Derby?

Saturday afternoon
A wooden bat.
A bag of baseballs
Five dudes
One goal.
Hit as many home runs as possible

So what do you call a home run derby where nobody hits a home run?

My, my, my stapler...

There it is, in all it's glory.
The red Swing Line.
On my desk where it belongs.

Take this, Comcast!

Last night I had a dream that I bought an HDTV antenna. My dreams have never let me down in the past, so when I woke up this morning I headed over to Best Buy to see what they had.
I ended up purchasing the RCA Amplified Indoor Antenna.
$58 after tax. A one-time fee.
I'm now picking up about 25 channels, several of which are in HD.
I used to pay $70/month for Comcast HD.
Now if only I could figure out how to get ESPN...

I recommend this to anyone that does not watch much TV, hates Comcast, and wants to be able to catch an occasional Braves one-run loss.

Here's how we're looking

Now I can watch Matlock when I'm home sick ;)

Meet my feet (don't be afraid, there is nothing gross)

So I forgot to mention earlier that my physical summer goal has been decided.

Push-ups
200 of them
No stopping or pausing.
Yea, that's a lot of push-ups.

Today's weigh in while able to do 33 push-ups while laughing:
















I am off to a good start. I did about 130 push-ups last night and swam 2400 feet tonight. More updates to come as the summer heats up.

Last nights small group

So last night at small group...
Akash - "All small group has to have a physical goal for the summer. Chambers, what is yours?"
Me - "I don't know."

After much stalling...

Me - "Maybe I'll do push-ups."
Akash - "how many can you do right now?"
Me - "I don't know, probably at least 50."
Akash - "Lets do push-ups now to see how many so we can base it off that".

In the midst of laughing and slipping on the wood floor, I did 33.

Then Andy gets a brilliant idea to do 10 push-ups every minute for 20 minutes. We all think its a great idea. The music starts blaring, shirts come off, the rest is history!

I can barely move my arms.

Where is my pizza?

I ordered pizza at 10:11pm. That's when my confirmation email was sent.
46-56 minutes.
Its 11:29
No pizza...
Not cool

When you're bored a theology test does wonders

Take the theology test and post your results in the comments. I did not make the test so don't get mad at me when you run across stupid questions.

Here are my results. Turns out I am a heathen after all...

Where I work

Welcome to work...and yes that is a racquetball racket in the corner

Last night's dream

Last night I was dreaming about eating. Eating a lot!
I was out somewhere with a group of friends.
I was pigging out.
I think there was meat, ice cream, I can't remember what else.
Around the end of the dream I realized that I might be getting fat and that I should probably stop eating and go weigh myself to see how much weight I had gained and take appropriate measures in response...

So I wake up at 4:09am, get a glass of water, hobble to my front bathroom...and hop on the scale!

Still a sweet 165!

It's back!

It was a typical May evening in the Atlanta suburbs...
The church gym was hot and muggy...
The "thump-thump-thump" of a ball bouncing, interrupted only by an occasional swishing sound.

Means, Alex, Ryan, Marcus, Chambers.
The competition sucked wind...
The domination returned.
A night of glory.
5-0

Romans 1

"For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God or gave thanks to him..."

Francis Schaeffer says that the way that you can tell if you love God every moment is if you are two things. One - contented. Two - thankful.

I think the idea is that these two actions should flow naturally in response to knowing that God is good and God is love.

What do you think? Does contentedness and thankfulness equate to love of God?

I hope you aren't going south on 285

Yikes! But I love a good thunder-storm

New ideas are fun and exciting

A thought
on new ideas
I like new ideas.
I like to read them.
I like to think of them.
I like to talk about them.
I think that's because they
are exciting. There is emotion
that comes with a new truth.
But eventually, that begins
to fade away. Does the
truth's impact last...?
Does it change who
who you are and
how you live?
Simple is
good.

Love.
"There is nothing new under the sun" - King Solomon

My weekend

Friday
Went to Sweetwater to hang out with Means, Zach, Andy, and not-Akash
Bowling - Fun
Sleep

Saturday
Sleep
Bike ride 65 miles
Scratch eyes a lot and be irritated at pollen
6pm - Sleep

Sunday
10 am - wake up (yeah, thats like 16 hours of sleep)
work
work
work
work
Dinner
work
work
Hang out
Sleep

Quote of the day

"I don't like things that are annoying"

The testosterone is flowin

I want to shoot something...
And dive behind a wall...
Throw a fire extinguisher down the hall and shoot it...
And shoot something else...
How can you not after watching American Gangster?
and then the new Die Hard?

