Wednesday, January 31, 2007

flyleaf yahoo whos next interview

Flyleaf - I'm So Sick - Live 12.04.2006 @ Fuse

In anticipation of the concert on the 10th! Can't wait!

Tuesday, January 30, 2007

Flyleaf - Fully Alive

We had purchased tix to the Three Days Grace show at the Marquee Theater on Feb 10th. I like Three Days Grace a lot, but really really love Flyleaf and they were opening up this show. Shortly after we bought the tix, the show was cancelled due to a conflict Three Days Grace had on that date. So our money was refunded. I was bummed! However,Flyleaf saved the date and they will now be the headliners with the band Red opening up for them. I am stoked to see Flyleaf again, and this time they will be headlining the show so hopefully we will get a full hour and a half of them on Feb 10th. Do not miss this show folks. It is going to be great.

So we kicked off the Amadeo Drop In Center last night. We had a good group of Amadeo folks. Myself, Mark, Susan and Meredith B., Bill and Jared S., Marc and Andy C., Mac, Paige and her friend Kat. We chatted a bit with some kids in the park and invited them over for hot dogs and snacks but nobody came over. A few of us played volleyball. Jared, Marc and Mac played some basketball and one guy came over and played with them. It was our first night so I think it went okay. I do believe that as the days get a bit longer, and it is light outside later, that they will come.

After we ate and played for an hour we went into the clubhouse and Mark B. gave a short lesson of how God speaks to us through His word. He has such a way of teaching that gets through to the kids. We also planned an event the Monday before Valentines Day. Instead of having the Drop In Center that night, the Youth are going to serve their parents dinner in the clubhouse. Mark and Susan said they had done this before and I thought it was an awesome idea.

Today I went and picked up Patty's truck. It is finally done. We sure enjoyed driving that Highlander though. But it is nice having the Escape back because Shannon can drive that. She couldn't drive the rental vehicle because she is not 18 yet, so it was kind of a hassle when she had to work. Pray that we find a good affordable 3rd vehicle. Patty is kind of bumming about it right now.

I'm going to the Roadrunners game tonight. Steve B. is going with me. In his words, "It's gonna be tight!" I'm looking forward to it.

Be blessed!

Thursday, January 25, 2007

A rant about highway debris

I have not had much luck lately in the vehicle department. Back on January 3rd I was rear-ended while driving our Ford Escape. A week or so before that I was driving home from work and a rock or some other piece of debris hit the windshield of my Honda Civic on Loop 202. This was not just a chip that can be repaired I don't think, but a long crack. It is not in the line of vision as far as driving goes, but with the heat that comes with living in the desert, I am sure the crack will spread and spider throughout the windshield.

Not much I could have done about it. I was not following a rock truck or dump truck or anything like that. That day, I think it was just thrown up by a vehicle and into my windshield. I didn't even see it, I just heard it.

Now onto my rant..................
Today I'm on my way home from work merging onto the 202 at Priest and Center Parkway. The traffic is not bad, but it was still pretty busy. I stay in the right two lanes because I then merge onto the Southbound 101. There's a BIG DUMP TRUCK in front of me and crap is flying out all over the place. On the rear of this dump truck are the words NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR BROKEN WINDSHIELDS.

You can only guess what I'm going to say next. Bingo! You guessed right. Another nice crack in my windshield right above and to the right of the previous mentioned crack. NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR BROKEN WINDSHIELDS my ass! Why not? Why wasn't his crap covered up with a tarp or something?

Anyhow...have you ever seen that commercial on TV about the broken windshields and if you use their company they give you a box of free steaks? I guess I'm getting a new windshield and we're gonna have a nice steak dinner in the near future. SIGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm still smiling though :-)

Be Moved!

Tuesday, January 23, 2007

Hey, at least I'm not a metrosexual!

I love this excerpt from the article AlternaDad

Hipster dad, aka alternadad, the guy who hasn't worn a suit since his wedding and listens to the same music as the college kid who babysits his tots.

If metrosexual man exhibited a penchant for pressed Prada, hipster dad — and Junior — wear their rumpled, spit-up-stained Black Sabbath T-shirts with pride.

Monday, January 22, 2007

Snow in the Valley?

I had a very interesting time at work last night. Busy too...with a deluge of phone calls from joe q. public and the media types. There were just two of us on duty and it was a zoo to say the least. The phones were ringing off the hook. What was really the most annoying though was when we were both on the phone and the other ones continued to ring in the background.

