Beyond the Hedge

This is not the NFL

2007-10-22T11:14:00.000-05:00

There is a stage of growing pains for people who change professions or progress from amateur to professional status. This is true for athletes making the step from college to pros in their respective sport. It has been seen with head college football and basketball coaches making their attempt at head coach status in the NFL and NBA. In reverse, you do not see too many people stepping down to a lower level of competition and really making a rumbling. However, Charlie Weiss has made the step down to college but as a head coach. He proved to be a genius of the offense with the team he inherited but their defense still remains a mystery. His team is definitely experiencing some growing pains this season.
I think Charlie needs to be reminded that this is not the NFL. All athletes want to be in the NFL, not all football players want to be at ND. Therefore, recruiting matters and finishing with the worst division 1 record and stats does not give your team the first pick in the draft. Players have numerous options for college football but that is funnelled down to approximately 50 players for 32 teams. Athletes think about what gives them the best option to be in that group of men. Wins matter in college and players will follow those wins and success to provide pathways to even greater opportunities.

Good from Oklahoma

2007-10-15T12:33:00.000-05:00

There is something good that comes out of Oklahoma. First, my wife grew up there and her family still lives there. Second, the Oklahoma State Comboys really did me a favor by providing me with some joy. They beat the downward spiraling Nebraska Cornhuskers in Lincoln, NE on Homecoming. Finally, the state of Oklahoma has reunited me with one of the finer items in life, Altoids. Not just the original Altoid or the new chocolate covered Altoids that are available at any store but the ever so delightful cinnamon Altoid. At a newly constructed Reasor's grocery store in Owasso my wife located a tin of the refreshing breath mints and brought them home. The mints are still in the perfectly designed container awaiting the perfect moment to release their aroma and satisfy months of separation from my tastebuds. Many good things come from Oklahoma so it is worthy to mention them today and as often as needed.

Thirsty V8

2007-04-22T22:49:00.000-05:00

You know the car that always makes you tap the breaks when you approach it. It can also be the car that you drove in high school or the same kind your grandparents currently cruise in on a Sunday drive. It might have leather, ride very smooth, possess all the gadgets that make a ride as comfortable as possible. It also has a powerful engine but is not very sporty or have much get up and go. It is a crown vic. Yes, I am currently, not by choice or any action of my own, riding in crown vic for a week. It is very comfortable and has lots of room but does not have very much eye appeal. Matt has proven to display some of his rookie moves in making car rental reservations. As we walked by an Impala, Subaru Tribeca and some more appealing cars, I stared upon our white crown vic. I am confident that several funnay stories will come from our experience in this giant car. Also keep in mind that gas is at a rate of $2.65+ per gallon so it will be interesting to see how thirsty this V8 will be.

Big Boy

2007-04-10T15:32:00.000-05:00

You may have heard this phrase from a credit card commercial but I will use it to describe something that is much more important to me. Our family has experienced a new stage of life for Mr. Mason. He has moved into a new Big Boy or toddler bed as some would refer to it. He accomplished this just last night. Amanda and I were able to read a couple books to him and make sure that he had his usual blanket to have throughout the night. He cried a little but made it the entire night and because of his new found freedom was able to greet us in our room. He ventured in to our room around 6:30. This was not to far off his regualr time of 7:15 for a wake-up time. He is becoming a big boy and showing us daily new things he is learning and accomplishing.

See, Experience & Believe

2007-02-05T14:47:00.000-06:00

I was at the most recent CIY Believe in Tulsa, OK and I can say that I actually saw and experienced something that I thought I never would at a Believe weekend event. There are many elements that are part of the event at Believe. Students sing songs, listen to Mark O speak about Jesus, watch Brent the acrobat, laugh at Dave and Brian and listen to Robert Pierre. But there was one other element included in this particular weekend in Tulsa. Across the hallway in the arena was an extra piece of entertainment taking place on Saturday afternoon. It was youth ice skating. I have a hard time watching ice skating on television but now it was right in front of me. I saw some kids glide and twirl their way to claps and cheers from the stands. I experienced pain and disappoint as some of them fell to the ice. I could not believe that I actually sat down to view this spectacle of competition.
Leaving that thought behind, I really enjoyed the weekend as many students were part of a great opportunity to hear about Jesus' life. I was able to talk with many youth ministers that I have not talked with for some time and met some for the first time. I was encouraged to see the excitement, experience the craziness and believe for myself that Jesus wants to use students in many ways.

