Making the Move

Yes, you probably know that my wife and I are moving next week to a two-point charge in the Terre Haute district.  We're both getting excited, anxious, stressed, nervous, and excited (is it sad that I could think of two synonymns to describe "stressed" but nothing apart from "excited" to convey our... excitement... about the move?  Moving is tough mentally, so back off...)  Seriously though, we believe that God is really orchestrating this move, and we're really excited about it.  Moving is just a very difficult thing to do mentally, emotionally and physically... HOWEVER!!!!  This is not the move that I am referring to in my post title.

I'm talking about my slow move into the internet dominance that is Google.  Katie set me up with Google Reader yesterday, which is working so much better than Bloglines has.  So, I decided to set myself up with iGoogle this morning.  I now have a homepage that shows me a window into my Gmail, Google Reader, Google Calendar, Google News, and my Google Flamethrower.... oh wait, I've had Spaceballs on the brain lately...  Seriously though, I've also added Sports Scores, a To Do List, Quote of the Day, Free Downloads from iTunes (now if I can only get it to work...), and I just added a daily Bible verse from the English Standard Version, and the one year Bible reading plan from the ESV.  It's a one stop catch-all for the things that are important to my daily internet journey.

I am a total dork....

Fantasy Football Update, Week 7

So, I decide to start updating this on Tuesdays when the week is officially over, then neither my opponents or myself have anybody playing on Monday nights any more.  Very interesting...

Well, I'm about to be 4-3 on the season with quite possibly the ugliest win in fantasy football history.  The final is going to be 70-49, and I had at least three bad moves, but they were far overshadowed by the mistakes of my opponent, who had three players on a Bye week in his starting lineup.  Wow.  In my experience, you find someone to fill in during those Bye weeks.  You can't leave one position open, let alone three.  That's just crazy...

Something Smells...

Well, last Sunday I pretty much had my last real devotional-setting time with the youth group at Emmanuel.  It was kinda hard to determine what it was that I wanted to say to them.  I wanted to leave them with a message that showed them my heart for them and my heart for ministry.  How do you do that?  How do you sum up where God is leading you in 10-15 minutes?  How do you encourage a group of teens who may or may not care that these are the last words that they will really hear from you.

The time started off about like every other time - people goofing off and not paying attention.  I’m used to it, as sad as that might seem.  There have been nights when I have had to raise my voice to talk over people so much that I could barely talk by the end of the night… 

*Sidebar* I found a great little invention a while back.  Perhaps you’ve heard of it, it’s called a “whistle.”  Fascinating contraption, really.  I blow into it and it makes a loud, piercing screech that gets people’s attention.  Of course, it is not without its drawbacks either.  Occasionally, one of my goatee hairs will get caught in this “whistle,” and it will dangle from my lip.  That hurts.  I don’t like it when that happens.  I’ve fallen in like with this “whistle” for the last few weeks.  It helps keep them quiet on occasion because they do not want to hear this loud, piercing screech… but I digress… *End Sidebar*

 …but on this night they seemed to have quieted down on their own.  They were actually listening to me.  I could see in their faces that they were hearing what I had to say.  Our key verse for the year, and thus, the verse that I used as a jumping off point for this devotion, has been Romans 12:2 - “Do not conform any longer to the patterns of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind…”  I talked to them about there being two parts to this message.  First, we have to make the choice to not conform to the patterns of this world, and then we have to allow God to work in us through our decision to follow Christ, so that we can be transformed.  We can choose to not follow the patterns of the world, but if all we surround ourselves with is the world, then we will fall back into those patterns.  I gave them an analogy to help them understand this point.

If you go to a garbage dump and spend a period of time there, you will come out smelling like garbage.  There’s no way around it.  The odor hangs in the air, and somehow attaches itself to you.  It then proceeds to follow you around until you do something about it.  That’s why you should never go to the dump and then go on a date.  It will likely be the last one you go on with that particular person.  Unless that is your plan in the first place, but I would think it would just be easier to not go on a date in the first place…but I digress…  You can go home and take a shower to get rid of the smell, but if you go back to the dump, you are going to smell once again.  It’s just a simple fact of life. 

I see a lot of great things for these teens, and I’m sad that I can’t be around to help develop them, but I know that God has already thought of these issues, and is way ahead of me on them.  What do you leave behind for a group like this?  I wanted to let them know three things, and I’ll reiterate them here.

1) Only you can decide to follow Jesus

2) Life won’t get any easier, but it will get better.

3) It is a daily decision that has to be made.  Becoming a Christian is not the goal, it is only the beginning of a fantastic journey.

Fantasy Football, Week 6 Update

What a week!  I mentioned last week that I was seriously thinking about playing Aaron Rogers over Peyton Manning this week.  Manning has just not been on top of his game so far this year, couple that with a Colts-Ravens and a Packers-Seahawks game, and I definitely went with Rogers this week.  I have to admit, for a while I was thinking that I made the wrong choice.  I was watching the Colts game, and Manning (finally) looked sharp - especially with a 67 (?) yard TD pass to Marvin in the first quarter.  His final line was incredible - 271 yards and 3 TD's, for 22 points.  I was a little worried that I made the wrong choice and that it would come back to bite me, especially when Rogers had 91 yards, 1 rushing TD, and 1 lost fumble at the half.  However, Rogers came back strong to finish with 208 passing yards, 2 TD's, 23 rushing yards and 1 rushing TD, you take out 2 points for the lost fumble, and his total points on the week - 22.

I was forced to make a couple of last minute decisions, and I'm not particularly happy how they turned out, but I had the rest of my team step up in a big way this week.

