ginny Fisher have been working hard on the restoration/redesign of our Youth Room. So far this dynamic duo have begun the process of putting down a coat of primer, identified the items that are to be hauled away, and began the search for replacement items. It is great to have members who take the ball and run with it. It is my bet that once all the clutter and couches are out of that room it will be a great place to hang out.

Chapel
After a long season of fund raising and work Boulevard will be holding its first service in the newly redesigned and renovated Grinsted Chapel. I am honored to be the 1st one to preach and celebrate the Lord's Supper in the Chapel that is not 100% totally finished but fully operational. Every time I pop my head in the Chapel I am struck that the memory of its former self gets a little fainter and fainter and the future of the place gets brighter and brighter. I hope that you will join us for worship on Sunday as we begin a new chapter in the worshiping life of the congregation.

The All-Time 9

My love of Baseball is pretty well documented and so it should come as no surprise that with the American and National League's Championship Series almost complete my thoughts have turned to the World Series. While I am personally pulling for the Philadelphia Phillies to repeat as World Champions the caliber of play by all teams has made for some of the most thrilling baseball this season despite the fact that my own team the Detroit Tigers choked.

The Dodgers, Yankees, Phillies, and perhaps less so the Angels are some of the most established teams in the history of Baseball and carry with them a great roster of Hall of Fame players. As someone who likes to think about the history of the game I am excited about a poll that Major Leauge Baseball is offering where fans like you and me can vote for the All-Time 9, the single greatest player at his position in the history of the franchise. Teams with short histories like the Colorado Rockies have their 9 filled with names like Vinnie Castilla, who is the top vote getter with over 90% voting for him as the Rockies All-Time greatest Third Baseman but compared to teams like Baltimore who had Brooks Robinson or Kansas City with George Brett it is easy to see that the Rockies are lacking the depth to make this interesting.

Scanning some of the more historic teams we see names like Ty Cobb & Babe Ruth (who hated each other), Micky Mantle & Jackie Robinson, and other "who's who" of Baseball. I personally have had a great time both strolling down memory lane and honoring some of the greats with my vote. To think of the history that is contained in this pursuit reminds me of a term that we use in our faith to talk about this very same thing: A Great Cloud of Witnesses.

A Great Cloud of Witnesses, is an expression that gets at the central theme that we are united by those brothers and sisters who have gone before and on who's shoulders we now stand. Included in their number are the Ty Cobbs and Babe Ruths of this church and our faith. We are able to lean into their example, learn from their mistakes and successes, and ultimately provide that same service for the generation to come. Soon enough folks will be standing on our shoulders, talking about the people here and now like we do about the heroes of our churches and faith.

As for Baseball, we will have to wait to see if Red Hot players of today like Phillies standouts Ryan Howard and Chase Utley will have the staying power and production to earn them a spot in Cooperstown. Only time will tell. Yet for the Cloud of Witnesses, we are all a part of the witness of the Church in this and every age. The Cloud of Witnesses is our Cooperstown, our All-Time 9

The time has arrived: Recruiting for Advent Devotional Authors

With the move from summer to fall comes with it the return to school, the changing of the leaves and my job of finding authors for our Advent Devotional. Boulevard Presbyterian Church has written its own Advent Devotional for 3 years now and each year we try to find new authors to join the others who make penning a devotion part of their Advent celebration. While each and every year there are those who doubt themselves, criticize unfairly their writing abilities or spiritual depth, or get scared away at the thought of the entire congregation reading their stuff, I am always thrilled when someone undertakes this task for the 1st time.

After doing this for a couple of years I am able to say with some certainty what it takes to write a successful Advent Devotion. First and foremost it takes someone who is willing. Really if you have someone who, confident or doubting in their abilities, wants to or even better feels called to write a devotional then all the other things that might make turn good devotionals into great ones fade into the distance. Being called to do something always makes the fruit taste sweeter than if you were convinced. Secondly, great devotionals are made up of personal reflection and insight over dry attempts at theological astuteness or being overtly spiritual. I strongly believe that what makes this devotional unique is that it comes from the people that are sitting in the pews each and every Sunday morning and not from some Ph.d sitting in a dusty office (NOTE: we do have a couple Ph.d's write for us in the past. They are awesome and I am not sure if their offices are dusty). We pride ourselves on the fact that this is something produced and authored by folks here at church warts and all.

I remember my first year in recruiting folks to write, a member suggested that I should get a part-time job selling used cars for the smooth talking I was dishing out in pursuit of my goal of 22 authors. In thinking back on that as I now begin the process of putting this all together and I can honestly say that I believe no matter your abilities and belief in yourself you can write a devotional. It only takes two things: Being willing and being a real person.

Stay tuned for more updates on the progress of the 2009 Advent Devotional. Our theme for this year is The Days are Surely Coming which helps us remember that Advent means Waiting.

Bringing Work Home

I am a list maker. I make shopping lists so that I do not forget anything at Giant Eagle. I make packing lists so the socks do not get left in Columbus. I make to-do lists at home and work when I need to accomplish a number of things in a finite time frame. I guess it is something of an anxious habit but I like to be prepared to make the most out of a situation. I will have to say that while this is not a 100%, fool-proof plan it does usually produce results. Add a cup of Coffee (jet fuel compared to my caffeine intake of choice Diet Coke) and we are talking multi-tasking. But I am starting to experience a problem with my work habit. It is starting to creep into my day-off.

Today I started to write the following Tweet: "To-Do: Read, Harry Potter movie w/ Kate, Finish Basement clean up,..." That is far as I got before I noticed that I was trying to turn the things that I wanted to do at home with my free time into work that needed to be stressed about and accomplished. I was turning something I enjoy - going to a movie - into a task to be completed and checked off. Not cool.

