Book Review: This Beautiful Mess

Quick Summary: I just finished "This Beautiful Mess" by Rick McKinley and I really liked it. An easy, yet challenging look at living a life for God today.



Extended Summary: Rick McKinley is the Lead Pastor at the Imago Dei church in Portland, OR [the church attended by best-selling author Donald Miller]. Pastor Rick writes this book in an effort to help us recognize the importance of seeing God's Kingdom as realized both in heaven and on earth. There is a real, perfect place awaiting us beyond this life, but Jesus says that the Kingdom is present here as well.

The book is easy to read, yet full of deep, challenging questions and ideas. I felt that it started a bit slow, but it got better as it went on [which I suppose is better than a book that gets worse as you read it].

Here's a great paragraph about the problem of many Christians today :

We take the "Jesus is our Savior" message home like a really good story, but Jesus as King has no place in our lives. Kings are for fairy tales and burger commercials. Kings wear clothes and funny hats. We don't need a king. What we need, we think, is a little more defense in our doctrines and a little more time to tidy up our messes. That's all we need; then our world will get better.
Except it doesn't. (pg. 31)

and later he answers this problem with the reality of the Kingdom:

The kingdom of Jesus is alive and growing, but not because we make it grow. We plant seeds of life. We water and weed. We sweat and hope and pray. But the dynamic of life in the garden is the kingdom at work. It is the life of God springing up around us. (pg. 65)

Any books I should read next?

Sing It With Me!

Watch it once; you'll be singing it all day...

Melodious Melodies

This evening I was privileged to attend a concert by the davidcrowder*band at Spring Arbor University. It was a really great concert. It sounded just like their recordings, which is a compliment to both the engineering quality of their albums and the live gifts and abilities of the band members. If you ever have a chance to see them live... GO!

I can't wait for the next album to drop (which according to david's blog is currently in production)

nice try

Remember a couple of days ago when I revealed that I am a "Super-Taster"? [if not... read it here]

My lovely wife, Becky, wrote a strongly worded comment calling me a "food hypocrite". It was tough love, but I'm a big enough man to take the criticism (and cry myself to sleep). Well, today Becky made spaghetti for dinner and as I ate it I could tell that something was different about the sauce. I asked if she put something additional into it; I described the taste as being a bit like onion and celery... and then iI remembered that Becky recently purchased some leeks! She thought that she could sneak it by me... BOO-YAH!

Oh, and I did eat the entire plate of leek drenched spaghetti without any complaining. (it wasn't bad, but i prefer without it).

Let's here it for the super-tasters!

Imagine all the people...

Evan has a fantastic imagination. He's a really creative kid with the memory of Ken Jennings. He loves to talk about all of the characters from Nintendo (a la mario kart wii) and Star Wars [he's never seen an episode, he just plays with the action figures that i had]. He's also created his own characters named King Hocken, MegaJon, and Mole Hut (accompanied by bearazoids).

His latest interest has become comparing the abilities and alliances of each of the characters. All day long he constantly asks things like: "who is anakin friends with?", "who does obi-wan protect people from?", "who is faster than yoshi?", etc. etc. etc.

Then he starts to add a level of complexity to his questions by mixing the genres and asking things like: "is jabba the hutt faster than bowser?". As a fan of nintendo and star wars i can answer most of his questions without getting too thrown, but he asks Becky these types of questions ALL DAY LONG too. I'm sure she never thought that she would become an expert on the relative top speed of luigi vs. donkey kong.

It gets really funny when he and Aaron start to talk about it together because they argue about whether or not Grandpa Backes is faster than Yoshi. Then it leads to Aaron saying that HE is faster than Grandpa, but Evan denies that claim. Then Evan says that he's right because he's going to be five... and every time Aaron responds by saying "i'm six!". It's awesome to hear them talk about it together.


I love Evan's mind.

For Grandpa and Grandma Teal

[and anyone else who wants to be mesmerized by our kids]

I knew it all along!

Science has verified a belief that I have long held in my heart. It turns out that they have scientifically proven that some people have a greater number of taste-buds and are therefore "super-tasters".

I am a picky eater and I know that a lot of my food issues are just in my head. I don't like many vegetables or any condiments. But i've always said that I have a different opinion because I can taste things better than most. I've always been able to tell when Becky or my mom have tried to sneak veggies into other foods.

Don't believe the hype? Read the source or search for "super tasters"

Man vs. Food

I don't watch many shows on the travel channel. Actually, I only watch one show on the travel channel. MAN VERSUS FOOD. The premise of the show is simple: The host travels around the country finding all those "hole-in-the-wall", "mom-and-pop", local restaurants that serve over- sized meals and chows them down. It's like a leisurely version of the Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest.

Tonight, the host (Adam) went to Seattle and Boston, in two different episodes respectively. In Seattle he tried to tackle a 12 egg omelet packed with chili, salsa, sour creme and cheddar cheese. Here's a pic of the omelet in the making:


Then in the next episode he tried to eat a hamburger with 5 lbs. of meat, 20 slices of cheese, and 20 slices of bacon. And it comes with 5 lbs. of fries.

