Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!
Well, I’m thankful for a few things this year—Family (Thanks Rachel for giving me such a great family), the grace of Christ, Church family, my friends, health, and that we live in such a blessed area of the world.
How about you? Give me 3 things that you are thankful for this Thanksgiving Day!
Tebow!
“Dad, who is your second favorite football team?”
I was watching football with my sons, Harrison and Colby, last week when Harrison asked me, knowing that I am a die hard Eagles fan, “Dad, who is your second favorite football team?” And, my answer is always the same, “Son, my two favorite teams are the Philadelphia Eagles and whoever is playing the Dallas Cowboys!” Now, he has had heard me say that before (a lot) so he pushed me a little bit further to get a real answer from me. So, without really thinking about it, I responded that my second favorite NFL football team (these days) is Tim Tebow.
I know… I know… Tim is not a team. But there is something that is just so authentic, plucky and likable about this kid that he’s hard not to route for. But, alas, not all people share my enthusiasm about this pigskin evangelist. The truth is Tim is one of the most polarizing figures in sports today. This is partly because of his will and determination to win football games without some of the physical characteristics we are used to associating with the NFL level quarterback position. (Don’t tell Doug Flute.) But, I also think Tim is polarizing because he has been outspoken about his relationship with Jesus.
Case In Point
Recently former NFL quarterback (for the Denver Broncos), Jake Plummer, was asked about his opinion about Tim’s recent success and he responded by saying that he liked Tim, but he wished he would stop talking about Jesus “…after every pass or hand-off.” Well, in this interview with ESPN’s Skip Bayless Tim responds to this criticism with respect and a great analogy. (Skip to 8:50 in the interview- really it’s worth it)
I love it! I think it’s great and I will be praying for Tim in whatever he does. And not that he will just “win games”, but that as a uniquely gifted and prophetic personality that he will continue to tell people, through his own experience and humility, what God has done for him! —I am a Tebow fan!
What do you think? Are you a Tebow fan? Do you think the field is a place for faith? Thanks for leaving a comment, and please don’t forget to get on our email list or click on the coffee mug at the top of the page to get The Ordained Barista delivered directly to your RSS feed! (It makes a big difference!)
Lessons From My Lawn (Lesson #2)
Last week I started a series called “Lessons from My Lawn” where I talked a little about pulling weeds (destructive behaviors) from their proverbial roots, and today I want to talk a little about “weed identification.”
A few weeks ago, after spending plenty of hours weeding and mulching my yard, I took a minute to step back and marvel over what I had accomplished. Rachel, who was bringing me a drink, came outside and looked over the yard and lovingly said;
“Looks great, but are you going to pull out that weed?”
“Weed?” —I defensively responded. “Where?”
She proceeded to point out a weed that, to me, looked like a flower (This is why I try to focus on the lawn.)
With dripping skepticism I asked, “Are you sure that’s a weed?”
She blurted, “Yes, positive!” (Insert a “your an idiot” type of stare here —I get that a lot.)
After I pulled the weed, this small exchange made me start thinking about all the behaviors in my life that I think are flowers but are really weeds! Like, for example, busyness. We live in a culture that models, celebrates and rewards busyness. And I (we), in return, embrace busyness (having no margins) at the expense of my relationship with God, my children, Rachel, physical health, emotional balance and time of Sabbath. Yet, if our society was looking at this particular weed in my life it would be celebrated like a prized rose bush.
Do you find that busyness is a weed that you nurture? Do you have any different weeds (destructive behaviors) in your life that look like flowers to others?
“As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said. But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, ‘Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!’ ‘Martha, Martha,’ the Lord answered, ‘you are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.”
Luke 10: 38-42
“Surely every man walks about like a shadow; surely they busy themselves in vain; He heaps up riches, And does not know who will gather them.”
Psalm 39:6
The Sharing Box
My 4 year old daughter, Ella, brought home the “Sharing Box” this week. What is the sharing box? Well, as you can imagine, it’s a box that you bring home with you, from Pre-school, and put 5 or 6 important things in the box. Then, you bring the box, and it’s contents, back to school and “Share” the contents, and why it’s so important to you, with the class.