I know this blog isn't the venue for group therapy but what I can say is that I am surprised by how quickly I can revert to "working" my hobbies. Finish this book to start a new one & reading becomes a chore. Watch the stuff my TiVo recorded & delete it before new stuff needs to be recorded. I like reading. I like watching TV off TiVo but when it turns into a task, something to accomplish I start to feel like I am working the loves of my life for what amounts to no good reason.

I know that I am not alone in this. We all need to find ways to leave work for work and play for play. I hope that this weekend you will be able to cut work off and enjoy the opportunity to be unproductive and enjoy the things that you choose to do. I hope that you can do this much with worship this Sunday. Church attendance can often fall into this "I choose = I have to" realm and when we start feeling as though we are working church then we lose out on one of the greatest gifts God has given us: a Sabbath.

Take a Sabbath this Sabbath. Enjoy the game, forget the lawn, and when you get to church on Sunday stick around and have a cup of coffee. Most people don't regret it.

A Prayer of Healing

Today in worship we learned of another beloved member of the Boulevard family who has been hospitalized. I ask that you join with me in praying for those who are facing a crisis of health.

Mighty and merciful God,
you sent Jesus Christ to heal broken lives.
We praise you that today
you send healing in doctors and nurses,
and bless us with technology in medicine.
We claim you promises of wholeness
as we pray for those who are ill and those who are hospitalized,
who long for your healing touch.
Make the weak strong,
the sick healthy,
the broken whole,
and confirm those who serve them
as agents of your love.
Than all shall be renewed in vigor
to point to the risen Christ,
who conquered death
that we might live eternally. AMEN

Reading a new book

I thought that I would introduce you to a new book I am reading. It is called Rejuvenile: Kickball, Cartoons, Cupcakes, and the Reinvention of the American Grown-Up by Christopher Noxon.

Noxon, a contributor to NPR, weaves together first hand accounts and observations with statistical data to show how adults find ways to hold on to their youth and in some cases cultivate their inner "Peter Pan."

I invite you to take a look and listen to NPR's coverage of Rejuvenile by clicking HERE.

So as the Kickball team party takes place tomorrow and I am beset on all sides by fellow rejuneniles I hope that you can find sometime this weekend and let your inner child come out and play.

Happy reading!

Rowdy Ladies & Live Music

Yesterday I was in Charleston, WV. Kate, our dog (O.Henry), and I jumped in the Saturn and drove down to her folks house for a dinner with the family and then out to the Clay Center for the taping of NPR's Mountain Stage Radio Show, a live music radio show that brings in quality musicians. Headlining the show was the amazing Indigo Girls who played a short set but managed to give the crowd both Closer to Fine and Galileo, 2 of their biggest hits. But like most concerts the headliners don't go on 1st.

Much to my delight the series of performers that led up to the Indigo Girls were great. Two Singer/Songwriters, a Banjo genius, and Jill Hennessy, a former star of Crossing Jordan and Law & Order, who is a gifted singer, played their hearts out but sadly they were not the only ones seeking to contribute to the live taping of this show. About 10 rows back from where I sat 5 or so ladies who seemingly either had too much to drink pre-show or hadn't been in public since the days of the Wild West parked themselves and proceeded to be loud, inappropriate, and tried to converse/comment on everything the musicians said. They were horrible. The folks sitting behind us commented that they were sitting right in front of these ladies and had to move because they couldn't hear the music. Everybody was getting frustrated and to put it bluntly homicidal. The breaking point came when the aforementioned Jill Hennessey took the stage. Hennessey, a former improv actress, responded to just about everything she could hear from these rowdy ladies and took it all in stride. For the entire set Hennessey took what these ladies decided to share with everybody but for her final song Hennessey selected a song about her father and her relationship that was very meaningful to her personally. The title of the song was Save Me, and in the .5 seconds of silence that hung in the air before the song was to start the loudest and by far the most obnoxious of the ladies mockingly cried out "Save Me, Saaaaaaaave Meeeeee." Hennessey looked as though she was hurt.

The story ends with the ladies being taken into the lobby of the Clay Center's Cultural Center and being escorted out. The crowd was relieved and left to enjoy the Indigo Girl's upcoming set. Yet, as the 400+ folks who gathered there that day congregated in the lobby the rowdy ladies was the only thing people were talking about. General consensus was people were left wondering: Why would anyone do something like that?

Why do people to stupid stuff like that? Were they drunk? Is that an excuse? Folks generally hold themselves together in public and while concerts are notorious for human stupidity I am truthfully not too surprised. There is always a reason for the way people act. Craving attention? Live radio show, beaming every sound out to thousands of radio stations nationwide. Perfect venue for those who must be validated. But I have to be honest, I am just like those ladies.

I am the guy who likes to be the last one to stop clapping. I am almost always the last clap you hear. Why do I do it? Control, attention, desire to be noticed? Perhaps, but like those ladies I had a subversive something to add. I recognize the unnecessary in my actions almost universally after the fact but it always seems like a good idea during the concert. Humanity wants something out of everything - wants a piece of whatever is awesome - and to get it we often insert ourselves into the mix at the expense of others. Thankfully in those moments, like today will hopefully be for those rowdy ladies, we recognize the mistakes we have made, the ways that we have taken from others so that we might benefit ourselves, and we can make amends.

So...
Mountain State, I am sorry. You were awesome and I wanted a little piece for myself.

