No Stones To Throw

Serenity

2011-02-13T07:31:00.000-08:00

Tonight at our Mosaic service we are going to be focusing on the inward self. Our theme this year is the 'secret life' and tonight we are going to be focusing on this inward life that we must sharpen, maintain and develop in order to cultivate a deeper relationship with God.

We will have 6 different spiritual stations:

Silence
Lectio Divina
Centering Prayers
A.C.T.S Model of Praying
Fasting from Food
Fasting from Media

Ice Ice Baby

2011-02-03T07:57:00.000-08:00

Crazy Icestorm! This was taken before the second wave of ice and snow came through so you can just imagine.

Self Control

2011-01-31T07:41:00.000-08:00

We are once again having a high school youth group super bowl party. Last time the Steelers were in this position, I wasn't really proud of how I behaved. Lets just say when the Steelers won I gave it right back to the student who had been giving me a hard time the whole night.

I'm gonna try to be civil this year, but some of these students make it so hard.

Deisel's Beard

2011-01-25T11:24:00.000-08:00

Brett Keisel's Beard is one of the finest beards I have ever seen. Go Steelers!

walmart

2010-03-18T06:40:00.000-07:00

i like to say hi to the wal mart greeters before they can say hi to me

sometimes i wonder what the people are thinking who ring me up. teen ministry requires me to make a lot of bizarre purchases. my cart (buggy for my friend steve) today had in it:

10 gallon plastic tub
2 padlocks
sticky tack
5 cans of E-Z Cheese

march madness

2010-03-17T19:26:00.000-07:00

espn commercial

this video is unfortunately me. i love this time of year when i get to fill out brackets and watch games. this year i filled out 5 brackets all with different themes like the guy on the commercial. i have been filling out more than one bracket for several years now just like the guy on the commercial. when i saw the commercial this year i was somewhat embarrassed.

hope you all enjoy watching as much as i do.

go purdue!

elsie

2010-03-12T09:30:00.000-08:00

fatherhood is slowly becoming reality...it doesn't feel as life-changing as i thought it would (other than the lack of sleep at the very beginning) i think most people told me how much it would change my life that it feels a little anti-climatic...

but elsie has been alot of fun recently...she is making lots of fun sounds and smiles at us a alot...especially after she has eaten...must get that from me...

katie is a wonderful mother and i am amazed by her daily...

here is a recent picture of elsie...

super bowl rings

2010-02-03T06:56:00.000-08:00

here is a great piece that espn put together about 43 stories unique to each super bowl ring....

http://espn.go.com/nfl/rings

it was really cool to just see all of the rings....

here are a few of my favorites....(please keep this in mind as you look at my favorite rings...i am a steelers fan first and only...but i do like these rings)

cluttered

2010-02-01T07:28:00.000-08:00

sometimes my mind feels like this on a monday morning....today is one of those mornings...

on a side note have you ever seen "that" car...its the car usually found in the walmart parking lot...its the car that only has room in it for the driver because the rest of the car is full of newspapers, shopping bags, cans of expired tuna, lawn darts, broken picture frames, diapers, dirty band aides and loads of other crap that someone just can't part with...

wouldn't it be awesome if someone could get a ticket for that...like a parking ticket, but instead we call it a:

"hey you got way too much crap in your car and we are all kind of sick to our stomach when we look at it, so clean it up or pay this fine" ticket....

friday morning face

2010-01-29T07:07:00.000-08:00

elsie is asleep in her swing...

katie is catching up on some much needed rest...

and i am trying to catch up by listening to sports talk radio...i would be watching espn...but i don't want turn the tv on and thus wake up my sleeping wife...hence the huge radio headphones...

movies worth seeing

2010-01-28T20:32:00.000-08:00

here are a couple of movies that i would highly recommend...

last weekend we took several high school students to see a movie called 'to save a life'

the movie revolves a character named jake taylor who is living the teenage dream. he is good looking, popular, star athlete, and has the admiration of everyone especially his cheerleader girlfriend....jake starts to evaluate his life as the result of a significant event in his life. he begins to ask himself the question 'what is the point?'

for those of us who work with teens its a must see.

the second movie that is a must see is called 'the worlds fastest indian'

oddly enough this movie is not about m. night shyamalan running track. its about an older new zealand gentleman who lives out his dream of racing at the salt flats on his 1920 indian motorcycle. it is such a wonderful movie and one that every guy needs to see.

let me know what you think of these movies when you see them. and enjoy

Squirters

2010-01-27T08:18:00.000-08:00

when did the nfl waterboy start squirting the gatorade/water into the players mouth?

i have been thinking about this all football season...does this man really get paid to squirt water into the mouths of nfl players? and what happens if he misses and squirts him in the face like in the picture above...does the player tackle him?

i think i would really like to have my own h20 squirter...that way i wouldn't ever have to put my bible down or look away from the computer as i am working on a lesson...i could just cock my head a little bit to the side and open my mouth for a nice blast of monster energy drink or a shot of hot coffee...

wouldn't that be great!

on being a dad

2010-01-26T20:22:00.000-08:00

i can't seem to help myself these days...i am much more emotional...i can't seem to listen to a song or watch a lifetime movie ( just kidding) without getting all teary eyed...i blame it on my daughter...

who is perfect by the way....

i think the lack of sleep coupled with the hormones my wife is emitting from her body is to blame...either way...i love being a dad and i love this little girl...more to come about her

a unique fathers day

2009-06-22T05:18:00.000-07:00

fathers day was special this year for me...mostly because of this...

katie and i are expecting our first child in early january...its been really fun telling people...she is currently 12 weeks along...we are super excited and are looking forward to january...

new computer

2009-04-14T05:15:00.000-07:00

so katie and i just bought our first computer...its a macbook g4...we bought it refurbished from the apple store super cheep...or i guess i should say super inexpensive...the computer we had before that was given to us by a friend who had fixed it after it crashed and burned or something like that...it worked for us but was basically an internet machine...i am looking forward to having a legitimate computer....and a macbook at that...so here is to katie and i joining the 21st century...

also i am glad i am not going to be alive for when people have to start saying the 22nd century...it just doesn't sound as good...i think its the ND indstead of the ST...but either way i am glad i won't have to say that...

also the steelers have the 4th easiest schedule this year...kind of makes me nervous cause they had the hardest last year and won the superbowl....so we'll see...

i have stopped caring

2009-02-16T14:46:00.000-08:00

i was able to go to youth specialities this fall in pittsburgh pa and it was good for me to see all the different types of youth ministers there...i used to want to be like a lot of them....you know the cool youth minister that dressed cool and listened to the same music that their kids like...but i have realized that i am not that guy...i have stopped caring...

i think the moment that i realized this was the week i started wearing my cell phone on my belt...it was much easier to wear it there than to keep it in my pocket...i also started using a bluetooth headset....i have stopped caring how uncool this makes me...i have stopped caring that it makes me 20 years older than i am...its convienient and i like it...

hears to you all you bluetooth wearers and cell phone belt clippers...