Big Top vs Relationship

2007-01-24T16:43:00.000-06:00

After hearing a recent ESPN radio segment I was reminded of how important relationships are in ministry. It can be hard for people to see a connection between a story on the NFL and ministry. As the coaching carousel continues to spin many NFL teams are beginning to seek young guys as the new head coach as opposed to a big name, high dollar coach. Some analyst and others would say this is because a 30 something coach can better relate to the players. Steelers recently hired Mike Tomlin as their new coach after longtime coach Bill Cowher retired. Is it more important to have a coach with experience and wisdom or the ability to build relationships with the players? Looking at it from their perspective, NFL teams, it is important to the tune of multimillion dollar deals. Looking at this from the perspective of ministry, relationships are very important. This should be what all people are doing as a Christian. Invest in the lives of people so they can then build a strong relationship with Jesus and other people. Every team wants to win the Superbowl but some teams feel it is important to have a coach that relates to the players of their team. The superbowls of ministry will take place but it is more important for a youth minister to build relationships with the students he is around everyday. The Steelers will look to improve and win next year but hopefully Mike Tomlin will have made a larger impact in the lives of guys that are part of the team.

More Signs

2007-01-19T10:22:00.000-06:00

Since travel around the country has been minimal the last few months I found another avenue to have a few laughs. Matt found these signs as he searched for videos for work. Sermonspice has a great video Church Signs Countdown that you may have seen in the past or may be completely new. I do hope that you enjoy them and may they bring you to tears because of laughter or pure pain.

Open

2007-01-11T13:25:00.000-06:00

Registration is open for Know Sweat Service Projects. I am excited about our new locations in Dallas, Omaha and Beckley, WV. Omaha will be a transfer of location from Norfolk, NE. Dallas will be great and the city will provide many opportunities to serve people. Beckley will give us another great location in the east. The Know Sweat staff is working hard to put all the elements together so that students will be able to learn about and experience service. As we provide an opportunity for students to serve, we desire to make a difference in the lives of people and honor God. I am praying that our staff will be able to locate the right people at the right time that need assistance. It will be awesome to see transformation take place in 2007.

Outcome

2007-01-03T16:28:00.000-06:00

This is an overview of the many things that happened over the Christmas holiday.
1. The CIY staff Christmas Party that included a unique viewing of the Fountain of Angels at Precious Moments in Carthage, MO and Christmas songs with Duke Mason.
2. Family Christmas with Amanda's parents at our house. I received some long awaited Eagle Creek Pack It Cubes from them along with some other great presents. We also had ham, potatoes and green bean casserole for our meal. It was all very good.
3. A bad experience at Johnny Carino's in Joplin, MO. Not becasue of who we were with but because of the server. He was just bad.
4. This Christmas also included a trip to Iowa to visit my family. This involved high school basketball games, Christmas Eve service with most of the family and a ton of holiday goodies. Amanda and I also debated what to watch on TV as I like to watch sports and she leans toward movies and anything but sports and the Weather Channel.
5. Amanda and I shared in a movie on Christmas. We watched the Pursuit of Happyness. A great story about a man's dedication and commitment to making the most out of his life. Although the focus is on financial success the sacrifice made is a great lesson. How much sacrifice will you make for your kids, wife and family?
6. Urbana. More to come later.
7. One of the most incredible college football games I have seen took place just a few days ago. As I prepared to go to bed I debated on going to sleep. I said to Amanda that Oklahoma vs Boise State will probably be one of the best games ever or just ho hum as they played the last quarter and a half. Amazing.