Sermon Video

Thanks to James (Sr. Pastor/Head of Staff) & his Blog for posting the video of my sermon "Saltiness" from September 27th. You can check out the video by clicking on the below link.

Watch the Video

Happy Watching!

Sparkly $2 Bills Win Grandview Kickball Championship

Not surprisingly the Sparkly $2 Bills swept the playoffs and claimed the Grandview Kickball Championship yesterday in the season ending Playoffs. The Sparkly $2 Bills, a team that I have called the Pink team due to the color of their t-shirts, went undefeated in the regular season and was the odds on favorite to claim the championship.

Here is how the playoffs shaped up:

6:00 PM - The Grandview Branch of the Arlington Bank vs. The Bird is the Word
We played The Bird is the Word (Blue Team) the 1st game of the season and The Grandview Arlington Bank (Green Team) the last game of the season. In the end The Green team, who had previously lost to the Blue team fairly handily claimed victory and a place in the Championship game.

7:00 PM - The Buckeyes vs. The Sparkly $2 Bills
The Buckeyes (Grey Team) was our 2nd opponent and defeated Total Depravity by 1 run. The Sparkly $2 Bills (Pink Team) handed Total Depravity a loss in the 2nd to the last game of the season. In the end The Sparkly $2 Bills claimed their place in the Championship

Championship Game: The Grandview Arlington Bank vs. The Sparkly $2 Bills

Sermon: Saltiness - A Reflection on Mark 9:38-50

I come from a family of good cooks. My grandma, perhaps like your grandma, was the best cook in the world, and my Mom makes perhaps the finest Spaghetti on the planet. Their food was awesome and now that I am the chef for my family I look at the stuff I make and wonder what went wrong. I have the right pans, sharp knives, a website with thousands of recipes, but at the end of the day stuff just doesn’t have the flavor like theirs did and even when I am following their instructions something is off. Perhaps it is experience. I try to make up for years of experience feeding families by watching cooking shows on TV. I am not sure it is working but I have been learning a lot. I have figured out that the thing my Grandma used to do with the Pork that ended up in the single greatest edition to the culinary world, something called John Mazetti, was called braising, yet when I do it is awful. Thanks to the TV chefs I know that you can add heavy cream to scrambled eggs and you shouldn’t leave them on the fire for too long but I never saw any heavy cream in my Mom’s fridge and her eggs were incredible. I guess in the cooking world know-how, gadgets, fancy pots, and stuff like it doesn’t stand up in the end to someone who has spent years and years putting flavor into their food. I would trade my German knives and my Calaphon pots for whatever mojo Grandma had to spare.

Seems to me that I am not the only one my age who is searching for the flavor and is not finding it. I have friends who fancy themselves fine cooks but opening cans, boiling water, and store-bought gravy does not a good chef make. I may sound like a snob and I am willing to entertain that for a minute, but I am afraid that kids are going to grow up thinking that Kraft Mac ‘n Cheese, and Hot Pockets are wonderful and are afraid or worse never exposed to flavor of Blue Cheese. The palate is equipped for Blue Cheese. It is out there. Some people hate it and I am fine with that, but I love it and when I order a salad that is what I will be ordering. When restaurants do not carry Blue Cheese dressing, as one I recently regretted going to failed to do, because “it is too strong” a little part of me dies.

This is making me hungry so I will get to the point. Today’s reading is the culinary manifesto of the Gospel. Jesus in what amounts to just a verse blows the lid off the flavorless, the bland, the Mac ‘n Cheese and creates a standard for us based in Salt, creates a standard built on the idea that in order to live in this world we must be like Salt - we must taste like something. It is for this reason that I have begun to ask myself could I pray “Lord, I want to be like Blue Cheese.”

“Lord, I want to be like Blue Cheese, I want to be like Pineapple, I want to be like the Habenero pepper. Help me Oh Lord because today I don’t taste like anything.” The Gospel of Jesus Christ is a strong flavor and as someone who seeks to live in the example of Jesus I too need to be more like Blue Cheese, more like Salt than the comfortable, the universally accepted, the friendly Wonder Bread. The Gospel is an acquired taste – to live it, to consume it, to marinate in it – means that in the great Pot-Luck that is this world, when the party is over there is going to be a whole lot left in your casserole dish when the others have been picked clean. Not everyone is going appreciate the flavor with which you live your life. Not everyone is going to appreciate the ingredients or the manner in which you cultivate the Saltiness of your life. I think that is the subconscious in the words of Jesus when he tells us that in the living of our lives a sinning hand or eye is worth losing in order to insure or maintain the relationship with God. Few folks are going to hear that and not recoil. Cut off my hand? Pluck out my eye? No thank you. Jesus sets up such an example for us to see that the life we live must be about something. What else could serve as a sufficient reason to pluck out your eye? I pluck out my eye, lop off my foot because the life that I seek to live in Christ is so important to me that I would rather live this life without then mortgage my relationship with God. Jesus is laying the framework for the destruction of the flavorless life, the one where faith and action, faith and life have about as much continuity as true Italian food and the Olive Garden. Jesus is telling us that the life that we live must be in line with the faith that we have (this is how you build flavor) but if you lack flavor, if you would rather stay bland so that you could hide on any table without offense, then you miss out on something – the Salt – the taste of a life built on a relationship with God.

Jesus doesn’t want you to cut off your foot. Jesus doesn’t want you to pluck out your eye. But Jesus does wants you to know that it would be better to lose that foot or lose that eye than lose the life spent in relationship with God. This is the Gospel of Blue Cheese. This is the Gospel of Salt. Salt is the flavor, salt is unmistakable on the palate and as we live our life with our relationship with God as the main ingredient we discover that over time the flavor begins to develop and as it is with strong flavors soon enough the way you seek to live out your faith - you become an acquired taste.

