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?

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.

Moratorium: Noun

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!

Earlier this summer my friend, Stephen Jordan, (who recently broke the 5:00 mile!) and I walked over to Starbucks to get something to drink and catch up on life.  The moment we walked in the door I was greeted by a glorious aroma and John, my favorite Barista, who wasted no time reminding me that the my Philadelphia Flyers had lost in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.  You see, John is a die-hard Washington Capitals fan and I may have made a passing comment or two (or ten) when his beloved Caps (a heavy favorite) were eliminated in the  first round of the NHL playoffs. So, I probably deserved his friendly jabs and jibes.

After a few minutes dissecting some of the highlights of the playoffs and talking about our hopes for next year John looked up from the drink he was preparing and said with conviction, “I am just glad Philly didn’t win it this year, your fans are @$$%*!!*$.”

It’s no secret, of course, that Philadelphia sports fans have a infamous reputation for being… Ummmm, how should I put this? Enthusiastic! Yeah, yeah… enthusiastic.  In recent years, even I have been embarrassed to call myself a Philly sports fan in light of some of the true stories, making headlines, which usually feature an over zealous or just plain stupid Philadelphia sports fans.  John wasted no time. He began building a case, story by story, to convince me that Philadelphia sports fans are… not the nicest (or smartest) people in the world.  As John started making his opening arguments I began to feel like the defendant in a strange and overly caffeinated episode of Matlock. While continuing to make drinks from behind the bar he went through a heartfelt litany of examples to substantiate his claim.

Exhibit A: A Phillies fan/parent who apparently gave his 3 year old a son beer.

Exhibit B: Most of us have heard about the 17 year old Phillies fan that ran onto the Citizen Bank Field and was then tasered by a Philadelphia police officer.

Exhibit C: Flyers fans booed Vice Presidential candidate and “Hockey-Mom” Sarah Palin in 2008 at a Flyers/Rangers game.

Exhibit D: In 1999 Phillies fans booed the first U.S. hand transplant patient, who threw out the first pitch with his transplanted hand. When the ball dribbled across home plate he was then booed.

Exhibit E: At the beginning of the 2010 season, Matthew Clemmens,”Pukemon”, gained infamy for  intentionally vomiting on an 11-year-old girl at a Phillies game because the girls father repeatedly asked Clemmens and his friends, who were totally drunk, to stop cursing and being obnoxious.            **Although Clemmens is a Phillies fan, I would like the record to note that he is from New Jersey not Philadelphia.

Exhibit F: Susan Finkelstein allegedly offered sex in exchange for 2009 Phillies World Series tickets. She eventually got lucky, by not getting jail time in the case.

Exhibit G: Violence during Eagles’ games became such a problem that Philadelphia installed a court, judge and jail inside Veterans Stadium.

Exhibit H: Eagles fans boo newly drafted quarterback Donovan McNabb because they were disappointed that the franchise didn’t select RB Rickey Williams. McNabb and his family still are upset at the incident.

Exhibit I: In 1968, Eagles fans boo and then pelt a man dressed as Santa Claus who was part of a halftime ceremony. Stories vary on the legendary incident.  In 2003, the same man was asked to appear in the same Santa suit at a Sixers game. He was booed again.

Exhibit J: Eagles fans, including soon to be governor Ed Rendell, pelt the Dallas Cowboys and head coach Jimmy Johnson with snowballs at the Vet.  It was later discovered that may of the snowballs had batteries hidden inside.

Exhibit H: in 1999 Cowboys wide receiver Michael Irvin suffered a career-ending neck injury at Veterans Stadium. Philadelphia Fans cheered as Irvin lay injured on the field.

Exhibit I: The Phillie Phanatic’s (Mascot) head was stolen during a charity event at the Wachovia Center. After an investigation the head was finally  returned and its abductor was charged.

John was finishing his closing arguments and a lull arose in drink orders. He peered up at me from behind the espresso machine and he said to me, “…And YOU are one of THEM!  How does that make you feel?”

The prosecution rests your honor!

I thought to myself, “Guilty as Charged!”

I shared with Steven, on the walk back to church, that my conversation with John (about being associated with crazy Philadelphia sports fans) was a great lesson.  As Jesus followers/”fan”atics we are representing way more than just a church or merely other Christians with our actions and behaviors (although this is still important).  In my experience, each of us have a group of  people that we encounter (regularly or maybe only once) who watch our lives and our actions (the good and the bad) and closely associate it with the message and ministry of Jesus. Some people who have questions about what it means to be a “Christian” are looking to see if our behavior is congruent with the transformational message of grace and love offered by the Savior.  Scripture says we (our lives) are to be Salt, Light, to live as Ambassadors, smell like a a sweet fragrance, and to offer it (our lives) to God and others as a “living sacrifice.” With Gods’ help we are called to live with this intention, not because we are merely “supposed” to but in view of what Jesus has done for us on the cross.

