Here's Tim Ellsworth's Baptist Press article about our shared baseball experience: "A Day at Wrigley." He almost says something nice about the Cubs...almost. It's a very well written article. I hope you enjoy it.
Keep up with Tim at his blog. Always good.
"Not in my house!"
Tim Ellsworth thought it would be fun to bring a Cubs fan to the Cubs-Cardinals game to see if I would inflict wounds on my person following a shaming by the Cardinals. Little did he know that he was about to experience a beat-down by a team on an 8 game losing streak.
The day started with more concerns than plans. I woke up to rain and drove
2 hours through rain on my way to Wrigley. Before leaving the house Tim called telling me his cell phone was dead and he was taking the subway to get it replaced. Since he had my ticket and the cell was the means to connecting at the park, I was beginning to wonder if the game was being sabotaged by a sovereign God.
Though the cell phone situation got fixed, the concerns kept coming. First, I can't find a place to park for less than $30 bucks. Then I get a call from my Dad telling me he
and my Mom are at the game. Now, that's great news because I love my parents. But he is a die-hard Cubs fan who is a known jinx. This couldn't be a good omen.
I arrived at Wrigley. Then, just a bit before game time, the rain starts coming down again and the game is delayed 1 1/2 hours. What else could go wrong? Well, Tim got a free bag of Swedish Fish at the gate, and I didn't. What a disastrous beginning of the Cubs-Cardinals game.
Finally the clouds pushed on and the game got underway. Could things be looking up? Nope. It only took a few pitches from Greg Maddux to allow Albert Pujols to launch a two run homer to start the game. The Cubs are
well-known for getting behind early and staying behind, so I was less than optimistic. I figured I wasn't even going to get one inning of fun before I felt like the game was over.
But the Cubs then proceeded to score in nearly every inning of the game, 
including two dingers by Derrek Lee (whose number and name were on the back of my Cubs T-shirt). Both of his hr's left the park onto Waveland Ave. Also, after a couple of innings my parents called and said they had some open seats near them which were in a great location down past third base.
It was a sound 11-4 stomping of the first place Cardinals by the Cubs, and I
was glad to be a part of it. I made sure I announced to whoever would listen that Tim was a Cards fan, and he didn't get much sympathy. He did get his hair rubbed by a drunk beautician though, and experienced some good music.
As it turned out, the weather was great, the Cubs won, the company was perfect (I got to watch a huge Cards fan get smoked by his sworn enemy), and I loved every minute of it, including the horrible traffic home. Tim, you can take me out to the ballgame anytime.
I don't have time to write my whole post tonight, but here's a teaser of the Cubs-Cardinals experience.
Yep, headed to the Cubs-Cardinals game today (or as I like to call it, Cardinals batting practice) with Tim Ellsworth. The good news is the Cubs have only lost 8 in a row, and considering it's the Cubs that's not so bad. They have soundly backpedaled away from the wild-card race and are now squarely hopeless, which is right on schedule.
I wanted to thank the Cubs for deciding to play the worst baseball of the year in the week leading up to me attending my first game at Wrigley Field since I was a kid. At least they found out how to lose this year with they guy who is arguably the best player in baseball, who also, by the way, is in the worst slump of the year and couldn't hit the ball off a tee. At least we should be thankful that they haven't chosen to stay in the race long enough to find a fan to blame for why they lost.
If that isn't enough, I also want to thank the weatherman for breaking our 80 year drought today with guaranteed rain this morning, and very likely severe storms in the afternoon for our afternoon frolic with the Cubbies. Bravo.
Other than that, I expect a fit of extreme public gloating to follow a win by the Cubs today, because as bad as they are and as surely as they should lose, I can't help but think that something good has to happen by accident someday. And I think today is that day.
I've mentioned the great stuff in the Acts29 boot camp audio before here and here. I've been focusing on the final talk by Driscoll on perseverance in ministry, which is basically about organizing life, marriage and family in a biblical way. Fantastic. I'm going to listen to it again today.
Should you be a church planter in a city? Take Tim Keller/Redeemer Presbyterian's short assessment.
Even if you aren't thinking of church planting, this should be helpful in evaluating your Christian life.
(HT: KC)
Gary Lamb, over at Mad Babble from a Church Planter, is thinking of slowing down enough to focus on the right things. Something we all need to do, eh?
There are a couple of blogs I've been reading a lot lately, and I want to encourage others to read them. Really good stuff.
A nice list of Scot McKnight's top 10 books posts, covering a variety of topics.