Go Steelers

2009-01-20T13:17:00.000-08:00

i am really excited that the steelers made it to the superbowl...its even more fun having taken crap from people around here all year long about being a steelers fan...i had planned on trash talking those who gave me such a hard time but when it came right down to it, watching my team in the superbowl is going to be so much better than talking trash to people who gave me a hard time...

its also pretty cool when people think you look like a player from your favorite team...

ESPN v. MSNBC

2009-01-12T10:43:00.001-08:00

For around a year now I have been playing this game. Its not the wii or a crazy midwest card game. Its not the latest party game of the year or cornhole. Its a game that I would guess none of you have played. I started playing it unknowingly but have thoroughly enjoyed myself. The game has no name, at least for now, but I like that about it. Let me just explain it to you this way.

For over a year now Katie and I have been members at the local wellness center. (for those of you who don't know this is a gym, but don't tell the people who work at the wellness center cause they get pissed when you call it a gym, its a wellness center) Like many people I don't get overly excited about getting up at 6:30 am to workout, but the opportunity to catch mike and mike and sportcenter in the morning before my day begins was not a bad trade off. Each of the treadmills has its own tv built into the unit. I can jog in the morning while watching golic and greeny catch me up on all that is happening in the sports world. But before I ever get to the treadmills I must get changed out of my winter clothes and into my workout clothes. This is where the game begins

As I walk into the mens locker room there sits in the corner of the room is a tv. Every single morning that I have gone into the gym the channel is on the cable station that covers all the stock market prices, economic situations and lots of other depressing and uninteresting news. You know the station its the one that has 15 lines of numbers scrolling in every single direction while someone blathers on about some ceo and why we should buy into his company. So, before I go to my locker I change the channel to either ESPN 1 or ESPN 2. Its either sports center or mike and mike in the morning. While I get changed I listen to all that is being said on this fantastic network and if I am close enough I can even watch it from my locker. If I am not close to it I will wait to put my shoes on until the very last thing and I will go and lace up my shoes in front of the tv while I watch this program.

From there I go to my workout. Upon returning to the locker room after my workout the channel has been changed back to the same station I had turned it from. The boring economic talk is once again tainting the locker room with its depressing information. So again I turn the TV back to ESPN and get back into the clothes I came in.

I have played this game almost every morning I go to workout. I have quite enjoyed this game and have looked forward to this morning ritual. But last week the game changed. I went to the wellness center a little later in the morning than usual and approached the TV as always and as I flipped through the channels to change it to ESPN a voice came from behind me.

I was watching that.

I spun around to see a man I had seen in the gym every morning. My opponent, my adversary, my nemesis. The MSNBC economic tv show guy! I couldn't believe my eyes.

This new developement in the game has not discouraged my play it has actually helped it. We continue to see each other in the gym in the mornings and I can't help but wonder if he is thinking the same thing that I am thinking. Is this a game for him too. Does this tick him off or does he think its fun. Maybe he is normal and doesn't think about it at all. Either way I have thoroughly enjoyed our game and look forward to it every morning.

a noun, a noun and another noun

2008-12-22T12:35:00.000-08:00

once you begin blogging or become a blog reader, it doesn't take you long to pick up on some of the unspoken rules of blogging...

i have previously posted about one of these unspoken rules:

begging and pleading for forgiveness as you confess your shame and remorse for not blogging for weeks and months...only to be followed up by a commitment to blog much more often....

today i want to talk about another unspoken rule....the title....

you must have a catchy title or no one will want to read your blog....

one of the ways to best do this is to come up with three nouns that really symbolize your story...for instance lets say you want to share about your thanksgiving...your title might go something like this:

a bird, a prayer and a dream come true

see how easy that was...then everyone will want to read about what a wonderful thanksgiving you had with your 80 year old grandpa who said the blessing over his 40th thanksgiving meal while everyone shed tears of joy...

remember the more symbolic the words the more people will want to read your blog...also you can't go wrong to use alliteration...

an add kids nursery rhyme

2008-11-13T08:12:00.000-08:00

this little piggy went to market
this little piggy went home
this little piggy had roast beef
this little piggy had none
this little piggy went wee wee wee all the way home

according to wikipedia this nursery rhyme was published in 1728...which led me to the conclusion that attention deficit disorder (ADD) has been around for a long time....I can understand that one pig goes to the market/one stays home/one goes wee wee wee all the way home/but somewhere in the middle i get lost...where does roast beef come from all of a sudden...

i thought it would be fun to subsitute our own add phrase into those slots and see what we have:

this little piggy went to market
this little piggy went home
this little piggy hey did you know milk is on sale at kroger
this little piggy had no milk
this little piggy went wee wee wee all the way home

please share with me your add little piggy rhyme

good thoughts

2008-11-13T08:01:00.000-08:00

lots of fun things to report:

shotgun season opens saturday morning...so i will be up before the sun waiting on bambi...hopefully my freezer will be blessed with lots of delicious deer meat...

the indiana christian youth convention asked me back to emcee their event next weekend...i have been working with matt mcconnell on some new characters and some fun games to play which include...
a german body builder named hansworth villhelm hagen dazen (but you can call me lars)
80s hair metal rocker david st. hubbins from spinal tap (complete with black jeans and the neon green skeleton shirt)
and a crazed batman fan

our games will include a thy master race/rock band challenge/create your own superhero with the audience/and a huge paper airplane competition

also christmas is quite upon us....in a month we will be two weeks away from christmas day...how much of a crazy thought is that...almost as crazy as the thought that i am almost done with my christmas shopping...i actually have had a moment to breathe this year...its nice...