What do you think? If you call yourself a Jesus follower do you believe you have a responsibility to act differently from the world? Do you think that how we handle our failures can be just as much of an example as never failing? More so? I recently saw a bumper sticker that said, “I love Jesus, it’s Christians I can’t stand.” Do you feel like this is a sentiment shared by most people?

If you are a fan of The Ordained Barista would you do me a favor and get TOB delivered right to your online reader? all you need to do is click on the coffee mug at the top of the page and pick a reader! I recommend Google reader but they all work mostly the same.  As I try to get my work in front of publishers my “platform” (including blog subscribers) becomes an indication of sustainability.

Thanks for your support and “Stay classy Philadelphia!”

The Gremlin Blues!

If you own a minivan that means you probably have children. Nobody decides they wanted a mini-van because they like the look.  Like many mini-van owners, I am embarrassed to remember back to my naive 20′s swearing boldly how I would never own a mini-van. I would say something brash like, “I would rather walk with my children on my back than to have them suffer the emotional and social damage of being seen in a mini-van.” I think this stems from the fact that my parents owned a GMC Gremlin when we were growing up.  No, I am not kidding. Well, not only do we own a mini-van, this is our 3rd one.

Petrified Peanut Butter

I must admit that I  love my Honda Odyssey and couldn’t imagine my life without it. However, my least favorite reality of owning a minivan is cleaning the sucker out. Now, I realize the Hill Circus-7 (Soon to be the Circus-8)  is little different than most families, because Rachel and I have 5 children, 8 years old and under. (Yes, I know what causes that.) So, recently I went to go clean out the Hill-Van and you can only imagine what I found in the back seats: Baby bottles, legos, crayons, happy meal toys, happy meal food, stuffed animals, candy canes, a homework folder that belonged to some kid named Mark and much more.  And, as you can imagine, with every lego and petrified peanut butter sandwich I found I grew more and more frustrated at the mess my children, and Mark, had created.

New Van-Rules

By the time I reached the front seats I was mildly upset.  I was thinking about the new “van-rules” I was going to put in place about bringing food, toys and anyone named Mark in the van.  I turned on the radio to relax a bit and reached under the passenger seat to finish up the van and I felt something.  It was… You guessed it, a coffee cup.  Not just one coffee cup either.  When it was all said and done I pulled out 6 empty crushed (paper) coffee cups, a computer cable, a book that I had been missing for weeks and a pair of sunglasses.  That’s when Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7) came flooding into my head, “…You hypocrite, first take the coffee cup out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the lego from your son’s eye.” Ok, maybe that’s not exactly how the verse goes but you get my point.

I am trying a little harder these days to really know myself. My prayer, as I quickly approach 40, is that God and His Spirit would help me to be honest, with myself and Him, about my strengths, weaknesses, boundaries, limitations, selfish behavior and motivations. My hope is that if I really understand how selfish I can be it will flavor my all of my conversations with others with patience love and understanding, especially a kid with no homework folder named Mark.

Today I bought a pound of Starbucks Christmas Blend coffee beans to take to our church staff Christmas party, as a gift. I do love Starbucks Christmas Blend, it’s a seasonal blend of a few different types of coffee’s that give it a unique flavor! Read below to see the description that Starbucks gives the Christmas blend.

“…It’s the unique blend of beans that makes this coffee such a fitting accompaniment for your holiday taste traditions. Our Christmas Blend is sweet and spicy, with a flavor derived from bright, sparkling Latin American coffees and smooth, full-bodied Asia/Pacific beans. But it’s the Aged Sumatran beans, carefully held for 3 to 5 years before roasting, that give it that delicious signature spicy taste.” ~Starbucks.com

Recently I have really been challenged about my own “Christmas Blend”. The blend of where and how I spend my time, treasure and talent during Advent season. Whether we realize it or not, all of us are on the front lines of a battle between culture, commercialism and the true meaning of Christmas. There are so many competing voices during the Christmas season between the shopping, children, Christmas cards, wish lists, parties, visiting relatives and travel (just to name a few) that we often forget why or HOW we should celebrate the season.