See flavor can grow stronger and stronger, and like the difference between my cooking and my grandmas it takes living, it takes experience to cultivate the strong flavors that become the cornerstone of any life of faith. Like my Mom who cooked without a timer telling when the Chicken was done by the way it smelled, you don’t start off learning to cook that way – how could you know what perfect chicken was to smell like? It is only through doing it over and over it is only through practice, experience that your flavors, your faith develops and you can live into the bold flavor that is our faith.

You know this thing about growing in faith, moving from bland to flavorful, is not happening overnight. It is going to take a lot of a lot of things including prayer so I thought I would end my sermon today with a prayer like we do with the children’s message - you repeat after me. Alight, let us pray…

Dear God
I want to be like Blue Cheese
I want to be like Liverwurst
I want to be like Habanero Peppers & Listerine
Like horseradish & Garlic
Like Tabasco & Cough Syrup
Like a Salt Water Popsicle
Help me O God, in this world of Wonder Bread & Pop Tarts
To taste so strong
That the world will need a drink of water
When it gets a load of me.
Amen.

Ecumenical Extravaganza in Louisville

Yesterday I was privileged to accompany 12 folks from Thailand and a handful from our Presbytery (Scioto Valley) down to Louisville, Kentucky. My adventure began at 6:30am in the parking lot of nearby Covenant Presbyterian Church. Our mission/adventure lay before us: Lunch, a tour, and a conversation at Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary with Rev. Clifton Kirkpatrick, the President of the World Alliance of Reformed Churches and then from the seminary to Presbyterian Church USA's denominational office (aka. HQ). At HQ we met with David Hudson, the Mission area director for Asia, and had a tour of the place including the magnificent chapel.

So here is a question: why did we do this?
I am glad you asked...
The Presbytery of Scioto Valley has a long standing partnership with Pahk II, which is one of 19 "presbyteries" in the Church of Christ in Thailand. Every 2-3 years a delegation from there or here visits the other with the hopes of strengthening the bonds of friendship between sister churches as well as think about how each group might equip and strengthen the other. Judy Baker, the chair of the Thai Partnership Committee for the Presbytery of Scioto Valley, calls this a "mission of friendship" with emphasis on creating a community with our Thai brothers and sisters rather than going to Thailand with the prospects of building churches or doing Vacation Bible Schools. I was excited to be a part of this partnership.

To be honest, I love stuff like this. God blessed me with many opportunities to travel and I have been fortunate enough to be involved in international mission. Each and every time I travel and have the opportunity to share a meal, worship, or work along side men and women from places that all to often feel far away to us here in the states I am overcome with one crystal-clear reality: we are all in this together. Thai, Kenyans, Mexicans, Chinese, Americans, and everyone in-between, we are all in this life together. We all seek to live well, provide for our loved ones, be happy and healthy, and in the end, feel loved. These are the things that, for me, seem to be bonds unable to be broken by the minuscule things that get lifted up as the apocalyptic differences that shatter any attempts at unity. My life, my faith, and my desire to see the world be a better place united me with the 12 folks from the Thai Christian churches.

Total Depravity Season Ends, Misses Playoffs

Sunday, September 13th was a day that none will soon forget. Two worship services instead of one, the first Fall Fun & Food Block Party, and for twenty men and women the final Kickball game of the regular season. On the line was a shot at the playoffs and the continuation of the season by one week. Yet despite fielding perhaps the best looking and well-dressed team in the Grandview Heights Kickball League, Total Depravity fell 10-0 with play being stopped after only 30 minutes of play.

Perhaps it was the rust built up after a week off. Perhaps it was fatigue after having so much fun at the Block Party. Perhaps it was a lot of things but like our neighboring Ohio State University, Total Depravity couldn't win the big game and were left out of the playoffs in their inaugural year. Yet despite the lopsided score a couple of interesting highlights are worthy of mention including Total Depravity's place in the Grandview Kickball record books as the first team to turn a Triple Play.

With the game already out of hand, the team of Arlington Bank Grandview came up to kick and quickly put two runners on. Bringing up the third kicker of the inning who placed the ball just right in order for Total Depravity's stout infield defense to turn two quick outs. While the ball was still in play Micheal Schmidt, member of TD, quickly noticed that the base runner who at this point had circled the bags had failed to touch first base as he rounded to second. Unaware of this oversight himself, the base runner stood by unaware as the ball was tossed to 1st and the third out to seal the Triple Play was called.

All in all it was a wonderful season filled with lots of fun and fellowship. Stay tuned for a Season in Review where some of the sights, sounds and stories from the 2009 Kickball season will be shared. Thank you for your support!

Brett's Easy Steps to Fall Fun & Food Participation

September 12th might as well be a holiday or perhaps something larger than a holiday...maybe what would happen if Christmas and 4th of July had a kid. September 12th is Ohio State Buckeyes verses The University of Southern California Trojans at the Horseshoe. This football battle (that many commentators are forecasting as a lop-sided affair) has been dominating the news cycle here in Columbus, Ohio. But I am here to tell you of the singular event for the weekend. It is not Football. It is not Tiddly-Winks. It is not even a Cheerleader Car Wash. It is Boulevard's Fall Fun & Food Block Party and it is going to happen September 13th from 2-7pm.