Dissapointed

2008-11-05T11:46:00.000-08:00

as you may have noticed i haven't been doing well on my gettin skinnie blog....its very disappointing to me that i let it slip away....i have been working with katie on how i can get back into good habits and get back on track....we are keeping food journals and talking about it nightly...essentially a blog that only she is reading i guess...its discouraging but if i am going to work at getting healthy and losing weight it is going to be my decision and my hard work...

speaking of losing weight....i went to the national youth workers convention this weekend in pittsburgh and a dream of mine came true....i was able to eat a Roethlis-burger from Peppis in Pittsburgh...

the main sessions as well as the breakout sessions were really encouraging as well as helpful to what we are trying to do here at Park Chapel...

i hope that all of you are doing well and can't wait to see some of you very soon...

Perspective

2008-10-27T05:12:00.000-07:00

Last week I got a call in my office from our secretary. She said there was a man on the phone and he wanted to talk to a minister. I took the call and on the other line I hear a man say, "I need to talk to someone." I said, "Ok, where are you." He said, "I'm sitting in my trailer and I just need to talk to a minister." So I grabbed Dean and we headed over to address in which he gave me.

After knocking on the door we saw the face of a man who had obviously not shaved in several days and looked as though he had been crying. We had to watch were we stepped as we made our way in because the place had looked as it had been turned upside down. The smell of cigarettes mixed with mold made it difficult to breathe during our visit. We sat as we listened to this guys story. He was way behind on his rent and had an eviction notice on top of that. He had been out of work for months and to top it off his girlfriend and his unborn child had taken off because they need a safe place to stay. We listened as he talked about years of bad decisions and painful memories. He kept saying that all he wanted was his girlfriend and kid back.

As I listened to the pain and brokenheartedness pouring out of this man I noticed amidst all of the clutter on the floor a newspaper. There were lots of news papers on the floor but this one caught my eye. It was folded in such a way that all I could see was the headline. It read: DOWN ROARS BACK 965 POINTS. I could help but think of the irony that this provided. While we cheered the Dow bouncing back in his trailer sat a man who felt no effects of such a turn of good fortune. It helped to give me a better perspective during this election and tough economic time.

So what happens when the Dow does come back and stabilizes. What happens when the economy is good again. There are still going to be guys like this sitting in trailers breathing in toxic air hoping against all hope that their family could come home. Its as times like this I am glad I am not a Republican.

Its at times like this I am glad I am not a Democrat.

Its at times like this I am glad I am a follower of Christ. Jesus was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and familiar with suffering. This guy was a Jesus kind of guy and I was glad to hear his story.

hotlanta

2008-10-08T08:20:00.000-07:00

i am leaving in about 30 minutes to go to atlanta for the catalyst conference...myself steve danny dean dave and raja will be flying down this afternoon for a two day conference...this will be my first big church conference...i am looking forward to good speakers worship and worshops....

leaving for atlanta reminds me of the last time i was in atlanta...we were coming back from puerto rico and it was pouring down rain...taylor clint tyler and myself were all in a car and all i know is someone had to pee in a bottle while they were driving while it was pouring rain while we were zipping by trucks...its a wonder we all lived...good memories...

hmmmm

2008-10-06T13:56:00.001-07:00

i miss blogging so much now that i have started this weight-loss blog. In the last couple of weeks the weight loss program along with the diet have begun to feel daunting and i haven't felt the motivation that i once had. i hope to get started back with it soon, but with trips and holidays approaching i feel like i am in for a difficult ride.

ere of shabbos...

2008-09-18T06:43:00.000-07:00

one of the memorable quotes from the movie the big lebowski:

walter: i told those guys down at the league office that i don't roll on shabbos!

donny: whats shabbos?

walter: saturday, donny, is shabbos, the Jewish day of rest. that means that i don't work, i don't get in a car, i don't freaking ride in a car, i don't pick up the phone, don't turn on the oven and i sure as crap don't freaking roll!!! shomer shabbos!

the dude: walter..

walter: shomer freaking shabbos!

tonight katie and i head to francesville for a little shabbos or shabbat...this weekend is the annual francesville fall festival...in case you aren't aware francesville is my hometown...francesville is a small (population 800) farming community in northwest indiana...some of the highlights of the fall festival include....

bingo (you use corn kernals to mark your card)

the parade

booths (stink bombs, fake poop, illegal knives knock off designer sunglasses and crafts)

pork producers pork burgers

chicken bingo (you buy a numbered square inside a chicken wire cage and hope the chicken poops on your number)

fish fry

pancake breakfast

fire department ring toss

i am looking forward to a relaxing weekend with my wife and my parents and all the goodness that the fall festival has to offer

two blogs

2008-09-11T14:25:00.000-07:00

i haven't been posting on this blog very much because my blogging time has been devoted to the new weight-loss blog...if you haven't had the chance to check it out please do because i need the accountability...

www.gettinskinnie.blogspot.com

things at the church are going well and we are well underway with our new fall youth program...i am excited about this season...the temperature is good...college football...baseball playoffs...pro-football...its so great...

i hope you all are enjoying your fall as well...

2008-09-06T08:57:00.000-07:00

chads blog inspired me to do a weight loss blog of my own...please check it out...and continue to view it as i believe it will help keep my accountable...

www.gettinskinnie.blogspot.com

charlie

2008-08-27T06:14:00.000-07:00

so i thought id throw this on here for lack of anything good to blog about...i have been playing a lot with my new computer and i love the photo booth movie feature...here is gus chiggins/carl from slingblade...

FACEinHOLE

2008-08-21T06:49:00.001-07:00

Create your own FACEinHOLE

Number Eight...Way To Go Charlie!!!!

