No Way Out!

If you were to ask me if I was an NBA fan, I'd respond "yes". But do note: that is simply just a response. I grew up watching the Chicago Bulls a lot, but that was mostly because I was fascinated with how Michael Jordan could dominate a game by himself. Those days are long gone. Now it seems like there is at least 1-2 people on each team that dominate games by themselves. That, in my opinion, is why I don't like basketball much anymore. It's just a series of 1 on 1 or 2 vs 2 or occasionally 2 vs 1 matchups throughout four quarters. The other individuals on their respective teams have 1 job - pass it to that guy!

Anyways, enough of why I don't like the NBA that much, on to what I really want to talk about, Florida Gator Coach, no wait, make that Orlando Magic Coach, no wait, scratch that again, Florida Gator Coach Billy Donovan.

Most of you already know, so I won't link to the story, what Billy Donovan's situation is. I won't type out the details, but I want you pondering what is going through the mind of each of these individuals:

A basketball player playing for Florida (assuming Donovan ends up back at UF): Hi. This whole season I'll be playing for a coach who I can't tell if he really wants to be here or not. He flirted with the Orlando Magic job, and actually had the job for a few days. This is dumb. i'm not sure if I should trust him as my coach. how do I know he really wants to be here, he may just take another job next offseason.

A basketball player playing for the Magic (assuming Donovan stays with the Magic): Hi. I play for the Magic. I'm not sure if my coach really wants to coach me or not. He tried to get out of this job and head back to his college team. Why am I playing for a coach that doesn't want to be here. This is no fun. I think I will run coach over with my choo choo train tatoo.

Individuals in the front office of the Magic (assuming he ends up at UF): What a jerk!

Individuals in the front office for the Gators athletic association (assuming he stays with the Magic): um, was he serious or not?

Individuals in the front office for the Gators athletic association (assuming he comes back to UF): yay! Now we get to wait a whole nudder season before we have to hire a head coach. Should we continue to take resumes or what, guys? What if Anthony Grant's VCU team has a bad year next season? He might make us look silly for hiring him. this is quite a pickle.


Way to go, Billy Donovan. Now no one is going to trust you no matter what you do.

Precipitation!

I woke up this morning to the sound of rain drops! After several weeks of wildfires, smoke, and ash we finally received what we have all been hoping for - rain!

Here's a little rain question for you regarding rain:

What do most people do when it is raining:

A - Complain that the game might be cancelled while driving to the stadium anyways.
B - Sit inside and watch TV or play video games.
C - Mow the Lawn
D - Run out and dance in it and take a few pictures of the sight no one has seen in several weeks.

I'm not sure...my guess is B.

But I chose D, took a few pictures and did a little celebratory rain dance outside. Here are my pictures:






This is a few puddles on our driveway


















Ah, doesn't it look so refreshing?















That's a puddle in our yard.













The sky. you can't see the rain drops but believe me they are there.














This one you can kind of see the rain drops falling off the edge of the roof if you look close enough.










On a final note, the tropical storm is pretty severe south of us. Many areas are getting heavier rain with a pretty heavy wind. I guess the weather is never perfect across the entire globe. Let's hope they don't get hit too hard.

Onions or Opinions?

I just read a fantastic post by my buddy and relative John regarding what could best be described as handling "COC Doctrine".

We have all of these questions about the Bible and why some churches do things different. We say "well, we take the Lord's supper everyday because...." and then we list a bunch of facts, some biblical, some just traditional. Then the other person responds..."well we dont' do it as often because...." and it seems like the discussion never ends.

Here's a question I want to ask. If you want it to be rhetorical, then it'll be rhetorical. If you don't want it to be and want to chime in on something, then that's great too. But...here's the question:

At what point to church doctrine questions simply become opinions?

Can it be that in some people's opinion, it is rebuking authority for a woman to preach, and in other people's opinion it doesn't give the woman any more authority than men? Could it be that in some people's opinion, using a greek word in sermons is speaking in tongues and in other people's opinion it isn't? And can it be just a mere opinion if we think sugar free grape juice from concentrate is not authentic fruit of the vine?

When we turn to a scripture to argue our point...are we using the scripture to state a fact about our church or are we using the scripture to support our opinions?

What is it about opinions that make life so difficult?

