Anatomy of Gray

Last night, I was given the privilege, nay the pleasure of watching the Seaman High School play. I was really there to watch a couple of my kids star in it; but still it was a great way to spend a Thursday night. Becca Sells was one of the lead roles; June Mouldon. If you have seen the play, and know Becca; the acting part could not have been very difficult for her. Her character is really just a portrayal of who she is off of stage. One point during the show, had the doctor limited her character to only one question a day. This is a strategy that has crossed my mind with Becca as well. The day dreaming, the questions, the overall disposition of her character was simply Becca. She did phenomal. Nathan was a townsperson. He was actually the understudy for a character named Homer. If you knew Nathan, his disposition would be better suited for the Doctor; however, he would have made a fine Homer. He did a fine job of entering and exiting on cue.

A couple things I learned about plays:

1. It is common to bring the leads flowers for their performance. I took flowers to Becca for the Nutcraker last year, but was unaware of this tradition in theatre as well.

2. I do not pay good enough attention during key parts of the play. Relying on the rewind button on my DVD player gets me through movies. There is no rewind on theatre.

3. I am not made to understand the end of plays.

SPOILER ALERT (due to the nature of this section the ending will be given away)

When I was in 4th grade, I watched Seaman High School put on DAMN YANKEES. During the final act there was a bomb threat on the school. I have never got to see the end of the play. Does he get his soul back? What happens to Lola? I still live in constant turmoil over the ending.

Anatomy of Gray ended with two healthy people and a baby sailing off down the river. The doctor then finds the problem with the water. End of play. I have never been more angry with an ending in all my life. I have a healthy respect for those who tie up all the loose ends. If I wanted to imagine an ending, I would make up my own story. Leonard (the author) is telling me a story then leaving me hanging, which is rude.

Overall I loved the play, enjoyed hanging out with Clay in the back, and loved getting to see my kids act.

The Capital Journal wrote about it here: http://www.cjonline.com/stories/111308/lei_355452739.shtml

“The last of human freedoms is to choose ones attitude in any given situation.”

Vicktor E. Frankl penned these words in his book, Man's Search For Meaning. He was discussing his own imprisonment at the hands of the Germans. His home had become a concentration camp with thousands of other Jews, who really had no hope. Frankl noticed a difference between those surviving and those who were dying. The one's who were most healthy were the ones that decided that they still had some kind of control over their futures. A simple decision of what to eat first on their meager plate was enough to keep some sane. Those who were dying by the day, were the ones who had given up and conceeded all hope and most of all, all choices. They essentially were the walking dead.

Most of you know that we have been discussing the relationships we have with our parents during Jr. High youth group. You might be asking yourself what Vicktor Frankl has to do with getting along with parents. No, their lives are not like concentration camps. However, the attitude that they chose to address this relationship with, will determine the outcome; just as Frankl noticed a connection to attitude and survival.

In Philippians 2, Paul reminds us that our attitude should be the same as Jesus. He goes on to explain the humble and service oriented attitudes that Jesus displayed. The word translated attitude was used back then to mean the "diaphragm." The muscle that cause the lungs to inhale and exhale. The diaphragm determines the nature and strength of the breath and hence the human spirit and its emotions. Therefore, our very nature, our very essence, should be the servant attitude displayed by Jesus in John 13, when he washed the disciples feet and ultimately his work on the Cross.

I challenged the Jr. High kids to take this servant attitude home to their parents, as an example of who they are following. Easier said than done.

Then we threw Marshmallows in the air and tried to catch them. The guys caught 66 from Ian (who washed his hands first), but the girls didn't do as well.

Spiritual Fatigue

Many years ago, I was blessed to have been able to run with some good guys on the Seaman Cross Country team. I stunk at it. I have since seen video's of myself running then that makes me question their friendship. If they were truly my friends, they would have told me to take up something that would fit my athletic ability a little bit better, like competitive cup stacking or something. To this day they are some of my best friends. On our long runs as a team, I remember getting so tired that throwing myself under an 18-wheeler looked appealing. We used to have discussions about the proper entry angle so as not to kill yourself, but at least limit the use of your legs so you wouldn't have to finish the six mile run.

Last weekend, I was able to go watch the MCC-Ozark Soccer game. Seeing a lot of those guys helped me to remember simpler days, where the theory of theology caused a lot less headaches than the practical theology that I face today. Relationships are difficult, and quite frankly more work than I had ever imagined. A couple of summers ago, I was faced with a difficult relationship as I worked with CIY. Nate Karnes taught me a lot about how to deal with it. That was 3 months of awkwardness and misunderstanding. But it was so much simpler knowing that relationship would come to an end...these now must go on indefinitely.

Relationships are hard work, needing constant maintenance. I am now starting to realize how much of your spiritual health affects the relationships you have and vice versa. When I am tired relationally...I notice that instead of running to scripture, it is easier to run away. When I am tired spiritually...I avoid relationships. Spiritual health is celebrated communally. It is shared communally.

Spagetti Dinner

I serve a church of about 300 people. There are 4 full time staff members and three part time. simply stated, a little over 1 percent of our congregation is full time staff and a little over 2 percent are any kind of staff at all.

Under these circumstances, it is simple to see that a church without the support and input from a volunteer contingent would suffocate itself to death.

