Fully Assimilated

Look at these three pictures - all of me. The first one was taken Christmas of 1980. I was only 6 years old. My uncle Alan had just been to America, and he came home with gifts (including that flag) and stories about the promised land! From that moment all I wanted was to go to America. No, I wanted to be an American. I put American flags on everything I owned, I used American words, I memorized American maps, I spent time with Americans living in South Africa, I used American spelling in school - which drove my English teachers nuts because these were real English teachers! One teacher told me, "There's no such thing as 'American English' - it's just wrong!

The second one was taken on February 16, 1994, just one day after I arrived in the USA from South Africa. Man was I "fresh off the boat!" A friend of mine in the movie industry in LA calls this my own personal Tommy Hillfiger ad. I was a 19-year-old kid with a head full of big ideas and a heart full of dreams as high as the stars. I had a visitors visa that was only valid for 6 months and only $230 to my name. But it didn't matter - I was finally in America (well, I was in Van Horn, TX which is still technically in America). Anything was possible.

The third picture is my official "preacher pose" for the church directory, taken in 2004. Here I am fully assimilated - as American as apple pie, as I like to say. My dream came true. I am an American! Now I need to work on making that $230 grow.

Actions Speak Louder Than Words

Okay, a couple of weeks ago Holly and I went to the fairly new Super WalMart here in Abilene. In the parking lot we saw an old run-down car with the "Boycot Walmart" bumpersticker. We laughed and laughed and laughed. Where's a camera when you need one? Anyway it got me thinking. What we do is much more important than what we say. You can't tell others to boycot WalMart when you're inside their store buying $5 shirts! This principle applies accross the board. This morning Mike Cope reflected in his blog about a new book by Shane Claiborne: Living as an ordinary radical. This line really caught my attention: "If we were to set out to establish a religion in polar opposition to the Beatitudes Jesus taught, it would look strikingly similar to the pop Christianity that has taken over the airwaves of North America." You know - a mile wide, but only an inch deep! We better be careful that our actions don't tell the world to "boycot Jesus."

"Digging Deep into the Suitcase of Courage" and other Liggettisms

This is the best Tour de France since 1989! So much is said and written about what the French call the "convicts of the road" - the mighty superhumans who race their machines day in and day out. I want to salute another cycling hero of mine - Phil Liggett. Phil Liggett is the voice of world cycling. The man who has provided commentary on every Tour in recent history. I actually met Phil in Cape Town in 1993 (when I was still good enough to be racing in events that Phil did TV commentary for). Anyway, I salute you, Phil, with these classic Liggettisms:


"And Armstrong is coming down the finishing straight like a grand prix motorcar!"

"An absolute beast of a man" Used in reference to Ulrich From 2004 TdF

"he's sitting at the back of the peleton nursing an injury. no word on the specifics of the injury but rumor is he has a boil on the you-know-what." 2004 TdF

"There's Armstrong. His face giving nothing away. He is in complete concentration but I imagine that his ears are twitched back just listening for the whistle of a tire on the pavement -- the sound of an attack." 2004 TdF

"Ullrich and Kloden are having a bit of conversation back there. I wonder if Lance understands any German?" 2004 TdF

"Oh my there's some rubbish in the road. it appears as if a mini tornado has been through here. and (unknown cyclist) behind him as if to find someone to blame well he's going to have to look to the heavens. 2004 TdF

"This is DESTRUCTION TIME."

"If there's one thing Cadel Evans has learned in his first Tour de France...it's how to hurt himself!"

" he would rip the bike in half if he had half the chance" Regarding Botero chasing Vino on the Galibier.

"well, are you coming or not and the answer is NOT!" Refers to "The Look": Armstrong looks straight into the eyes of Jan Ullrich.

(The Peloton passes a field with white cows) "The peloton is passing a field of white cows. This region of France is known for its bovine....(goes off on tangent)....Of course, none of that matters to any of the riders, except that they might like a nice steak at the end of day." - 03 TDF

"Tap tap tapping out a rhythm" - One of the many pedaling related quotes

"These riders know how to win in style."

"Hes' praying for the summit to come as soon as possible"

"he's soaked in talent" On Ulrich

"Ullrich is pumping those two pistons he calls legs."

"Now the boys are enjoying a nice slice of tailwind"

"Simoni has been reduced to a touring cadence." When Simoni got dropped from the leading group.

"The crowd is cheering for their Pin-up Boy!" Virenque nearing the finish
of stage 7.

"Armstrong has let them all have their chances and now he is reeling them
in like some great fisherman."

"...and Fabian Cancellara is riding to a high level of superbness..."

"...and there's Roberto Heras, the little boy in the blue jersey"

"He's lit the blue touchpaper" -- i.e., someone has attacked. Apparently another 'chiefly British' term. Blue touchpaper is evidently highly flammable paper used to lit fireworks and such.

Paul says something like "Look at Armstrong; what is that face saying?" and Phil says "It's says 'I'm going to win the Tour de France' Regarding 04 TdF; stage to La Mongie or Plateau de Beille when Armstrong was in a small group in the final climb to the summit.

Pray for the Peace of Jerusalem

I pray that July of 2006 doesn't turn into August of 1914. Do I need to say more?

