Kickball hero...

Just when you think Guitar Hero can't get any cooler...

Concert review...

We went to see U2 at BC Place with a couple of friends on Wednesday night. Wow!

Great show from start to finish. I'll rank this in the top 3 concerts I've seen. But I'm still going to say that seeing Eric Clapton is hands down first place. I'll let U2 and Dave Matthews duke it out for spots 2 and 3.

Highlight of the night was when the band sang Happy Birthday. Erin and our friends inserted my name instead of Bill Gates, whom Bono was actually singing to. I'm sticking to the story that saying that U2 sang to me and got my name wrong.

The show was definitely worth every penny and we're contemplating trying to see them again when they come to Seattle next June.

Here's the setlist from the evening:

10/28/2009 B.C. Place Stadium - Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Breathe
Get On Your Boots
Magnificent
Mysterious Ways
Beautiful Day / Blackbird (snippet)
I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For / Stand By Me (snippet)
Happy Birthday
Stuck In A Moment You Can't Get Out Of
No Line On The Horizon
Elevation
In A Little While
Unknown Caller
Until The End Of The World
The Unforgettable Fire
City Of Blinding Lights
Vertigo
I'll Go Crazy If I Don't Go Crazy Tonight / Two Tribes (snippet)
Sunday Bloody Sunday
MLK
Walk On / You'll Never Walk Alone (snippet)

encore #1
One / Amazing Grace (snippet)
Where The Streets Have No Name

encore #2
Ultra Violet (Light My Way)
With Or Without You
Moment of Surrender

Anybody want a peanut...

Backstory: I'm allergic to peanuts (amongst a pile of other things)

So, last night I get home from middle school youth. I'm hungry, so I decide to have a sandwich since Erin has all the supplies out and is making lunches for the kids. I opt for this new flaked ham mixed with pesto dip. Looks good.

A couple of bites in and I notice that the inside of my mouth feels like someone is either A. trying to light my mouth on fire or B. trying to stab every part of the inside of my mouth with a million tiny little pins.

Yep. Allergic reaction. It's my first one since high school.

Turns out that the dip actually contained trace amounts of peanuts. A fact that was conveniently hidden on the label in font size of -5 and covered up by a coupon sticker.

Alas, I am alive and well.

Books #35-38

I am so far behind on my reading, that I'm almost embarrassed.

Last night I conceded defeat to my lovely wife as I have no hope of catching her reading tally for the year (unless she stops reading and I start referring to emails as "books"). I'm already 10 (or probably a trillion) books behind her, and when you factor in the early birthday present I got yesterday (any guesses?), there's no chance of making this a decent competition.

To prove that I'm semi-literate here's what I have read in the last few months:

Cherry Bomb
J.A. Konrath

I read all his previous work and was enjoying most of it. This one does not enter that category. I contemplated not even finishing it, and that's a sign that a book isn't working for me.





Crazy Good Sex
Les Parrott

I'm married and I'm male. Enough said.

A book that looks at some of the common myths that men believe about sex.




Stop the Traffik
Steve Chalke & Cherie Blair

I'm part of a team that's designing a service to raise awareness about human trafficking and sexual exploitation. This book contains some great info & stats about what's happening (or in some cases, not happening) around the world with human trafficking. And if you think sex trafficking just happens in other countries on the other side of the ocean, you might want to show up for the service on November 29th. It will hopefully open your eyes and hearts.

The Youth Worker Book of Hope
Tim Baker

Anyone in youth ministry has experienced the down side of working with students. Maybe it was an event that flopped, a student who made poor decisions, a firing, a neglected spouse...the list goes on. This book is a collection of stories written by youth workers who experienced some of these moments and what they learned from them. A quality resource to remind you that you are not alone in what you do and that there is hope.

Geeked out...

When I originally saw this video I got a little giddy. That makes me a geek right?

