Please pass the dentu-cream

Ok... Yes, I'm having a mini-crisis. On Tuesday I will celebrate the one year anniversay of my 29th birthday. Alright fine, I'll be 30. Now I have many friends who have already passed this particular milestone of life, and I honestly don't consider any of you "old". But to be turning 30 certainly makes me FEEL old. In order to help cope with this quite horrible of events and put a much more pleasant aura upon it, I have decided to partake in an act of self-indulgence and reminisce over my 30 years upon this planet. Obviously, this is mostly for my benefit, but feel free to read along. For sake of length I will break this up into 4 categories and post each separately. Those categories will be: Birth through High school (since I am old, much of the memories of this time period have become fuzzy or forgotten), Pre-Missouri College, Living in Missouri, and Back in Arthur. And I should warn you, a number of these will only be understood by a select few (if any), that just how it is. So on with the show...



BIRTH THROUGH HIGH SCHOOL: (in no particular order)

* Digging snow tunnels in the church parking lot

* going to my first cubs-cards game

* winning the grade school spelling bee as a fourth grader, and then making it to the regional bee

* trying to see how many times Amy and I could get on tv at the science olympiad

* Show Choir/Marching Band trips

* Prank calling the freshman at Onalaska my Senior year

* PRINGLE!!!!

* Dad, Kevin, Nick and I pretending like we don't know Mom at the Calgary Airport, embarrassing her and making the people around us laugh

* watching kevin learn to ride bike and ride right into the hydrant at a speed slightly above standing still... the best live-action slow-motion crash I've ever seen

* Summer camp at Menno Haven

* Ozzie's Nature game

* Playing Buck Buck at youth convention

* Getting saved when I was 5

* Playing Bari sax in marching band

* Pep band

* Learning the art of "not playing what is written, but what sounds AWESOME!" for pep band from Adam Johnson

* Show Choir practices with Travis Fleming

* Plays/Musicals (especially the Odd Couple with Ed Coller)

* All of my Mr. Jones classes (say what you want about him as a teacher, I had fun in there)

* Having the opening solo for our show choir show my junior year and getting to perform it on the main stage at Epcot at Nationals

* Being the first (and last that I know of) actual knight mascot for one playoff football game against Arcola (in which victory was stolen by the referees... grrr)

* Being one of the original 3 members of the Amish Mafia

* Doing really well on my ACTs

* playing one on one football with kevin

* hitting fireflies with a big red plastic bat

* having parents who love to travel

* understanding how to have fun when your family is dirt poor

* being the official "horn" for amy's vw bug... since it didn't have one

* summer baseball

* junior high youth trips to Yoder's Cabin

* flicking puzzle pieces at people in Mrs. Owens 6th grade class

* Mr. Corum's junior high history class... it was the best ever. I remember more from that class than any other I think

* Our basketball/show choir rivalry with Sullivan

* Playing football in the backyard with Kevin and creating the "Grandma" passing route

* G.I. Joes

* Legos

* Kicking butt at Scholastic Bowl my senior year with Ed and I being the best 1-2 punch in the conference

* Mutilating the cat Amy was supposed to be dissecting, but not getting in trouble because we could make Mrs. Weissing laugh every time

* Lifesavers weekends at Allerton Park

* Parties at Amy's house

* Trips to the Wisconsin Dells and Noah's Ark, the greatest waterpark anywhere.

* Scoring 1000 points in a season on Madden on the sega genesis. Kevin + Me + the Cowboys = Unstoppable

* Going out for a pizza with Dad and coming home with a new TV

* Travel toys

* Down In Front mens acapella group

* Playing a dead body in the High school play as an 8th grader

* Velcro ball


Ok, I'll stop there. There are a lot more things I could write, especially the trials and low points that helped shape who I became. But these are simply some of my favorite memories. Tomorrow I'll post the next installment "Pre-Missouri College" God bless.

-The Old Man

And how my soul aches...

I had planned on posting something entirely different and much more light-hearted, but I came across this video on a blog I frequent, and it pre-empted the other post. (Though I will post that one either later tonight or tomorrow...) Here's the video which was filmed at the entrance to the Cornerstone Music Festival this summer.