FACEinHOLE

2008-08-21T06:35:00.001-07:00

Create your own FACEinHOLE

Ooops I put the wrong jersey on...

new computer

2008-08-20T14:53:00.000-07:00

got a new computer for work...lots of bells and whistles...i am a fan...

hahahahaha i love that kid

2008-08-20T05:18:00.000-07:00

so many of you will know that my friend steve helped me build a bike two winters ago...we modified an Yamaha xs 750...painted it to look like Wyatts (Peter Fondas) bike on Easy Rider...one of the best ways to start out the morning is to go for a ride...so i slapped on my ipod and a good playlist and went for a ride...

it was early before school started and i saw lots of students walking reluctantly on their way to their first class...most kids had scowls on their face and i can't say that i can blame them...but then i noticed him...it was a young boy....probably 3rd or 4th grade and he had kinda a smirk on his face...the kind when a funny joke just went through your mind and it made you real happy...the coolest part about this kid was he was wearing his backpack on his head...instead of wearing the straps on his shoulders he had one of the straps around his forehead letting the rest of the pack hang down behind his head....

i wanted to stop my bike and walk the rest of the way with him to school...i am sure that his mom or dad had told him not to wear his pack like that and as soon as he was out of eyesight he went back to the way he had it...this undoubtedly brought a smirk to his face...i would have liked to know his story....

ps...i was that kid...

good friends, a dead squirrel and youth group

2008-08-18T06:58:00.000-07:00

this weekend was a really good weekend with lots going on...on friday my friend steve turned 40 years old and a bunch of us went out to eat at the RAM to celebrate...good food, good laughs and good friends made it a really fun night...it didn't hurt that at the end of our meal we got to watch michael phelps win his seventh gold medal by beating Cavic (or whatever his name is) by .01 seconds. we got pretty loud and that was fun...a night with those friends wasn't complete without my imitation of mr. miagi for denise...

kakes and i stayed up even later to watch more of the olympics that night once we got home...it made getting up at 5 am the next morning a difficult task...but it is squirrel season and i was super excited...i found myself sitting at the foot of a tree at 5:45 am waiting for the sun to wake up the woods...almost an hour later the woods was alive...i saw two doe and a couple raccoons before i ever heard a squirrel...by 7:00 i could hear the squirrels as they ate and made lots of noise almost as if they were laughing and joking with each other over breakfast....i took my time and by 7:30 I was walking back to my truck, squirrel in hand...i decided to call it quits with one that morning cause i wanted kakes to see if before she left that morning...we fried it up that night for dinner...it was a good day...

sunday was a great day as well...student leadership as well as intersect has started back up for the year and i am excited about what is in store for this year...i learned a lot from my first week of leading intersect and have confidence that it will continue to get better and better...

Pictures of the dog

2008-08-13T06:54:00.000-07:00

several of you will have already seen this pictures on my facebook...but i did want to put a couple of them up on my blog...so here is molly...i will try and get some more up here soon...

the sound of football

2008-08-07T06:19:00.001-07:00

this morning was a good morning as i got ready and read my bible to the sounds of the high school marching band practicing nearby...katie and i bought our house back in november near greenfield central high school...as the band practiced i couldn't help but think of crisp friday nights in october...it also reminded me of warm saturday afternoons in september in some college town...as i imagined the smell of the tailgate parties i couldn't help but become anxious for the fall and the start of football season...

at the same time it makes me sad...the last two falls i have coached high school football at greenfield central...because of the increased responsibility in my life (ie new wife/new house/new job) coaching fell last on the list as far as priorities...i am excited however to attend some games this fall and get to be a spectator again...

so with all that being said...

go cougars

go boilers

go steelers

molly pugglestone and the DOG PEOPLE

2008-08-06T06:49:00.001-07:00

right off the bat i apologize for not having a picture up of our new puppy but i have been having issues with our camera and it not working...

we have lots of different genres of people living in our world...in high school you have your skaters/goths/jocks and plastics....in college there are the TAs/gamers/coffee house rats and disc golfer-hippie guys...as i have grown into adulthood i have noticed more genres popping up...workaholics/career woman/landscape and lawncare man and deadbeat guy...but there is a new genre of people that i have noticed just in the last week...and they are DOG PEOPLE...

...DOG PEOPLE are very fascinating to me....

they refer to themselves as mom or dad...they remember random special events in their dogs life like the first time they went to the bathroom outside and have you been to a petsmart recently...i didn't know they had all the options of things you could get for your dogs...but the DOG PEOPLE love it...

all of this is well and good...i guess its not too much for me...but the kicker is the people that we have met that cannot have a conversation without bringing up their dog...we will be talking about the weather and how bad we need rain...and without missing a beat it is "snuggles doesn't like the rain..." i thought we were talking about the weather...there is only so many hours that i can sit and talk about the mating/bathroom/and eating habits of a dog...

i guess this is something i am going to have to get used to it...so lets hear it for DOG PEOPLE...and let hear it for molly we like her a lot...but she is our dog...not our child

ps the DOG PERSON just corrected me for calling her a dog and not a puppy...

blogging...the new busted diet

2008-07-31T06:42:00.000-07:00

there is a common theme in blogging that i am beginning to pick up on...many posts (including my own) begin with a statements such as:

its been a long time since i have blogged

i apologize for the length between posts

wow i have been so busy i haven't had two minutes to blog

i am sorry that i have not posted in a while

i want to know who made us feel guilty for not blogging (i think somehow the government might be involved)...why is it wrong for us to go so long between posts...the guilt we feel is comparable to the guilt you feel when you are on a diet and cheat it by going to the local china buffet place and eat until you hurt...

so i am calling all the guilt-filled bloggers of the world to unite and embrace our sporadical blogging nature...and this shall be our creed:

i believe in myself....i believe blogging is fun but does not define me....i believe in blogging but will not feel guilty for waiting 3 months between posts...but mostly i believe in myself...and god...and jesus...and the holy spirit...and the bible...and johnson bible college...and that the steelers are going to win the superbowl this year...and that we never landed on the moon...and um oh yeah i believe blogging shouldn't make us feel guilty...amen...i mean thank you...i mean the end...

the dog days of summer

2008-07-30T15:09:00.001-07:00

the dog days of summer...

i don't know what that expression means...but i've heard it...and for the sake of this post...it means we are getting ourselves a dog this summer...