The testosterone is flowin!

Mothers Day Tips

I know I'm not usually a sentimental blogger, but I figured today I would provide a few tips for writing a great Mother's Day card. Here are a few ideas you should probably remember to include:

1) Happy Mother's Day

Some people forget ;)

Should we revert?

Christians - evangelical in particular - usually like to use the phrase "born again" to describe those who have experienced a conversion to Christianity or entered into a relationship with Jesus.

Over 100 years ago, the phrase born again was not very popular. Instead the phrase "seized by the power of a great affection" was that way that a conversion experience was explained. I think I like it. Granted, born again comes from the Bible in John 3. Maybe seized by the power of a great affection is over the top, but I think its says something more.

Born again Christians who make up the church?
OR
Followers of the way who have been seized by the power of a great affection?

It's just semantics, but I definitely feel more inclined toward the latter. You? Or maybe you have a better idea of how to explain how you live your faith.

My night

I figure you probably want to know what I did tonight.
I will tell you.

I rode home from work in the Neener Wagon
I ate dinner from Zaxbys - which was not Zaxtastic - with my friend which was quite enjoyable, despite the non-Zaxtastic fries
I finished reading The Shack
I paid $83.70 for a tank of gas!
I drove to basketball
Means and I dominated in basketball
I drove home for basketball
I talked to some people on the phone
I found out my brother and his girlfriend are maybe breaking up which sucks
I wrote on my blog

What did you do?

Into the sorta wild

This weekend our small group is going to Jack's River Falls to hike and camp out. Here's my hope for the weekend:

I hope that we have some good down time and quiet time.
I hope our relationships get stronger and we care more about each other
I hope we pray
I hope it does not rain a bunch
I hope I dont get leeches on me in any scary places when I jump into the water
I hope the water is not cold
I hope my "peeps" at home doing laundry have a fantastic weekend
I hope I dont have to spoon with Zach
I hope I dont have to share a sleeping bag with anyone
I hope that we see, fight, and kill a bear and then wear its fur to Dave's cookout on Saturday.


Have a great weekend, my three readers!

Now I find his website.

For all of you that are fans of Brad Fowler, make sure you check out his web site so that you can read about everything Brad. You can do so by clicking on the right until you find the right one, or by clicking here. He just got back from Costa Rica. I was supposed to use his website to read what he was up to. I just found out what it was a few days ago. Oops.

For those going to British Columbia this summer, the picture at the top left is from Banff. Woo!

Famous for more than country music

Today I was passing through Nashville and went for a little walk around the capital. I was walking in the park across the street, rounded a corner, and here is what I saw. Enjoy

Five purposes might be too many

Could just being a God-loving human being be the single purpose that we were created for?

"The gospel of grace calls us to sing of the spiritual roots of such commonplace experiences as falling in love, telling the truth, raising a child, teaching a class, forgiving each other after we have hurt each other, standing together in the bad weather of life, of surprise and sexuality, and the radiance of existence."

-Kennedy (quoted in Ragamuffin Gospel)

You tell me

Warlocks are enemies of God

I am in the process of watching Jesus Camp.

Here are a few of my favorite lines:
"Had it been in the Old Testament, Harry Potter would have been put to death."
"We have to take back America for Jesus"
"Thank you for this food this morning, we ask you father to bless it...God end abortion and send revival to America."
"God is not in every church...there are churches called dead churches....They sing like, 3 songs, then they listen to a sermon. --man that sounds familiar-- Churches that God likes to go to are where everyone is jumping up and down..."
"warlocks are enemies of God"
"this means war! this means war! Are you a part of it or not?!"

Wow.
Speaking blessings to a George Bush cardboard cut out
Some of this stuff weirds me out...

I do like when they bust out dance moves to DC Talk. Who's in the house?!

Too many questions, not enough who cares

Why the cross? Why did Jesus have to die the ugly death that he died? Why all the blood, the agony? If his death is what mattered, why did it have to be so barbaric and gruesome? Why could there not be another way? Why Jesus, and why like that?

These are questions I can never fathom the answer to. I am reading the Ragamuffin Gospel though, and am learning that sometimes these questions are not important. As Manning puts it, while all these questions are being asked, "the saved sinner is prostrate in adoration, lost in wonder and praise".

I tend to be the guy asking too many questions. You?