I cannot put into words how much this pains my heart and how sad this makes me. Now you may hear some less than friendly comments from passengers in the vehicle, and if you go to the actual youtube page you will see all kinds of comments. I do not wish to be or have anyone become the other side of the same coin. What I mean is to turn and rail against the protesters about how "unchristian, horrible, evil, etc." for their view is just as bad as the stance they are taking. Instead I just wanted to say how sad it makes me, how I wish the Body of Christ could actually work together, and how much we need to love and pray for this type of believer. Do they have to rock out to Reliant K and the like? Of course not, they are not wrong in their choice of christian music, just as those who love loud screamo christian music are welcome to that choice. But instead of spending our time reaching the lost with Christ, we are allowing them to fall through the cracks from all of our petty arguments. Anyway, I just needed to share before it consumed me with sadness. Feel free to comment, but if your comments are hostile in nature, there's a good chance they won't be posted, just a forwarning. God bless.

-Matt

This week on RAC...

lots of stuff runnin through my head, so we'll just hit em all in quick snippets...

* Jennifer and the team made it back all safe and sound from India. Well, I guess sound. They got back to town about 1 a.m. Monday morning, and when Jennifer finally laid down to sleep at 1:30 she said it was the first time she'd laid down in a bed in 48 hours. So that plus the severe jet lag and we're still trying to get back to a "normal" routine. So yes they are safe, but the sound part is still up for debate. :D

* I get to go visit Nick on Tuesday and I'm VERY excited. I love Nick, he's one of the coolest people I know. It's funny, I was at college while he was in high school, so he's the brother I didn't get the privilege of watching mature and grow up. But man I love who he's become and that I get to call him a brother.

* One of the coolest things I heard about from the trip to India was this. The people pretty quickly found out that Dad was a "senior pastor". He said that after he prayed for people, they would kneel, touch his feet with their hands, then kiss their fingers. He then found out that it was because they wanted to take the blessing/annointing that was on him back to their families. Wow. How powerful is that? One, I know that reaffirmed to Dad the responsibility we have as ministers to reflect Christ, but also, how sad is it that we in the "civilized American church" don't have that same respect or desire for the annointing God has placed on his children. We are so spoiled.

* Jennifer and I went and saw "The Dark Knight" this week. (I wasn't allowed to see it without her so I had to wait a few days.) LOVED it. I love the new interpretation of Batman anyway, and any movie with Morgan Freeman and Michael Caine is always good, but Heath Ledger was amazing as the Joker. He just personified insanity. However, it can't help but make me wonder how much of that played a part in his death. I know (from articles) that Ledger was the type of actor who totally immersed himself in a character both in front of the cameras and behind the scenes. We'll never know how much, but that has to wear on your psyche.

* Here is my "spiritual awakening" moment for the week. I love movies. I love theater. I love dramas. I love watching the "unlikely hero" type roles. You know, the ones where a person isn't a superhero or anything, but finds himself/herself in a situation where bravery and conviction are called upon. I love to watch the person stand in the face of danger or death and coolly look it in the eye and not flinch. I know I have a bit of a "Messiah complex" in that I want to save everyone and fix everything (not my job, God is helping with putting that desire into proper perspective) and I have a desire to be a "hero". I know it. It's why I like those movies, it's partly why I love sports. And as I'm watching a particular show and watching the guy stand confidently and unwaveringly with a gun in his face, I felt that adrenaline rush of "ooh, that's awesome"... but suddenly I heard that still voice in my spirit say "Is that how I want you to react?" and it kinda threw me for a loop. There was a LOOOOOOOONG process of discussion with God on what He meant by that, but I'll give you the summary. When we face persecution in our lives is it better to stand and stare it down with confidence and stoicism or to look with love and tears in our eyes? Just a thought. (there's a lot more I could say, but I'll stop there for now.)

* We are still prepping for our trips to Albania and Mexico in the coming months. We should have all our flights for Albania taken care of by tuesday next week (which will be a huge relief) but there are still lots of details to work out. Please pray for us, we would love it.