skates (which is what i am calling my wife these days) and i decided to get a dog a while ago and after a long process of deciding on personality traits, sheddiness (a word i think i just made up) size and all the other things you look for in a dog, we have agreed to get a puggle...(pug/beagle)

so if all goes according to plan we will be bringing molly pugglestone to 555 West 7th street tomorrow night...

i will post pictures when i we get her...

as i said in my last post we had to rule out the lab...we needed something smaller due to the size of our house...sad day...but there is

2008-07-28T06:34:00.000-07:00

july has been a long month...mission trip...followed by two weeks of church camp....folllowed by a ciy conference...

it was wonderful to see scott and sarah married on saturday...congrats to them...

finally i believe the lab is out of the equation....single tear....we are looking at a smaller dog to accommodate our small house...

finally as sam elliot once said to the dude...sometimes you eat the bar...and sometimes the bar eats you...

keeping on abiding

Friends

2008-06-25T05:42:00.001-07:00

I had two best friends in years before going to kindergarten, Terry and PJ. Terry lived across the street from me and taught me the ways of the world. I learned the four major cusswords from Terry, ate some of the carmel cremes he stole from the store, smoked candy cigarettes with him on a daily basis and even vandalized my next door neighbors house with him. (more on that another time)

PJ was my "good" friend. He didn't teach me bad things or get me into trouble for doing things that we shouldn't. We hung out in his house a lot and he was always excited to see me. PJ was a lot older than I was but it wasn't weird that he liked hanging out with me so much. We liked to wrestle in the yard and run all over the neighborhood. PJ was our family dog. He was a beagle and my favorite pet of all time. He was more than just the family pet to me, he was my best friend.

Katie and I have been talking about getting a dog of our own. I know I know, it seems a very cliche thing to do. You get married and then 6 months or a year later you get a dog. The plan is to get the dog in the fall when things from the summer settle down. Because of our experiences with Tyra, John Coffee and Miley we are going to get a lab. I will be sure and post more about it and include some pictures when we get Brutus (Shhh don't tell Katie I have already named the dog)

Student Leadership

2008-06-23T05:47:00.000-07:00

There are some things that just seem to go together, that just seem right together. A hot dog and a bag of peanuts at a baseball game, going swimming and drinking lemonade in the summer, drinking hot coffee on a chilly fall evening on your porch and having a student leadership team as apart of your student ministry.

I can't imagine not having student leadership as apart of student ministry. It seems like any student ministry worth its salt has a student leadership team. But the question that we had to ask ourselves was why do we need one. In my first year of working for Park Chapel I tried to implement this program without answering the question. The leadership team never really got off the ground and I believe it was because we had not answered this question.

Almost a year and a half later Danny Curry and myself sat down and started to answer the question of why and for what purpose do we establish a student leadership team. We came up with four reasons why we felt led to establish such a team.

Leverage and Influence-Influencing the students who are ready to step up in order that they can influence other students is worth a great amount of our time and energy.

Leadership Training-We believe that it is necessary for us to develop the leaders that will be leading the church in the future.

Another Layer of Discipleship-We know that there are students who are ready to take the next step in their discipleship process and student leadership is an avenue in which they can get that kind of discipleship.

Facilitates Communication-It is vital that we communicate to the students we want to be a positive influence for us. It is equally important for them to be able to communicate to our teen staff and volunteers. Being on the same page with our students will make us a much more effective student ministry.

Once we understood why we needed a student leadership team we also needed to establish what this group was going to look like. The expectations that we have of our student leaders are extremely high and we realized that just the average student would probably not want to be responsible for fulfilling these expectations. We were intentional in doing this so as to not create just another small group, or something easy that they can put on a resume, but actually something they have to desire and work at.

I have been so encouraged and excited to see the students who have committed to this thus far. We are already seeing some great results and we anticipate seeing many more. We are leaving Sunday on our mission trip and I can't wait to see how God is going to use the student leaders to make an impact during this week. Please be praying for us.

You can't hide the red....or can you?

2008-06-21T06:47:00.000-07:00

It has been two full years since I graduated from the fine institution on the banks of the French Broad River. So many things have changed in these two years. One, I don't have to sell my plasma to make money anymore. I have a job with a great church and a great staff. Two, my roomate is no longer a guy. Katie is by far the best roomate I have had, no offense Zube. And three, I can no longer stay up until 2 in the morning watching movies and eating Taco Bell. I am usually asleep by 10:30 and if I even look at Taco Bell past 8:00 I can almost bet I will be up at 2:00 chugging down a bottle of Pepto Bismol.

But the biggest change in my life is my Redneck-ness. I have noticed subtle things that have hinted at some redneck tendencies but I have chalked up them up as coincindencies, but now I am not to sure. Since moving to Greenfield. I have purchased a truck, rifle and shotgun. My friend Steve helped my build a motocycle complete with a King and Queen seat and an American flag tank. My radio dial is set to HANK FM and I often catch myself grinning and sining along to songs like Redneck Yaght Club. But the kicker happened today. I found myself googling information on the start of squirrel hungting season. (Which is August 15 if anyone is interested)

When did this happen is the the question I continue to ask myself. Have I always had redneck tendencies or is this something I have picked up from the people around me. My friend Dean continues to tell me that I can't hide the red. But its troubling, how did I go from listening to Death Cab to Montgomery Gentry. I used to google when the next Nada Surf show was and now I google when the next hungting season starts. Again this troubles me.

But I will press on. I will continue to be lead a double life. I will blare Ryan Adams as I clean my guns and I will continue to read Field & Stream as I sit in the cool trendy new coffee house. Because as much as Dean likes to think that you can't hide the red, I think I will try

My Full House

2007-12-11T14:08:00.000-08:00

i mentioned a couple of posts ago that katie and i recently purchased a home on west 7th street in greenfield indiana...i thought maybe you all would like to see some pictures of the new house...

we'll start in the garage....
it is an attached garage and you enter the house into the kitchen through the door you can barely see on the right side of this picture...here is the kitchen...here is the living room...the christmas tree and decorations are presently down...we took them down new years day....
here is aux/piano/wedding gift/storage room...
guest room...aka jake and taylors room as they are the only guests we have had stay here at the moment...
master bedroom...
well thats the house...there might be more to come on that but for the moment thats all we got...there is an above ground pool in the backyard that we are going to be taking out in the spring...i hope the holidays were great for all of you and hope you are as anxious as i am to get back into the rhythm of things...