Rest and Relaxation

What did I do last week? Where in the world was I? Holly and I had the most incredible week - pure rest and relaxation. Last Monday we drove down to San Antonio, and spent the night in the Palacia del Rio. Then we spent three days in New Braunfels. What did we do? Nothing! It was wonderful. I slept more last week than I have in the past month. We slept late, we took afternoon naps, we ate wonderful food, we drove around aimlessly, we kept the cell phones turned off, we hung around historic Gruene, we went antique shopping (that was Holly's idea), and . . . we went tubing down the Comal River (aka "toobing"). Just look at that picture. Wanna go?

When I preached my series on the 10 Commandments last month I really wrestled with the Sabbath commandment. Jesus was always in trouble for violating the Sabbath traditions of the Jews, and today any mention that we observe the Sabbath gets those Christians who think the OT doesn't apply to us all riled up. I think both extremes miss the point. Jesus said the Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. Sabbath keeping is not about legalism or what you do on Saturday - it's about rest. Doing nothing. Chilling out. It's God's will.

Here's a wonderful observation I'm borrowing from Wade Hodges' blog: "Dualism brought in its wake an emphasis upon asceticism. This life-style, a stark departure from the Jewish norm in Scripture, is still present in varying forms in the Church today. Asceticism results in a debasement of life. The enjoyment of the physical is rejected in favor of the general mortification of the flesh. Physical appetites and pleasures are considered unworthy indulgences which foster entrapment, so the body must be policed by rules. Thus one must seek to restrict or restrain oneself from, to deny or give up, anything enjoyable which may prove a hindrance to the cultivation of one’s “spiritual” life. . . .Though rejected by Paul, the ascetic attitude of “Do no taste! Do not touch!” (Col. 2:21) remains deeply embedded in the history of Christian thought. At the time of the reformation, the Dutch scholar Erasmus noted that Christianity in his day had come to be defined not in loving one’s neighbor but in abstaining from cheese and butter for Lent. . . The overall thrust of Scripture , however, reflects a different emphasis. Though physical pleasure is not the highest good or the solitary goal of life, one should receive and affirm in with an attitude of grateful acceptance. . . .If we find enjoyment in the here and now we should not be surprised. We know this enjoyment comes from the hands of living Creator who brought us into being with our best interests at heart. Hence, the Jerusalem Talmud states that in the life to come a person must give an account of every good thing he might have enjoyed in this life but did not. In the rabbis view, not to enjoy every legitimate pleasure was in essence to be an ingrate before the Master of the Universe. The next time someone tries to make you feel guilty because you’re enjoying life too much just tell them that you’re getting ready for the Day of Judgement."

Le Tour

I just got through watching the prologue time trial of this year's Tour de France. Game on! This is the first time since 1988 that no past winner has started the race. Until this morning I missed Lance - but now I'm so glad he's retired. This race will be very exciting. I hope Americans can get over this personality driven fad with the "Tour de Lance" (thank ESPN for that gem!) Lance is not the greatest Tour rider ever - Eddy Mercx is. And there are really great American riders who have been living in Lance's shadow for too long - Floyd Landis, Dave Zabriski, George Hincapie, Bobby Julich, Levi Leipheimer. What's the big deal about the TDF? It's the greatest show on earth! It's chess at 40 mph with the 189 fittest athletes in the world enacting pure drama for a solid three weeks! Watch the Tour this year. Let the bug bite you! Oh, by the way, the super-fast rider in the blue and red Supermanesque "skinsuit" in the picture is . . . Me! That was the 1994 University of Port Elizabeth Criterium series. Ryan and I knew how to bring it on faster than a speeding bullet!

The Doctor of Ministry

Part of the reason why I've been so quiet recently has been my admission to the Doctor of Ministry (D.Min, pronounced "demon") at Abilene Christian University. The degree is designed for full-time practicing ministers who have had a Master of Divinity for at least three years. It's different from the Ph.D in that it is aimed at church leadership and practical theology in ministerial contexts. The degree is basically a series of 8 classes - all in the weeklong short-course format. That means reading 10-12 books before class, class from 8am to 5 pm Monday to Friday, and a fairly significant assignment once class gets out. I love this format. It's intense, but over quickly - kinda like ripping off a bandaid! After 24 hours of courses, the final 6 hours are a thesis. This week the class is "Theological Foundations of Ministry." The gist of the reading and discussions has been that ministers are not only skilled technical historical-critical interpreters of the Word in an intellectual vacuum, we are also interpreters of culture, we pass on folklore, we interpret and reinterpret symbols by shaping those symbols through liturgies and rituals, and we engage in pastoral care. For example, today we visisted 4 churches - 2 very different Churches of Christ, one Baptist, and Episcopal to take careful note of how each church uses "sacred space" and symbols to convey their understanding of God, worship, and community. This is a very sophisticated exercise, because even the austere free church buildings with no visible Christian symbols/icons are themselves symbols with theological significance. Part of the minister's task is to read and interpret every story, every narrative, every ritual, and every symbol.

Every teacher I have had in the Graduate School of Theology has been a godly Christian person dedicated to knowledge, truth, Christian community, and the process of shaping students and churches into the image of God. When you have a Ph.D from Harvard and you cry while teaching a doctoral-level class, your heart is probably in the right place. They are training us to minister to the church and our communities in postmodern, post-Christian, Seinfeld-watching America. The irony of this whole process is that you would think after 2 Masters degrees in religion and theology, and work on a doctorate, I may have a big head. Just the opposite is true. The more I learn, especially in theological disciplines, the more humble I am forced to become. God has done things and is doing things I cannot wrap my mind around - in English, Greek, or Hebrew!