* Stupid Cardinals... get my hopes up and then forget how to win. I've decided to quit my day job and become a reliever/closer for the Cards. I can give up runs just as well as they can and I'll come with a MUCH cheaper price tag. You wait. It's gonna happen.

* Illini Football is just around the corner! Woo hoo!

Ok, that's all for now. Hope all is well with you, I don't know how often you'll get updates in Aug. It's gonna be an insane month. But I'll do my best. God bless.

One down... seven to go

Well, Jennifer (and most of my immediate family) left for India last night. They departed O'hare at 8:30. So it's just me and Kaylee at home. (And grandma at her house, but my aunt is coming to take care of her... supposedly.) The first night went about as badly as could be expected, ha. Kaylee wouldn't lie down cause she wanted "mommy" and finally fell asleep at 10:30. She didn't sleep well and kept making noises like she was waking up, so I didn't sleep well. And decided it was time to get up at 6:30 this morning. Of course she wasn't quite awake, so she wasn't tracking real well. In a matter of a few minutes we went from wanting to play with blocks, to wanting to play outside with bubbles (at 6:45 a.m. in the middle of a torrential downpour), to wanting crackers for breakfast, then pizza, then just milk. And to top it all off her pull-up was pretty full so we went to change it and she peed all over the floor before I could get her on the potty. Fun times. Please pray we both survive. In all seriousness, just pray she sleeps well. She usually likes to cuddle with mommy in the mornings and the concept of "mommies on a trip" isn't taking. Neither is "grandma and papa are on the trip too". My only real worry is I'll be so tired that I'll be zombie-fied while leading worship/preaching tomorrow. On the bright side, we play lots and her favorite game right now is to take off running when I'm changing her in the bathroom. She really is cute as she's running around butt naked, giggling and repeating "I'm a stinker" while I chase her. You can't help but laugh. God bless.

Dusting off the ol' soap box

Good day all, I hope you've had a pleasant summer so far and an enjoyable Fourth of July celebration. I fear this will turn into a rather lengthy post so I'll just jump right in.

A few weeks ago one of the blogs I frequent regularly had an installment touching upon the idea of different generations in ministry and trying to connect them and ease the transition in leadership. On this particular post a comment was posted. Now, before I go into anything I need to make a few things clear. I am NOT attacking the person who posted the comment (I'm not linking to it for this reason). I don't know this person, I don't know their background, I don't know anything about them. Perhaps what was said was not worded as this person meant it to be, all I can go off of is what was written, so bear in mind I am responding to the ideas put forth, NOT the person. Also, I am not angry or resentful or anything like that. I am passionate about what I'm about to blog upon, but I am not mad or anything. If you do decide to read the entire post and feel I am mistaken in my comments, please feel free to let me know. Thanks.

In this commentary on this unnamed blog a lot of questions were put forth about any apparent disconnect between the older and younger generations in the church. I won't speak to them all, but there were ideas that I wanted to comment on. (and I'll take them in order) Also, my comment should be taken in the context of speaking from and to people within the christian church.

1.) First of all, in each of the questions there was an apparant younger vs older vibe, with a lot of the blame being placed at the feet of the older generation. I guess I should clarify one point, while I no longer consider myself the "younger generation" the writer of the comment is 30, so we are of the same age. I hear a lot of comments about this generation or that generation messing up. A lot of times, it's the younger crowd groaning about the ignorance of the older crowd. The funny thing is I hear a lot of complaining and little suggestions on what to do. I hear even less people talking about the mistakes they themselves have made in relation to the issue, or what they are doing themselves to help. When I used to work in the Boys and Girls Club, we worked with a lot of what would be categorized as underpriveleged kids. And the one thing I tried to teach them was, while life may be unfair at times the only thing you can control is your reaction to the situation. You can't make anyone else think or act in any particular way. All you can do is control your own thoughts and actions to the situation. The same goes here. If we as the younger generation feel as though the older generation doesn't understand us, what are we doing to help it? Are we trying to understand them? Are we taking the time to find out why they believe/think/react the way they do all the while bemoaning the fact they aren't taking the time to find out about us? Are we even giving them the opportunity? Which leads me to topic number 2...

