Happy Mardi Gras

Just wanted to extend a Happy Mardi Gras to all. It is really weird to think about the fact that this is a holiday here in New Orleans and pretty much a regular work/school day for everyone else around the country. Sorry you don't get a day off! I guess there still are some perks for New Orleanians.

Speaking of Mardi Gras, I'm sure some of you noticed the anonymous comment posted concerning this year's festivities. I must admit, my first thought was, "I'm not responding to an anonymous comment!" Come to find out, the author didn't intend to be unknown. Lawrence, a Berean elder and a good friend, revealed himself as the culprit.

So, Lawrence's comment has been swimming in my head over the past week or so. I plan on posting a response either today or tomorrow...

six months after Katrina

I just can't say enough good things about the Times-Picayune's coverage of the aftermath of Katrina. They published a great graphic that gives a clear picture the demographics (yes, I typed the word DEMOGRAPHICS!) of the metro area. Click here to view the graphic.

my rant

Can I rant for a minute?

Thanks for your permission. So yesterday was the deadline to signup for the Student Life Tour. I want to extend my gratitute to you who contacted me and let me know whether or not you (or your child) will be attending.

I really didn't hear from that many of you.

It's not that I think we don't have a lot of people who want to go. I pulled out my handy-dandy list of students, made some rough estimates, contacted Student Life and paid for 20 spots.

It's not that you were uninformed. I communicated this deadline: (1) in the Parent Connection Newsletter, (2) in multiple emails, (3) on my blog and (4) verbally at youth meetings.

So what's the deal?

I know that everyone is busy. Maybe I would overlook things if it weren't for the fact that this happened frequently before Katrina.

So what do I need to change? What do you need to change?

Please let me know your thoughts.

2/22/06 Youth Group MP3

We wrapped up the Amos Outdoor Prophet series last night. The final lesson was entitled, "Listening for your Hopebeat."

Here are the downloads:

MP3 file

handout

Right-click on the links and choose "Save target as..."

FEMA trailer cities

An interesting brief article was just posted over at Relevant Magazine's website. It is one that is very relevant (no pun intended) to our circumstances here in New Orleans concerning FEMA trailer cities. If you don't live here, you might not be aware of the controversy swirling where neighborhoods shout, "no FEMA trailer cities in my backyard!"

It's funny how scared we Americans can be sometimes. We hold "safety" in such high regard. How often do we neglect basic tenets of our faith (reaching out to the poor, showing love to our neighbors and our enemies, etc.) for the sake of making our lives "safer."

Two quotes to ponder concerning this issue:

We cannot avoid risk even if we want to. Ignorance and uncertainty about tomorrow is our native air. All of our plans for tomorrow's activities can be shattered by a thousand unknowns whether we stay at home under the covers or ride the freeways. One of my aims is to explode the myth of safety and to somehow deliever you from the enchantment of security. Because it's a mirage. It doesn't exist. Every direction you turn there are unknowns and things beyond your control.
-John Piper, Don't Waste Your Life, p. 81

poverty is so hard to see
when it's only on your TV and twenty miles across town
when we're all living so good
that we moved from Jesus' neighborhood
where he's hungry and not feeling so good
from going through our trash
he says, more than just your cash and coin
I want your time, I want your voice
I want the things you just can't give me
-Derek Webb, Rich Young Ruler from the CD Mockingbird.

pray for Ben

A good friend of mine from DTS, Ben Blackwell, is in the UK right now. He is on a wirlwind trip around the US and Europe to visit a host of different theological schools. He is applying and interviewing for Ph.D. programs. You can read about his travels at his family blog here.

If you remember, keep him in your prayers. Needless to say, this is a huge decision for Ben and his family. I truly believe that Ben has been gifted in a unique way and can make a big impact in the academic arena.

I must admit, I am a little jealous. I would love the opportunity to pursue a Ph.D., especially in Europe. Maybe one day. For now, I guess I can experience it vicariously through Ben.

waiting one more week to start youth group on Sundays

I must admit, I had a blonde moment (no offense, blondes) when I set the date for us to begin Sunday night youth groups. It did not occur to me that this Sunday (Feb 26) is the Sunday before Mardi Gras. That means that many of you couldn't make it because of parades or out of town trips. So, we have decided to wait one more week before the big transition. Our first Sunday night youth group will be on March 5th.

Sorry for the last minute change. See you Wednesday night.