It made me think about what is in my “sharing box”, and how the contents of that box affects how I “share” life with the people that are around me. Of course, I am not referring to a real “sharing box” that we all bring home from work or school, but the internal box that is deep with in us where we keep the things that we think are “important”. Those things that we determine as “important”, and keep close to us, can be both good and bad: important relationships, wounds that we have suffered, fear, hope, self image, ambition, money, love, the cross, and our relationship with God.
Take a look at what Jesus says about the Sharing box in the verses below.
What is in your sharing box these days? How does it affect how you “share-life” with the people around you?
45 A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For the mouth speaks (Shares) what the heart is full of.
34 You brood of vipers, how can you who are evil say anything good? For the mouth speaks (Shares) what the heart is full of.
Advertising is literally everywhere!
Is it just me or have you noticed a new level of advertising. With the complete saturation of advertising in all of the “normal avenues” advertisers are now looking for new and unique places to stick advertisements and possibly reach new markets.
Here are just a few examples of what I am talking about.
(Yes, I took these pictures with my I-phone)
Straw advertising
Valet Tag Advertising
supermarket aisle video advertising
Here is one thought and a question about all the non-stop advertising that we face every day. OK, it’s no secret that we live in a hyper consumer culture, and much of our common language and experiences today stem from our absolute immersion into this culture of capitalism. And, because of this “culture of capitalism” most of us have developed a “consumer-radar”, if you will, that first assumes that people are trying to sell you something. My question is this: Do you think this “consumer-radar” affects the ability of people to hear the message of Jesus? Is there a cure?
Have you seen any unique places where advertisers have posted their messages? Please, feel free to take a picture and send it to me so that I can add them to the blog.
Also, would you do me a favor, if you see something, anything, over the course of your day that looks interesting… church signs, posters, funny people, things you read on-line, you-tube videos, t-shirts, bumper stickers, real life stories, sad stuff, happy stuff, christian stuff, (No Justin Beiber stuff please)…please email them to me so I can pass them on! Pictures are good!
Oh, and by the way, I have two blocks of adverting at the top of this blog I will sell you at a great price! (lol)
What is faith?
I was scrolling through the “#Jesus” twitter feed when an unexpected tweet caught my eye. This tweet read; “Faith = 1/4 wishful thinking, 1/2 willful ignorance, & 1/4 gullibility.” Now, I usually don’t get into conversations with people online, because it rarely changes any-ones opinion or ends well. And, the fact that this guy “hash-tagged” Jesus, (#Jesus- for my non-twitter people out there, #hash-tags are simply the way to make any topic search-able through the powerful twitter search engine) and compared him to a leprechaun, just meant he was looking to argue/tick-off some Jesus followers.
My response to tekphreak, and atheists/agnostics who argue against the idea of faith, is that atheist do believe in the practical reality of faith, like it or not! Mariam Websters defines faith as this:
“ (1) : firm belief in something for which there is no proof
(2) : complete trust”
Here is my argument against Tekphreak.
1. Atheists have a firm belief that God does not exist
2. They can not prove that God does not exist.
3. Therefore, they have faith that God does not exist…. but, they still have faith! It might be faith in their own understanding, and not God, but it’s still faith! “A firm belief in something they can not prove!”
As a believer in Jesus my faith is described in Hebrews 11:1
1 Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.
What do you think? Read my conversation and tell me how would you have responded to Tekphreak? Do you believe a person can have NO faith? …In anything?
Ok, I just had a Philly Cheese-steak from Concord Pike Steak Shop in Concord, PA. Whenever we visit PA it is one of Rachel and my favorite places to eat. (Nowadays we try to split a cheese-steak, so sad) We are also big fans of Italian Delight in Broomall, PA.
What I would really like is to see a really long list of favorite local restaurants, small or large, from all over the place!
