WOW!

I'm sitting in the most boring meeting I've been in years. We are going over the constitution for our association, word by word, phrase by painstaking phrase, and we are just on page one! And now we are discussing it. . .Wow! I'm so ready to be in a local church.

*********

School started yesterday, and I like the classes that I'm taking. Pastoral Counseling, Integration into Ministry, and, Growth something or other(i was unable to attend last night). The exciting part is that I'll be able to finish possibly in 2 more semesters.

***********

I heard back from Portland yesterday. Via voicemail. Basically, the secretary said - Buck, the senior pastor and associate minister have conferred and don't think that your skill set is a good fit with our youth ministry needs. Thanks for your time that's all i really know.
- Yep the secretary –

Aaron, one of my closest friends, remarked "that's like getting dumped by your girlfriend over the phone". Actually, it's like having a potential date’s friend leave the message "can we just be
friends?" It's painful to hear, but it's harder to hear from a distance. I don't have any resentment toward the 2 pastors or the church, just disappointed in the way it ended. I wasn't 100% sold on it, but I did like the potential.

Ultimately it'll be fine. God's sovereignty will win out and he'll place me where I need to be. It's not a fun process, but we'll see what God's got in store.

*******

It's an hour later and we are just now flipping to the 2nd page of a 10 page document!!

FYI - I typed this whole thing on my handheld. Lots of time on my hand

Now comes the wait

I had the interview last night. 2 and a half hour drive one way to eat dinner and talk about myself and this church. It's a lot like dating. Only she better be a really good prospect if I'm driving that far!

At any rate it went great! Now it's just a matter of them getting back with me. From everything I know I think it will be a good fit. The next stage is where I do the meet and greet with the church. I'm sure it will involve meeting the students and the staff, a really long interview with the Elder Board, and some type of introduction to the entire church body.

However I have to make it to that stage first. I'm not a proven commodity, but I have a lot of potential sooooo the question is do we fit???


Cool Quotes of the Night -

*
Me - What does a regular Sunday Morning look like?

Pastor - We don't have those at our church.

*
Associate Pastor - We need someone we can Laugh with, this is a serious business (ministry) but you have to enjoy those you work with, so were looking for some one that will fit into our team

*
Me - What are your expectations for Office hours?

Pastor - Depends on your function, some of us spend most of our time in the office, others work more like real estate agents in and out with a lot of meetings. We realize that sometimes you’re going to be up here late at night and other days you'll need to be meeting outside the campus.

*
Me - So what I'm hearing you say is that the person that comes in has complete freedom to change whatever they need to get the job done?

Pastor - Absolutely.


(please forgive spelling, the checker is

Post Camp Interview

Hey gang sorry for the long hiatus, but I got back from Camp this weekend and have had company till last night. Camp was great, but very hectic. We had 10 students accept Christ this week as well as numerous other decisions. I'll try and write more on camp later.

This evening I'll be driving down to Portland to meet with the Sr. Pastor and Middle Adult Pastor of a Bible Church there. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a little nervous, but I'll be fine after about the 3rd question. I'm actually most nervous about asking the right questions. I also have no clue if this is the place god has for me. Sooo, if you get a chance pray that God would give me clarity as I meet with this church.

Walking in Memphis

I'm in Memphis. It's the morning after Brad's wedding (my roommate in college), I'm sitting in the club section at Autozone park ( a very nice AAA baseball park) about 50 min. till first pitch. I've had a great weekend.
The Bachelor party was a blast 7 guys playing quarter poker till 3:30 in the morning. The guys were a lot of fun, we had barbeque at the rehersal dinner, which was preceeded by a lunch ar Rendevous (the best rib joint in memphis). And no there is no such thing as too much BBQ. It's fun to come back home and see old friends. But that wasn't why I was here.

Serving as the best man I had the privialdge to stand by one of my best friends and his bride to be as they made the most significant commitment a person can make to another person. I felt very priviladged. Blessed to have a friend that valued me enough to say I want you right here at one of the most significant moments in my life.

Theentire weekend I wanted badly to just serve them. To do whatever I could to make this day special for Brad and Hannah. Anyway, they are in Mexico now probably checking into thier hotel. I know they'll have a great marraige. And I pray that I get to stay in close contact with them.

My guest apperance on the Lone Ranger

 
"The law don't mean to take revenge, only to get justice." - Buck Webb  (as played by Ron Hagerthy)

 

"The Sheriff of Smoke Tree" September 20, 1956  Episode # 184
A new mining camp needs a sheriff to control a man named Lem Crater (John Beradino) who arrived recently with two other men. A young man, Buck Webb (Ron Hagerthy), wants the job but after being run out of town, he needs some persuasion by the Lone Ranger to go back and borrows one of the Ranger's guns. A fight and a smoky mine shaft all add up to young Buck proving that he has what it takes to be the sheriff. The Lone Ranger is convinced also when he hears Buck say: "The law don't mean to take revenge, only to get justice." Mickey Simpson plays the part of Slim Peake, Slim Pickens plays the part of Joe Boley and Tudor Owen plays the part of Mason.