This Sunday we are going to be playing one of the videos from the Advent Conspiracy web page. (adventconspiracy.org) This organization really challenges people to think about the meaning of Christmas and how much we allow commercialism to infiltrate this Holiday. Please, take a look at the video and, if you have time, take a look at the web page and recommend it to others. You can do that by sending them a link to this post or by directly sending them a link to the web site.

What are some of the traditions that you keep, during the advent season, to make sure you don’t loose sight of the birth of the Savior of the world? Jesus.

~Advent Conspiracy

Hey Everyone,

Well I’m back from a small blogging break.  Incase you are wondering where I have been, my editor and I have been concentrating on polishing the first 5 chapters of Tales of The Ordained Barista and my book proposal.  On Tuesday I will be sending both out to a literary agent who wanted to see my work. It’s a long shot, to say the least, but it has been a ton of fun and I have learned a lot! Seriously!

I also wanted to mention that the type of blog I will be posting in the future will be a little different.  I will try to post more often (Thank you to everyone who keeps on asking me why I don’t post more often) and the blogs will be shorter.  My topics will, I hope, concentrate on being a follower of Jesus and Coffee/Coffeehouses. Which is actually cheating because there is no topic that you can’t talk about in a coffeehouse.  You should have heard the conversation that the two ladies in front of me were having about Tiger Woods yesterday in line.  Anyway, each post is meant to do two things in a short period of time. 1. encourage and 2. challenge. Thank you to everyone who comments and already gets an RSS feed of my blog.  I want to encourage you if don’t get my blog directly in your Google Reader, do it! And, I love hearing comments and feedback. So… away we go!

I saw this video a few months ago and it made me laugh coffee out of my nose! My favorite line during the video is “Java-lujah.” Classic. I would love to know what you think is the most accurate section of satire in this video is. Has anyone had a “new person” church experience like this? What’s the worst church experience you have ever had?

My Senior High Director recently bought me this hat. She said she immediately thought of  me when she saw it? Ummmm? Yeah? Really? Really?

I have a new hero! This guy is awesome, and by awesome I mean a little scary!

A few observations:

1. Love the Mullet!?!

2. Who is Dunkey Dunkey? Why is he keeping his coffee in the Trunk?

3. What is with the Jean shorts? Weren’t they banned in 1987? Are they Daisy Dukes? On a dude?

4. At the end, is he channeling Susanna Hoffs? (from The Bangles, Walk Like and Egyptian)

5. I guess this video is not a ringing endorsement for drinking coffee?

6. What do you think?

So, a few weeks ago, I was visiting with some friends and family near Philadelphia.  One morning, on my way into Starbucks, some rather pushy Girls Scouts confronted me, while manning their cookie stand, set up outside the front door of the coffeehouse.  Now, I don’t know about you, but I love me some Girls Scout cookies!  Even though they sell these little sugar, caramel, chocolate, coconut and peanut butter filled nuggets of hope and sunshine at the absolute wrong time of year, they still sell tons of these things. Did you know that they still sell over 150 million boxes of these suckers a year! Recently, I ate an entire box of Samoas (my favorite), on the way to Lancaster to hang out with my friends at Manheim BIC.  This is much easier to do these days, as the number of cookies they put in every box has shrunk; yet, for some reason, the box has stayed the same size.  Someone should tell the Girl Scouts not to sell them during lent or leading into spring, for those of us who haven’t worked off last year’s cookies, and are in training before summer gets here.

However, the truth is, that I am no longer permitted to buy Girl Scout Cookies anymore.  At least, I can’t buy them from strangers anymore.  This will be the second year that my daughter, Annsley, who is a Girl Scout, is selling cookies.  So, I am bound, under the father-daughter code and punishable by death, (Mother-Father code) obliged to buy ALL of my Girl Scout cookies from my daughter.  Last year she wanted to sell 100 boxes, in order to get her 100-box merit badge.  This year she raised the stakes considerably! The conversation went something like this:
Annsley:  “Daddy, can I get the Girl Scout pajamas this year? I really want to sell enough cookies to get the pajamas.”
Daddy: “Sure Annsley, how many boxes do you need to sell in order to get the pajamas?” I responded in a supportive fatherly tone.
She dragged her little finger across the wrinkled and worn pages of the glossy catalog until she came to the picture of the pajamas, to find the all-important number. She responded in the broken mathematical rhythms of a seven year old.
Annsley: “1-5-0-0″.
Daddy: “Honey.” I responded kindly, “You aren’t reading that number right. Did you mean 1-5-0? Or, are you reading how many boxes you need to sell to win the aircraft carrier?”
Annsley: “No Daddy!” She wrinkled her forehead. (This is never a good sign.) “Girl Scouts don’t win aircraft carriers!!!”
This time she repeated herself with a little more confidence, accompanied by a hint of annoyance at my inability to grasp simple 4 digit numbers.
Annsley: “It says right here, 1-5-0-0!”
How can that be? One Thousand Five Hundred boxes of Girls scout cookies? For pajamas?  So, in disbelief, I politely asked to see the catalog, which was quickly followed with an, “I told you so!” Low and behold, the going rate, these days, for Girl Scout pajamas is 1,500 boxes sold!  So, if we do some quick math, 1,500 boxes @ $3.50 a box for a grand total of $5,250.00 worth of Girl Scout cookies… for Pajamas? Aren’t there child labor laws to protect children (and me) from this kind of thing?