We are going to have a blast playing some games, checking out some Columbus Zoo animals, eating some food, bouncing in the Bounce House and getting our faces painted. It is going to be a blast and you should be there. But you say, "Brett, how do I take advantage of such wonderful fun and free food?" Well, I am glad you asked. Just follow "Brett's Easy Steps to Fall Fun & Food Participation." They are as follows:

1. Wake up on the morning of Sunday, Sept. 13th, shower, and go to church at Boulevard Presbyterian (Church attendance is not required for the block party but I recommend it)
2. Go home, get into some Block Party clothes, do not eat lunch, and grab a lawn chair
3. Arrive at Boulevard Presbyterian Church (1235 Northwest Blvd., Columbus, OH) and park along the Northwest Blvd. side
4. Approach the Block Party fun and excitement boldly. Have some food. Play some games. See the Zoo animals & Listen to the music.
5. Repeat Step 4 as able

It is going to be a great time and with my easy instructions anyone can have a blast. Hope to see you there!

Coffee Snobs & Cups

I try to be like Jesus and love and respect everybody but it is hard. Some folks are hard for me to put up with. Sure I love them as my fellow brothers and sisters but certain folks rub me the wrong way with Coffee Snobs being right there at the top of the list. Do you know a coffee snob? Are you a coffee snob? Scoffing at Folgers for Jamaican Blue Mountain french pressed with spring water in a specially designed cup or stainless steel travel tumbler. Do you drink your coffee black meanwhile ridiculing others who put in sugar, cream or flavors? Coffee is a beverage enjoyed by parts of this world yet I have dear friends that I love who treat their allegiance to "good coffee" as a lifestyle like some speak about adhering to their faith.

You might have guessed by now I am not a coffee drinker and you would be right. I am surrounded by coffee drinkers, I work in a place that coffee is readily available at any time, I live by no fewer than 4 coffee joints all of which have no empty tables most of the day, and yet rarely do I drink the stuff but like most people I own a coffee cup. In fact a quick glance around the room tells me I have 3 coffee cups in my office. I am prepared to drink coffee. I have the cup (the grainy photo taken with my Blackberry is of my go-to Detroit Tigers cup), I know where to get it and I know what to do when I have it yet I hardly imbibe. Surely I am not alone. Surely there are those who have everything ready at their disposal but do not/choose not to drink the very same nectar that others seem to have devoted much of their free time and income to obtaining.

This is starting to sound like a spiritual thing to me. Like those of us who have Coffee Cups but do not drink the stuff that the cups were designed for, we have everything that we need to experience community and a relationship with God yet for whatever reason we do not have an experience of God in community. Furthermore the folks that we run into who are zealously devoted to God and make no attempt to tone it down further compel us not to seek out a relationship with the same God that makes those guys annoying. Could it be that "God Snobs" are keeping folks from exploring a relationship with God just as Coffee Snobs are keeping others from experiencing the joy of coffee?

Fall Fun & Food Update: Yard Signs & Flyer Distribution

As you may know Boulevard is hosting a community block party Sunday, September 13th from 2-7pm entitled Fall Fun & Food. As way of advertising this event we have purchased yard signs that are easy to read, weather resistant and most importantly are NOT obnoxious! If you would be willing to help us get the word out about this FREE community event please let me know and I would be happy to get you a sign! Another way to get the word out is to join with other members on Saturday, September 5th at 8am to help distribute flyers to homes in the Boulevard Surrounding area. Let some folks know about the street closing as well as what is in store! This is going to be a BIG help.

Also if you are interested in helping make this a memorable event we could use all the hands we could get. We have various positions that we are looking to fill ranging from helping with food, to face painting, and a lot in between. This event is going to be awesome but it will only be full of awesome-ness if you can be a part of it!
Come by the church or contact us to sign up to help out. In the mean time check out Boulevard Presbyterian Church's web page for a schedule of event and more information.

Hope to see you there. Stay tuned for more updates

Total Depravity Loses, Game Stopped at 11-1

Despite the cool night things got heated as Total Depravity sustained the worst loss in the team's short history losing 11-1 to the Sparkly $2 Bills.

The 8 pm game began just as any other game might have. Teams taking practice, stretching and making the line-up but as soon as Total Depravity came up to kick in the top of the 1st inning normal flew right out the window as Total Depravity team members were treated with tag-outs that some saw as poor sportsmanship. Given the relaxed nature of Kickball our hard throwing opponents are something of an anomaly in the Grandview Kickball League - tagging opposing players out where touching the base would be sufficient - and without surprise the antics were not appreciated. Sadly it took an unfortunate series of events where a Total Depravity team member tripped and was scrapped up as a result of the hard throw before the game took a more recreational feel and despite the final score most players had fun.

As the score shows there was little to report in the way of offense for Total Depravity. Kicks were met with a stout defense that made few mistakes thus illustrating why the Sparkly $2 Bills are undefeated. The lone offensive score came by way of a series of walks issued by a new Pitcher which ultimately resulted in Paula Frank being walked with the bases loaded bringing in Bethany Staggemeir.

When all was said and done Total Depravity made a few errors and a few great catches. Included in the defensive highlights was the play of our outfield which included great defense on the part of Bethany Staggemeir who strung together a fine collection of caught drives to the outfield.

Team Notes:
Total Depravity was featured in the article Kickball league lets adults act like kids again from Wednesday, August 26th edition of This Week In Grandivew. Click on the links to read the article

Total Depravity will not be playing Sunday, September 6th in observance of Labor Day. Games will resume Sunday, September 13th at 7pm.

Remembering Seminary

Thank you to the Columbus Dispatch for running this photo and reminding me of seminary. I cannot speak for all my classmates but I had a blast in seminary. I met great friends, I had lots of fun playing football like my Catholic friend here, and it was at Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary that I met my wonderful wife Kate.

