Reformissionary

Lots-o-Links 5.6.08

I'm really sick at the moment (102 temp) and I thought a lots-o-links post would be therapeutic.  And away we go.

A Cubs website: Just One Bad Century.

Really appreciate Jeremy Pryor making some videos about a discipleship strategy called The Story-Formed Life.  First video.  Second video.  More to come.

JD Greear: Multi-Site = Multi-Opportunity.

From The Economist: Nomads at Last: Wireless communication is changing the way people work, live, love and relate to places—and each other.

Multi-site Exposed Media.

Top 10 Memory Hacks.

The Empire Strikes Barack...

Lots-o-Links 4.23.08

Check out Ed Stetzer's post about the current decline of the Southern Baptist Convention.  Joe Thorn and I have been blogging on these issues for years, and Ed offers some very good commentary and critique.  I'm very thankful for guys like Stet who are speaking to the convention honestly and directly.  Here's a snippet...

Baptisms are at their lowest levels since 1970 with seven of the last eight years showing annual declines. Even though some might hope the decline in membership numbers is due to lack of reporting, the inescapable conclusion is that baptisms by individual churches is falling off. (LifeWay Research will provide more analysis in the next month.)

For now, Southern Baptists are a denomination in decline. Some of you were born into an SBC church; others of us chose it of our own accord. Either way, it is dear to us all. Our responsibility before God is, then, to urgently consider how we should respond.

Also worth checking out is the New Evangelism Research.

Bob Hyatt shares a great photo of what a church that packs out a coffee shop looks like.  Love it.

Tony Morgan says that changed lives is what creates buzz about a church (more here).

A Cubs hater (meaning, someone who likes another team) sent me a video filmed from the bleachers of Wrigley Field.  In it two fans, who probably had too much to drink (it's a Cubs game, duh), decided to have a hot dog eating context.  The result is worth watching.  There is at least one word that is not for kids, so please heed the WARNING: Not for kids or judgmental Christians...

Lots-o-Links 2.13.08

I have two orders pending (Amazon and Westminster) for Tim Keller's The Reason for God.  I have a book and audio copy coming for me, and several copies to give away. Amazon's is on the way!

The WGA writer's strike is over.  I've been following the strike online and through some podcasts, and was hoping the writer's would get a fair shake.  It appears they are content, and now we can get back to watching some well-written new TV and movies.

Al Hsu has enjoyed Juno and reflects on the movie's suburban flair.

I recently rented The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters, a documentary of one man's effort to beat the high score of Donkey Kong from a guy who you want to see lose it.  It's a very entertaining movie that I highly recommend.  Rent it and then tell me what you think.  Here's the trailer...

I met Jonathan Dodson, an Acts 29 church planter, at the Chicago boot camp.  Good guy.  Check out two recent articles he has online on Community and Missional Discipleship.

Pitchers and catchers reporting today for the Cubs.  Very good news.  I've briefly visited HoHoKam Stadium, where the Cubs have spring training, in Phoenix a few winters ago when on a golf trip with my dad and uncles.  My rabid-sports-nut-7-year-old, Elijah, reported as a pitcher last Sunday here in Woodstock.  They have a handful of pitcher's and catcher's training sessions at our local rec center.  He's shorter than most kids his age, but has an arm on him.  AND he is accurate.  I often have to encourage him to throw harder because he's afraid the kid across from him will not catch it and get hurt, or something.  And since I'm helping to coach his team this year, I'm considering trading him to another team for a case of Schlitz!

Some of you know I have an autistic son.  My wife enjoyed this video recently, so I thought it was worth sharing...

Lots-o-Links

Great slideshow about what it's like being a Cubs fan.  When you are a Cubs fan you are more than a fan of a team or a sport.  Love this slideshow.  By the way, if you make some stupid comment about the Cubs or your particular team, I will ban you as a commenter for life.  Deal with it. :)

Spiritual Warfare 101 & Satanic Stratagems

Hearing John Piper do QnA is always a good time, and very encouraging.  This one was at Wheaton.  Here are the rest of his Wheaton messages.
Bryan Chapell on Expository Preaching
ETS papers
Cawley talks Nation of Rebels

Christian Bale is one of my favorite living actors.
Artist and IAM founder, Makoto Fujimura: "Creating into the Void"
Chicago's literary all-stars reflect on their city

Get outta bed you lazy bum
How a writer uses GTD (What's GTD?)