Hold that thought/question, and let's talk about baseball statistics for a second (wow, I just love those posts where I talk about the Bible and Baseball AT THE SAME TIME!!!). I don't really consider myself a stat head, but nor would I say I never use those "advanced stats". Some of them I absolutely can't stand (park factors, defensive measurements), some I love and use all the time (OPS+ and ERA+), and some of them I'm kind of neutral towards (pythagorean record, WPA). I guess how I feel towards them just depends on how conclusive they are. Anyways, stats are becoming more and more advanced and so is what we use these stats for.

For example, there are a number of stats to sort by to determine the "best hitter". In the old days, we would sort by average, on base percentage, homers, RBI's, slugging %, etc, to determine the "best hitter". However, times have changed. We no longer have to sort through 6-7 stats. A few people have developed their own "one stat" that determines how good someone really is. With just a few clicks you can see who is the highest above league average in total offense or you can see how many wins one player has provided for your team. Simply just click sort above that stat labeled "awesomeness" and it will sort from overall best to overall worst.

But here is where I am going with all of this...why must statheads try to turn opinions into facts? Isn't the "best hitter" supposed to be an opinion? Yet why does that very question (best hitter) seem more and more like a fact with every new stat I learn of? (By the way, no offense to you statheads. I know there are 3-4 that read this blog. FYI I find what you do very interesting and wish I was smart enough to do it myself). I mean, why don't I hire my own stathead to help me figure out which one is better tasting, BBQ ribs or lasagna?

Answer: because it is an opinion.

I think we, including myself need to sit back on ponder exactly what is and isn't an opinion. That will make life much easier and less confusing (or maybe more confusing, depending on the opinion).

Ministry is messy. This Monday I will have been a minister for a year. I wish I can put into words where my emotions have taken me this past year, but i'm just not that aesthetic. I love the Church of Christ affiliation. But I don't think we are perfect....I don't think there is a single organization/denomination/whatever your word for it is/affiliationthat is perfect simply because they are all made up of humans. I love CoC and plan on staying with them till the end. We all have our different beliefs and opinions. A lot of us have them so beat into our hearts that we aren't even aware that they are opinions...we think they are facts.

Discerning facts and opinions is something that I will always have to deal with...something that is very hard...but that is just another one of those stinking opinions.

Atlanta: we have a problem

To say the least, the Braves season has taken a tailspin. After the blowout yesterday I'm starting to think that pythageras might be catching up with them. But who knows?

You can blame who you want...Andruw, Davies, Woodward, or even Bobby Cox. The fact is that something is missing. Or maybe, just maybe, that something that is missing is not a something but a someone. What do I mean by that? Two words:

The first is Chipper. The second is Jones.

Chipper Jones.

Fact: The Braves have won a grand total of 4 games (This was typed before today's game was finished. The Braves are currently up on the Brewers 2-1) since the day Chipper took that spill with Batista against the Pirates. From now on that incident will be known as the Batista plunge.

After Chipper tumbled to the ground...the rest of the Braves followed. You hear all this talk about how 1 man can't make that much of a difference. How locker room leadership doesn't really exist...it's all about how they perform on the field.

We're 4-10 since the Batista plunge. We're 4-10 without CJ the past week and a half. Is there more to why the Braves are plummeting? Sure. But I won't get into all that now. I just want to keep repeating that record...4-10 since chipper hurt his palms/thumbs/whatever it was he hurt on his hand.

You never really know how much someone means to you until you have to survive without them.

Preacha time

Sorry for keeping everybody uninformed....but for those non-Valdostan's that read this blog, we finally have hired a preacher. It ha sbeen a very testing time for myself. My rookie year of ministry not onlly consists of me struggling to lead the teens, but I also have had to do some feal in preaching.

Needless to say, I'm excited. I lookforward to the coming of Bryan Jarvis, from Oklahoma. May God bless this church as we continue to run heavenward.

Who's church is this?

Before I begin, my apologies for the lack of posts. Between preaching this past sunday, getting ready for our senior-send off banquet, and VBS, I have had about as much as I can handle lately.

Ok, now that I got that out of the way...

really, who's church is this? I know we all understand that we are supposed to say it's God's church, or Christ's church...but is that the way we really feel (or act)? In the past 2 weeks or so, I have had several conversations over meals, in the dugout, on the green, etc, where I really want to ask that question.

Allow me to summarize in one sentence what the third party in these conversations wish to communicate:

"I can do a better job than these elders."