But this weekend I am remembering a part of seminary that is difficult for most: PCUSA Ordination Exams. Like Doctors taking B0ards, and Lawyers trying to pass the bar, would be Pastors must pass for Ordination Exams that are administered by the denomination. There are 4 exams each dealing with a specific area of study or knowledge that is deemed necessary to be a successful Pastor. The four categories are Theology, Worship, Polity (aka PCUSA Church Governance) and Exegesis (in depth study of the Bible and use/knowledge of Greek or Hebrew). With the exception of Exegesis, which is a take home exam, the tests are 3 hours long and each are divided up into 3 parts. Tests are administered over two days with Theology and Worship being given on Friday and Polity given on Saturday. When you complete your Polity exam you are given the Exegesis Ordination Exam as well as a very firm due date and time. Woe to anyone who doesn't adhere to the due date and time.

All in all Ords can be a frightening and stressful experience. For some they are a breeze but for others (I am not ashamed to say that I had to take more than one twice) they can truly be time of doubt and worry. I would like to invite you to join with me in praying for those individuals who will be taking Ordination Exams this weekend and will be working on their Exegesis exams next week.

Total Depravity Earns 1st Victory 9-1

With near perfect Kickball weather and fans in attendance Total Depravity took the field of C. Ray Buck Sports Park for a 6:00pm affair against The 3 B's (0-3). Total Depravity scored early and never looked back, tallying 9 runs before The 3 B's were able to score their first in the bottom of the final inning thus earning Total Depravity's first victory (1-2)

Before Total Depravity took the field a last minute change in the defensive alignment saw Dave Culbertson take over the pitching duties from Travis Williamson who had pitched the previous two games. With Culbertson on the mound, Williamson on third, and Short Stop mainstay Jon Stephens holding down the left side of the diamond it would appear that a defensive harmony was achieved as Williamson became the first member of Total Depravity to throw out a runner from third base and many pop-ups were caught. Other defensive highlights include James Sledge's first base play which included a spinning tag-out after a boggled catch and Bethany Staggemeir's play subbing in at Second Base. With the defensive alignment that produced a near perfect record in catching infield pop-ups, Total Depravity turned its attention to scoring runs.

Total Depravity tallied a team record 9 runs over the span of the 55 minute game time. With most players making it on to base the runs came early and often yet it was discovered that Total Depravity has a propensity to kick to the left side of the diamond which produced many outs at third base. A post-game strategy session addressed this issue with the hopes of finding a remedy for our next game on August 30th at 8 pm.

TEAM NOTES:
James Sledge, who came into the game as a sub at 1st base, recorded the first triple and home run in Total Depravity history. With no home run fence Sledge earned his first round-tripper on the speed of his legs as he easily scored. Included in Sledge's home run was Mary Clifton who was on first when the ball was kicked and herself showed impressive base running skills scoring all the way from first.

Alan Froman & the photographer from This Week in Grandview covered the game and conducted a number of interviews with members of Total Depravity. Look for print coverage of our game and victory in this weeks edition. Don't get This Week in Grandview? Copies will be posted on the bulletin board.

INJURY NOTES:
There were no injuries to report. A few players subbed themselves out with pulled muscles or sore legs but nothing substantial to report.

Join us next week as we take on the Sparkly $2 Bills (aka the Pink team) at C. Ray Buck Sports Park at 8:oo PM.

Total Depravity falls to 0-2

Total Depravity jumped out to an early lead but it wasn't enough as The Buckeyes rallied late and claimed victory 6-5.

The evening started with a pre-game Tailgate that brought together our passionate fan base and a casual meet and eat with the finely tuned athletes of Total Depravity. While no autographs were collected the team was able to answer fan questions and model the new team uniforms for those interested in showing their team spirit at home and in the office. With 7 pm game time fast approaching the rosters were set & it was time to play.

Total Depravity began the game by collecting a quick 3 outs and then was able to record an equally quick three runs behind the experienced kicking of the front of the lineup. Yet 3 runs was not enough to hold off the rally of the Buckeyes (1-1) who waited until the middle innings to score their first run and later 3 more runs on a peculiar call by the home plate umpire who awarded the runner home despite not yet being on 3rd thus bringing the score to 4-3. From there it was a back and forth game with each team scoring points and having them answered almost immediately in the next inning. When it was all said and done Total Depravity managed to leave the winning run on base with a two out pop-up that ended the game and secured The Buckeyes first win 6-5.

TEAM NOTES:
Improved defense resulted in virtually all infield pop-ups being recorded as outs as well as some line drives. Jon Stephens who spent much of the game as Short Stop caught two consecutive line drives in the 1st inning. Travis Williamson who pitched the entire game also show off improved defense robbing more than one kicker of a hit.

Amy Creighton recorded Total Depravity's first walk in Kickball history.

INJURY NOTES:
Based off of the first game's slew of injuries ranging from skinned knees to broken fingers, week 2 was a success. While in-game soreness and strained muscles were a common complaint we did not have any reports of broken bones. We did have a skinned leg when Micheal Schmidt slid back into 1st to avoid the tag. He was treated after the game.

Join us next week for Week 3 as Total Depravity takes on The 3 B's (0-2) at 6pm.

Total Depravity to debut Uniforms at Aug 16th Game

Total Depravity (TD), the Kickball team of Boulevard Presbyterian Church will debut their uniforms for the August 16th 7pm game against The Buckeyes (0-10).

Fans of TD are encouraged to come out early and help us tailgate the pregame. Hot Dogs, Burgers, Family Friendly drinks, and more will be had as we get ready for TDs 2nd game of the season. Tailgating starts at 6pm at C. Ray Buck park. Bring a friend and stay for the game!