From Lifeway: Rainer recommended
From Baptist Press: What others are saying
I know some people get offended over sports teams names and mascots that concern Native Americans. And I want to show proper concern, which is difficult for a white American who grew up in Illinois, lived in the city of Pontiac, played on a Jr. High team named the "Warriors," went to a High School where the team was named the "Indians" and had a school newspaper called "The Chief," and rooted all my life for the UofI "Fighting Illini."
As someone named "McCoy," I hope the "Fighting Irish" will change their name.
Yes it's true. I'm allowing a Cardinal's fan to take me to Wrigley Field to watch a Cubs-Cardinals game.
Tim Ellsworth, "foaming at the mouth" Cardinals fan and Sports fanatic at Baptist Press who also has a fine blog, has invited me to the game this coming Thursday. He wants to see if our Christian brotherhood will be able to overcome the bitter hatred between the Cubs and the Cardinals.
If the trustees agree with the committee, then Dr. Thom Rainer will be the new Lifeway president. ABP has broken the story through some leaked info, and it seems pretty solid.
Rainer, currently the Dean of the Billy Graham School of Missions, Evangelism, and Church Growth at Southern Seminary, has written a number of books and, I think, is bound to be a fantastic leader at Lifeway. Honestly, I wasn't anticipating such a good pick. Congrats to my Lifeway buddies.
Jonathan Christman provides a nice list of audio files compiled through Monergism.com. Includes stuff from Mark Dever, Alistair Begg, Reformission Conference, Tommy Nelson and the White Horse Inn. Check it out.
(This post has been adjusted out of respect for Carla at E-No) Carla over at Emergent No has emailed Mark Driscoll to ask a few questions. He didn't really respond to the questions because he's busy, but he did say that some great things are on the way...
I've got a book coming out with Zondervan on thehistory of our church and our involvement in the emerging church, finishing a counterpoints type of book for Zondervan on emerging church theology with Dan Kimball, Karen Ward, Doug Pagitt, John Burke and myself that will hit the atonement, trinity, and scripture to be edited by Robert Webber. I have also compiled a team of very solid evangelical theologians who are largely younger for a new network that will be launching a web site with blogs, articles, mp3s, podcasting, national theology conferences across the country, and a line of theologically oriented books for missionally minded emerging leaders. So, I hope to make a contribution to the broader church in a big way very soon. You are free to post any of this you like on your site.
Man, I'm pumped. Good stuff is on the way.
Read the whole E-No post.
As I was listening to a Tim Keller sermon today he said something familiar in an unfamiliar way for me.
All other religions are basically instructions sprinkled with stories to illustrate. But the Bible, Christianity, is basically a Story sprinked with instruction.
Andrew Hamilton has provided a letter that he is sending out to potential financial supporters. In it he offers some interesting thoughts on what the vision is for missional communities in Australia. I think it's something that would be good for all of us to think through.
(HT: Scot)
At the risk of maxing out my bandwidth because of rabid commenters (kidding, sorta), I wanted to make available Al Mohler's blog post where he expresses that Senator Bill Frist's flip-flop on stem cell research is "very disappointing." He also offers a number of helpful links on "coverage" and "responses" that make his post a helpful resource on this remarkable shift by Frist.
At one point in his speech he referred to human embryos as "nascenthuman life." Just how does he understand "nascent" in this context? How does this differ in ethical considerations from non-nascent human life? Senator Frist's shift is inconsistent and his new position is ethically untenable.
I cannot describe how terrifyingly beautiful Sufjan Stevens' song John Wayne Gacy, Jr. is. 
Gacy is the infamous Chicago serial killer.
Pick up Sufjan's CD Illinois. You won't be sorry. And don't miss the last four lines of the song.
"John Wayne Gacy, Jr."
His father was a drinker
And his mother cried in bed
Folding John Wayne's T-shirts
When the swingset hit his head
The neighbors they adored him
For his humor and his conversation
Look underneath the house there
Find the few living things
Rotting fast in their sleep of the dead
Twenty-seven people, even more
They were boys with their cars, summer jobs
Oh my GodAre you one of them?
He dressed up like a clown for them
With his face paint white and red
And on his best behavior
In a dark room on the bed he kissed them all
He'd kill ten thousand people
With a sleight of his hand
Running far, running fast to the dead
He took of all their clothes for them
He put a cloth on their lips
Quiet hands, quiet kiss
On the mouthAnd in my best behavior
I am really just like him
Look beneath the floorboards
For the secrets I have hid