1. Name of Restaurant: No fast-food chains please! No, not even Chick-Fil-a Or In & Out Burger!
2. Location: Let’s see if we can get all over the world with this one.
3. Favorite thing on the menu: Just one-Ok, two if you must.
Before Rachel and I left for vacation, a few days ago, we decided to attempt one of those multi-family yard sales. We cleared out about $270 worth of stuff, but the money was really only half of our goal. Our bigger goal is to, one day, be able to actually be able to park one of our cars in our garage. But, after 12 years of marriage, and 6 children along the way, Rachel and I seem to have accumulated, without even noticing it, a ton of …STUFF! There really is no other word for it other than — STUFF.
We have kid stuff, college stuff, dog stuff, bike stuff, baby stuff, winter stuff, summer stuff, fall stuff, stuff for when you fall, Christmas stuff, Halloween stuff, Easter stuff, Thanksgiving stuff, lawn stuff, TV stuff, tubs to store our stuff, clothing stuff, shoe stuff, sports stuff, office stuff, tool stuff, phone stuff, computer stuff, school stuff, book stuff, furniture stuff, kitchen stuff, music stuff, toy stuff, sentimental stuff, donated stuff, random stuff, unidentifiable stuff, heirloom stuff, valuable stuff, cheap stuff, old stuff, new stuff, big stuff, little stuff, broken stuff and even unopened stuff. Well, I am hereby placing a moratorium on… STUFF.
1) A period of time in which there is a suspension of a specific activity until future events warrant a removal of the suspension or issues regarding the activity have been resolved.
I know what you are thinking. You are thinking this is the time in the blog where Barry usually makes a Biblical point and tells us to quit buying so much stuff, right? Well, today I am not going to preach about our nations (and my) love for stuff. Or, even how we should really think about having less stuff. Why? Because this fantastic video, called The Story of Stuff, is going to do it for me! (ha!) Seriously, This video has been viewed more than a million times and will really make you think. Again, while I don’t agree with everything that is said in the video I do believe that it should challenge us on our God-given stewardship mandate. It might even make you think about What Matthew 6:19 talks about.
19-21“Don’t hoard treasure down here where it gets eaten by moths and corroded by rust or—worse!—stolen by burglars. Stockpile treasure in heaven, where it’s safe from moth and rust and burglars. It’s obvious, isn’t it? The place where your treasure is, is the place you will most want to be, and end up being.
Well, what do you think? Do you have too much stuff? Have you tried to cut back? What has worked on your “Stuff Diet” and when do you find yourself being a “Sucker for Stuff”! Do you own a Magic Bullet? Ab Flex? Do you have a storage unit? How do you think other nations view us? Do we have a responsibility with our stuff? Are we fooling ourselves to think our happiness will be found in our stuff? What do you teach your kids about stuff?
Well, if you’re not a subscriber to the OB blog you should be! It would be “The Right Stuff”! Oh, Come-on!
With books like: A Generous Orthodoxy, Everything Must Change, A New Kind of Christian, and his latest book, A New Kind of Christianity, author Brian McLaren is one of present day Christianity’s most influential figures. Brian was gracious enough to sit down with me (on one of the hottest days of the summer) to talk about life, faith, ministry and his latest book. In Part 1 of my interview with Brian we talk about:
~Recent health issues
~How he handles his critics
~What he has learned over the last 30+ years in ministry
…and why he drinks decaf! Ha.
In PART 2 of my interview, which I will post tomorrow, Brian talks about:
~Conservative Vs. Moderate Evangelicalism
~What is the “emergent church”
~How we are “180 degrees off” in a few major areas right now
~His new book (Chapter 9) and how we are called to love our enemy.
I hope you enjoy the interview as much as I enjoyed chatting with Brian. To learn more about Brian, subscribe to his blog or buy one of his books please visit the link below! Thanks!
Ok, I know this is going to sound strange but I was reading through the Bible the other day and the passage I was reading made me wonder: “I wonder what have been the strangest, weirdest, and most bizarre things ever to sell on Ebay?”