I hope to elaborate a little more as I look back to the many things I was part of this Christmas. This is the outcome of what happened the last few weeks.

(RED)

2006-12-11T16:28:00.000-06:00

I noticed a call to the (RED) this weekend as Sprint mentioned that a portion of money from the purchase of a new Red Motorazr would go to Global Fund. As I viewed Relevant today I came across an article that talked about this very topic. Comments were shared concerning the authors article and many people had valid replies. It is important to help with the fight against Aids, tuberculosis and malaria and to be informed about the magnitude of the problem. The best point is that if Christians followed Christ like He calls us too then there would be no need for a color campaign, because we would taking care of 'the least of these'. There is a great focus on using finances to meet physical needs right now. There needs to be a signigicant effort to meet spiritual needs as well. If the two were combined it probably would not have the same success. People would not catch onto (RED) the same way if Jesus was part of the solution to a growing problem like Aids. Consider how you can make a difference, hopefully it does not involve the purchase of an iPod Nano.

Make Up

2006-12-07T16:14:00.000-06:00

A recent trip to Starbucks in Joplin revealed that some people care about their customers. I was talking with an employee there that I know from college and church. We shared greetings and conversation about family and life. I stepped away and then remembered that I needed to ask him about the unknown beverage, the Iced Cafe con Leche. I shared that another Starbucks fell short of the mark on knowing the drink selection and how to make them. He said that no drink should take 20 minutes and then he proceded to make things right by preparing a free Iced Cafe con Leche in about 30 seconds. Josh knows how to treat a customer and make up for how someone else dropped the ball. I appreciate his commitment and kindness.

Winter Wonderland

2006-12-02T10:07:00.000-06:00

Joplin, along with a large majority of the Midwest, actually received a significant amount of snow. It looks very nice when you can look out the front door and see nothing but a smooth white sheet of snow. Amanda loved every part of the winter storm except when we drove down Rangeline in all of the ugly, dirty slush. This is also the first snow that Mason has truly experienced. He enjoys watching Noel, our dog, go out and take care of business in the backyard. Noel does not like the cold and definitely does not desire to play around in the snow. As a native of Iowa I am experienced in dealing with snow, from driving in it, to shoveling off the driveway and sidewalk, to staying inside out of the cold. However, whatever level of experience you have, a winter storm can always catch you off guard. It is easy to see the wonder of winter but it is different to try and experience the wonder. This is evident in the difficulty of driving out of our neighbor, to seeing a number of people stuck in large piles of snow in the entrance/exit of gas stations, supermarkets and restaurants. May our wonder and amazement of snow always be greater than the frustration that it can also bring us.

Review

2006-11-24T22:23:00.000-06:00

It happened. 007 Casino Royale was part of the holiday vacation with family. It was a great movie with lots of action and a great opening scene. After post movie conversation with Amanda and her brother it was brought to my attention that Casino Royale reveals a lot about previously released Bond movies. In reality a person will not even pay attention to Daniel Craig being a blonde bond. 007 did not disappoint and provided great entertainment. As the Christmas season continues I do look forward to seeing another movie, We Are Marshall.

Unknown Beverage

2006-11-24T21:51:00.000-06:00

It is confirmed that many Starbucks employees do not know anything about the Iced Cafe con Leche. A delightful drink and more easy on the pocket book than a Frappuccino. A visit to Starbucks in Owasso revealed that the employee did not even know the drink was on the menu behind him. The employee tried to deflect my choice to a different item but I politely pointed out that it was listed in the coffee section. He proceeded to ring up the item and then pulled out the large ring binder in order to research how to make my drink and mentioned that he had never made that drink. After twenty minutes and checking twice on the progress, the barista hand delivered the drink and mentioned that he called to find out how the drink was to be made. He did a great job for his first attempt. The unknown beverage to many employees is probably unknown to many customers. I am confident that this scenario will take place if this beverage is ordered again. It can only come full circle if I actually tell them how to make the drink. May the unknown be known.

