What I DON'T Miss...

Here's an excellent visual of what Reggie McNeal means by the "Come and get it" approach of the conventional church!
It just doesn't dawn on us that we will impact very few if we depend on one place - one day for an hour or so. So where do we have a chance to get 2 minutes from someone who has designated the majority of their 10,080 per week? Hmmmmm.... I think I know. I think.

Not Hanging Out Here Much

You can find me these days at our Java Journey blog (http://javaconnection.blogspot.com/). Our lives are currently overwhel.. uh - um FOCUSED with getting this vision up and running. We're make progress but following a Sinai-type of road atlas God has laid down before us. Water and manna-like provisions are being discovered along the way.

Jeff

Rock -freakin' Chalk!

My heart rate has just now returned to normal (12+ hours later).

Most of the SportsCenter panel sounded like a group who were talking about a team they were rooting for - losing. Is that possible? All year Memphis was playing the "no respect" card, when all the while Kansas was entitled to legitimately use it. Those who picked Kansas in any of their 2 games in San Antonio could be numbered on one hand. But Kansas and a very likable and brilliant Coach Self kept their mouths shut and let the talking take place via defense, lobs, persevering focus and the "Mario-Miracle" (as if he hasn't done this before).

If anyone was smart enough to record the game, review it and see if there is any panic on the faces of those in blue. Oh sure, there were some bone-head moments (which every team has), but there was no anxiety. Then watch the Memphis players right after Collins' steal and 3-pointer amazingly before the missed free-throws. Watch also when they pan the bench - out 'n out fright and dismay.

I was very disappointed watching ESPN afterward. Then I went to their website and FoxSports and saw more of the same - blah blah, Memphis lost because they did this...didn't do that... Very little about why Kansas won. Fox even had a survey on the site: "What was the biggest key to Kansas' win?" and at the top is "Memphis' Missed Free Throws" ahead of "Mario Chalmer's Shot." Down at the very bottom is "Kansas Resilience." Do you think that might be a subtle revelation of what they believe?

This is how Tim Griffin of ESPN describes Rose' desperation shot that banked off the glass and happened to go through - I kid you not: "With a double-team hounding him and the shot clock near zero, Rose calmly sank a shot that originally was ruled a 3-pointer to give Memphis a 56-49 lead with 4:12 left. Replays indicated it was a 2-pointer because his foot was on the line. If the basket had remained a 3-pointer as originally called, Memphis would have won in regulation."

"Calmly sank?" Watch it again Tim - and again, and again. DORK!

The obvious question is "Why would Kansas start fouling when they did and what did they know about the real history of this team of 5.66 players at the line???"

Anyway. We won! - The Memphis Tigers lost. Both schools have to start over to get to the point they were last night. It is just a source of pride for me that the school I pull for has been there many times and has walked away with the prize 3 times now.

At the rate they win them, I'll be 74 when they get their next one - an incentive for me to stay fit.

Wait 'til next year!

Jeff

Neglected Blog

This poor ol' journal is undernourished since the Java Connection blog got set up. Good thing since Teena and I are a team on that one.

This one is a bit more risky since I tend to share more candidly. The possibility exists that someone may read and recognize a potential criticism pointed their way. Am I justified to quote YHWH's Mesheach (something along the lines of): "Those with ears to hear and eyes to see...?"

We had lunch yesterday and great discussion with David Henson (curious/ironic last name given variation of linguistics and phonetics). He is the pastor of Crossfire Church in Clemmons, NC - where Teena and I gathered in community on Sundays while living in Lewisville.

His journey and "holy dissatisfaction" has a very familiar articulation. He has actually been a church planter watching growth and observing increase in numbers correlating with decrease in mission and pro-active Christ following - but on a much larger scale than we had recently experienced (oversaw a staff of 10).

He has a delightful combination of confidence with humility with a continual eagerness to learn and allow God to correct his notions. We resonate with that. At one point he stated that in the past, he would be seen as ecclesiastically successful, but no one could know the emptiness of only "wiping noses" and not observing service from those under his influence. He finally became more engaged in action than spending most of his time preparing a presentation that would find expression in a limited time span on one day of the week. The result was loosing a large number of humanoids who would inflate the number role and conversely maintaining a vital remnant of self-sacrificing servants who readily exited comfort zones for the sake of Christ's Kingdom. He footnoted that the earmark for this dynamic often hinged on moving into a new facility (hmmmm...)

In retrospect, he made a declaration during our lunch that hit me with tremendous impact: "I don't mean this with puffed-up pride, but I would put our small community and what we do up against any large 'successful' church."

Teena and I drove away appreciative that we have a new friend we can meet with and mutually support by way of insight and accountability.

AC on!?

It's January 11th and we've got the air conditioner on in the office at Newton-Conover Self Storage. It is currently 74 degrees outside. Is global warming really a crisis? Kinda feels nice to me (The "grandchildren Jeff!" "Oh, sorry").

We went house-shopping today and have narrowed our search down to a "high-five" list. We're hoping to be able to make an offer by this time next week. We value your prayers.