Anyhow, yes it does occasionally snow in the Valley of the Sun but it is a rarity. It sure made for an interesting night at work and I did lots of interviews.

Today I have the day off and finally the day has arrived for the appointment at Auto Body World to get Patty's Ford Escape fixed from the accident. It should be in there 5 to 7 days they said. In the meantime, we will be driving a 2007 Toyota Highlander with only 1000 miles on it from Enterprise. All of this. courtesy of State Farm Insurance who accepted liability due to their clients inability to see 3 vehicles in front of him stopped at a stoplight down on Mill Ave.

So it's all good! Patty's vehicle is getting fixed, and we get to drive a brand new vehicle for a week. Patty is still looking for a new car. I LOVE this Highlander, but I think it's a bit out of the price range we are looking at.

be Moved!

Saturday, January 20, 2007

Bill O'Reilly 30% Off on The Colbert Report

Funny stuff! The YouTube video is about 6 minutes long.

Obie's essay on the ooze

Excellent essay Obie submitted to the ooze. Check it out here.

FINDING BALANCE IN A GRACE HUNGRY WORLD

Friday, January 19, 2007

So for now, I guess our move will be on hold for awhile. We need another vehicle with Shannon working and graduating this May. So financially for us at this time, it is not feasible. After Patty and I discussed it a little bit, we decided to hold off for awhile. We will move, it is just a matter of when.

Life continues to be very busy. Patty is a lot less stressed with her job, but there is definitely a drawback. She gets off a lot later. She usually is not home until between 5:30 and 6 pm. So it has sort of thrown a curveball into our routine. And the car thing really sucks. I get home from work and Shannon takes the car to go to work as soon as I get home. At least she is getting more hours now. If I am working the evening shift, she usually gets a ride over to Patty's office and takes her car and Patty gets a ride home from work from a co-worker. So a third car will sure come in handy.

Another thing I haven't mentioned is that I will begin working strictly dayshifts beginning in March. I will be doing a lot more with the Cooperative Observer Network and will get to be out in the field more than 50% of the time. I will have a 4 day weekend every other weekend. So this will be a blessing as I will get more family time and will actually be able to be at the Drop-In Center for Amadeo every Monday night.

Patty and I have dropped our membership at Mountainside Fitness Center and decided to join the Lifetime Fitness Center which has a lot more amenities. It is huge man! A little bit pricier, but worth it in my opinion. With Patty's work hours we are trying a different routine. Having a snack then going to the gym right when she gets home so we can go together, then coming home and eating late. Not sure how it will work out but we're trying it. I am loving the pool and doing laps. But let me tell you something, swimming laps is VERY AEROBIC! Try it sometime. Just swim until you can't anymore. It kicks your ass, and is probably better for you than running. I haven't done it long enough yet, but I am sure it will do me some good. They also have much better treadmills at Lifetime. Racquetball too. Our goal is at least 4 times a week.

Amadeo continues to grow and it has been a great fit for us so far. It is challenging going on a church plant, but I feel blessed to be a part of it.

Be Moved!

Tuesday, January 16, 2007

A Message From Barack - Video

Video about Barack Obama

Stay Tuned!

A very good post about Loving the Hell Out of People

A Shout Out To Eating Garbage: Dumpster Diving on CBC

An idea for a ministry? Could I humble myself and do what these guys do? I would like to think I can. Lord, make me humble.

Sunday, January 14, 2007

Mosh Pit Rant

So we went to the Rage Music Fest yesterday. It was a long day. It was fun. But I want to rant for a bit about mosh pits. I'll do that after a quick review of the bands we saw.

We left at 10 am to drive to the "other side". We all live in the East Valley and the show was held at the Castles and Coasters amusement park clear on the other side of Phoenix, so it was a good drive to even get out there. Rage Fest is a 2 day Christian Music Festival featuring all different varieties of Christian Music. Worship music, punk music, hardcore music. All of it basically on 3 different stages. Live bands continuously from 11 am to 11 pm on Saturday and Sunday. We attended yesterday which was Saturday.

Patty and myself, Robert and Angela, Mark and Andy and their friend TJ, Mac, Susan B. and Merideth, Jaret and Madison were all of the folks from Amadeo that went.

The first band we saw on the main stage was Nevertheless. Kind of a skater punk type band. They were good, just not my style. After them on the main stage was a heavy band called Decypher Down. I really liked them a lot.