Ickyick Characters

2007-11-29T06:12:00.000-08:00

The Indiana Christian Youth Convention (ICYC-Ickyick) is a weekend conference for high school students all over Indiana. This year I had the pleasure of hosting ICYC. I hosted as myself of course but with a slight identity crisis.

I kicked off the conference by coming out and indroducing myself as Keith Parker (ICYC President). Keith, who played off of my characters all weekend, told me that I need to find my own identity and to "get a life." "My Life" was the theme of the weekend.

I made a quick wardrobe change and came out as C-Biz-Kit. C-Biz-Kit was a white wanna be thug rapper.(See Malibu's Most Wanted) We played a "rap" game and gave away an iPod. Keith again tried to set me straight as to how I wasn't a white wanna be thug rapper and that I needed to find my identity.

The next morning as Keith was doing the morning announcements, Sweet Home Alabama kicked on and the crowd heard the sounds of a Harley Davidson fire up off stage. I came out as Cleetus P. Hoggreaser. We picked several kids from the audience and raced tricycles around the auditorium for a Nintendo Wii.

The last character I played was the "Emo" Kid. I had the jet black hair, size 8 girl jeans, vans and a nasty disposition. I hated everyone there, it was too loud, and no one had the taste in music that I did. It was a fun character to play. I think I made some emo kids mad but no one noticed cause they always look mad.

I came out on the last day of the conference as myself and did a fun interactive crowd game with them. It was a lot of fun and I hope you all enjoy the pictures.

16 days til my wedding

A Charbroiled Christmas

2007-11-28T06:47:00.000-08:00

During the month of December Park Chapel is doing a series called: Jesus, the Story of Christmas. We will obviously be focusing on Jesus' story but we asked our congregation to send us their favorite Christmas story. We took the stories we thought were most captivating and filmed the people telling their story. We will show this videothroughout this series. The remaining stories not chosen to be filmed will be compiled in a booklet that will be passed out closer to Christmas.

I liked this idea and wanted to participate. Here is what i submitted:

My favorite Christmas ever doesn’t start out with everyone all nestled in bed with visions of sugar plums dancing in my head. It started out when I learned that my house had burned down. It was December 4, 2000 and I was sitting in my United States History class when my principal came to the door and asked to speak with me. My mom met me in the principal’s office and together we cried there before we went to see our house, the only house I had ever known. Things didn’t get easier as I looked to my Dad and saw the tears in his eyes as we both watched our house burn on that cold December afternoon. Seeing tears in the eyes of a man who had been so strong for so many years for so many people shook me up. This man, the rock and foundation that I could depend on, look vulnerable and weak. I realized later a vulnerable weak person is just what God needs to make the best Christmas ever.

God went on to make it the best Christmas ever by providing a house not only for the night but until April. He made it the best Christmas ever by using my best friend Andrew when he brought us a Christmas tree and decorations for our temporary house. God made it the best Christmas ever when used a teammate of mine who gave me presents that were wrapped and addressed to him. And He made it the best Christmas ever when he used countless other people who made food, bought clothes and other essential items, gave gift cards, wrote letters and cards of encouragement, and prayed on our behalf.

God displayed his power and authority by orchestrating the best Christmas ever for me and my family through the loss of our house. God doesn’t need Christmas trees and presents, ornaments and lights to make the best Christmas ever. He needs his people to have weak and vulnerable hearts toward his power and authority.

555 W. 7th St

2007-11-26T12:40:00.000-08:00

is the address to the house Katie and bought a week ago...i have been taking a lot of criticism (all in good fun i hope) from some dear friends of mine about not updating my blog...just so that i can make myself feel better about all of this i am going to defend myself...since november 3rd (my last post) i have been...

November 5th, 12th, 19th-Pre-Marriage Counseling with Dan the Man Curry
November 7th-ICYC Host Meeting (3 hours)
November 8th-Skit Practice (2 hours: none of us knew our lines)
November 10th-Wedding Shower for Katie in F-town
November 11th-Sunday Morning Skit/High School Mosaic* in the evening
November 13th-Dinner with Katies Family
November 14th-9am-2pm Video Shoot/Middle School Mosaic in the evening
November 15th-9am-11am Video Shoot
November 16th-Closing for the house 9am-11am/Move into new house/ICYC
November 17th-18th-ICYC/Sunday evening small group
November 19th-Dinner with Katies Family
November 21st-Leave for Francesville Thanksgiving
November 22nd-Come home from Francesville Thanksgiving

which brings us pretty close to today...anytime i failed to mention a date following the 16th of November you can count on that i have been at the new house fix/cleaning/moving/whatever else needs done there...i am now in the process of putting up outside lights for christmas...on top of all of this i have had to keep up with my normal youth ministry duties...not to mention plan a wedding that is as of today 19 days away...needless to say it has been a crazy time but a real good time in my life...thanks for being interested enough in my life to want me to blog more...i promise to do better...

i will post soon about ICYC and the Hosting i did...i played three characters...C-Biz-Kit, Cleetus P. Hoggreaser and Sebastian the emo kid (i wore size 8 girl jeans for that character)

keep reading

C

*Mosaic is a worship experience were teens can ecounter God and express their worship. This is a once a month service Sunday for High School Wednesday for Middle School. This takes the whole month to plan and there are many elements to make happen

Eat My Road Grit Liver Lips

2007-11-03T07:26:00.000-07:00

Eddie: If you scratch his belly Clark, he will love you till the day you die.
Clark: I really shouldn't Eddie my hands are all chapped.

Those of you who are reading this might be saying to yourself, "Charlie, isn't it a little early for Christmas quotes. I mean its not even the Christmas season yet. And you might ask yourself "How does one decide when Christmas time is officially here?" Some people say you have to wait until after Thanksgiving other people not until December 1st. Here are just a few ways that I make that call.