Well, I officially got my Google Wave invite and I'm stoked. Ok, so there's not a whole lot that I can do with it right now until other people start joining, but still...it's all about potential.

Interested in an invite? I've got 18 more.

I hear some people are selling them on eBay.

Youth Ministry Rollercoasters...

The Up:

Tonight I walked (ok, maybe "ran" is more appropriate) my high schoolers through Hosea in an attempt to show them what love is and to remind them that they themselves are loved. As we discussed Hosea's love for Gomer and God's love for Israel and ultimately how we are loved one of our newest high school girls lights up with this gem:

"Wow...it all makes sense."

I make no attempt to take credit for this. In fact, I would say that this was one of my worst teaching nights. I rambled, I felt rushed, and I just tried to get too much in. But God still used it.


The Down:

I saw a tweet about Mark Oestreicher leaving Youth Specialties. Then I found the press release on the YS website. I love Marko and all he's done for the student ministry world. There's no doubt he'll be missed and I hope that he still remains involved in impacting the student world.

And the press release is vague (at best) and completely frustrating and I can't help but remember a little video Marko & Tic Long made back when Zondervan first bought YS. It seemed to be a funny little video that now looks to have contained a little bit of prophetic truth.

But I can't find the video. Go figure.

Concert review...

Last night the David Crowder*Band rocked out at Sevenoaks. Their only stop north of the border and we got to play host.

Let's not mention the fact that security was acting like they were guarding U2 and that one guy even tried to kick me out of the building for using my keys.

Anyways. The concert was loud, smelly and a little squishy, but it was fun. 14 of us got early admission and crammed ourselves into the front row just to prove how cool we are. (Unfortunately when the crowd rushed the stage, our front row seats quickly became fifth row seats.)

Highlight #1: "How He Loves" Sweet song. 'Nuf said.

Highlight #2: Erin becoming a Danyew groupie. (In reality she was just talking with the 2 man band and taking photos for a couple of our girls.)

Highlight #3: Seabird. Not only did their guitarist Ryan hook one of our middle school guys up with free tickets after they were talking in the parking lot after church, but they were great. Buy their album. You will not be disappointed.

Highlight #4: I'm in this photo that was taken by the band. Can you find me?

Soccer Saturday...

Our team is coming off a 10-0 win last Saturday and I think we were gearing up for today's game against one of the top team's in the league. We've slowly been settling in to the new season, and I think we might start doing better than last year if all our guys show up and stay healthy.

But today we arrive at the field to find the game has been canceled. Apparently it's too wet. Yeah, so it's raining. But no more than a typical fall/winter day in the Lower Mainland. So, if they cancel this, I think they should probably cancel the rest of the season too.

Oh well. We got in a little practice and a short run, so I should count myself lucky to have some more relax time.

In other footballing news, condolences to all you Liverpool fans. That goal today was a farce. Kind of funny, but still a farce.

Don't know what I'm talking about do a Google search for "Liverpool beach ball goal".

Octaves...

I interrupt your daily program to share with you what might be the greatest joy of the invention of YouTube.

Meet Shane.

Phone calls on a day off...

It's a day off.

The phone rang.

I check the call display and recognize it as someone from church.

I contemplated letting it ring through, but then decided to pick it up.

A short dose of encouragement was unleashed upon me for the words I spoke yesterday.

A good phone call.

Thankful.

Turkey Day...

Happy Thanksgiving. Hope you're enjoying some decent time with family or friends.

I'm lacking the energy and creativity to do anything substantial here, so I'll just give you a little update.

• I've been listening to 2 albums regularly lately. Hope Rising by Fee and Church Music by David Crowder*Band. Both are worth buying.
  
• Preached about surrendering to Jesus in church yesterday.
• Erin baptized one of our high school girls during the service. She's scared to death of crowds and public speaking, she surrendered and went through with it.
  
