Touching Base

My thoughts today…in no particular order.

Isn’t it funny that during this heat wave we cannot remember how cool our spring was? We were begging for some warm weather about three months ago.

It was great to see Bonnie Martin and her little girl Brianna on Sunday. Jarrod (USAF) and Bonnie got married and moved to Germany four years ago. Now they are headed to Washington D.C. for four years.

It has been 25 years since Amy and I graduated from High School. I have never been to a reunion and we don’t know anybody that we went to High School with.

The Pro Football season begins in 43 days.

I knew that our new building was going to be great, but it will be better than even I expected.

My first draught of this was handwritten. My penmanship stinks. I can’t write at all anymore.

Tiger Woods is the greatest golfer who has ever lived, yet I still sense an immense emptiness and loneliness in him. At the end of the day he is just like everybody else. He is a sinner who needs to come to know the Savior.

The biggest mistake that most Christians make is reading and studying the Bible for information and knowledge instead of for life-change.

My mom turned 66 years old on Monday. Everybody should have a mom who loves God, is down to earth, and likes to watch football. (It doesn’t hurt if they bake good cookies too!)

I don’t know how we ever survived without cell phones, computers, ipods, and TIVO. I don’t think that I could survive without them now.

Most Christ followers need more obedience and less counsel in their lives.

Popular music can be extremely “nasty” these days. Even country music has “booty” songs now.

I didn’t see the movie Click with Adam Sandler, but I love the concept. Sometimes you need TIVO for life for those “did you see that” moments. This morning we almost saw a guy kill his buddy with a poorly struck golf shot. Wayne said, “Eight second that. I want to see it again.”

I know a lot of people who feel like they need to get a job delivering pizza at night just to pay for their gasoline. But wait…that would be counterproductive wouldn’t it?

My wife Amy is amazing. She has been putting up with my junk for 26 and ½ years. We have been married for 22 of those. I wouldn’t trade her for anything. She is truly a blessing and gift from God.

Last one…I believe that every member of Venice Church should be in a small group, serve in a ministry, and have good worship music in their car. Here is a music suggestion for you. Get All To You Live by Lincoln Brewster. We already sing several of his songs and we are going to learn more.

This just in...it's hot. Okay, it's not that hot. We are just spoiled little westsiders who are appalled if we perspire. It gets to 80 degrees with a little humidity and you would think the end of the world is on the horizon. But wait...maybe it is. The literal heat that we have been feeling pales in comparison to the "hot spots" around the world these days. The conflict in the Middle East has led many to speculate on the possibility of World War III. Isn't it amazing that after all of these years and all of these decades and all of these centuries Israel is still right there in the middle of all of it? The promises that God made to Abraham and the land that God promised to Abraham is what the fight is all about. You would think that people would pause and consider that maybe there is something to Israel’s claim that they are God's people and that is the dwelling place that God promised to them. Well, they are and it is. That is exactly what they are and that is where they are supposed to be. That is precisely what the Bible says!

I don't want to get on a rant about Israel and about the current conflict, but this much I do know. Jesus Christ is going to reign from the throne in Jerusalem. I do not know exactly how it all is going to come about and I certainly would not pretend to know where we are on God's timeline, but I do know this. When I read Jesus' description of the end of the world in Matthew 24 and in Luke 21 it sounds an awful lot like today. I do not know what role our nation plays in the big scheme of things, but I know what our role as a church is. We must redeem the time. We must share the gospel at every opportunity. Souls, lives, and families are at stake.
Here is what Jesus says toward the end of Luke 21.
Luke 21:28
So when all these things begin to happen, stand straight and look up, for your salvation is near!
I cannot help but think that our salvation is near. These are exciting times. Let’s make the most of our opportunity to make a difference in our neighborhood.