Hooray for Comments

If I post again about "Jesus for President" today, I wonder if I will get any more comments about "Jesus for President" in my comments area. Yesterday I posted about "Jesus for President" and then I got a comment about "Jesus for President" on my blog. I thought that was cool. I think "Jesus for President" is cool. I have not read it yet. You should probably read "Jesus for President" as well and see if you think "Jesus for President" is good and if you would elect "Jesus for President" or maybe Obama instead.

I love marketing. Really. I do.

Could I be missing my calling?

I wish I could speed read

I don't seem to have time to read everything that is sitting on my table these days. Here's what's on the waiting list...

Ragamuffin Gospel (in progress)
Holy Silence
Banker to the Poor
Jesus for President
Celebration of Discipline
The Language of God
Unchristian

Anyone reading anything good?

A eulogy

Tonight I have sad news to report. During the 10 o'clock hour on the evening of April 8th, 2008, my dear friends, Left and Right Orange Asics Running Shoe passed away while sacrificing themselves on the gym floor in an epic struggle of head-to-head maniacal basketball competition.

Lefty and Righty ran many miles together over their long, enjoyable two year life on Brian's left and right feet. They played in many victorious basketball games, enjoyed the beauty of Zion National Park, chased dogs, walked around and looked sweet, and enjoyed many delightful moments of sensory overload from breathtaking aromas.

Lefty and Righty will be placed in a memorial where they can be forever remembered for their great lives of shoeness.

I did not see any bunnies

Perhaps the Easter Bunny IS real

Just about every Tuesday night on the way home from basketball, I see a bunny right here, sitting by the road along east-west connector. Strange little bunny...

Strangely enough, I did not see him on Easter weekend ;)

If at first you dont succeed...

Looks like the good people of Saudi Arabia are going to wisely use 350 billion dollars of oil money to construct the worlds largest free-standing structure. They will name it, creatively, the Tower of Babel. I guess its worth a second shot, right?

If only I cared that much

I have been watching the movie Ghandi for the past few days. What an amazing guy. Apparently he fasted nearly to the point of death on numerous occasions to promote peace in India. I wish I cared about anything that much.

Is there any cause that you care that much about or that you wish you did?

Wrecked lives of ridiculous hope

I just finished watching the movie Freedom Writers. Its a story of a woman who teaches at a school overrun with sub-par students mixed up in gangs, drugs, and other poor inner-city struggles. Against great odds, she believes there is hope for these students, and gives herself endlessly, working extra jobs to pay for books and trips, even to the detriment of her own marriage. Its a story, ultimately, of redemption.

I fear that often times it is far too easy to settle down into our lives as Christians. Our initial decision to follow Jesus is radical. It takes us somewhere new. Its fresh. There are new people to meet and new things to learn. But over time it becomes...normal. Stale. Somehow, it becomes possible for me to begin to take grace for granted. A gospel that is supposed to be life-shattering is tamed. Gratitude recedes into a pitiful state of routine.

What is inspiring about the story in Freedom Writers is that its about normal people; a normal teacher and some normal students. Its refreshing to see someone devote themself to a dream of something better, to hope for something hopeless - and to see that this is not in vain.

It's never easy. It wrecked her life.

As followers of the risen Jesus, may we live "wrecked lives" of ridiculous hope.

A good use of time

We're supposed to climb this sucker sometime in the next five years...who is in?

From dust to death

44 days ago on Ash Wednesday, I was reminded that I am merely dust, and to dust I will return.

Today I am reminded of a cross of sacrifice with an unimaginable, unfathomable amount of love behind it.

The contrast is mind-boggling

A lesson from prostitutes, tax collectors, and sinners

Some of Jesus' comments are confusing to me. "The least will be greatest". "Blessed are the poor in spirit". "Those forgiven much will love much". "Be like a child". "How hard it is for the rich". "The tax collectors and sinners are entering the Kingdom before you". Its almost like what Jesus teaches is backward. It's not like how our world operates.

In Sunday school, I used to hear about how Jesus spent so much time with the tax-collectors and other sinners. For crying out loud, a prostitute...cried on his feet. I always thought that Jesus liked these people because "he came to seek and save the lost", and I thought that these people were happy to be around Jesus cause he was...well...Jesus. I'm not so sure that's the case though. I think these people loved Jesus because they loved everyone. They welcomed anyone. They would eat with whoever. They had no image to maintain, no religion to bow to. They were simple people, sinful - yes, but real. Jesus was digging it. And I'm sure he loved being loved.

