sorry...

As my wife so kindly commented on my last post...this blog is so last week. I know, I've not updated in a few days. But I have good reason.

I've been at the National New Church Conference since Monday morning.

The last session just let out and we have a few hours before our flight, so finally I have a moment to post something. I've had big plans each day of blogging about everything I heard/saw/learned that day...but with no internet at the house I'm staying at, that has not happened.

So rather than be exhaustive I'll give you a quick overview of the week:

- Alan Hirsch is amazing. I'm extremely excited about to start reading his new book.

-Disc Golf in Orlando is hotter and sandier

-Bill Hybels...pretty good. I was actually surprised. But he does not agree with Mark Driscoll about the role of women in ministry though, that is for sure. Right before he got up to speak, a video of Driscoll played in which he talked about men in church. I won't go into it, if you've heard him before you know where he stands. Hybels got up and called him out. It was kinda funny.

-Vince Antonucci, Wayne Corderio, Dave Ferguson...all good stuff. Made me think.

-Got to hang out a lot with one of my best friends Joey Keck all week and that was the best part.

-The rest of it...marketing, self-promotion, hand-shaking, 'talking shop'...ehh, I can really only take so much of that before going crazy.

Church conferences are a weird thing. They aren't for everyone and I'm not always convinced they're for me. But this was good.

congratulations to me!

Today is a big day for me. Why? Because this morning I read the last set of Scriptures in the Discipleship Journal's One Year Bible Reading Plan.

This particular reading plan is designed to lead you through the entire Bible in one year by having daily readings from four separate places in Scripture (the history books/prophets, the wisdom books, the gospels and the New Testament letters). And mere minutes ago, I checked off the last of my readings.

I wish there was someone around to high five or to pour bubbly over my head. Because as of this moment, I am completely and utterly done...and it only took me a little over four years to do it.

Yes, I started the reading plan at the beginning of the second semester of my senior year of college. That was in January 2003. Today is April 19, 2007.

Now maybe you are thinking, "Bill, you can't be excited about this. You are an ordained minister and it took you over 4 years to 'read through the Bible in a year'?! That is pathetic."

Maybe. Of course...based on my last post...others of you may doubt that I have ever read my Bible at all.

But either way, I am excited. And I do have a good reasons for taking so long to complete it. I regularly took time off from this plan to memorize certain passages of Scripture or to study parts of the Bible that were especially relevant during certain seasons of my life the last four years.

Wait, no...I have no need to explain myself. This is a day of congratulation.

Even if it is self-congratulation.

on my way to work...

...I pass this store. And I see this sign. Everyday. And it disturbs me.

I had Betsy snap a picture as we drove past it on Saturday, so that I could post it here. I want it to disturb you too. So here you go:




So, notice anything...disturbing?

an interesting quote...

"Sin boldly, but believe and rejoice more boldly still." - Martin Luther

I like this quote. Though, I do acknowledge the paradoxical nature of it. I am sure some of you are even thinking, "Yeah...but a lot of people are really going to take that first part to heart...the 'sin boldly' part. That could be dangerous."

And that's fair.

But I think that the first two words are less of a exhortation and more of an observation. Luther is saying, "We humans sin boldly. We do. Whether we want to or not, that is the reality. So if we sin boldly, then let us strive to believe and rejoice even more boldly still."

Luther was an intense realist. And sometimes the lines are blurred between realism and fatalism. Maybe that is the case here. I don't know. But I appreciate the honesty and passion of the quote.

Also, quite frankly, I don't know what the context of the quote is. I came across it in the introduction to 'Life Together' by Dietrich Bonehoeffer. So who is to say that, when expounded upon, the quote wouldn't seem less shocking.

Either way, it piqued my interest. So I thought I'd share it with you.

african children's choir

Easter Sunday has come and passed and...He is still risen ("He is still risen indeed"). So that's good.

I recieved an email recently from an old family friend. Her name is Jenny. I was raised with three older sisters and Jenny is best friends with...well, pretty much all three. She has been now for so long that I just figure I actually have four sisters.

Jenny has recently been working the African Children's Choir. She is going back to Uganda this summer to begin training to be a Chaperon.