I could not help but notice that Brokeback Mountain received eight Oscar nominations this morning. I am almost 100% certain that it will take home the Oscar for Best Picture. I have not seen it. I will not see it. There are many reasons, but one of the reasons is that I like my Cowboys playing football in Dallas with stars on their helmets, not lying under the stars together on the prairie.
Now, I am not one to blast Hollywood too much. We have many people in our church family who work in the industry and I think that is great. We need godly men and women in the industry. When it comes to Hollywood, they are what they are. If you do not realize what they are allow me to share my thoughts. I believe that Hollywood has two basic bottom lines. The first and most obvious one is money. Movies, television, radio, and the music industry exist primarily to make money. That is why the weekly box office ratings are measured in dollars. That is why there are like 47 entertainment shows on each night. They are there to promote Hollywood not necessarily to inform us. So we have money and, now some of you will bristle at this because there is an “art” factor in a lot of what Hollywood produces, we have their second bottom line, which is their agenda. Hollywood has an agenda.
I am not much on conspiracy theories, however there are times when they are exposed or in some cases they expose themselves. Ang Lee, the director of Brokeback Mountain, exposed Hollywood’s agenda in his acceptance speech at the Golden Globes earlier this month. In his tribute to the other directors that were nominated he said, “I just want to give my first thanks to my fellow filmmakers for strengthening my faith in the power of movies to change the way we’re thinking,” And there you have it. The confession. The admission. They have an agenda. They want to change the way that we are thinking! When the pressure was on, when the hot lights of award show interrogation went on Ang Lee buckled under the intense pressure and he spilled the beans. He inadvertently ratted out Hollywood. They want to change the way that we think.Don’t get me wrong. I believe in America. I believe in Larry McMurtry’s (and his typewriter), Diana Ossana’s and Ang Lee’s right to express themselves. I believe that Ang Lee had every right to expose Hollywood’s agenda through his free (acceptance) speech. I believe that as Christ followers we have every right to reject what Hollywood is subtly trying to feed us. I am not preaching against movies. I am preaching for godly thinking. I am just saying that when you go the movies this weekend…pay attention. They might be trying to tell you something.

Life Lesson # 347: Be careful what you put in your microwave.
Be careful what you put in your microwave because you just might burn down the church parsonage. Here is the word of warning. Never trust Pizza Hut.

So here is what happened...
My wife left town. We ordered Pizza Hut. 20 piece hot wing and two large pizzas. We clean up lunch and there are a couple of slices of pizza and three hot wings left over and they are tucked away in the refrigerator. The boys go to Shockwave. Now is my chance to eat the last three wings. I rip the styrofoam box from the fridge, pop it in the microwave, and hit one minute and I turn back to the fridge to find the bleu cheese dresssing. Wings taste better with bleu cheese dressing. Not ten seconds later I hear a loud crackling noise. I look in the microwave and I observe the literal meaning of the term wings of fire! So I pop open the door, grab the box, and pivot to place the wings in the sink where I douse them with the little spray hose thing on the sink. (Man, am I glad that I did not walk away from the microwave.) The fire is out...but now I see styrofoam soot wafting upwards and then drifting slowly back down to land on literally everything in our kitchen. Everything in our kitchen is white. My wife keeps a very clean house. Dead man walking. She is going to kill me. Did I mention that the refrigerator door was still open. All the stuff in the fridge was covered with this soot too.

The problem was that inside of the box the wings were wrapped in paper. One side of the "paper" was foil. I strongly recommend not nuking foil in your microwave because it WILL start a fire.

Life lesson #347...be careful what you put in your microwave.
Life lesson #347A...there are two sides to everything.
I am sure that there is a spiritual application that can be made here, however I seem to simply be learning to pay more attention to what I am doing.

Have a wonderful week and...boycott Pizza Hut.
Better yet, have a brain wave before using the microwave.
By the way...I am just here to make the mistakes for you. You can thank me later.

Well...the White Sox did it and all of Chicago rejoices! Ding Dong the witch is dead, blah, blah blah...
It just goes to show you that good pitching beats bad hitting every time.
So here is to Ozzie, Paulie, A.J., J.D. and the rest of the guys. Let's do it again next year. That means...sign Paulie right now!!!