The highlights:

My receivers were huge this week.

P. Crayton - 84 yards, 1 TD

B. Berrian - 131 yards, 1 TD

M. Harrison - 83 yards, 2 TD's

And Thomas Jones was big-time for the Jets: 78 total yards and 3 TD's

Of course, it doesn't hurt that my opponent had an apparent mental lapse:

He left in a receiver that was on a Bye week, and had one on the bench score 12 points.  He left a RB on the bench that scored 26 points, and he played a TE that was listed as Out for the game.  And he played his 13 point DEF (Arizona against Dallas) instead of his 21 point DEF (Tampa against Carolina).

Bottom line: neither one of us has anybody playing in tonight's game.  I win, 117-62; 3-3 on the season now...

Changing Scenery

I just looked over some of the posts that I have put up in the last few days, and realized that I haven't put anything up about my latest, and biggest news.

As you may or may not know, I am a pastor in the United Methodist church.  I have been serving at Emmanuel UMC in Noblesville, IN since July of 2007.  I received word a couple weeks ago that I was getting a new appointment.  Effective November 1st, I will be the pastor of a two-point charge in the Terre Haute district of the (newly formed) Indiana Conference of the UMC.

The churches are in two small towns (populations of 2200 and 600), and they are two small congregations (30 and 50 in worship on a weekly basis).  I'm very excited about the possibilities that exist in these small towns.  I'm looking forward to the more relaxed pace of living in a small town.  I'm looking forward to leading worship and visiting with people.  I am sad to be leaving behind so many wonderful youth.  I've said on many occasions that this is the best youth group I have ever been around in my life, and I will certainly miss them.  On the other hand, I'm really looking forward to the possibilities that exist in these small towns.  

Right now, the majority of my time is going to be spent planning worship until the end of the year, and closing things out in Noblesville.  It is a busy time, but I know in the end that this is going to be quite an adventure with God at the helm.

Random Baseball Playoff Fact

I was listening to ESPN's morning radio show (Mike & Mike in the Morning) as I was getting dressed this morning, and heard a very interesting fact.

The Phillies and Dodgers are meeting in the National League Championship Series (NLCS) for the fourth time in the history of the franchises (the last time was in 1983).  In each of the previous four occurrences, the winner of the NLCS went on to lose to World Series to a team from the AL East.  Now, granted, the last time they met, there was only the AL East and AL West, but that is a "moo point" as Joey would say... wow, did I just make a Friends reference?

However, both teams that are playing for the right to host the World Series (because the stinkin' NL dropped another All Star game) are from the AL East - the division winning Tampa Bay Rays, and the wild card Boston Red Sox.  It'll be interesting to see if history truly is cyclical...

Smyrna

Revelation 3:8-11

Ha!  I didn’t forget, I have just been delayed….

The second letter that the Apostle John was told to write is directed towards the saints in Smyrna.  This is actually a very encouraging letter… in some sense.  The Christians in Smyrna have been dealing with some difficult times.  They are under a lot of stress; they are in the process of persecution (or at the very least will be facing it very soon).  The words of the letter are encouraging in that it reminds them to remain faithful.  The letter tells them that some will be going to prison, some will suffer, some may even die (doesn’t sound too encouraging does it?).  But this comes because they are staying true to their faith in Jesus Christ.  The encouragement comes in the fact that this persecution will only last for a short amount of time.

John writes that this tribulation will only last for 10 days.  Somehow, that would help me get through the difficult times.  Knowing that there is only so long to endure.  There is a small amount of comfort in knowing that there will be a definite end to this tribulation.  Think about some of the difficult times in your life.  Knowing now what you didn’t know then certainly has a way of giving you a better perspective on the situation as a whole, doesn’t it? 

Sure, there are a lot of times in life that we need to be far removed from a situation to really see what was going on, but there are other times when just barely being on the other side is enough.  The real grace is when we can see God in the midst of the difficult times and live in a sense of peace through the storms.  I heard this weekend that sometimes God calms the storms, and sometimes, he calms his child in the midst of the storm.  That is what He is doing in this letter to Smyrna - calming His children who are about to face a storm.  I just praise God knowing that there is nothing too big - even when it is difficult, I know that God is trustworthy.

The one who conquers will not be hurt by the second death - Rev. 2:11.

Fantasy Football Update, Week 5

Well, going into last night's MNF game, I was only down by 4 points.  This is probably the best position that I have been in since my Week 1 win.  However, there was (as there usually is) a catch.  We each had one player going last night.  Both played for the Vikings - my opponent had Adrian Peterson, running back and (I believe) last year's offensive rookie of the year.  I had Ryan Longwell, the placekicker for the Vikings.  Things didn't look pleasant for me.

However, in a surprising twist on the opening part of my season, Peterson was held to a mere 32 yards rushing, and was kept out of the end zone.  Still, that means my kicker needed 8 points to make me victorious for Week 5, and, like the final minute field goal he kicked to secure the victory for the Vikings, he did.  In fact, he went above and beyond, scoring 14 points on the night to give me a 71-64 victory.

Now the question for next week is: should I play Peyton Manning or Aaron Rogers?  Typically, this would be a no-brainer; however, the Colts are playing the Ravens and the Packers are playing the Seahawks.  Rogers cumulatively has outperformed Manning this season - throwing 250-ish more yards, 4 more TD's and 1 less INT (not to mention he has also rushed for 2 TD's).  Granted, I don't believe Rogers has had an off week yet, but the way that Manning is playing, do you really think he would account for 6 TD's in one week right now.  I might be going with Rogers next week...