What's worse, I'm not exactly sure what to say to those who say this to me in a very wordy way. Sometimes I let them have it....I'm not exactly sure that is what I'm supposed to do. On other occasions I ignore them...still, probably not what I need to do.

but wait, I'm not done giving details yet. Over half of the individuals who tell me they can do better than the elders are individuals who aren't involved, have dwindling attendance, and IMHO don't really posses the qualities and characteristics that elders should biblically have (Titus and 1 timothy).

Christ is the head of the church. Why don't we let HIM lead, instead of questioning those shepherding the flock. I feel like we often forget that important detail. It is not the church of the elders, the elders are simply the shepherds, looking after the flock. Something has been lost in translation. Elders aren't old people that sit in the corner of a room and say "no". They are loving individuals who care for the church.

Another thing. And to be quite honest with you, I find this absolutely hysterical. But it is quite humerous listening to people talk about the elders AS IF THEY KNOW WHAT GOES ON AT THE ELDERS/STAFF MEETINGS. I mean, honestly, it's sad but funny. Quit acting like you know. For example, don't say, "The elders are crazy for not wanting to hire this particular preacher" when in reality, they did want to...something came up and the preacher had to withdraw his resume. Don't argue a point when you don't even know all of the details. Some of the issues that members question are issues the elders have thought long and hard about, contrary to popular belief.

Our elders here at Central are very good elders. They seek God's wisdom and they spend many hours in prayer praying for the congregation (even those who question the elders!) And no, I'm not just saying this because they sign my paychecks, I'm saying this because I believe it. These men are true shepherds and will gladly help any little lonely lambs out there.

How about this for a novel idea: Let's be disciples of Christ, and let Christ lead his church in a heavenward direction. With the Church in Christ's hands, what can go wrong?

One last thought. And I'm speaking this to everybody, the faithful, the unfaithful, the old, the young. I'm even speaking this to myself. We are imperfect humans that do imperfect things. So my final thought is this...

If you find the perfect church, DON'T JOIN IT. You'll mess it up.

job security anyone?

Things have been kind of hectic lately around here, so sorry for the lack of posts.

What I want to talk about right now is job security. Maybe this is just the conservative side of me leaking out, but isn't job security supposed to be important. I'd rather have a lower salary and more job security than a high salary and not very much job security. Sorry if I'm the only one that feels that way, but I believe there is value in knowing you're wanted, knowing you're in this company's/organization's/church's plans for the future.

Take the yankees for example. There was recent talk that Steinbrenner was about to dismiss Joe Torre as manager of the NY Yankees. WHAT???? Isn't this the same Joe Torre that has led the NY Yankees to a division title year after year for the past decade? Doesn't that mean something?

Days later, Cashman fired Marty Miller, the Yankees director of performance enhancement (yes, there is a job position open every MLB team with the phrase "performance enhancement" in the title). He was fired because of all the injuries the Yankees have suffered lately (he was hired for the sole purpose of injury prevention). I find this situation odd. It's not like Miller was plotting ways to hurt Phil Hughes' hamstring. He didn't attack him with a sledge hammer.

What if I were to be fired because one of my teenagers hurt himself/herself and was unable to attend church for a few weeks? I would be appalled at how little sense that makes. At what point in our lives can stop analyzing the results and start analyzing the "why". When statheads study stats, they are looking at results (some exceptions do apply). There is nothing wrong with this, it is something that I have gotten into recently. But I think the real value comes with answering the question "why do we get these results?" Great, this person hits a lot of groundballs....why? This pitcher gives up a lot of homers. That's too bad, why is that? Not many homers get hit in this ballpark. Thats neat, why?

There's more to it than just results. As former Braves broadcaster and hall of fame pitcher Don Sutton once said,

"not all good pitches produce good results, not all bad pitches produce bad results."

~Don Sutton

Results can often be a little misleading, after the question "why" is asked. That is easily seen when you look at the yankees' situation the past few weeks. I'm not a betting man, but if I was I would put a lot of money that says Torre isn't to blame for the Yankees' slow start. Nor would I say that Miller caused the hamstring injuries.

But results transfer beyond the realms of MLB. I want to do anything/everything I know to do to see that the teens here at Central Avenue are growing spiritually. I am very communicative with the elders. They know what's going on, they understand the struggles that I have gone through my rookie year of ministry. We are on the same page and I am more than positive that the Elders are committed to me for longterm ministry.

I would never take a job where there is a history of letting workers go because of results that worker might not have even had anything to do with. I'm thankful that I wake up everymorning and not have to worry about keeping my job.