Wal-Mart - Wal-Mart can be helpful and deceiving in deciding when to be officially ready for the Christmas season. Once the garden center has been completely transformed from its summer self into Santa's Workshop, and all the Halloween decor is gone, you can easily begin to shift gears into Christmas Season. Of course that's what they want you to do because the longer Christmas is the more you will buy. So its a tough call. But you can't base it on that alone.

Mall Decor - You have to take in consideration the mall decor as well. Like Wal-Mart they want to prolong Christmas as much as possible but the real good decorations don't make their way out until the end of November. But by the start of November they are definitely making their Christmas presence known. But again you can't base it on that alone.

Party Plans - Setting up dates and times for parties, switching names for "Dirty Santa's," and making Christmas wish-lists for family members to blouse through-browse through is definitely a good sign that the holidays are rapidly approaching. But again you can't base it on that alone.

Christmas Lights - This is most always an easy way to decide when the Christmas season has arrived except in the rare case of "That Family." You know this family. This is the family that has their Christmas lights up the day after Halloween and doesn't take them down until moments before sunrise service Easter morning. Don't be fooled by "That Family's" love of the Holidays. I appreciate their zeal but follow the 60% rule. When 60% of the houses have their Christmas lights up you can flip that switch into Christmas mode. But again you can't base it on that alone.

The Bells - For me the one thing I can always fall back on as an easy rule of thumb is the Salvation Army. When the Salvation Army recruits all my Wheeler Mission friends to ring the bells in front of Target, Wal-Mart and the local malls. I can easily flip that switch.

The reason I bring all this up is because I have flipped the switch earlier than I ever have this year. I flipped it yesterday when I finished Katie's Christmas shopping and wrapped her presents. I am definitely in the Christmas mode today as I will go to Goodwill in search of finding the outfit I will wear for my Christmas Card picture this year. (See Above-Last Years Christmas Card) Upon doing that I will head out to the mall again to snag a couple more Christmas gifts that I am 100% on.

I think the cause of all this is my wedding. Most of you know but I got engaged August 1st and have planned a December 15th wedding. Having roughly fourth months to plan a wedding is not a lot of time, but for Katie and her Mom I have the utmost confidence. They are superheros! No really, they are! The efficiency equally matched with their relaxed "lets get it done" attitude is awesome. They are the opposite of high maintenance and things are getting crossed off the list in record time. I can't say enough about my Mom too. She has been incredible and she is in the same boat as Katie and her Mom.

So for me Christmas means getting married to Katie. So please forgive me all of you who think I am jumping the gun on starting the Christmas season now, but I am real excited. Soon I will do a post about Katie so all of you can get a glimpse of what an awesome person she is. But for now I leave you with this quote:

Clark: It's a years subscription to the jelly of the month club. (Gasps and sighs)
Eddie: Clark, that's the gift that keeps on giving the whole year through.
Clark: That it is Edward, that it is.

A Sledgehammer, Tampon Machine and the Risen Christ (Part 2)

2007-10-30T13:28:00.001-07:00

...So I found myself surrounded by the quiet on Wednesday night enjoying the peacefulness and serenity that an empty college campus provides. Reading books for leisure and sipping coffee was never so enjoyable. However after the first couple days of this I began to get a little anxious. I was surprisingly ready for people to get back. Jacob and I had watched all the movies and television shows we could handle. We had played all the video games we wanted to play. But most importantly we were ready for the cafeteria to open back up. JBC had closed the food services so that the students working there could return home if they so desired for Easter. We had our fill of nasty fast food. We had given up on making our own food in the dorms years ago. Failed experiments with combining microwave popcorn and Taco Bell sauce packets, Wal-Mart brand saltines and homemade jelly we found outside a random door, and of course anything off of the island at the Wally.

Sleeping-in way to long accompanied by the stale smell of a guys dorm room caused a title wave of laziness to wash over me as I sat there in my dorm room Saturday afternoon. I had to do something productive. The thought of starting my homework entered my mind for a split second until it hit me. I ran down to Jacob’s room to find him in the same atmosphere as me. Lazily sitting on his bed sifting through an old milk crate of record albums Jacob greeted me with that familiar greeting, “Hey booojj.” (not a typo)

“A FORT.” “Do you want to build a fort today,” I said excitedly. Jacob’s posture changed from sleep mode to attack mode. “Holy Crap! Yeah man I’m all about that,” were Jacobs words. We decided we needed about ten minutes to get ready, you know steel toed boots, flannel shirts, beards. I mean we were building a fort for crying out loud. When we met back up ten minutes later neither of us looked like what I just described. I was wearing a pair of basketball shorts, t-shirt and tennis shoes. Jacob had on sandals, a tank top complete with a howling wolf and of course his cut-off jean shorts. I noticed that Jacob was holding a twenty pound SLEDGEHAMMER. I didn’t even have to ask Jacob saw my eyes hit the sledgehammer to which he told me that he didn’t have any tools and he figured we needed some. I agreed and off we went.

There was only really one place for us to go, not because JBC lacked the location for potential forts, but because the place we decided on was too perfect. Johnson has an area down the hill from campus off in the woods were they dump large items of trash that are too big for normal trash pick-up. Items like furnaces, refrigerators, washing machines and stoves all make this their final resting places when they are no longer needed.

Jacob and I were in fort building heaven. We had everything two college seniors needed to build a fort, a lot of junk and sheer boredom. We quickly came across an old hay rack feeder which became the foundation/skeleton of our fort. We continued to sift through the rubble and found 10-12 sheets of tin which became the walls and roof we needed to complete this operation. We finished the fort by adding the essential door and fire pit, along with an old TAMPON MACHINE we hung inside for decoration.

We took a deep breath, wiped the sweat off our brow and looked on with pride in our new creation. So this is what God must have felt like on the 6^th day of creation. I haven’t been back to our fort since I left JBC for the last time, but every Easter as I celebrate the RISEN CHRIST I will remember our fort. And it was very good.

A Sledgehammer, Tampon Machine and the Risen Christ

2007-10-29T06:57:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite things about attending the hollowed institution on the banks of the French Broad River is that students do not have classes on Mondays. For some very good reasons, which I will not expound upon in this post, Johnson Bible College (where a heart can grow its wings) gives their students this day off.