So, after a little research, I have put together a quick list of Barry’s top 10 strangest things ever to sell on Ebay.
#10. Pretend Monster under a Child’s Bed
Genius mom who sells a trouble making monster under her daughter’s bed! Brilliant!
#9. Ghost in a Jar
Arkansas man tries to sell a ghost in an a jar. What’s really scary is to see how much the thing almost sold for! Boo!
#8. Virgin Mary Grilled Cheese Sandwich
A woman discovered her grilled cheese (yes, I said grilled cheese) had the image of the Virgin Mother on it. The sandwich would sell for more than $28,000, that’s a lot of cheddar!
In 2004 a man sold a rubber-duckie that he says fought, antagonized and bit his son.
6. Man Tries to Sell His Liver on Ebay
A man from Florida put his organ up for sale on Ebay. The bid went as high as $5.7 million before eBay pulled it from its site. Stating it’s illegal to sell body parts on Ebay.
Two sisters from Virginia discovered a cornflake that appeared to be the same shape of the state of Illinois. They sold it for over $1,000. Aren’t all cornflakes shaped like Illinois?
That’s right, Andrew Fischer, from Omaha, Nebraska sold the advertising space on his forehead for one month. He agreed to get a temporary tattoo of any business name, slogan or domain. The auction reached $322.
3. Woman Sells Right to Name Her Baby
When Melissa Heuschkel couldn’t decide what to name her fourth child she, of course, turned to ebay. In early 2005, Golden Palace casino won the online auction and, for a mere $15,500, was given the right to name the new child baby Golden Palace Benedetto.
In the official description of the product the seller made the following statement: “My imaginary friend Jon Malipieman is getting too old for me now. I am now 27 and I feel I am growing out of him. He is very friendly. Along with him, I will send you what he likes and dislikes along with his favorite things to do and his personal self portrait.” His self portrait is the picture you see above. Amazingly Jon Malipieman got 31 bids and ended up selling for over $3,000 dollars. Paying $3,000 for an imaginary friend truly is unimaginable!
in 2001, after a bad divorce, an Australian man auctioned off all of his life’s possessions at one time. The auction included his job, friends, car, house, and even his dog! He now has his own website dedicated to the story of selling his entire life!
This last item (A life for sale) is similar to the story in the Bible that started this whole blog post. Matthew 13:44 Jesus is telling his followers a parable about the value of the kingdom of heaven when he says these words:
44“The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field.
I read this passage and I was seriously challenged by the message of Jesus. Do I treat this gift of grace and love, that I will enjoy forever, with more “value” than the things of this world? I wonder, at times, if I really “treasure” the kingdom of God (both present and to come) and treat it with more value than the gadgets and gizzmos that I adore. I am not saying that “things” are “bad”, I am just asking what do I/we value the most? My encouragement for us today is simple. Pause today, just for a moment, and be “filled with joy” (“…and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field.”) that the “value” of being called a child of the creator of the universe is worth more than the accumulation all the the things you and I are striving for.
On a lighter note, this passage got me thinking about how embarrassed I would be by some of the random stuff I own, if I ever needed sell everything. Which, of course, made me wonder about the most random stuff ever sold online! After my research for this post I realize that if the going rate for state shaped breakfast cereal is in the thousands of dollars then I had better get in on the action myself! So I am auctioning off one of the more random, yet brilliant, things I could find in my house!
When Rachel and I were first married, 12 years ago, we lived in a few mile north of Santa Barbara, CA. Before the days of the “Circus-8″ Rachel and I would walk the Santa Barbara beaches and collect driftwood. My super beautiful and creative wife would then take the driftwood and paint a Santa face on them. Alas, the Santa Barbara Driftwood Santa was born! To my knowledge there are no other Santa Barbara Driftwood Santas in the world! We have put a driftwood Santa on ebay, and if you are interested, come and place a bid or at least take a look! This is gonna be fun!
So, what is the most random thing you have in your house? Come on…Leave a comment?