But, I digress.  So, when the girls in front of the Starbucks gave me their cute little, Amway inspired, sales pitch, by asking me in choral unison, to buy some cookies, I politely responded: “Sorry, I already ordered cookies from my daughter who is also a Girl Scout.”  One of the more precocious girls, with fire red hair, pulled into tight pigtails, looked at me square in the eyes and said:  “Just one box? Please?” I looked at the father, who was flanking his daughter on the right, fully expecting him, at any moment, to jump to my defense, (Father-Father Code) explaining to his daughter the age-old familial hierarchy of ordering Girl Scout cookies.  Yet, he just looked at me as if to say:  “Sorry, you’re on your own buddy.” So, I started to explain to these girls that my daughter wanted to win Girl Scout pajamas, which was 1,500 boxes, which should be enough to buy an aircraft carrier, but that the Girl Scouts don’t giveaway Aircraft carriers, and that if I bought cookies from them, that my daughter and wife would find out and they would make me dress up as a Girl Scout and go door to door, in my neighborhood, to sell cookies as penance.  At this point, it’s important to note, that the father started to get concerned for his child’s safety and wished me good luck and sent me on my way.

So, we decided to let Annsley sell her cookies to as many people as she wanted, not pushing or discouraging any entrepreneurial sprit, but allowing her to discover just how challenging it would be to sell 1,500 hundred boxes of cookies.  Somewhere around 100 boxes Annsley decided, on her own, that she would just go for the 100-box badge again.  She wasn’t willing to invest in the time and social cost of 1,500 boxes of cookies, when the return on her investment was pajamas.  In case you are wondering, the record for one Girl Scout, selling the most cookies in one year was set in 2008.  Jennifer Shappe, from Detroit Michigan, sold 17,328 boxes of Girl Scout cookies.  The prize? You guessed it, an aircraft carrier.  I think I am a terrible parent!

As I thought more about the 100 box-badge, it made me think about how, at times, I have reduced my faith down to “spiritual” merit badges.  I have proudly sewn into the blazer of my Sunday best: my church attendance badge, my missions trip badge, my youth pastor badge, my good language badge, my volunteer badge, my Bible memorization badge, my prayer badge, invite a friend badge and my seminary badge.

God never intended for us to get to know him through earning spiritual merit badges.

My daughter has a “special” badge that is ironed on the inside of her vest, that was a gift form her dear old dad.  You can’t sell enough cookies to get this badge from the Girls Scouts.  And, to my knowledge, she is the only Girl Scout in the world with this badge sewn into her Girl Scout vest. It was a gift that I gave to Annsley just cause I love her. She didn’t have to earn it. Yes, it’s a Philadelphia Eagles badge! Hey, she’s MY daughter, back off!

That Eagles badge reminds me that God avails Himself to us freely and gives us the gift of Jesus, his perfect life and incomprehensible death.  He does this so that we don’t need to sell spiritual cookies, and that we don’t need to obtain spiritual merit badges.  We live in a world full of merit badges, and even the church itself falls into the trap of “doing” for God as opposed to the practice of “encountering” God.  Don’t get me wrong, doing is important, but only for the right reasons. We are called to serve others and follow God through works and obedience and all the other tasks I mentioned before. However, we do them “In view of God’s mercy” (Romans 12:1), not to win God’s mercy.

That’s why I love the definition of grace as, “UNMERITED favor”.  Grace is the promise that God finds merit with us (through Jesus) even though we don’t deserve it.  The beauty of grace is that it reveals that no amount of merit badges will save us.  I mention this because of the most popular “spiritual merit badge” out there today, “The Good Person Merit Badge”.  The theological and epistemological belief behind this badge is that, after we die, God will hold up our actions and deeds on a really big scale, closely resembling the one on the TV show The Biggest Looser, and that if our good deeds outweigh our bad actions, we are in!