Tonight, we celebrated our youth sponsors; the people who do all the little things to make this youth group go. The people who spend countless hours teaching, praying for, and leading our kids.

We cooked them spagetti and had a dinner in their honor. We talked about Acts 6 and the idea of those being set aside to do specific tasks. I find it no coincidence that one of the servants was the first to be killed for his faith. The Romans knew what subsists the church, the servants, the volunteers, is what keeps the Church afloat.

Tonight I hope they were honored.

I am in love...

I went to the Carrie Underwood concert tonight. The emotions that are welling inside of me are hard to explain.

During All American Girl, she brought a little girl on stage and had her sing the last chorus with her. It was a cute picture. I love it when she is compassionate and reaching out to people...that is my favorite quality about her. She is so tender and loving...and I love that about her. Not to mention it was a really cute picture...I didn't get a good look at the little girl, but Carrie was very cute.

Fast forward in the show about 20 minutes when my leg started buzzing. It was Tyler Ward (good kid). He sent me a text message:

"Hey broseph. You still our youth pastor or you run off with Carrie and get married."

At that moment...she came out in a beautiful blue dress. Before All American Girl, she asked the audience if there were any "all American girl's" there tonight. Before the next song, she asked if there was any Prince Charming's in the crowd. I could feel the connection we had at that very moment. She then lamented that she was still looking, but at the age of 25 she was still single. Coincidentally this is my age. At that very moment, I felt like the very Prince Charming she was talking about. According to the song, she is finding her companionship from a puppy that travels around with her. "The more boys I meet the more I love my dog." Apparently, she has been hurt in the past by guys. Carrie, those guys were idiots.

I felt bad for her, mostly because here she was bearing her soul, and me, the very guy who could comfort and assuage her was setting a mere 29 rows from her. Someday, perhaps by happenstance, we shall meet face to face. I am holding on to the fact that in that moment, I will be overcome with my prince-charmingness and my tender heart will show through. And we will think back to this night and reminisce about the time we were so close emotionally yet so far away physically. I will be there to comfort her and we will ride off into the sunset like her song "Ever After" talks about.

Not to take anything away from this youth group, but rest assured Tyler, had I proposed and she said yes, I would guarantee that you would never see me again.

I'm just kidding. Judging by our careers, mine seems to be going places faster than hers, so she could settle down, while I support our kids and her dog (jk).

I also caught some confetti tonight that now graces my desk here at work.

See You At The Pole

This Wednesday night, 20 of our kids went to Topeka Bible Church for the city-wide SEE YOU AT THE POLE RALLY.

Many of them met with their schools that morning before school.
Jardine
Seaman Middle School
Shawnee Heights Middle School
Heritage Christian School
Robinson
Washburn Rural Middle School
These are just the middle schools that Central Park has kids at. We had a pretty good turnout there at TBC. Hannah Johnson was interviewed by the Capitol Journal, so that was pretty cool.

Fantasy Sports at the High School level...

I coach soccer. It is something I love to do...and honestly I think I do a decent job of it.

I am also a youth pastor. I love doing this as well...I might not be real good at it, but I like it.

My dilemma lies in the understanding of how Christianity fits into the sports world.

I had a youth pastor growing up, who did not like the sport of hockey due to its retaliatory nature. I had acquaintances in college who were adamantly pacifistic, but were some of the most aggressive and physically dominating players (of which they were unable to see their own hypocrisy).

The other day during soccer practice, I taught our kids to body up and play aggressive. I showed them how a short tug on a jersey can give you an advantage and how putting your shoulder into a offender can bump him off the ball. Parents have called or emailed me concerning these teachings; upset with my desire for their kids to play aggressively.

Granted there is a major difference between playing aggresively and playing dirty. Swiping the knees, elbows to the head, and chopping ankles is not something I condone; however, aggresively is the only way to play the game.

We play high school soccer (we don't have enough high schoolers to play so we move some Jr. Highers up)! I treat them like high schoolers for this very reason: we play high school teams; at team will not ask you for your birth certificate prior to game and then decide to play easy on you.

Here in lies the fantasy aspect. In a perfect world everyone would get to play equal amounts; everyone would not have to work very hard; and everyone would have a good time. These are called rec leagues. This is high school soccer. The fantasy is over! Kids get run over in games. If you don't believe there is contact in soccer, why put shin guards on.

Society's mantra is this: "Comfort is our aim." Comfortable is believing that soccer is a non contact sport. Comfortable is telling your child that if he gets tired to set out. Comfortable is begging for playing time, when you aren't showing up to practice. Comfortable is telling yourself that you have no chance of winning just because you have Jr. Highers on the team. Comfortable is talking about how we at least did our best, when we weren't even close to trying our hardest.

Comfortable is an excuse to remain the same.

Christianity has missed the boat in the past concerning athletics. Phrases like "turn the other cheek" have become fodder for being a throw rug for opponents. I had a coach in college who wanted us to consider every opponent better than ourselves (even though the only one in our conference better than us was Manhattan) in lieu of Philippians.

It was obvious that Paul did not condemn sports...instead he used them as an example of work ethic and perseverance; aggressiveness and team work. You strive to take the uncomfortable out of sports and you cut the legs off of the very thing Paul was trying to say.