Then we took a walk across the street to the mall and the food court to grab a bite to eat. After that we came back to the main stage to see Tree 63, a worship type band from Australia. They were very good also. They had to fight through some sound problems but eventually smoothed everything out.

Then we went over to the second stage to see Red. A band called Future Forestry was playing the end of their set and they were interesting. A very new age kind of style music. Red came on after them and we were sandwiched somewhere in the middle and a lot of folks were there to see these guys. They probably should have played the main stage. They were pretty hard and we enjoyed them a lot.

We left Red's set to head over to the main stage to see the band I really came to see, Project 86. We made it up front. Not dead center, but all the way up front and to the left of center a little bit. Project 86 is pretty hardcore and I knew it was going to be a bit rough. The brave souls were Patty and I, and Jaret and Madison. Before they even came onstage the MC made an announcement about some of the smaller kids up front and said that if folks are going to mosh, please keep it away from the stage. Well it was okay near the beginning but got insane from the middle to the end of the set. They were very good live and we had a blast, but the moshing was just way too much, especially at a Christian show. The very last song was just totally insane. A kid about 14 or so fell to the ground in front of me during the moshing and side to side pushing and never came back up. I reached down and pulled his arm and got him back up. What I saw was pretty gross to say the least. It looked like the lower part of his jaw was broken. I grabbed him and pushed him through the crowd with me to the outside and finally found someone to direct me to the medical tent. One of his friends came with us so I left him with the medics and then went back to my group.

When people get hurt, moshing is NOT COOL! I guess you can say it is expected when you are up in the front, but regardless, things should not get out of hand like they do. I pray that this kid will be okay. I am also thankful that nobody from our group got hurt.

This "old man" is pretty sore today though. But I still had a good time. It was cold too. I never got warm until Project 86 came on. Then it was just the moving and body heat that kept me warm.

Be Moved!

Friday, January 12, 2007

Went to a fight, a hockey game broke out

What a game man! Just got back. Check out the penalty summary, especially at the end of the 1st period, the 20 minute mark right at the buzzer. A full line brawl including every player on the ice, and yes, including the goalies. You gotta love minor league hockey man! Oh, and we won too, 7-5 :-)

Penalties
1 - IDH Galbraith, 3:51 - Fighting - major (47.14), 5 min
1 - PHX Paddock, 3:51 - Fighting - major (47.14), 5 min
1 - PHX Monych, 4:32 - Tripping - minor (57.2), 2 min (PP)
1 - IDH Rallo, 7:29 - Interference - minor (56.2), 2 min (PP)
1 - IDH Rallo, 12:43 - Hooking - minor (55.2), 2 min (PP)
1 - PHX Smyth, 15:22 - Tripping - minor (57.2), 2 min (PP)
1 - PHX Monych, 16:33 - Hooking - minor (55.2), 2 min (PP)
1 - PHX Smyth, 17:42 - Slashing - minor (61.2), 2 min (PP)
1 - IDH Burt, 20:00 - Fighting - major (47.14), 5 min
1 - IDH Burt, 20:00 - Game misconduct - Secondary altercation (47.7), 10 min
1 - IDH Daigneau, 20:00 - Fighting - major (47.14), 5 min
1 - IDH Desmet, 20:00 - Roughing - minor (51.2), 2 min
1 - IDH Desmet, 20:00 - Fighting - major (47.14), 5 min
1 - IDH Forsyth, 20:00 - Fighting - major (47.14), 5 min
1 - IDH Forsyth, 20:00 - Game misconduct - Secondary altercation (47.7), 10 min
1 - IDH Wight, 20:00 - Fighting - major (47.14), 5 min
1 - IDH Wight, 20:00 - Game misconduct - Secondary altercation (47.7), 10 min
1 - PHX Demianiuk, 20:00 - Fighting - major (47.14), 5 min
1 - PHX Demianiuk, 20:00 - Game misconduct - Secondary altercation (47.7), 10 min
1 - PHX Fitzpatrick, 20:00 - Fighting - major (47.14), 5 min
1 - PHX Fitzpatrick, 20:00 - Game misconduct - Secondary altercation (47.7), 10 min
1 - PHX Monych, 20:00 - Fighting - major (47.14), 5 min
1 - PHX Monych, 20:00 - Game misconduct - Secondary altercation (47.7), 10 min
1 - PHX Pszenyczny, 20:00 - Fighting - major (47.14), 5 min
1 - PHX Rudkowsky, 20:00 - Leaving the crease - minor (28.6), 2 min (PP)
1 - PHX Rudkowsky, 20:00 - Instigating - minor (47.11), 2 min (PP)
1 - PHX Rudkowsky, 20:00 - Goaltender beyond center - minor (28.7), 2 min
1 - PHX Rudkowsky, 20:00 - Fighting - major (47.14), 5 min
1 - PHX Rudkowsky, 20:00 - Game misconduct - Secondary altercation (47.7), 10 min
2 - IDH Rallo, 10:28 - Cross-Checking Minor (59.2), 2 min (PP)
2 - IDH Peters, 18:47 - Tripping - minor (57.2), 2 min (PP)
3 - PHX Jackson, 0:10 - Hooking - minor (55.2), 2 min (PP)
3 - PHX Deschamps, 11:02 - Holding - minor (54.2), 2 min (PP)
3 - IDH Peters, 17:43 - Delay of game (63.2), 2 min (PP)
3 - PHX Ortmeyer, 19:36 - Delay of game (63.2), 2 min (PP)