YOUTH: 2 reminders

Hello all. Two important things to remember this week:

• Our first ever Sunday night youth group is this week. We will meet this Sunday evening (Feb 26) from 6:00-7:30pm. We have some fun stuff planned to kick things off. Let's just say...it will be a party! Don't miss it. Also, we DO have youth group on Wednesday night as well.
  
• The deadline to sign up for the Student Life Conference is this Friday. Please call me or email me before Friday to let me know if you are planning on attending. It is March 10-11 in Baton Rouge and will cost $20. More info here.

I love you all. I can't wait to see you.

2/15/06 Youth Group MP3

Hello all.

I uploaded the MP3 and bulletin from youth group last night. The talk was entitled, "Painkillers, Plumblines and Plumblives." We looked at Amos 7.1-9. Below are the downloads.

Click here to download the MP3

Click here to download the bulletin

remember, you want to right-click on the links and choose "save target as..." from the menu.

Oh, and Dillon, be sure to listen.

new Parent Connection Newletter

The Feburary Parent Connection newsletter is being mailed out today. You can also view it here.

religious prejudice

I read an article a while back by Philip Yancey. He is a Christian author and speaker who gets the opportunity to address all kinds of different groups...including university groups that usually aren't too friendly to evangelicals. He is often approached by university professors and others and gets asked something like, "How in the world can you associate yourself with evangelicals? They are so bigoted and narrow-minded!"

He responds by asking them a question.

"Do you know any evangelicals? I mean, do you know any personally?"

Usually the response is silence.

It's funny how easy it is to attack a straw man...a stereotype. Unfortunately, it looks like another writer has made the same mistake in this recent USA Today article.

It's kinda funny. He talks about stereotypes of American Christians...then talks about actually personally meeting some Christians in Italy...and how they are nothing like the stereotypes...but then concludes that American Christians are more like the steretype than the people he met!?

Sad. I hope that Rob Borsellino gets a chance to actually meet and get to know some Christians sometime soon.

a grave admission

I have something I have to confess to you.

As I type, it is late on Saturday night. The house is dark. Sam is sleeping. Crystal and Zach are away at Bonko (curses! and I thought that Katrina washed away the coveted Bonko table). I sit here in front of the computer with a cup of hot tea seaming beside me.

In the quietness I must face the facts.

Here it is. Are you ready?

I just watched a Will Ferrell movie.

You heard me right. I actually headed over to the movie theater, shelled out twelve bucks for two tickets and sat through an hour and a half of Will Ferrell.

The worst part is that I actually took my two year old son with me.

The worser part is that I enjoyed the movie.

Okay. So it's not as bad as it sounds. Quit throwing rocks at me! I saw Curious George. Gosh.

Seriously, though, it got me thinking. So I did a bit of research. If memory serves me right, I have seen a total of one Will Ferrell movie: Elf. And I borrowed the DVD from the Trauths...like a year after it was released to video.

Enough of my hatefest with Will Ferrell movies...let me tell you how much fun I had tonight.

So Sam and I read Sam's favorite Curious George book, packed some milk & dinosaur crackers and jumped into "Daddy's Jeep" to see the movie.

Did I mention that we listened to the Curious George soundtrack in the Jeep on the way to the theater? (By the way, I think I have a mancrush on Jack Johnson.)

Words cannot describe how much fun it was to watch Sam's eyes and face from the moment the lights dimmed until the credits rolled.

He loved it. He sat through the whole ninety minutes. He laughed out loud and burst out comments at the screen. ("There's George!!")

He didn't even get distracted by the kid two seats down who started screaming when a pack of poodles started yapping at George through a Taxicab window.

As for the movie itself, it is really interesting to see 2-D animation in this day and age. I remember when I saw Toy Story for the first time. I was wowed by the 3-D animation. I thought it was amazingly cool.

I think that over the past couple of years, we have forgotten how animation can be a beautiful piece of art. The story is painted in bold, bright colors. The starry sky takes your breath away.

And the whole thing has this feel to it. I don't know how else to describe it except to say that it feels like the old Curious George books.

The story is simple. It is full of little moments that just make you smile. Both George and the Man with the Yellow Hat are very well done characters. You fall in love with them pretty quickly. Will Ferrell and all of the voice actors do a great job (am I really typing that?). The soundtrack is Jack Johnson with some orchestration added here and there (which sounded awesome). And like all good children's movies, the point is clearly spelled out not long before the credits roll.