I don't know if you are paying attention or if you care, but my Chicago White Sox are on the verge of winning the World Series. I have been a Sox fan since the spring of 1973 when my family moved from Davenport, Iowa to the suburbs of Chicago. On a cool Saturday afternoon in early May some of the White Sox rookies came and gave a clinic at a strip mall near my house in Addison, Illinois. I was eight years old and I had never met a big league player before so it was quite a thrill to meet Bucky Dent, Jay Johnstone, Terry Forster, and Rich "Goose" Gossage. I have been a White Sox fan ever since and I have to tell you that it is not always easy being a White Sox fan in Chicago. You see, the Cubs are Chicago's darlings with the quaint little ballpark and the white collar fans. They play up on the north side where things are "nice".

When you cross Madison Ave. and head south in the city of Chicago things change. The economy changes, the neighborhoods are vastly different and honestly it is not so "nice" in some places. The White Sox are the step children in Chicago. Much like the Los Angeles Angels of Placentia...er Anaheim here in the southland. (Just kidding. Please no bitter replys from the Angels fans.) In Chicagoland the Cubs rule or they did rule, but now everything has changed. The Sox are about to do for their owner Jerry Reinsdorf and for the city what his other team, the Bulls, used to do for it and for him. Give them and him a world championship. It will be very sweet if they can close it out. (See...this is a Sox fan trying to believe, but not wanting to jinx it!)

I must tell you that I love this team! Not just the Sox, but this group that makes up the White Sox. From their manage Ozzie Guillen all the way down to the last guy on the roster they provide a wonderful example of leadership and teamwork. Ozzie leads the team by serving and teaching and cheering and rebuking. Man, do these guys follow. And the players just seem to pick each other up time after time. It dawned on me last night at about 11:10 PM our time (during the 14th inning of the longest World Series game ever) that we can learn a lot about ministry teams from these guys. There is a love, a bond, and a passion for excellence that is infectious on this team. I pray for the exact same characteristics in our ministries. We want loving, honest, and passionate leaders in our ministries. I want to be that type of leader in our church and on my ministry teams. I am sure that you feel the same way. I want to be on ministry teams where, because none of us are perfect, we pick each other up, we have each other's back, and we encourage one another and we raise the level of play on our team.

As I have watched the playoffs the last couple of weeks it has seemed to me that the White Sox are having the most fun. Yea, I know that everything is always more fun when the breaks are going your way and you are winning, but I think they are just having fun playing baseball together. When ministry goes well it is a lot of fun too. Bill Hybels always says, "There is nothing better than doing God's bidding with people that you love." And listen...we have so much more to live for than baseball! Being a part of a team that is honoring to God and serving with people that you love is way more fun and rewarding than baseball.

So..."Play Ball!"

Venice Baptist Church, you are to be commended for your generosity. You gave $3,660.00 to help the victims of Hurricane Katrina. A check for $4,000.00 (We rounded up expecting more offering to come in!) was mailed to WorldHelp yesterday. I know that they will put it to good use. WorldHelp is partnering with local churches in Mississippi and Louisiana to meet the physical and spiritual needs in the region. I know that God will bless you and our church as we look beyond ourselves to help meet the needs of others.

Don’t forget that this Sunday there is ONE SERVICE @ 10:00 AM. The men are off on their annual ski-trip immediately following.

Now, about this Entertainment Tonight deal that is coming up on Saturday October 15th… This will be a lot of fun…if you will get involved. I know that many of you have hidden talents. We would love for you to share your “real” talent with us and we would love for you to share some of your, well let’s say, not so real talent with us. I have many talented people in my family. For an example, my wife, Amy can blow a bubble within a bubble with bubble gum. My brother can eat a fully loaded hot dog whole in one bite. I know because I saw him make a good amount of cash doing so in college. It was slightly overshadowed by my friend who would eat drinking glasses in the cafeteria, but still effective in picking up some cash to spend over at the DQ. And you just cannot beat talent like that. So start working on your song, your dance step, your poem, or your extraordinary eating talent and join us for a wonderful time with our church family and friends.