 
I'd love to see this episode.

Hypocrite

Ok so what's the pitching equivalent of staring at a home run? Pumping your fist after a K? Wagging your finger at a guy? Plunking a guy for the second time that night because you just lost the game?

Well I'm not sure exactly but Carlos Zammbrano, while a great pitcher, threw the biggest tantrum I've ever seen. Sheesh kid grow up.

P.S. The Cardinals have officially clinched the NL Central with their stunning comeback win today.

The Holy Observer: What's the funniest or oddest thing you've ever heard anyone else pray for?

Funny stuff. . .
 
Stacy - Silverton, OR
Comments: Before a softball game, one team member prayed, ''please let the other team win...and let us win, too.'' Both teams win? Like a tie, perhaps? Except nobody wants to tie...somebody's gotta win. It was hard to not laugh out loud when I heard this prayer.

THO's Response: Stacy, it's good that you didn't laugh out loud; you did what is right. A big part of being a Christian is knowing when to laugh and when to laugh behind someone's back. The good thing is even though the latter takes patience and willpower, those times are usually way funnier so you can have an even bigger laugh at someone else's expense an expense that they don't even know exists. The 'cost' of laughing out loud in front of them is often paid by you, and sometimes comes in the form of the pastor stopping his sermon, claiming he's doing the best he can, crying, and later kicking you off the worship band, which was made up of a bunch of no-talent clowns and had a horrible keytarist, anyway! "

Taking Off and Landing

Myles Werntz a friend of mine from college, and a fantastic writer, had a very thought provoking blog today. Read his thoughts and you'll know what I mean, but one line is a good jumping off point

"This is the curse of our generation: we are forever Cain, wandering from town to town, never settled down, leaving our name and feelings in little places all over the map."

I've been thinking a lot about this subject lately. Having not lived in the same residence for longer the 16 months since I left high school (I'm almost 28), and having lived in 4 vastly different areas in that same time. Looking for a job, again! (making this my 3rd job since leaving college) I find myself on the other end of the conversation.

I long for a community where my departure is not predetermined. I long for a place to throw down roots. But I know that, that place will not be here. I must once again pull up roots and start all over. While the location could be as close as 15 miles or as far as 2,500, the result is the same, another new beginning.

This time it's different though, for there is a hope. A hope that this could bring the peace that I seek, the peace that comes with longevity. They say one key to effective ministry is being in one place for a long time. I want to say that my ministry was effective, the lives were changed, and that I my time on each counted. And I want to say that my ministry was hard to distinguish from my day to day living, and at the end of it all God was pleased with the life that I lived.

But does that require that i remain in one place? I have no idea. The thought of living in one place for 30 years, is both comforting and suffocating at the same time.

IN the end though I have to rest on the fact that I do believe that God will see me through to the end, and that if I seek after him he'll place me where he needs me. A trite saying, but true none the less.

Money ball theory

If you read the book Moneyball (which any true baseball fan should have by now)run differential is sort of the mesuring stat that many in the indutry use to judge how well a team should do. The following explains why the cardinals are as good as they are. They may not have a GREAT rotation, but it is a good rotation. Couple that with the best everyday lineup in the NL, and best defense in Baseball and you have a team that should win the NL central.

I do wonder though how well will the cardinals do in the playoffs? If Morris and Williams come back to form by the send of september then I think they have a shot, but really the playoffs is a crap shoot. Just ask the braves.

STLtoday - Sports - Columnists: " run differential is a leading indicators of a team's strength and success. Through Wednesday, the Cardinals were a plus 95 for the season; Boston is a distant second, at plus 65. The next-best National League totals belong to the Cubs (+59) and Braves (+32). "

Nazi Propaganda

I now know what it’s like to watch a film that is filled with blatant lies to advance a political agenda. I just got back from Fahrenheit 9/11. I left angry, in fact I left before the movie was over. If I wasn’t a minister I would have flipped off the screen on my way out. If the movie were true (which it’s not), then George W. should be hanged on Pennsylvania Ave. I’m not saying that Bush has never lied or that he is a saint. But this movie is clearly an attack on Bush (conveniently only a few months before the elections) seeking to harm Bush’s reputation.

If you’ve seen the movie do yourself a favor and scan over a rebuttal to the movie. The link in the title is a pretty good one.

Climbing 2 sides of a Mountain

This makes 2 Saturdays in a row that I've had the joy of climbing everyone's favorite volcano. Last Saturday Heather and I went up the Paradise side. Well that is to say we did about 4 miles of hiking on 2 trails. There was a ton of snow and some nice views. The hikes were moderate with some elevation but nothing horribly difficult.