One of the great advantages to having Mondays off is when there is some national holiday that doesn't fall on Monday you get even more time off from class. Case in point:

My senior year, Easter fell during the week that was not over our Spring Break. In past years the two had come at the same time negating any chance of extra time off over Easter. But as I mentioned this year Easter came at the perfect time.

Being the observant Christian college that it is, Johnson decided to give their students not only Good Friday off but Thursday as well. (As to not throw off the class balance) That was all it took. Thursday off Friday off Saturday off Sunday off Monday off, and the entire campus was cleared out by late Wednesday night. With the exception of some staff, a broke down car in the parking lot, and the poor married students with jobs, the campus was desolate. Or was it?

The campus wasn't completely dead. I along with Jacob Mapstone decided to enjoy the peacefulness and serenity that would accompany a vacant college during a five day break. For me one of the main reasons for staying came as a result of the eight hour trip back to Francesville in the previous month. You might be wondering why would a poor young man who desires above every other desire to preach the word of God make this long trip back to Francesville in the middle of February. One word, Superbowl! (Please someone comment me and tell me how wrong I am. That you look it up and the origin of the Superbowl is actually this meaning it’s actually two words. PS-Anyone reading this remind me to tell you about a sermon I preached where one of the teens corrected the accuracy of my sermon during invitation time)

My friend Chris has a finished basement complete with his own movie theatre. In his movie theatre Chris has two rows of four recliners hooked together. The second row of recliners in elevated above the first row in order to see. The screen is 120 inches wide. For those of you who took math at JBC, that’s 10ft wide. High Definition projector, speakers, subs, track lighting and NFL Sunday Ticket accent an already beautiful room. Now you might think that Chris is a Colts fan being that he grew up in Indiana his whole life, but he is a die hard Steelers fan. Because of our mutual love of the Steelers, Chris would invite me over every time I was home to watch the game. The Superbowl was no exception. All that to say, I stayed at school during our five day Easter break because of my recent travels....

TO BE CONTINUED TOMORROW!

A Salute to Jacob Mapstone

2007-10-26T05:37:00.000-07:00

During this post I will salute the legend we know as Jacob Mapstone. Over the next several posts I will share highlights and some stories of the enigma known as Weston, Jason Stone, and the infamous Captain Cloud. Be sure and ask us all about the highlights written below. The post soon to come is one of my favorite Jacob Moments. So here's to you Jake I hope all of you enjoy these highlights:

The Ironing Board
Watching Corking Romano During "The Fight"
We Almost Roomed Together
I'm On Your Side
Zube's Band-Aid
My Room Sophomore Year-Recliner/Naps/Stench
American Movie at 2 am
Adventures with Foggy McFogerson and Captain Cloud and oh yeah Kelly Harris
The Zit
Care Bears/Cool Running’s/Anything Remotely Emotional Sophomore Year
Letter Jacket Day
Late Nigh Run to B-Dubs and All That Followed
A Real Bad Haircut (Locks of Love)
Jesse's G-Ma's Homemade Cherry Jelly on Saltines
Jelly Beans with Steve

SOON TO COME!!!
Steve VanHorn
Jesse Watkins
And the Late Taylor Brown (Late not because he is dead, but because he's late)

A Conversation With Pills

2007-10-23T09:21:00.000-07:00

I recently came across a quote by Bob Dylan that was posted on the Facebook of an old friend of mine. It's a good thing that Facebook keeps us up on all the happenings in our friends lives. I mean it would be difficult to make it through a day not being able to know at any moment which of my friends have changed their picture, mood, status, clothes or hairstyle. I can't imagine a life of not knowing who is writing on who's wall and who suddenly changed their relationship status from single to engaged. So here's to you Facebook "News Feed." (reader should detect a strong sense of sarcasm)

"People seldom do what they believe in. They do what is convenient and repent later."
-Bob Dylan

This quote strikes a chord in my mind not because of its inaccuracy but because of its truth.

This realization led me to ask the question, "Is a belief still a belief if you compromise that belief?"

George Barna is a Christian researcher who conducts opinion polls studying the religious beliefs of Americans. In a book called Real Teens Barna explores the "Mosaic" generation (1994-2005) The research that Barna expresses concerning this generation is fascinating, but the thing I found most striking was this statement:

"...the mosaic generation is abundantly comfortable with contradictions."

Now with this in mind we go back to the question, "Is a belief still a belief if you compromise that belief." Our grandparents would answer No. Our parents and many people my age would say No. But I wonder about this Mosaic Generation. I would like to think that they would all answer No right a long with me, but I am not sure that they would.

What I see as a youth pastor is Bob Dylan's quote in very practical ways. I see the answer to this question being "No" when I ask them in small group or when they happen to read my blog. However I see this question being answered "Yes" in much of how they live their lives. The life that they live on the Internet through their Myspace or Facebook is often a far cry from what I see on a Sunday morning, at a week of church camp or on a mission trip. I have the privilege to get to see a heart beautifully open to God. I see their passion, love and humility. This is one of the greatest joys that I have as their youth pastor and someone who cares deeply about the direction of their life.

On the flip side some of saddest times come as I look through their Myspace and Facebook pages, confront a unrepentant heart about being caught in a sin or over hear a conversation at school I "wasn't supposed to hear" when they thought I wasn't there.

The fact is I feel overwhelmed. If this is true of this generation, if they really would compromise their beliefs all the while planning to repent later, if that is really how this generation operates, I am scared to death. There aren't enough books, seminars or retreats for us to take care of this problem. We aren't gifted or equipped enough to change this type of mindset. So this is it. My first and last blog as a youth pastor...unless

We serve a God that can make the sun stand still in order to redeem us.-Joshua 10:1-15

unless...

We serve a God who can deliver us from darkest places in our lives.-Daniel 3:19-30; 6:1-28

unless...

We serve a God who'll always fight for us when our hands our raised to him.-Exodus 17:8-15

Our struggle is not against flesh and blood. Its a spiritual battle. We can't win this battle with a 5 step program we learned at Youth Specialties. We win this battle with arms raised in prayer pointing toward the reckless raging fury of Almighty God. Pray for this generation.