There's this one story about Jesus where the religious elite are questioning him about why he spends so much time eating with sinners (I actually searched "sinner" in NIV and nearly all references in Matthew reference who Jesus is dining with). His response is worth noting - a quote from an ancient Jewish prophet: I desire mercy, not sacrifice.

Could Jesus really mean that? Maybe there's something to be learned from the tax-collectors and sinners...because really, we aren't all that different, are we?

Why I'm Not a Nerd

Nerd noun - Slang
1. an intelligent but single-minded person obsessed with a nonsocial hobby or pursuit: a computer nerd.
2. an insignificant student who is ridiculed as being affected or boringly studious [syn: swot]
3. an intelligent but single-minded expert in a particular technical field or profession

For one to be explicitly categorized as a nerd, I would assume that and analysis of the party in question would have to meet most - if not all - of the standards used in defining one as such. So here is my analysis of myself by the aforementioned criteria:

Intelligent - well yes, I am probably the smartest person that I know or that you know, with a few exceptions (Akash, BLee, a few others ;). Of course, I regularly make statements and then immediately contradict myself within the same sentence, so I feel I am disqualified on that regard - yet still a genius!

Non-social hobby - You mean like writing on a blog? No way. I like climbing rocks.

Boringly studious - I slept through about 60 percent on my college classes, and graduated from the University of Georgia. I think we can put this one to rest.

So in conclusion, while I might work in IT and know how to open those little black windows on the computer, use Firefox as my browser instead of Internet Explorer, and have a friend named Akash...I feel that it would be an act of disregard for those who meet the criteria of nerdness to include myself among their ranks. I'm sure no nerds will take exception to this, as they are all too busy playing World of Warcraft to even care.

St. Patty Drinks Green Beer?

Something in me is saddened when a holiday is robbed of its meaning and intended purpose. It seems that is the pattern of humanity. Something great is done. Later, someone is deeply influenced by the event and they attempt to re-capture and celebrate the event. Yet as generations pass, the original passion behind the celebration begins to diminish and to fade. Soon nobody knows or remembers what is being celebrated and why. But since there is so much money to be made, the tradition continues and the purpose is reinvented.

Such is the case with St. Patrick's Day. On a day that was intended to honor and celebrate a Saint who is credited with the evangelism of Ireland, who's work indirectly saved Christianity from the darkness of the middle ages, we instead celebrate beer. Or green. Or green beer. Weird.

My hope is that Holy Week and its sacred days of remembrance never meet the same fate that St. Patrick's Day, and others, have met.

I guess I don't know everything

I always thought tornadoes didn't hit big cities. I guess I was wrong...

Silence...

Silence is golden. Gold is good because you can buy stuff with it. Therefore silence is good.
(For Zack)

Silence.
Worship.
Beloved.
Rest.
Reflection.

Silence. Thats what I wish I had more of. Too bad I live next to the interstate...

Something worth remembering

I've never been real big on quotes. Some people can rattle them off. "Well Winston Churchill once said" or "Ghandi was famous for saying...". I wish I was one of those people sometimes. I usually don't remember quotes from what I read. I do remember how to get to Sand Rock so I think I'm doing pretty good.

There is one quote that I've known for a long time, but its significance has recently hit me. I'm not the kind of person who enjoys oversimplification, but I feel like the goal of my life could probably be summed up in this one phrase.

"Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others as better than yourselves."

I should keep this generic

I started a blog because I like to write. I like to write because I like words. And I like to type. I like words because they convey ideas. I like ideas.

I like eloquence.

I hope I get it some day.

Schmuck of the Day

Congratulations to the first Schmuck of the Day, Samuel Colt! Our dear friend Mr. Colt invented and - in 1836 - patented the first revolver.

Previous to this invention, warfare primarily required skill and tactics, as most combat was hand to hand. Extensive training was necessary to master the arts of combat with specialized skill sets developing in different cultures around the world. There were, of course, previous developments in "firearms" following the invention of gun powder. However, with Colt's revolver, it now became possible to kill your neighbor on a whim and annihilate your enemy without ever looking them in the face and taking note of their humanity. Whether intentional or "by accident", killing has become far too convenient. No man should take the life of another without looking him in the eye as he passes. And besides, wouldn't the world be a better place if people were running around with swords?

So thank you, Mr. Colt, for your wonderful contribution to humanity. And congratulations on being voted "Schmuck of the Day".