Thursday, January 11, 2007

Missing The Point

"Despite what many people think, within the Christian family and outside it, the point of Christianity isn't to "go to heaven when you die."
excerpt from "Simply Christian - Why Christianity Makes Sense" by N.T. Wright, HarperCollins NY,NY © 2006 by N.T. Wright, p. 217

The Measure of Your Life

“We realize at a very young age that it is our behavior in the human community, not our affiliation with a church, that will in the end, measure the caliber of our lives.”
Chittister, Joan In Search of Belief, Ligouri/Triumph Ligouri, Missouri Copyright © 1999 by Joan Chittister, p.180.

Tuesday, January 09, 2007

The State of Amadeo

Ben put together a lengthy State of Amadeo statement that I would like to share. It is basically where our church is now and where it is going. Enjoy and be moved!

2006 State of AMADEO

Sunday, January 07, 2007

A very interesting read

I just got done reading an article written by a Pastor Phil Wyman who was "removed" from his denomination for being too friendly to neo-pagans and witches. I myself am not so clear in my own mind as to whether or not he crossed the line here. Immediately, I thought to myself that it was pretty cool. But then I began to wonder about spiritual warfare and whether or not he should even be around it. But does it matter if you are covered by the blood of Christ?

What are some of your thoughts? I would be very interested to hear them. I mean I can hang out with homosexuals, drunks and drug addicts and I am okay with that. But this stuff might freak me out a little bit. But what if by me showing them love, they were to come to Christ? I'm just not so cut and dry in my opinion on this one yet, so please do share your thoughts.

Also, in the link I will provide there is a link to an article in the Washington Post about him too. One thing that I found cool was the reverse confessional booth this guy set up in Salem MA confessing the sins of the church. It sooooo reminded me of Donald Miller's book Blue Like Jazz where him and his friends had a similar tent set up at Reed College.

Check out this link from The Porpoise Diving Life website

I Am What’s Wrong With The Church

Friday, January 05, 2007

One of my favorite websites is Burnside Writers Collective. Here are two articles that I found interesting on the homosexuality issue.

This is the first article On Homosexuality and Getting it Wrong

Here is the second article in response to the first one On “Getting it Wrong-ality” - A Response

Enjoy! Be Moved!

A not so good beginning to 2007?

I have a lot on my mind right now. A lot of crap going on. I will not get into the car accident again, just read the previous post if you want to hear what happened. What I will write about here is after the accident.

Yesterday, which was the day after the accident, I spent at least 2 hours on the telephone talking to three different insurance companies. I had to give recorded statements to two of them. Yes, it needed to be done, but it was an inconvenience to me and took up a lot of my time. I still do not have an estimate for the damage on my vehicle yet and do not know where to take it yet as I am waiting for the insurance company of the guy who was cited in the accident for more info.

I read Pastor Ben's blog and his Dear Church writings. Check this one out as it is prophetic to me. Dear Church - the problem is you...

I really am struggling with my relationship to my daughter. I was not always a good father when I was a drunk. But I have strived to be a good one the last 6 plus years. Could I have done some things differently? Absolutely. Just pray for me and her. I need it and she needs it.

Towards the end of his post he talks about comforting your spouse even when she is depressed or down in the dumps. I always tend to just say "get over it and move on". But what Ben wrote makes a whole heck of a lot of sense. I can even strive to be this way for my daughter also.