Today, However I went with Brian, DJ and Steve. WoW!!! We did approximately 10 miles (maybe more) in about 5 hours. This may not be a lot for the experienced hiker (which I'm not), but for me it required a hot shower a 2 hour nap and an evening with my feet up. It was Brutal. I loved the hike up the mountain, but coming down my feet were killing me with about 3 miles left.

Normally, if I'm tired I'm going to take a breather and easily mosy down the mountain. However today DJ and Brian had to be at work by 5. So after coming up short of making Mystic Lake (we only had about a half mile to go too!) We decided that we had to turn back or make the fellas late. So after 3 hours of hiking up the mountain we needed to be back in 2. Fortunately we were headed down hill for most of the way. We made it, and I'm glad I got pushed like I did it was a great workout, but I'm definitely feeling it this evening.

Anyway, I'm a officially a big hiking fan and intend to make more visits in the future.

You just can't make this stuff up

News

Wow! That's awsome. I bet the little girl is really proud of her mom.

Great Names of the Day

STLtoday - Sports - Cardinals: "Tulane first baseman Wesley Swackhamer, the Cardinals' fifth- round pick, and Texas lefthanded pitcher Buck Cody, their seventh-rounder, are also unsigned. "

Wow what a great name for a first baseman SWACKHAMER

The lone reply

Dear Buck,

Thank you for your resume submission we appreciate your interest in our employment opportunity here at Church X.

Your qualifications are excellent. However, we regret that the position is closed.
We will keep your resume on file and wish you well in your employment search.


Sincerely,

(Church X H.R. Guy)



That's the reply I received 3 weeks after I sent my resume to church X. And the sad thing is that's the only response I've heard, from anyone.

This process is going to be very frustrating. And I'm already tired of hearing verses like Phil. 4:16 (be anxious for nothing . . .), however upon receiving this letter I felt a peace (. . .and the peace of God will guard your hearts and minds.) about the process that I hadn't to this point. It was kind of like ok settle down, stay faithful in the position that your currently at and let this process run it's course. Ok so maybe I need to hear more verses like phil. 4:16.

Just for Coqui

Rarely does the world of sports intersect with Coqui's interests, but this I thought was a rare time so I'll comment on Soccer just this once.

David Beckham chocked like a school girl yesterday. Missing his penalty shot by a good 15 feet over the goal. What was he trying to do exactly?

STLtoday - Sports - Cardinals

STLtoday - Sports - Cardinals: "'It's very exhausting, especially when you lose,' said Cubs second baseman Todd Walker, who tied his career high with four hits, including a sixth-inning solo home run. 'These hurt worse than normal losses, especially playing the Cardinals.' "

As they should Todd, as they should

Quote of the Day

"Matt Morris allowed six runs on six hits in six innings June 20 against the Reds -- a 6-0 Cardinals loss -- and served up Ken Griffey Jr.'s 500th home run. He has allowed a major league-high 23 homers in 15 starts and wasn't overly perturbed about being a footnote to history. 'I stayed away with breaking balls until on a 2-2 count I tried to slip a fastball by him,' Morris said. 'I guess people have been doing that 500 times, and it didn't work.' "

The Finals

A few random thoughts . . .

- The Pistons won. And it wasn't even as close as the 13 point lead.

- I watched every game from start to finish starting with Game 2. The first time I've watched an NBA game since the Jordan era.

- It was a blast to see a team without a superstar. While the lakers did have more talent. The Pistons were definatly the best TEAM.

- Larry Brown is a class act and I'm glad to see him win. Acknowledging Rick Carlisle in your moment of glory? Are you kidding me? Wow.

- Speaking of Carlisle he's got to be the most bitter man in all of america. I mean honestly first your fired and then beated by the team that fired you, and they do the impossible. OUCH!!!

- THE Piston's Announcer is THE BOMB!!! Honestly he was the coolest! Especially after the Lakers stiff.

- Finally, did you see the horrid lip sync job by Aretha Franklin? It was so bad the camera's couldn't even pull out and make it work. It was sad.


Now that it's all done Baseball will be center stage till Septermber!!!

Baseball salaries database

This is a facinating list. A couple of notable tid bits as I looked at the list. The "A's" are actually in the middle of the pack in spending. Usually they are one of the bottom 5. The Rangers are actually below the A's now.

The mets take the cake for the bigest waste of moneyin the NL, thanks in large part to the 17 Million owed Mo Vaughn. While the Mariners are the biggest spending losers in the AL.

Sonics G Allen heads NBA All-Interview Team

Yahoo! Sports - NBA - Sonics G Allen heads NBA All-Interview Team

What the? They actually have team for who gives the best interviews?