Discovery Channel Team Disbanding

You know that cycling is in good shape as a sport when the team that won the Tour de France 8 of the last 9 years disbands after their most current win.  Doping sucks.

Notables

Watch the PGA Championship online for free 9am-7pm each day.  Nice

Drew Goodmanson gives a nice history of his church's website, Kaleo, through version 5.  Helpful in thinking about church websites.

"Church Squared" by Stetzer

We are hoping to make a train trip into Chicago again before school begins.  Here are two videos of previous trips...

Go Cubbies!

The Cubs are now in 1st place in the NL Central thanks to a great mid-summer stretch of exciting, well-coached (rare in these parts) baseball.  From Sportsline...

      The Cubs, who were 8½ games behind on June 23, finally overcame the Milwaukee Brewers -- at least for a day. Chicago's win, coupled with the Mets' 8-5 win at Milwaukee, puts the Cubs a percentage point ahead of the Brewers.

"You can't make too much out of it on the first of August," Cubs manager Lou Piniella said. "We've got a lot of baseball to play. We can't get caught up in it."

 

It could all change tomorrow, as I know having lived through 2003, but this has been a fun summer for Cubs fans...especially my son, Elijah.  He has gone from watching the occasional game on our limited cable setup to following all of them in real time on Sportsline.com.  I've really enjoyed cheering along with him as he comes into my office to give me the latest update on who's on base, who hit the latest homer, which players are on the bench, how much he loves Soriono, and so on.  A few days ago we got him a Soriono T-shirt.  And yesterday (Wednesday) we followed the latest game on the computer, then listened on the radio for a bit as we sat in the car, then back on the computer again, then to the radio for the finish.  Lots of fun with my little athelete.

Tour de France 2007

The Prologue of the Tour is underway as I type (follow it here).  It takes place in London.  Will doping continue to detract from this fantastic sporting event?  I hope not.  It's three of my favorite weeks of the year.

I follow most of the event on Sportsline's Tour page, and their live updates found here.  I'm going to be checking in on Versus.com as well, which seems to have a lot of good info.  It seems that Vs is the new Outdoor Life Network, which televised the Tour.  Now on Vs there should be live updates, video clips, and more.  Also check out the TdF live tracker.

Go Salukis!

My wife and I both have degrees from Southern Illinois University (1993, 1994), so we are excited to see that the Salukis have made it to the Sweet 16 thanks to a "suffocating defense."  They decisively beat Virginia Tech yesterday 63-48.  I missed the end of the game because they were looking so unbeatable that they switched to another game on TV.  Now they move on to play Kansas, the #1 ranked team in the West. 

It's especially cool for us because the coach of SIU is Chris Lowery, the point guard of the Salukis when we were dating in college and attending every home game.  One season we had like 4th row mid-court tickets. 

Go Salukis!

Pro Bowl & Talking With Your Kids

I was watching some of the Pro Bowl with my sports fanatic 6 year old son, Elijah.  He asks so many questions during sporting events that I often miss the on-air discussions with the "experts."  Yeah, I know talking with my kid is way better than listening to Greg Gumbel, but sometimes I really want to hear what they are saying.

After tonight, I will never question the priority of listening to my son.  Somewhere around question/comment #1,724 he noticed that a guy on the Redskins was playing where Brian Urlacher would play.  I missed the first half of his comment as I was coming out of my game-mode zombie state and switching to loving-dad-mode, but he said something like, "Dad, did you notice that a guy from the Rednecks is playing where Urlacher plays?"

Where in the heck has he heard of rednecks?  I think he has listened to too many Mark Driscoll sermons.

Man, I love my kids.

Super Bowl Prediction: Bears vs. Colts

I decided to NOT make a prediction on the Super Bowl, though everyone already knows I believe the Bears will win.  But I can't restrain myself.  I...must...predict.  My mandatory "Da Bears" pick is Chicago 213, Colts 10.  But my slightly more realistic pick is Bears by 3: Bears 31, Colts 28. 