NMC

2006-11-20T14:33:00.000-06:00

It was another great year at the National Missionary Convention. Many people, youth and adults, gathered in Indianapolis, IN for this annual event. Conversations were plentiful with friends, familiar faces and partners in ministry over the 3+ days. The images to remember include two college age females handing food to a man shaking a cup to siginy his need of spare change. Adding to the pictures were thousand of students sorting & packing clothes as well as building walls for future homes to be built. Through these images and quantities of people you see the great interest people have in God's heart for all people. Encouragement was received as a young girl shared gratitude, with some of the CIY staff, for the role that Summer Conference played in her life. God truly used that event to change her life. It will be another year until the NMC takes place again, but the focus will always be to make God's mission our mission.

Blonde Bond

2006-11-14T17:30:00.000-06:00

A recent conversation with Amanda included me saying that the new 007 movie did not look that appealing to me. Her response was something like, "I don't know about a blonde bond." That's right, it was even discussed on the Today show, a blonde James Bond will be ruling the special agent world for Casino Royale and the next two 007 movies. Whether or not a blonde Bond will be a success will be known this weekend when the movie will be released for all to enjoy. What I learned from my comment is that my wife and I look at things differently. I was already aware of this but it is always great to be reminded of the different perspectives that we have about certain topics. I will not have an opinion about the success of the blonde Bond because I will not be watching it. Once again that is where our perspectives differ because Amanda would enjoy watching it.

Madness

2006-11-11T21:48:00.000-06:00

Whether it be the approaching Christmas shopping season, talking of what one lose team should be in the BCS championship game or the fact that college basketball has started there is Madness to be experienced. It is official, Christmas is here. This is known because Starbucks has their festive holiday cups out. Instead of the sleek, basic white they have gone to the bold, outstanding red. What one loss team deserves a chance to go toe-to-toe with the winner of Ohio State & Michigan? The past three weeks have seen formidable opponents drop to one or two losses starting with USC losing, then West Virginia and now Louisville lost to the still undefeated Rutgers. This is truly madness because they talk about it every year. It is probably a good thing they have this computer messing things up, otherwise the experts would be complaining about human votes being the reason a current undefeated Rutgers is being overlooked. The only good madness still lies with college basketball. It will start to heat up as teams begin to play in Holiday tournaments and encounter a rare early season ranked opponent. One good thing to see is that North Carolina is a preseason #2 pick. The Tar Heels should do well with several returning players and a few top recruits to help them push for another national title. Madness will reveal its true self in the weeks and months to come but can only be experienced to the fullest in the month of March.

Signs

2006-11-07T09:56:00.000-06:00

Recent travel has once again revealed one of the best ways to laugh. It deals with signs that stand in front of churches across the country. Many of them post service times for the week and also ministers that work at that particular church. However, whether for good or bad, some also include a note as to what the sermon will be about or a phrase to make you think about the relationship you have with God and other people. Here a few from the past...Faith is the postage stamp to your prayer, To avoid burning...Use Sonblock, and the one that fueled me even writing about this, God wants spiritual fruit, not religious nuts. How about that one? Even though it brings laughter, how effective are these signs? Would you pull into the church and ask what that phrase is talking about or making reference too? Probably not. Use the sign how you may and share them as they come your way.

Here It Is

2006-11-01T22:03:00.000-06:00

I must start with the important information first. My wonderful wife, Amanda, and I have been married almost four and a half years and for one year of that have enjoyed our son Mason. We share in many things: changing diapers, Starbucks, Lost, the Oklahoma State Cowboys and chocolate chip cookies. I look forward to sharing on future blogs about my wife and son and how they make each day special and different. There will be many other discussions but this is what I will start with for now