Now...Where's My Coat?

It seems that every community has the old saying, "If you don't like the weather in ________, just stick around, it will change soon enough." I've heard that in STL and Dallas/FTW. It's funny, in DFW, they would say that but I could predict the weather for about 3 straight months with little variation. From June 30 to September 30, the weather would be: Sunny, highs in the mid to upper nineties, lows in the upper 70s, no rain. To show you the STL version, check this out from yesterday's Post Dispatch:

Tuesday was one of those days when the Midwest proves its reputation for fickle weather. It was 73 degrees at 12:39 p.m., breaking by six degrees the record set for Jan. 29 in 1988. In less than four hours, the temperature fell 50 degrees. Cold wind gusted to near 40 mph.

The temp got down to about 14. The wind chill had to be below zero. The lesson: always have your coat nearby in STL in January.

Night Out with SSLYBY

We dropped Maggie off at the baby-sitter's and went to dinner and spent way more than I am used to, but for once, you got what you paid for. I had the best steak I have had in a long time. We got to the music venue right at 8:30 (concert time). The opening act was on stage and it looked like they were about to start. No, just air check, they go outside for awhile and the concert doesn't start until about 9:30. Witch's Hat was the opening act. Four members, guitar-bass-drums-lead singer. Interesting group, strong catchy power trio hooks with a lead singer who was trying to channel both Jack Black and Bruce Dickinson from Iron Maiden. A lot of medieval/Dungeons and Dragons/Lord of the Rings influenced lyrics. They seemed to have a lot of fun and the crowd enjoyed them. They were a local band as was the second band, Bald Eagle. A little more hard core than the first group. Once again, good musicians and a tight band but their lyrics were screamed and unless one was familiar with the songs, you would not have understood 3/4 of their lyrics.

At about 11:15 the headline act, Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin comes on. They are a pop band heavy on catchy hooks and intelligible lyrics. Definitely a shock to the system if you came to see Bald Eagle and thought you would hang around for the last band. I think they were genuinely nervous playing after this group. The styles were extremely contrasting. I also think they are not used to being the headliners (they toured with and opened for Mute Math last year). Musically they were great all night, but you could sense that the lead singer was a little off, which could be explained because they hadn't played live in a few months and they followed the "screamers." About 6 songs in, they shifted their line up. The lead singer left his guitar and played bass, the bass player moved to drums and the drummer came out front, played guitar and shared lead vocals. The band took off from then on. This is the second time I've seen them and in both shows, after the line up change, that band was stronger.

Highlights: my favorites - Pangea, Oregon Girl, Half Awake (after the shift) and The Oceanographer (from their upcoming cd Pershing, to be released April 8th).

I started to think, why don't they start these shows on time? Don't they think about people who have baby-sitters and who don't necessarily feel like standing for 4 hours? Then I looked around the room and thought, there aren't a whole lot of people like that in the room. 12:30 is not a late night to 22 year olds. Surprisingly enough, it is for me. Funny though, I saw Spoon and Wilco and got home by 11:00. Difference, week night shows and only one opening act. Is it time to give up the live music thing? No, never! I refuse to admit that I am getting old (even though my back is extremely sore from standing for four hours last night).

Mizzou Musings

I did not go to Mizzou but I have been a fan all of my life. I did apply and intended to go, but I got a scholarship to SLU [braggart] and went there. I have followed the Tigers in basketball and football since the Sunvold-Stipanovich days and I remember when Steve Piszarciwiecz was QB of the Tigers. I did, however, recently join the MU community recently (in a very small fashion). I got a library card at the Ellis Library and can now check out books. Not only do I feel like a scholar again, I actually feel like I am connected to the school I have been following all of my life.

There has been a recent dust up in the Athletic Department about a blogsite with the name missouritigers.com. This man, an alum, registered the domain name seven years ago when it had expired. He offered it to Mizzou for his expenses. Never heard anything about it. Now he is being threatened to turn it over because he has been accused of copyright infringement. Visit the site and let the guy tell you the story. It is interesting and the guy is pretty entertaining.

Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin is going to be at Mojo's tonight. I am dragging the wife. So underrated.

Now That's an Apology!

This is an interesting story on its own merits, especially if you frequent any of numerous sports blogs. But I find it interesting because of the apology.

Dana Jacobson, co-host of ESPN2's "First Take," is currently being disciplined for remarks made at a Jan. 11 celebrity roast for ESPN Radio personalities Mike Greenberg and Mike Golic.