Total Depravity drops 1st game 13-6

In the first game of the inaugural season of Grandview Heights Recreation Kickball Total Depravity, the house kickball team of Boulevard Presbyterian Church, fell 13-6 in a 9 inning affair.

With an 8pm start time Total Depravity filled the visitors dugout with 18 game day players each hungry for the victory that ultimately alluded them. The game began with Total Depravity (TD) kicking and three quick outs later the first inning of the first year was in the books. From there things quickly got out of hand as The Bird is the Word handed TD a handful of quick runs and never really looked back.

Highlights for TD were found mostly on the defensive side of the ball with Greg Smith, Mary Clifton, James Sledge, Jon Stephens and Travis Williamson making great outs that kept TD in the high scoring affair until the later innings. But the show belonged to Smith whose Left Center heroics caught the attention of passing by Baseball Hall of Fame Center Fielder Willie Mays. When asked "do you think you could play Left Center any better than Smith?" Mays looked out at Smith and replied "I don't think so...but then again I am 78 years old."

Total Depravity will take the field again Sunday, August 16th at 7pm with the hopes of securing their first win. Pregame festivities include a Kickball Tailgate sponsored by the Boulevard Young Adults. Tailgate begins at 6pm. Remember family friendly beverages only please.

How I Spent my Summer Vacation

I am on vacation so I am not going to do the work of this blog aka. inserting links to the things that I am talking about...lo siento. By the way, most of what I got to say is found here at www.montreat.org. Enjoy!

I am currently on vacation. It really is more of a Sabbath than a vacation. When I think of vacation I think of our upcoming trip to the Caymans. The sabbath I am taking is a little more in line with the idea of Sabbath I wrote about here in May. I am working and not resting. Since Saturday I have been what they call the Community Life Coordinator for the 6th and final week of the Montreat Youth Conference. My job entails doing the behind-the-scenes things for the conference that allow the participants to stay safe and within the bounds of the contract (aka. Covenant) that both youth and adult singed before arriving here this day.

One of the more well known aspects of my job is something called Covenant Patrol. Covenant Patrol sounds to me like something that happened in Puritan times when folks would make surprise visits to make sure folks were well behaved. To be honest, it isn't a whole lot different. Myself and my band of merry men and women walk around during the time right after curfew (11pm) and in the event we find something un-"covenantal" we escort them back to their housing. To be honest, finding someone or groups of folks really ruins a great walk in the cool evening. The air here in the mountains is cool and clean and aside for the numerous hills it truly is a wonderful time. I enjoy the walk and I am hoping that the 500 plus kids and adults who are here with us this week don't ruin it.

Kid Steals Car to Avoid Going to Church

Cindy the Legal Eagle

Cindy is our Office Assistant here at Boulevard. She is incredible at her job but she is even more awesome as a person. Having spent two years working with Cindy I am confident that her failure to strangle me for my Office nonsense and fooling around is a sure sign of her complete and total awesome-ness. Everyone here loves Cindy! But today was Cindy's last day.

Cindy is headed to Law School. She has sold her home, rented an Apartment and is moving. While I am certainly bummed at Cindy's departure I am excited for what will happen next in her life. Changes like those Cindy is undertaking are scary no matter how strong one's conviction and determination is to make them. I remember the first 3 hours on the road from California to Kentucky as I made my move to start Seminary. I was petrified but I was also certain that what I was doing was right. I got to believe that is or soon will be a common expereince between Cindy and I.

Cindy is going to be a killer lawyer - a true Legal Eagle. Cindy is going to crush law school. Cindy is going to be missed.

Good luck!

Personal Forgiveness Test Case

Disenchanted largely by the radio stations here in Columbus I tend to listen to Spots Talk Radio exclusively. My local ESPN Radio channel carries Mike & Mike in the Morning which is always on when I am taking my short drive to work. Today, like just about every other day for about a month, the conversation eventually gets around to Michael Vick, one time NFL All-Pro for the Atlanta Falcons but now social pariah due to a felony conviction for all things associated with Dog Fighting. I am generally tired of Vick stories except for the speculations on which NFL team will brave the public relations firestorm and sign the now 29 year old Quarterback. The reason for this is simple: my favorite team could use a QB and I am petrified that they will sign Michael Vick. 

Growing up in California during the heyday of the San Francisco 49ers, I am a loyal 49er Faithful. The team has fallen on hard times but I still have my DVD copies of their Super Bowl victories (all 5 of them) which I tend to pop in when I need a little encouragement. There is not one thing that is wrong with the 49ers but several. I like to think that they are one poised, decent Quarterback from making a run at the playoffs (others have agreed).  So it doesn't come to a surprise that when Michael Vick was released from federal custody recently his name began to surface as a potential "good fit" for the 49ers QB woes. I got to be honest...I am having a hard time with this. I am still angry at Michael Vick. I am petrified the 49ers will sign Vick.

As a life-long lover of animals & someone who grew up with the sweetest and loving dog imaginable who also happened to be a Pit Bull I find Vick's convicted acts despicable and inducing of a rage/hatred that burns bright. I wanted to see Vick ruined. I wanted to see him tossed in a jail for which there was no key. I cringed at every account, photo, description of the atrocities that were committed on property under the supervision of Vick. In fact even writing this makes me livid. To put it bluntly if I never heard of or saw Vick's face on TV or print again I would be thrilled. Obviously that didn't happen. Vick's public relations trial still dominates and now that his football career has seemingly been given a second chance maybe it is time I do the same.