Late,
Craig

There is nothing worse than getting a call from someone who just starts talking at you as if you know who they are. I received a call yesterday from a couple that I went to college with. Yea, I recognized their names, but there was no way that I could put a face or any other information with the name. As it turns out, I haven't seen them since before I moved to Venice! They were talking as if we have stayed in touch all of these years. So I did what any warm blooded human would do. I faked it. I lacked the courage and was too embarrassed to say, "Wait. Who are you? Not ringing a bell." I faked it because I should have known them. I talked with them about old classmates and preachers and missionaries and I really enjoyed reminiscing with them...even if I could not remember who they were.

Now, here is the great thing about living in the 21st century. As soon as I hung up the phone I sprinted to my computer to "googled" them. I found them on the Internet and then it all made complete sense. I knew them I just couldn't remember them. They are great folks who are doing a great work for God in Africa. Now I can pray for them and maybe keep in touch with them and next time they call I will not have to fake it.

Do you ever wonder why we have brain cramps? You know what I am talking about. You have an idea, a plan or a clue, but somehow and for some reason your brain just locks up and your idea, plan or clue just explodes into a pile of goo. This is fresh for me today because last night I had one of those cramps that stay with you for a while.

We had a wonderful 4th of July. I started the day by mixing my Grandma Henson’s famous homemade ice cream recipe and pouring it into our ice cream maker. One hour later the little motor ground to a halt and we had a canister full of one and one half gallons of the richest and creamiest homemade ice cream ever. After I tucked that away in the freezer I fired up the grill with good old charcoal (none of that gas stuff) and cooked up 10 pounds of carne asada.

The feast began at one. The food was good. The company was average. (Just kidding!! Lighten up!!) The day was glorious and then everybody left and we cleaned up the mess. Amy and I were kicking back, just relaxing. It had been just about a perfect July 4th by our standards.

About 10:00 o’clock, with the neighbor’s fireworks tapering off, Richie, Paul, Ernesto and Becky showed up and things got weird. Richie walked in the house and asked me why the garage door opener was not working. I knew instantly what the problem was. I remembered that the automatic garage door opener had accidentally been unplugged during our teardown. So I scurried out to the garage to plug it in. I cannot quite reach the plug, so I grabbed a church folding chair. (This is probably where the brain began to seize up.) Yes, I grabbed one of those blue church chairs with the wooden seat and I opened it and set it up. This is a no brainer right? You just stand in the chair and plug in the opener. Yea, it’s easy as long as you don’t have one of those brain cramps. I nonchalantly step on the seat of the chair with one foot and as I rise to reach for the plug my foot slips on the seat of the chair and slides toward the back of the seat and the chair just folds up on me. My foot slid down through the back of the chair and went between the legs of the chair while the chair simultaneously slammed shut and folded up. The chair clinched my leg like a vice and I fell to the floor like grizzly with his foot in a bear trap.

I was able to free myself very quickly and I made a quick inventory and every thing checked out, however I am left with swelling in my right leg that has just about doubled the size of my cankle. (A cankle is an ankle that is so big that you cannot tell where the calf ends and the ankle begins.) So at the end of a perfect day the brain cramp strikes out of nowhere and a man is hobbled. Honestly, I am doing fine. I am just a bit gimpy. But I am very thankful. It could have been worse. My kids, or worse, my wife could have witnessed it. It could have been caught on tape or worse on TIVO and my kids could play it back and forth and in slow motion over and over again. At least I was lying on the garage floor writhing in pain alone with my dignity, my trapped leg and my cramping brain!

Still Alive and Kicking,Craig

It is a fairly quiet week on the home front, however I know that it is probably a busy week for you with the onset of summer, graduations, weddings and vacations. So, this touching base will be short and sweet.

This Sunday we will worship together in one service @ 10:00. We are giving our Shockwave Student Ministry a head start on their ski trip. Please pray for them as they head to the lake on Sunday. They will return on Thursday June 30th.
It will be our privilege to have our missionaries Dave & Nan Walter with us on Sunday. I know that you will enjoy hearing how God is working in their lives and ministry.