I can't believe that some of these places actually serve meals this huge. It's funny and sad. BTW, he didn't succeed in either challenge (but i've seen him best other meals). Check it out sometime (but not when you are eating).

Have any of you succeed in an eating challenge?

You don't mess with DETROIT!

NBC brought on Matt Millen as a commentator during the Super Bowl. That decision didn't receive any support from the people of Detroit. Everyone in Detroit HATES Matt Millen. He is reviled even more than Kwame Kilpatrick. I intentionally did not watch the host programming just to avoid watching him. But the next day I heard that WDIV, the local NBC affiliate, had the guts to show this ticker as Mr. Millen was on screen:



I'm so proud of those guys at WDIV. I hope they all got big raises.

Wait a minute!

I just got back from our Sr. High winter retreat at SpringHill camp in Evart, MI. It was a great weekend with Terry Prisk and Andy Rocker. But i've only got one thing on my mind right now. "love addict" by family force 5. They used the song as part of their countdown for the main sessions and it was crayzay!



I hope you get it stuck in your head too

One Scary Tale

You are all aware of the current state of the economy. It seems that every business/economic report is about about pay cuts, layoffs, or corporate bankruptcies. Most days it feels like it can't get much lower than this. We'll, let me share with you some even more frightening economic news: The company behind the "snuggie" has sold more than 4 million units. (source)



That's right... there are more than 4,000,000 of these fashion disasters enveloping people around the country. Backwards Robe; Monk's Shroud; no matter what you call it people are buying them up like crazy (or maybe they are buying them because they are crazy).

So here's the moment of truth... the point of confession... do any of you own or use a snuggie?

The weekend

I just got back from a middle school retreat at somerset beach camp. [shout out to phil and sara for a great weekend]. I took 9 of our students there and had a great time. It was cold, but there was enough snow to give us plenty of sledding and snowboarding opportunities. However... there is always a price to pay for going to somerset. Each lodge has a piano in the common room.

I'm sure some well intended geezer made a donation specifically for piano's thinking how nice it would be to be able to sing hymns together 'round the fire (not realizing that today we have electronic pianos called keyboards which are portable and have volume control). I don't have an issue with piano's per sey, but rather an issue with the rotation of kids who relentlessly pound the keys during every waking hour. There are 4 basic types of piano players found on a retreat weekend:

1) THE NOODLER- this kid has never taken any piano lessons, but has some musical ability. He never performs an actual song but just plays random keys and chords trying to figure something out. He never gets there and infuriates everyone in the process.

2) THE REPEATER- this student knows how to play one song. Only one song. It could be a classical masterpiece or the thing you play with your knuckles. But it doesn't matter which one it is because any song played 93 times in a row is unbearable.

3) THE POUNDER- this one's pretty self explanitory. Most of us see a piano as doorway to heartwarming harmonies and rising melodies , but he sees it as an invitation to shatter ivory and eardrums.

4) THE SCAMMER- this guy is similar to the repeater because he probably only knows one or two songs. The difference is that the song that he knows is a ballad he learned to play for the sole purpose of impressing girls. It makes him seem sensitive and mysterious (bonus points if he has hair that hangs down in front of his eyes), but he's out of place during the winter retreats since the girls aren't allowed in the building. So he just practices playing that emo song and looking angsty.

Are there any ones I'm leaving out?

Psych!

Sometime last fall I started watching the USA network show "Psych". It's a fun show with the feel of "Monk", but it's humor is paced must faster. One of the re-occurring bits on the show is when the central character, Shaun, will introduce the other guy, Gus, using a ridiculous pseudonym.

My sis, Angela, is also a fan of the show and told me about the Psych nickname generator on the official website. Try it out.

My nickname??? Hobart "Fly Zone" Zuniga.

Bye Bye Bye

I'm feeling the effects of Detroit Sports News Withdrawl (commonly known as DSNW). Around 3 years ago I started listening to WDFN (1130 on your AM dial). I've grown to listen nearly every workday to Seany B and Stoney & Wojo talk local and national sports. It's funny, but I feel like they were my friends (from a distance, of course). And last week they all got suddenly yanked from the air. You can read the story here.

Apparently, Clear Channel, the parent company of WDFN, decided that they just couldn't afford to keep them around in these tough economic times. I understand that tough choices need to be made by many corporations, but it sucks that these guys lost their jobs. They were really good at what they did and they certainly weren't replaced by better radio hosts (a couple of nationally sydicated guys... boring!!). I can't stand listening to them.

Good luck to Sean Baligian, Bob Wojnowski, and Mike Stone. Let us know if you get back onto radio somewhere.

Times a Changin'

Our lovely Ashlyn is reaching a new milestone as we speak... her first tooth! I'm excited to see her grow and watch her relationships with her brothers strengthen (not to mention Becky and I), but I'm sad about the tooth at the same time.