If you know nothing about the African Children's Choir. Here is a description from their website:

"The African Children’s Choir™ features delightful African children ages 7 through 11. Many have lost one or both parents through the devastation of war, famine and disease. Their voices sing out on behalf of Africa’s 12 million AIDS orphans. They represent the future of the entire continent, demonstrating the potential to become strong leaders for a better future in their homeland.

In spite of the tragedy that has marred their young lives, these musically gifted children are radiant with hope and wonderfully entertaining. They melt the hearts of audiences with their charming smiles and joyful African melodies and dance.

The primary goal of the African Children’s Choir™ is to raise awareness of the need of destitute and orphaned children in Africa and to raise funds for continued development and support of the Choir’s relief and development programs. Once Choir members have completed a concert tour, they will return to their homelands with the support, care and education necessary for bettering their future and that of their brothers and sisters.

They are Africa’s future."

Jenny has started a blog to journal her journey. She is doing some pretty awesome stuff. You can check it out here (be sure to check out the videos on the sidebar).

i'm okay with this...

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Betsy said she would rather me be King Leonidas, and frankly I can't blame her. But the truth is...I don't have the body for Leonidas. So, I'm good with being ole 'Honest Abe'.

Plus, I hear he had a pretty killer six-pack as well.

you can't a-Voit the inevitable

For most people, there is no more self-conscious or awkward stage of life than Junior High. I am one of those people.

It was a time of self-discovery. I was into so many different things. I was into music. I was into sports. I was into girls (though most weren’t into me). I was into ‘Saved by the Bell’. I was into making my friends laugh. I was into getting into trouble. I was into a lot.

But in Junior High you have to start narrowing things down. You have to start making decisions about who you are going to be; what you are going to value; what you are going to spend your time and energy on; what you are going to pour yourself into.

I was on the basketball team. I’ve played basketball my whole life and the perfect description of my basketball ability and experience is this: the sixth man. If you don’t know, a basketball team has five players on the floor at a time. The five that start the game are generally the…duh…five best. The first guy off the bench; the one who is good but not quite good enough; that guy is called the ‘the sixth man’. Good enough to compete with the best, but not good enough to be one of them.

Every year, at the end of the season, our coach would coordinate the Father/Son Game. A time for fun, food and little friendly competition. My father, in his day, was a pretty good athlete. But outside of bowling, an occasional game of golf, and a little pitch and catch with me in the back yard…by the time I was in Junior High, he really hadn’t done anything too athletic in years. Thus, it had been a while since he had the need for decent athletic garb.

So his ‘outfit’ for the Father/Son Game: denim shorts…a Special Olympics t-shirt (he and my mom volunteered with the Special Olympics which is why he had the shirt, but the word ‘Volunteer’ appeared no where on it)…and to top it all off, a pair of ten dollar Voit tennis shoes, complete with Velcro, that He had purchased that day at the local hardware store.

Ten dollar Voit tennis shoes. Not Nike. Not Reebok. Voit.

Now today, I truly appreciate, and actually admire, my father’s lack of concern with fashion. He wears what works…period. It doesn’t matter what it looks like. There are simply more important things to worry about than what someone else might think of the clothes he is wearing. He doesn’t care. My Father is more comfortable in his own skin than anyone I have ever known. I wish I had one ounce of that.

But…

in Junior High…in eye of the pubescent storm…trying to figure out who I was…and wanting so badly to prove myself to my coach and my friends, “appreciate” and “admire” my father’s denim shorts, Special Olympics t-shirt and ten dollar Voits…I did not.

It was one of those moments that you remember forever. “Scarred” is way too serious of a word. I was not scarred by it, but it was seared in my memory.

So, why am I telling you all of this?

Because two weeks ago, we were in Gatlinburg and wanting to play a round of disc golf. It was drizzling and thus the course was a tad bit muddy. I was wearing shoes that I didn’t want to ruin, so I stopped by Wal-Mart and purchased…drum roll please…yep, you guessed it, a pair of Voit tennis shoes.

Now guess how much they cost?

Ten dollars. Apparently, the people over at “Voit Co.” are not real concerned with inflation.

The shoes fit nice, they are comfortable and most surprising, I actually like the way they look. In fact, I’m wearing them right now.

So either its true that “what goes around comes around”. Or I am turning into my father. For my sake, I hope it is the latter.

But don’t expect to see me in a Special Olympics t-shirt anytime soon.