Ash Wednesday

“From dust you came till dust you return.”In Panama City I had an Episcopalian priest friend, whose church I attended for Ash Wednesday, but in Fort Worth I didn’t have a place to participate this year. I love Ash Wednesday’s reminder of our transient state on earth.

This year for Lent I am giving up two things.
Oatmeal raison cookies- Easter always connects me to the Heavenly banquet in which we will one day participate (Think the movie Antwone Fisher- The meal scene at the end of movie- if you haven’t seen the movie, that scene is well worth it and it’s the best picture of the what I think the Heavenly banquet will be like). In the past I’ve given up flavored drinks (for those who know me, yes I know, it’s only Gatorade) and Carrabba’s (my favorite restaurant in Panama City) but this year it’s the removal of my current favorite dessert. As I already anticipate having them again today, in a much greater sense I anticipate the meal we will partake in on that glorious day.

Non-Christian music-Let me make a brief disclaimer about “Christian Music.” I think even the term “Christian Music” is unbiblical, but it’s easier to communicate than the alternative. The idea of Christians having a sub-culture of music doesn’t fit the same DNA established by Jesus, who took on flesh and dwelt among humanity. I think real “Christian” music engages culture through their art, and all beauty and art connects people to the creator of beauty and art. All music can truly be Christian in the sense that it can connect people to the Christian God. If I were a musician I would use my talent for my local church and I would also engage in my community’s music scene, but I am just a few degrees from being tone deaf. So instead I am looking to hire that guy to work at my church. But I think the term that we use of “Christian Music” actually signifies that it doesn’t have shady lyrics and attempts to communicate a Christian message, so I will reluctantly use it. With that disclaimer, the second part of Lent for me will be to fast from listening to non-Christian worship music as a way of focusing on this season of anticipation. I admit I might play a little fast and loose with this one in a few weeks.

Firsts

It's been a while since I last posted, this whole starting a church thing can keep me pretty busy. But here are a few first for me from the last few days:

-First time I ever wrote my name as "Dad."
-First time I ever got two girls gifts for Valentine's Day.
-First time I ever had lunch w/ Jason Witten of the Dallas Cowboys.

A-Roid

As some of you know, It has just come to the light that the most hated MVP currently in baseball, Alex Rodriguez, tested positive for PED's in 2003. Now it will be interesting to see how he responds. Some have tried to deny it (see-Clemens, Roger or Bonds, Barry) and thus were vilified. Others have admitted to using steroids (see-Giambi, Jason) and seem to be absolved by the media. I for one would like to see some honesty, because for such a cynical society, we have a strong propensity for forgiveness.
Why do you think we quickly forgive these athletes when they admit it, but so voraciously try to destroy them if they don't?

Denton Project Meeting 2

On February 28th the Denton Project will be having her second meeting. We have been greatly encouraged by the interest we have found from so many people who want to participate in this project, and we look forward to getting them all together.
A few random pieces of information about The Denton Project:
-"The Denton Project" is not going to be the church's name. We are still working on a creative name that communicates the heart of this group of people.
- We hopefully will be able to introduce a new key member to our team at the Feb 28th meeting.
- Some things in life you have to discuss repeatedly. And as we do, we either become less certain of our “product” or become more certain. This church plant is the second. I am constantly being convinced on almost a daily basis of the validity, importance and the blessing of this church plant. We still have a lot of work to do, but like the proverb says, “If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.”

Adding to the Pack

This past week we added my brother’s two little redheads to our pack while he and his wife went out of town. With dogs it is often easier to take care of two dogs than one dog because as pack animals they entertain each other, but not so with children. Even though Avery wants to keep sleeping in the morning because she has been waking up every two hours in the night, the two redheads want to wake up for pancakes bright and early. Once you break the man-to-man defense of two parents to two kids and have to go zone coverage of three+ kids to two parents you get in real trouble.
But having three car seats in the back of my truck is well worth it. Especially when I overheard this conversation as the two boys were play fighting as their favorite "superheros":
“I am hulk”
“Fine, now I am Spiderman”
“Ok, I will be batman”
“Well, now I am uncle Luke”