hope & community

over the course of the last 2-3 weeks, a local basketball team has made an amazing run at a state championship. unfortunately that run ended last night in the final four but it’s been amazing to hear people get excited about something. it’s been amazing to hear people come together to support this local team and their hard-work.

it got me thinking about the local church and how the church i.e. the people, the community of believers ought to be the place of the greatest hope and the greatest excitement. you see, as i observed this basketball team and its community placing joy in this accomplishment and people getting along for the sake of thie hope, it made me realize that people need hope and need community.

and the church, the community, the people called Christians hold the greatest source of hope and should be the best community to belong to.

Wednesday thoughts…

Things that I think are funny:

You know when talking to peeps about driving to another city or the beach, a good 8-10 hours away, or even shorter distances too. And someone inevitably in the room chuckles and says, “aha, yeah takes me 6 hours to get there”…  then everyone sorta confirms this ability.. OK newsflash, driving at speeds greater than the speed limit is something everyone can and probably has done… it’s not a talent nor is it an accomplishment.

I think it’s funny when ppl say “I’m trying to think”… uh does that mean you can’t even think?

Anyway, last night, for the second night in a row, I played some baseball with Isaiah who is super-jacked-up about playing tee-ball. He’s a good hitter, is getting good at throwing….  I’m really concerned about his catching abilities tho, I’m afraid I’m going to totally pelt him with a ball… Maybe Amber should toss with him b/c she throws like a girl.

Not all that comforting

6 years later

So much has changed since then-President Bush announced we were invading Iraq to disarm potential wmd and to liberate a people held in bondage. We now have a new president who campaigned on a promise to withdraw troops, something he has since agreed to do, not really much different than the agreement Bush had in place.

That said, politics aside, it’s sad that more than 4,000 soldiers have died, and many more thousands wounded. Some estimate more than 100,000 innocent Iraqi citizens have died. Millions of civilians became refugees losing their homes. All in the name of violence. At this point, who cares who is to blame, stark reality is violence breeds violence and that leads to more innocent death. Death before hope could reach people. That’s sad.

I still believe the radical message & hope of Christ can abound in our country and abroad and that we can learn the true way of an aggressive yet peaceful way of non-violence, an in your face aggression that points to life & hope.

As we mark another year of the war in Iraq, do pray for those soldiers, their families, the Iraqis, those who make crucial decisions. Perhaps if we take the words of Jesus seriously and pray for our enemies instead of our own, maybe we can see a generation rise up unwilling to let things come down to war and violence. Or maybe I’m just a dreamer.

good timing?

today around 11:30 I got a phone call from a frantic wife who just ran over some piece of metal and blew a tire out in the van. While on the phone and as I’m about to head out the door - a good 2 minutes later at best – my wife says, “wait that’s Christopher coming down the road & turned around”

I’m not really sure what all that means or how coincedental those things can be but for whatever it is, I’m truly thankful………I mean, I didn’t wanna use vacation hours to go change a flat tire JK

Not so random thoughts…

On my now dark, early commute to the YMCA, these thoughts came to my mind. Probably directed by reflection of events happening around me:

attitude reflects leadership – great quote in great movie – speaks truthfully and it does hurt at times

you don’t always get what you want in life; it’s your reaction that determines character. i’m sure someone greater, wiser than me said this so I won’t claim it but it’s true.

I hate unresolved conflict – but when you put yourself out there and get no return, what can you do? my advice to myself LET IT GO

What I’ve learned from Tiger Woods

Many times I get made fun of for really enjoying watching Tiger Woods golf. In fact, it’s been said that maybe I have a man-crush on  him. Should I point out my biggest critic has been spotted lately wearing a hockey player’s jersey? Nah I won’t do that, but hockey?

Anyway, here are a few reasons why I enjoy Tiger’s golf game.

• He’s taken the sport to new levels and gotten many people involved in the sport that wouldn’t have had he not been around.
• He’s dominating in an individual sport taking on all opponents and beats them in intimidating fashion nearly every time.
• This is key – he has changed his swing 3 x now – each time after completely dominating the field over the course of the summer. He’s done this to get better. He realizes to be the best, you have to keep working, you have to tweak things that aren’t right, and fix any problem in his swing.
• I’ve always been compelled by his relationship with his dad. I remember the many big hugs he’s given his dad over the years and then winning on Father’s day w/out his dad present and seeing the emotion overcome him. Even the most dominating golfer has a soft spot and offers a glimpse into a personal relationship he had with his dad.
• That’s probably the biggest draw to me and the most emotional. It’s probably b/c my dad was an avid golfer and I never had the chance to golf with him. But has inspired me to include my son Isaiah on golfing trips and he loves the game.

So enjoy Tiger at Doral where he’ll play 4 rounds and hopefully get better this week as the summer tourneys lure.

Enjoy this clip of Tiger imitating Charles Barkley’s golf swing.

progression, reflection, and dst lag

Usually I don’t suffer from daylight savings time lag, but for some reason, this year it feels like I did some crazy LOST time travel and am stuck several hours behind, yet here we are on Monday morning. It’s probably more to do with Amber working all weekend and getting the boys up Sunday morning, even at a decent time, then heading over to Centerpoint in the afternoon.

Continuing to do more reflecting over where I am, where I’ve been, and where I’m going (which physically is nowhere). We’ve been listening and participating in an amazing and deeply challenging & motivating series at centerpoint the last few weeks about the importance of placing yourself in the midst of a world who needs help. It starts with the community you are now – for us the local church, centerpoint, and having a passion to serve those who come in, our guests, our kids, etc. Then we must have a mindset of really loving our community – not lipservice, but really finding ways to love those around us, even in other countries, and doing practical things.

what i’m finding during these moments of reflection is that the passion, the drive, the motivation, the conviction, it all comes together at the centerpoint where God speaks, encourages, motivates, and challenges us to love him and to love others.  it’s when i drift from that centerpoint, that the other stuff becomes just everyday, normal routine stuff that lacks meaning.