I know lots of people (Christians too) who believe and practice this type of theology, which is fine. I just want to go on record that:
1.    This is not what the Bible teaches (Romans 3:23, 6:23, 10:9-10, John 14:6)
And,
2.    Who determines what is good enough? And, is a 73% “good person rating” good enough? Does God grade on a curve? Do I get extra credit for teaching Sunday School?

Free gift! Jesus life and death on a cross was a free gift! If you have accepted Christ you have been given the best badge of all: The “Grace” badge!
This badge comes with a few “gifts” of its own too. No, it’s not an aircraft carrier. Not only do we get to spend eternity with the creator of the universe; I am pretty sure we get a sweet pair of pajamas out of the deal too!

So, I have been a Philadelphia Eagles fan since I was 5 or 6.  I can still remember crying after loosing the 1980 Superbowl to the Oakland Raiders in Superbowl XV. So, this year, after convincing late season wins against Arizona and New York I decided to hang my Eagles banner amidst the Christmas garland, white lights, wicker angels and Christmas wreaths that adorn the front of my Northern Virginian home.  Hanging the banner was an act of solidarity, on my part, after the painful Baltimore Ravens fiasco and the benching of Donovan. The birds also seem to be playing with a new vigor and a unique understanding that every game, from here on out, was a playoff game.  I even kept the banner up after the inexplicable loss to The Washington Redskins and our playoff hopes were reduced to a mathematical equation so complex that NASA scientists needed to be consulted.  In a stunning twist of irony, the Oakland Raiders, the same team that beat us in Superbowl XV,  had given us an improbable chance at redemption by beating the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

So, Why will the Eagles win the Superbowl this year? Let me tell you.  Saturday, January 3rd was a warm and gorgeous day here near the nations capital.  It was a perfect day to take down Christmas decorations and spend some time outside.  Still basking in the recent dismantling of T.O. and the Dallas Cowboys (sorry Tom) and my Eagles banner still victoriously waiving behind me, I cheerfully took down the lights and decorations on the outside of my house.  I was also thinking about the following days challenge, where we would be facing the Minnesota Vikings and leagues #1 running back.

The next day, after we convincingly beat Brad Childress and the Vikings, it felt like the Christmas season had been extended in some magical way.  Considering the benching of Donovan and the loss to the skins, and that Eagles had been written off more times than a pile of receipts during tax season, it was like receiving a Christmas present, days later, that had been lost in the holiday chaos.  On Monday morning I received a message from some friends, who live down the street, that I had inadvertently left 2 Christmas wreathes up in my windows out front (bitter cowboys and skins fans).  Since I hang-up and take-down the Christmas wreathes from the inside of my house, I had no idea in which windows the neglected wreathes hung in.  So, I went outside to find which window the wreathes were in,  so that I could take them down before my wife noticed and the marital mocking began.   That Monday was my first day back to work after a long winter vacation so I hurriedly exited my front door and headed toward the sidewalk.  I turned around, to face my house, and found the 2 round culprits in the top left corner windows that lead into my bedroom.  Also hanging there was my Eagles banner.  Then it hit me! Almost as if the banner was trying to tell me something. The conversation in my head went something like this:

Eagles Banner: “You Idiot! You can’t take those wreathes down now!”

Barry: Yes, But Christmas is over and I have already taken down all the other Christmas decorations. People will think I am an idiot!

Eagles Banner: “People already think your an idiot!  We have just won a Wildcard Playoff game and your going to take those wreathes down now?”

Barry: Yes, but what if the South Riding Proprietary fines me for having Christmas decorations up till February?

Eagles Banner: “Your an idiot!”

So, I left them up! They remain in my windows to this day.  It’s a good thing I left them up too, because since then the Eagles have gone on to beat the New York Giants (Sorry Beth and Dan) and now are one victory away from our 3rd Superbowl appearance in my life time. I am hopeful that this one will have a different outcome.

So as you are watching the game today, please remember my wreathes and write me a message after the game on the The Ordained Barista Blog!

And, Yes, I am completely aware that when I refer to the Eagles I write “We”.  I also realize that my name does not appear on the 2008-2009 Philadelphia Eagles roster, but it should.  Also, If we do go to the Superbowl this year and anyone wants to send a poor youth pastor and his beautiful wife to Tampa, to see the game, I will give you my 2 wreathes.  (After the game, of course!)