A tooth changes the way a baby looks. I know Ashlyn will look adorable with her new teeth, but there's just something special about a child's toothless, goofy grin that I find irresistible. Some of my favourite pictures of our boys are before they got any teeth.

And she's not just getting one, there are 2 more waiting to break the surface right behind it. My girl... all grown up:

LOST

Becky and I just watched the season premiere of LOST (thanks for not spoiling anything). It was awesome! I had been feeling a bit apprehensive in anticipation of this season; afterall, we haven't seen any new episodes since june and it seems that many T.V. shows have been struggling creatively. All fears were cast aside after the first few minutes.



This episode was intense! Full of Action and Suspense. Complex and Compelling. Supremely Acted and Masterfully Produced. I think the biggest success of the premiere as a whole was how connected it felt to previous episodes and seasons. You can't help but wonder how much of this was planned in the beginning because it feels like it was all part of the original vision with connections to Locke's memory of the drug plane, the woman with white hair (who i'm guessing is daniel's mother), and the central importance of characters like charles widmore, penny, farraday, and desmond. If you don't watch LOST... rent season 1. You'll be glad you did.

My favourite moment was when Hurley threw a Hot Pocket at Benjamin Linus. Hilarious!

Missing Out

Tonight in the season 5 premiere of LOST. It's actually on right now, but i'm not watching it. I have music practice on Wednesday nights at 8:15 and i don't usually get home until after 9:30, so we are taping it upstairs. Yes, I actually mean taping with a vcr.

*For the kids out there... a vcr is like a dvr except you have to put a giant brick sized tape into the box and you can't watch it until the show is totally over. And you can't pause or rewind live tv. and most americans can't make the clock work.

The point of this blog post is DO NOT TALK TO ME ABOUT LOST. I enjoy surprises and hate having them spoiled. I never try to find Christmas presents early, i never read ahead in a book. I plan on devoiding myself of as much media as possible until I'm able to watch the episode just so I don't accidentally some across anything. I'll post my review of the episode when i've seen it so you can know when it's safe (probably no until friday).

forgetfully yours

Most of my inspiration for blogging comes spontaneously. I'll hear something, read something, or do something that will make me say "i should blog about that". I try to keep a running tally in my head of the "to blog" list, but I must admit that I've been struggling to keep track of the list lately.

Part of it stems from the schedule of my day. I try not to blog at work, unless it is just too awesome, and when I come home I try to give my attention to Becky and the kids. So I don't get around to blogging until after 9pm (usually after 11) and by that time I've forgotten what i was going to write about. And I feel like that's been happening alot over the past couple of weeks.

The other part is that my memory doesn't seem to be as sharp lately. I've always suffered from the ability to remember tons of information of absolutely no consequence (movie trivia, pop culture references) and very little practical data (shopping lists, things that Becky says, Bible verses), but it's getting worse.

How do you improve your memory? I'm sure i could google it, but does anyone out there have real tips that work for them? Or am I just getting old...

r u kidding me?

A dad in Silverado Canyon, CA received an oversized letter in the mail recently. The contents of the package turned out to be a 440 page cell phone bill for his 13 yr old daughter. She managed to send 14,528 texts that month. yeah, i typed that right... 14,528! Mathematically, that's an average of 484 texts everyday or one text every two minutes of the waking day. Fortunately they have unlimited txting (or they'd be facing a nearly $3,000 bill) and the family is taking steps to reduce their daughters txting activity (apparently she has four other 13 yr old txt-addicted friends). source

Wow. I don't have a cell phone plan that includes texting. I've thought about it, and I'm sure I would use it if I had it, but it's a concious choice that I can save the ten-or-so bucks a months by not adding it and use that money elsewhere.

I send prbly a dozen texts a month. How many do you average a month? What's the most you've evr sent out in one day? Any txting addicts out there?

Bush's New Job: Comedian

I don't often comment on politics on my blog, but I just can't resist this time. You may have seen that President Bush gave his final press conference yesterday.

He strongly defended his Presidency and the choices that were made. I'm sure that he has insight to the issues that the nation faced that he cannot openly talk about. I understand that he has his own perspective on the long and short term accomplishments of his administration. With this in mind I wasn't really concerned with anything that Bush said or defended... until he got to Hurricane Katrina. When asked about the slow Federal response he responded:

"Don't tell me the federal response was slow when there were 30,000 people pulled off roofs right after the storm passed. ... Could things been done better? Absolutely. But when I hear people say the federal response was slow, what are they going to say to those chopper drivers or the 30,000 who got pulled off the roof?" he said.

ROTFLOL!

The work of those pilots and rescue workers was absolutely of critical importance and they rightfully deserve much praise. But there should have been more relief on a much larger scale. No one could have predicted just how devastating the storm actually was, but everyone knew this was a huge storm, everyone knew that the levees were in danger. The government could have done so much more both in the immediate hours following the storm and in the weeks and months afterward.

I'm ashamed to admit that I voted for him twice [in my defense, it's not like I had much choice in 2004. I mean, seriously... John Kerry??]