I believe the Bears will see a slow first half of offense and a mediocre first half of defense.  They will be down at halftime.  At the beginning of the second half the special teams and defense will come on in a huge way and make a few plays and stops.  There will be at least one second half touchdown by the defense.  The Bears will be up and Peyton will be Peyton, taking over the game.  He will lead them to one touchdown but on the second drive will give up an interception ending their Super Bowl hopes.  The MVP will be Mark Anderson, who will have a great game and put pressure on Manning beyond anyone's expectations but his own.

Okay, that was way too much info.  Go Bears!

Incarnational vs Attractional Super Bowl

The NFL has demanded a church not show the Super Bowl...

NFL officials spotted a promotion of Fall Creek Baptist Church's "Super Bowl Bash" on the church Web site last week and overnighted a letter to the pastor demanding the party be canceled, the church said.

[...]

Newland said his church won't break the law.

"It just frustrates me that most of the places where crowds are going to gather to watch this game are going to be places that are filled with alcohol and other things that are inappropriate for children," Newland said. "We tried to provide an alternative to that and were shut down."

Other Indiana churches said they are deciding whether they should go through with their Super Bowl party plans, given the NFL's stance.

My thoughts?  You can't love Jesus and the Colts, so either the church is a cult or they are misguided on their choice of football team. 

Seriously, how about telling the members to invite their lost neighbors into their homes for the game?  Or how about going to your lost neighbor's house if they invite you?

Super Bowl Shuffle...Again

"There's no one here who does it like me.  My Super Bowl Shuffle will set you free."

Note four guys.
1. Steve Fuller (#4) has no rhythm or talent in this video.  Awful stuff.  Is his voice still changing? 
2. Richard Dent (#95) has the best voice for the song.  Cool man, really cool.
3. Gary Fencik (#45) was fierce on the field.  It's hard to believe this is the same guy.  Geez.  What the crap is going on here?  "Were going to do the Shuffle then ring your bell."  Ugh.
4. William "The Refrigerator" Perry (#72) looks small compared to today's football players.  He's like a dorm fridge.

Super Bowl Time!

YES!  The Chicago Bears are on their way to the Super Bowl in Miami!  Woooohooooo!  What a game.  What a day.  Bear weather baby.

Photo HT to Sportsline.

Bears & Obama

Love this Monday Night Football video.

Chicago Sports

Things are looking up for Chicago Sports.  Last year the White Sox won the World Series.  The Cubs have shaken the Dusty off their feet and grabbed what I hope is a real manager in Piniella.  The Bears have returned to Monsters of the Midway form. 

And now, is it possible?  Could the Bulls be moving toward a new era of winning?  They have made some good off season moves and there is a lot of buzz about the team.  But no one expected the 42 point blowout on opening night against the defending champion Miami Heat tonight.  Pretty cool, and it should be a good season to be a Bulls fan.

Super Bowl Shuffle

Thanks to Todd Hiestand for reminding me of this vintage video.  I hope the current Bears team has more rhythm. 

Denny Green Meltdown

Watch the meltdown by Arizona Cardinals' coach Denny Green.  Go to Sportsline, watch the free video on the right side all the way to the end (just a couple of minutes long).  Man, no doubt, the Bears looked awful.  Chicago has a lot to learn, especially Grossman.  But Denny Green's meltdown comes from a coach watching his job slip through his fingers.  Pretty funny.

Bear-ly

I'm not one of those "season of destiny" guys.  But I am a Calvinist, so can you say "predestination?"  The Bears come from down 23-3 near the end of the 3rd quarter to score two defensive touchdowns and a punt return for a touchdown to defeat Arizona 24-23.  The Arizona kicker missed a 40-some yard fieldgoal with under a minute to play.  Unbelievable. 

When you can win after an ugly game (defense gave up two touchdowns in the first quarter and Grossman had 6 turnovers!!!), it says something about a team.  Go Bears!  Read about the game at Sportsline.  Picture from Sportsline.

Cubs to Hire Piniella

Hope in Wrigleyville?

So Long, Dusty

The Cubs finally figured out that they would be better off without Dusty Baker.  Most Cubs fans knew that long ago, and long before this season. 

But at least the Cubs didn't wait until they hit bottom before they started looking to change something.