• So cool to see a pile of paper at the foot of the cross representing the things people were surrendering to Jesus.
• Went out to play photographer's assistant while Erin took family pictures for some friends.
• Got shot by an airsoft gun. (Thanks Cheryl, for gifting Erin with a firearm.)
• We went to a late showing of Couples Retreat. Not phenomenal, but kind of funny. It contains some interesting conversation starters about marriage and relationships.
• Eating turkey tonight with the upstairs neighbors (Erin's parents, in case you didn't know).
• Leading worship in church next week.
• Planning on playing some guitar today.
• Anticipating the David Crowder*Band concert next Sunday night.
  

Sigh...

This frustration has been brewing inside of me since they announced the current NHL schedule.

My Habs visit the area so rarely, and when they do they come on a Wednesday night?!?!

Here's hoping they can give those Canucks an 0-4 start to their season. It would sure be funny.

I just need to remember to record the game so I can watch it after youth tonight.

Too late to take it back...

Ever say something that you turned out to regret?

Last month I had a couple of middle schoolers ask to paint my face at our church kick off. I politely, but adamantly, declined for two reasons:

1. I was heading out to the golf course that afternoon and face paint makes golfers more angry than they already are.
2. I dislike face paint.

I made some comment that if they both showed up at our Tuesday middle school event together one week I would let them paint my face. Well, as it turns out they showed up tonight with a brand new package of face paints.

The repercussions? Three of us had our faces destroyed.

But I kept my word. That's got to be worth something, right?

Getting there...

I'm lined up to preach in the contemporary service at church this Sunday.

The topic is about being fully surrendered to Jesus. We're going to look at one of Jesus' more outrageous claims that a person must hate (yeah, we're not shying away from the ESV language that actually includes the word "hate") their family and their own life in order to be His disciple.

Crazy stuff from a human perspective. Hate my family? Uh...yeah...sure Jesus. What about all that love stuff that you talked about? How do you explain that?

I'll be the first to say that passages like this make me question my level of surrender to Jesus.

I'll be the first to admit that I'm wrestling with this sermon.

I know that too many of us (yours truly included) are happy with our plastic Jesus tucked away in our pockets where He can't really bother us. We'll pull Him out whenever it's convenient for us.

And I don't think that's an accurate working definition of being fully surrendered.

I'm praying that the words of this passage will push many out of their little "Jesus box" and that their eyes would be open to how He calls each of us to fully live for Him.

NYWC recap...

One week later, here's my notes from a talk that Shane Hipps gave at NYWC. It started out slow, but as he went on I found myself drawn in and challenged by what he said.

• Adam's first task was a creative project: naming the animals
• We are made to create, just like God creates
• Technology is representative of our God-given creative gifts
• Technology is inevitable
• Technology has an unintended consequence; it's not bad but it can do things that are bad
• The clock was originally invented to help people connect with God; now the clock connects us more to money than to God
• We need to be fully present here AND now
• The only thing that exists is this moment
• Face to face conversations are becoming more infrequent and awkward
• We are blinded to the power of physical presence in the world
• Be there. Be physically there.
• "Where two or more are gathered...": It's about presence.
• How do you communicate presence over email, Facebook, and Twitter?
• The incarnation shows us that presence is at the centre of Christian faith
• We need to periodically fast from technology
• The most meaningful transformation will happen, not online but within physical presence
• Practice what it means to be here and now
• Stop depriving the world of what it needs: the WHOLE you!

This completely resonates with me. I can get so caught up in technology that I forget to be present in the lives of others. I can get so caught up in planning and organizing and leading that I can often overlook the people right in front of me.

We've made some changes to our student ministry this year so we could work on teh very same principal: be present. We're calling it intentional proximity and we've asked all of our leaders to go out of their way to be present in the lives of our students.

It reminds me of a comment from Modern Family the other night. The one character, Jay, is asked what the key to being a good dad is. His closing thought was that "90% of being a dad is just showing up."

Are you showing up in the lives of those around you?

For my wife...

A random photo, about which I offer no context.