Her characterizations of the Notre Dame football program, which have been criticized by a Catholic organization, were deemed "inappropriate" by the network, which issued the following statement from Jacobson:

"I am sorry. My remarks about Notre Dame were foolish and insensitive. I respect all religions and did not mean anything derogatory by my poorly chosen words. I also deeply regret the embarrassment I've caused ESPN and Mike and Mike.

"My actions at the roast were inappropriate and in no way represent who I am. I won't make excuses for my behavior, but I do hope I can be forgiven for such a poor lack of judgment."


That is an apology. In these days, hardly anyone ever says "I'm sorry, I did/said something stupid. I was wrong and I was sorry." Usually you get, "I am sorry if anyone was offended by what I did." This usually implies, "I didn't do anything wrong, but my actions are causing a firestorm, so, since no one gets my humor, it's really your fault, but I will say I am sorry I offended you."
Now, I don't think I want to comment on what she said, but, if she said all three things she supposedly said...Oh My! She really needed to apologize.

Last Post on Breaking the Missional Code

The Process of Breaking the Code (chapter 15)

I am providing a skeleton outline of this chapter, which really does not need a whole lot of elaboration. Realize that most of what I have in this chapter is me thinking about starting college ministries.

Understand Your Self

Confirm God’s Call on Your Life
Fall in Love with the People (or campus)
Die to Yourself and Your Preferences
Examine Your Leadership Readiness

Understanding Your Community

Get Counselors from the Context – these are the people who live in the culture. This means making friends with the people who are like the people group you are trying to reach.
Study Demographic Information
Talk to the Experts
Do Prayer Walks
Identify Spiritual Strongholds
Review the History; Become the Expert
Understanding Networks – determine who influences the people that God has called you to reach; find “bridge people” from the context. Who has God already placed in the community through whom he plans to use to transform the campus with the gospel?
Understand Where God is Working in Campus Ministries
Find All of the Campus Ministries and Map them Out
Research Indigenous Campus Ministries or Campus Churches
Determine Musical Preferences
Determine their Leadership Systems – that is, what kind of leadership are they used to in their context? Is it professor-student? Supervisor-co-worker?
Determine How They Learn – classrooms? Small groups? Dialogues? Lectures?
Identify the People Groups on Campus – not just those you hope to reach, but who else is on campus, what subgroups or subcultures are there?

Does This Sound Like Your Dad?

In Genesis 42, Jacob's family was struggling because of a famine in the land of Canaan where they lived. The narrative picks up with Joseph speaking to his sons:

42:1 - When Jacob learned that there was grain in Egypt, he said to his sons, "Why do you just keep looking at each other?" 2 He continued, "I have heard that there is grain in Egypt. Go down there and buy some for us, so that we may live and not die."

Sounds like my dad...

Sleep, Sleep tonight...

Below is an excerpt from Martin Luther King Jr.’s “Letter from a Birmingham Jail.” The letter is a response to a statement made by eight white Alabama clergymen on April 12, 1963 titled "A Call For Unity" which agreed that social injustices were taking place but expressed the belief that the battle against racial segregation should be fought solely in the courts and not taken onto the streets.

Perhaps it is easy for those who have never felt the stinging darts of segregation to say, “Wait.” But when you have seen vicious mobs lynch your mothers and fathers at will and drown you brothers and sisters at whim; when you have seen hate filled policemen curse, kick and even kill your black brothers and sisters; when you see the vast majority of your twenty million negro brothers smothering in an air tight cage of poverty in the midst of an affluent society; when you…seek to explain to your six year old daughter why she can’t go to the public amusement park that has just been advertised on television, and see tears welling up in her eyes when she is told that Funtown is closed to colored children, and see ominous clouds of inferiority beginning to form in her little mental sky and see her distorting her personality by developing an unconscious bitterness toward white people; when you have to concoct an answer for a five year old son who is asking, “Daddy, why do white people treat colored people so mean?”; when you take a cross country drive and find it necessary to sleep night after night in uncomfortable corners of your automobile because no motel will accept you; when you are humiliated day in and day out by nagging signs that read “white” and “colored”; when your first name becomes “nigger,” your middle name becomes “boy” (however old you are) and you last name becomes “John,” and your wife and mother are never given the respected title of “Mrs.”; when you are harried by day and haunted by night by the fact that you are a negro, living constantly at tiptoe stance, never knowing quite what to expect next, and are plagued with inner fears and outer resentments; when you are forever fighting a degenerating sense of “nobodiness” – then you will understand why we find it difficult to wait…