Clever Birds

Why Orioles fans are smarter than Cubs fans.

The BIG One

Yes, I've returned from my day fishing. Could anyone have guessed that I would land a record breaking Northern Pike from Lake Geneva in Wisconsin?  What an incredible experience! 

I fought the great beast for 2 1/2 hours and finally landed him by jumping in the depths and wrestling him to the point of exhaustion.  I then threw him into the boat and up to the dock where Jim Guinness (yes, the CEO of the world record organization) was on the shore waiting for me after a bizarre set of dreams and visions in the weeks prior to me landing the great fish. 

Fortunately for me Jim gave me 30 minutes to recoup from the epic battle.  That was a good thing because at that point hundreds of people had gathered around the shoreline to see the mammoth fish and hear me retell how I defeated him with unflinching courage and determination.

After my quick breather, I approached the large stage that had quickly been constructed for my moment of glory.  I was still too exhausted to even walk, yet I still found the energy to sign autographs which included photographs of Jimmy Houston. 

Several minutes later, with hands numbed from the fight and tingling with anticipation, I took the microphone and began my story.  Through each gripping detail, more of the crowd broke into tears.  Some tears of agony as they identified with my struggle.  Others tears of joy at the possibility of such a feat!  As even the most salty-mouthed fishermen began to speak my praises, I found myself unable to finish.  It was all too much for me.  Choked from my own emotions, I decided to lead the now massive crowd in a moment of silence for the soul of the world's largest Northern Pike.  And then we fired up the fish fry.

Okay, so I'm lying.  I caught nothing.  But my buddy caught three, including this one.

Gone Fishing

A buddy at our church is taking me out fishing on a boat today in Wisconsin.  I have a pretty good record of catching better fish than my expert fisherman friends, but I think this time I'm in trouble.  I expect my best catch with be a photo or two.  Who knows?  Pray for me to be a successful fisher of fish.  I believe Northern Pike will be the target.

Maybe this could be me later...

OutLandis Behavior?

Ugh.  Look, I waited until AFTER the Tour de France to even post on the event because it's so doped up.  I wanted to be sure all was fine.  And now it appears that TdF winner, American Floyd Landis, may have been testosterone doping. 

The B sample needs to be tested to be sure, so it's unfair to call him guilty yet.  But he has been suspended from his team and will be fired if the B sample is dirty.

I would love to see this be a mistake.  I would love to find out that it was simply a surprising result to natural processes that came due to his horrible hip problems and efforts to relieve pain.  But I'm not optimistic.

UPDATE: Landis responds on SI.

Tour de Floyd

With Lance Armstrong in retirement and the Tour de France field torn up by a doping investigation, American Floyd Landis has taken advantage in today's stage (bad hip and all) and will almost certainly be the last man wearing the maillot jaune (yellow jersey) after arriving in Paris tomorrow.  He leads by 59 seconds. 

I remember learning about Floyd back in 2002-2003 and wondering if he was the guy who would follow in Lance's footsteps.  I guess we have our answer, at least for this year.  Floyd will have off season hip surgery though, it's that bad, and that may make future wins very difficult.

Hendry, Dusty, and Stupidity

Ugh.  The Cubs are themselves...again.  Sportsline has this for us from the Cubs GM, Jim Hendry...

Dusty is going to get every opportunity to manage the club and get us out of this hole, and he's going to get an opportunity to manage this club when we get healthy the next couple of weeks also.

An open letter to Jim Hendry...

Dear Jimmy,

If you find yourself in a hole, stop digging. (Will Rogers)

Love,

Steve

iMonk LOVES the Cubs

No doubt about it, the iMonk can't get enough of the Cubs.  He always wore his Cubs hat around the OBI campus a little half-cocked in order to be "relevant" to the youth.  They all thought he was sooooo cool, and they were right!  (I was able to retain the cubbie blue and red in post-processing.)

In the middle, Matthew Smith of Indelible Grace.  On the right?  Ineligible Grace. 

The Masters

The Masters Golf Tournament begins today.  It is by far my favorite sporting event of any sort. 

My life is now complete. 

Final Four

My predictions?  An all SEC final.  Today LSU will beat UCLA and Florida will beat George Mason.  In the final on Monday night Florida will defeat LSU.