2.) The question was raised about the difference in willingness to invest in relationships, with the younger generation being shown with an intense willingness to invest in relationships. Myspace and Facebook being used as examples of that willingness. I disagree with this reasoning on this premise... Myspace and Facebook connections are not relationships, they are acquaintances. They can certainly be used as tools within a relationship, but in and of themselves they cannot be relationships. A relationship is messy, time-consuming, even inconvenient at times. A relationship takes investment, it takes opening yourself up to being abused and rejected. While the internet is great and obviously I use it, it is not effective for true relationship. This is especially true in christian discipling. You are reading my words right now, but you have no idea what my body language is like as I convey these thoughts. You don't know if I'm weary or energized, mellow or agitated, you don't even know if I'm a guy or a girl. (Obviously, I say I'm a guy and have pics of myself on my myspace and facebook... but unless you've met me personally, you don't REALLY know if I'm being truthful.) It's too easy to hide who we are online. If you email me and it's something I just don't want to deal with, I can either lie or ignore it until a later time. For all you know, I just haven't checked my email. It's a little harder to duck the issue if you ask me in person. This is relationship. Studies are starting to prove that while people in the 20's and 30's age group have more connections to people via the web they are lonelier than ever. Why? I believe it's because we have traded relationships for acquaintances. We want everything quick and easy, and relationships are just too messy for our instant gratification society. Which now leads me to the third point...

3.) The question of whether the disconnect is because of the shorter attention span in the younger generation. The statement being made that the younger gen. has about a 7 second attention. Ok. I have to admit, this one REALLY gets me going. I am soooooooo sick of hearing that my generation has no attention span and that it gets worse the younger you go. It REALLY gets me fired up when we bring it into the church. I do have to make a few clarifications. I am NOT talking about people with attention disorders and the like. I am also not talking about how the church approaches reaching the lost, but about interactions within the Body of Christ. Society says we have no attention span, I would expect the lost to act that way, they are under the chains of the world we live in. Why should I expect anything different from them? But the ones who are free... why should we act as though we are still in bondage??? I read scripture and I don't see a 7 second God. I don't see any of the heroes of the Bible who had a 7 second relationship with God. I see effort and work and perseverance and determination. What do I see when I see a 7 second approach? I see laziness. Yup, I said it. I see the attitude that God is no more important than that food commercial. I've heard many complain about the length of service and messages on Sunday morning. More than an hour is just too much for me. Why? Do we not have the discipline to invest time seeking what God has to say to us? I don't care if it's an expository on Deuteronomy, isn't all of scripture useful for teaching and preaching? It pains me when I hear someone come out of any type of meeting where scripture was read and say "there was nothing there for me". If scripture was read, isn't there always something? Whether it be new or a reminder or whatever, the word of God does not come back void... or are we too advanced for that old document now? Relationship takes investment, effort and intentionality. It is no different with God. A 7 second attention span is simply an excuse. Those of us who are married, do we approach our spouses the same way? If so, how's that workin out for ya? That line of reasoning is the world rationalizing laziness and self-centeredness, why do we allow it to infect our lives as believers?

Finally, I think that there is one common thread with all three of these issues and I've already mentioned it. Self-centeredness. It's all about me. I don't like the generation gap, how are you gonna fix it? This is how I do things, are you gonna get with it? I want it quick and easy to fit in with my schedule and if not, then I'm out. I'm not excusing any generation for any mistakes, neither the older ones or the younger ones. What I am trying to say is that we have to get away from a me-first, society driven approach. Instead we have to say, alright "x" needs to be different, the only thing I can control is how I react. How is that going to be? How will you react? How will I?

If you actually read all of that, then kudos to you. As always if you have any comments/questions/disagreements feel free to let me know. God bless and if you think of it pray for me and my fam. Jennifer, my parents, and my brother and his wife are all going to India for 9 days. That leaves just me and Kaylee. Yeah, I'm scared too. :D