Michael Vick as a person - remorseful or otherwise - is a total mystery to me. I don't know him and don't guess I will ever meet him. I, like most of America, know what I know about Vick from the gridiron or from the news. I have heard accounts of his acceptance of the punishment that was laid before him, his expressed regret for the things he has done, and his adamant rejection of the lifestyle that deemed Dog Fighting acceptable. To my knowledge Vick said these things & meant them when doing so. To my knowledge Vick is a changed man. To my knowledge Vick wants to start over and given the chance to live again. For some this is not good enough - his pound of flesh coming up light - but I am convicted to recognize that if I do not forgive Vick, if I do not grant him another chance, then I am not deserving of having my own appeals heard. If I don't forgive Vick then what chance do I have of being forgiven? If I am not willing to crawl into bed with my own hypocrisy then I must admit if Vick truly is remorseful and he is asking the nation to forgive him then how can I withhold my own forgiveness? I am still angry at the mistreatment of animals in this world but as for Vick, should the 49ers sign him, I am done hating the man. 

Sermon: I Set My Friends on Fire

The following sermon is based on Luke's account of Christ's rejection in his hometown of Nazareth. This passage comes to us from Luke 4:14-30

On July 9 I took a day off and drove up to Cleveland to celebrate my Dad’s birthday while he was on a tour stop. Some of you already know this but my Dad is akin to a Director of Logistics for Ernie Ball’s traveling stage and displays at the Vans Warped Tour, a traveling punk rock music festival. I am not a big punk music fan but the opportunity to go backstage and feel important was too hard to pass up. So Dad and his all-access pass took me around and we saw everything there was to see. Really it was a lot of fun. As we were heading back to the tour buses we passed by the bands promotional tent where they sold their t-shirts and other stuff. As we walked I never suspected that amongst all the acts with their tight black jeans and faded $50 t-shirts I would have harvested out of it a sermon insight. I Set My Friends On Fire was the name of one of the bands that traveled with the Warped Tour and I instantly thought of Jesus & this passage. But being a pastor, to be fair, I am thinking about Jesus a lot so I guess it isn’t too rare.

I Set My Friends On Fire, for me is the perfect description to what is happening here in Luke 4. The scriptures do not say if the place where Christ read the Isaiah passage was the synagogue where he & his family attended but what we do know is that when Christ is done reading people click into that “local boy done good” mindset. They are thinking wasn’t that nice? He is so gracious and kind. His teaching is wonderful. This is the point in the story that Hollywood would pan over to very proud parents and grandparents that are beaming with pride silently confirming what the synagogue is asking: is this really Joseph’s son? Yet all this pride and beaming seems to convey that the folks gathered there didn’t make the connection that when Christ read the passage pronouncing the Spirit of the living God falling upon him he was literally talking about himself. From the outsider observer prospective I am really not all that surprised. Captivated by one of their own and his ability to command the attention of the room pretty soon the what he was saying gets overshadowed by who it is that is saying it – “Isn’t this Joseph’s son?”

For those gathered there that day & even for some who gather in churches all over this world this day the nature of Jesus’ ministry is often misunderstood. Jesus begins his ministry, as Luke tells us, with a prophetic pronouncement that blows your socks off. The Spirit of the Living God falls upon this person of Jesus and it isn’t to be an amazing & gracious teacher, being the home-grown talent that knows what is fair game and what sacred cows to avoid. Rather Jesus’ ministry is to proclaim freedom to captive, sight to the blind, in other words Jesus is here to turn the world upside down, tell people something that they need to rather than want to hear, and Jesus is going to start right here by setting these friends on fire & maybe some of us as well.

Of the three statements that Jesus makes fairly rapid-fire after the events associated with the reading the only one that seems to have really any substantive baring on what is about to go down is the remark about being a prophet in your hometown – something Jesus is living out in real time before us. Being a prophet as we said just before is all about being prophetic, speaking the truth when folks don’t want to hear it and it would appear Jesus found that truth for these Nazarenes. The prophetic truth that was so hard to swallow, so revolutionary to the folks that Jesus spoke to that day is in many ways the same reality that we have a hard time swallowing today as well. God, from the very beginning wasn’t a tribal God who cared for the Israelites, who cares for us and us alone. The reality is that the truth that Jesus offered that day – the long history of God caring for the Other – was not aimed with the hope of acceptance. Rather Jesus wanted to get chased out of town, his hometown. I got to be honest with you. I really think that Jesus is in the business of making people mad. I really think that Jesus is in the business of setting folks like you and me on fire. Making us burn hot and long fueled by the vast resources of preconceived notions of what things should be like, what people should act like, what should and shouldn’t be said in public, who shouldn’t be allowed to do this or that, and who God gives two rips about and who God should just so ahead and forget. Jesus wants those stereotypes, those hypocrisies to burn… and burn in such a way that in our anger and notions eventually burn so bright that they shine a light on all the baggage that still needs to be thrown on the pile.

These words of Christ are easily preached to individuals. What baggage do you have that needs to be set on fire? That is an easy question to ask. But when we turn this question to the church – this church and the larger church – the church that is as much of a part of me as I am a part of it, the question becomes harder to ask. What friends of this church need to be set on fire? What “friends” – the things that we have become so comfortable with, so buddy-buddy with that they are treated like friends. Which of them need to be engulfed in flames, and burn so bright that we the church can have our pathway lit as we seek to follow Christ? Maybe it is our friendship with colorless dreams of the future? Perhaps it is our friendship with the tried and true, the already tested? Maybe our friendship with low expectations of God? Which of our friends needs to be set on fire? Which of your friends need to be set on fire? What needs to burn so we can see the path of Christ?