It is refreshing to see a kid's movie that is really for kids. I am tired of children's movies that throw in humor that flies over the heads of the primary audience. By the way, that doesn't mean that adults won't laugh or enjoy themselves.

It is a movie that makes adults want to be kids again.

So, if you have kids, take them. If you are a kid, go see it. If neither of the last two apply...pretend that one of them is true of you and go to the movies.

IFCA Pastor's Retreat

Crystal and I will be spending the next two nights at a hotel in Baton Rouge for an Pastor's retreat. The IFCA (Berean's "denomination") has graciously decided to host a retreat for all of the pastor's affected by Katrina. We are excited.

That means that don't expect to be able to reach us for the next 48 hours or so. We will return sometime Wednesday.

Oh, and please pray for us. Zach is coming with us. He has not been feeling well lately. It wouldn't make for a fun trip if Zach is cranky. Sam is staying with Christina and Rob. Two nights apart from Mom and Dad. This will be a first. Hopefully he'll be fine.

See you later.

routines and rantings

Every morning when I get up I...

walk to the bathroom

brush aside the shower curtain in order to grab my face soap and washcloth.

turn on the water in the bathroom sink

wait for the water to get warm

wash my face

put the soap and washcloth back

put in my contacts

put on deoderant

wet my hair and slap a little bit of gel in it in order to get rid of that horrendous bedhead

brush my teeth

go back to the room and get dressed

It never changes. I do the exact same thing in the exact same order every morning. I don't think about it. I just do it.

How much of our life is routine? More than we probably realize.

When you live in a fallen world, life often throws curveballs. There is traffic where the streets are supposed to be open. We get unexpected phone calls, flat tires and pop quizzes. It rains when Bob Breck says it will be sunny.

Or the hurricane that he says will turn northward and go into the Atlantic hits New Orleans.

Routine is about security and control. It is often the only controllable thing in our uncontrollable lives. Whether it is driving to school every morning, watching your favorite weekly show or going to the beach every third week in July, it is important. In fact, we have no clue how important to our general well-being these mindless activities can be.

At least, until you lose it all.

Five months later, I find myself in this place where I just want my pre-Katrina routine back. Yet so much will never be the same. Every Friday night my extended family gets together.

Every Friday my entire life. That's twenty eight years.

We would gather at my grandmother's house, go out to eat and enjoy each other's presence.

We recently started up the tradition again.

My grandmother's house was under eight feet of water. Her house was on edge of the 17th st. Canal in West End. So, tonight we are going to meet at my cousin Forrest's house.

His temporary house that is. His house had ten feet.

It's not the same. It will never be the same.

It is scary how our spiritual lives usually go the way of the rest of our life. My spiritual routines/disciplines have been shattered as well. Sunday mornings don't look the same. Wednesday nights don't look the same. So many people are missing...and not just those who are still evacuated.

We're all scared to reenter our routines. We know that things will never be the same, don't we?

It's time to stop mourning the death of our old lives and begin cultivating our new ones.

It's hard to start new routines. Ever kept a New Year's resolution?

Me neither.

So I'm not asking you to get back in the saddle. I'm asking you to throw out the old saddle (it's probably moldly anyway) and buy a new one.

Just like so much that was flooded by the storm, our lives needed a fresh start.

Pretend that you just moved to a new city and you are starting over.

That is in effect that is happening.

Make new friends. Get involved. Begin anew.

Start over with God too. I'm sure there is a lot that you which you could change. Take a chance.


Hi Jesus. My name is Doug. I need You to cleanse me and redeem my sorry life. Get rid of the garbage that I hate about who I am. Let's get to know one another. I want to be with You. Thanks for caring.

Amen.

MP3 from youth group last night - 2/1/06

Here is the MP3 and handout from youth group last night. The title of the message was "The Poor and the Poorer." Enjoy. Don't forget, right-click on the links and choose "Save target as..."

Click here for the handout

Click here for the MP3

Hornet's Tickets

I just got off of the phone with Trish, my favorite ticket rep. She told me that we can get tickets to the Hornets vs. Nuggets game on Saturday, March 18. Upper Side B tickets normally would run you $43...we can get them for $20 a piece!

I am going to order a pack of tickets either Thursday or Friday. It would be helpful if I had a general idea about how much to buy. So, do me a favor, shoot me an email and let me know if you think you can join us.

Go Hornets.