The reason I say it is prophetic for me, was because most of what he wrote in that post applies to exactly what I am going through right now and I needed to hear these words. Thank you Ben and thank you God for using Ben to minister to me. Help me to be the Godly husband and father that I should be.

Now for the crummy stuff that happened.

I got to work and after all of the IT folks and El Techs had gone home, the crap hit the fan so to speak. I noticed that all of our products were not making it outside of our office. Our systems had failed and so had the back-up systems. Un-FREAKING-believable man! We had to pass on all of our area of responsibility to the Tucson office and I am sure that made their night. Yeah right!

Then I received info about my friend that I have talked about in the past. I had been mentoring and counseling him for quite sometime and then he began isolating himself again and I knew he was using again. But he would never fess up to it. Lied straight to my face, only I knew he was lying. I used to lie all the time too when I was using. To make a long story short, yes he has been using again. His wife told me that she has kicked him out and he is in a detox unit in Phoenix at this time. I am praying for him to call me. If he does I will go see him. If not, I will just continue to pray for him. Sometimes after you have worked with someone as long as I have with this individual, you have to let them fall flat on their face and hit bottom. Maybe this will be it for him, I don't know. Time will tell. He was even stealing pain pills from his own daughter for crying out loud. Lying and stealing, it all comes with being an addict. Pray for me and for my friend as I don't know how this story is going to end.

After all of this, Patty calls to inform me that our Kenmore fridge/freezer (Only 5 years old I might add) was not working. As in not cooling anything at all and stuff in the freezer was thawed and all of the ice had melted and dripped all over the floor. Good times eh? Anyhow, that was repaired today to the tune of $250.

But you know what? Through all of this I am still smiling. Because God is so good to me and floods me with His grace and mercy each and every day. I am blessed with many good things but sometimes you have to go through trials to get to the good stuff.

Keep being moved by God's love and you WILL get through those trials.

Be Moved!

Wednesday, January 03, 2007

We had a blast up in the White Mountains of Arizona. But most of all, they were really white, as in "snow" white. It was a very refreshing time and the dogs loved the snow. We also brought Meredith along and her and Shannon enjoyed themselves too. Patty and I just spent a lot of time relaxing and enjoying the crisp clean air. I finished the book I started by Chris Seay called The Gospel According to Tony Soprano. It was a very interesting read. He talked about each character in the show and used analogies with their characters and showed how they related with their families and their dedication to the mafia and their struggles with spirituality. It was actually very interesting.

So today I went to a retirement luncheon held for a co-worker at an Italian place down near Mill Ave and Broadway. A friend of mine, Ryan who used to work with me but moved to the Los Angeles Office flew in for the occasion. After the party we were driving down Mill Ave in Patty's Ford Escape, following our secretary who was driving the government vehicle. We were going to swing by the office so Ryan could see some of the folks that couldn't make it to the luncheon and then I was taking him to pick up a rental car. Anyhow, we were stopped in the 900 block of Mill Ave right behind the government vehicle at a stoplight. All I heard was tires squealing then a crash and then impact with my vehicle which then hit the government vehicle. 4 cars involved.

The guy that caused it all was driving a Nissan Altima and was alone. The vehicle he hit was a Mercedes SUV with a mother driving and 3 little kids in it, one an infant. Luckily all were unharmed. Their vehicle hit mine and I tapped the government vehicle. My vehicle and the government vehicle were not damaged badly and were able to drive away. The two other vehicles were towed and undriveable.

Right after it happened I jumped out and checked on the lady behind me who was worried about her kids. They were all okay and in car seats. The guy behind her was stunned as both of his airbags deployed. He kept trying to get out of his car and I told him maybe he should just stay put until help got there. He ended up being okay though.

My friend Ryan is a much younger guy than myself, 25 I think, and a Christian. He was a part of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes at UCLA and even played varsity volleyball there. Some of you may have met him as he attended VCCG with me one time. We observed the guy that caused everything just sitting on the curb looking sort of dejected. Ryan suggested that as Christians we should go talk to the guy and we did. We asked how he was and just made sure he was okay. He was thankful that the little kids and nobody else was hurt.

Anyhow, bottom line to this story is we should all be like Ryan and show our Christian love to everybody. This guy was genuinely touched by our concern for him even though he was at fault for the accident. We were able to show him God's love in a real way.

Be Moved!