5 More, More, More Things I Think I Think

I return today with a new list of 5 Things I think I think:

1. The Baseball Hall of Fame should have a special wing for all power hitters starting in the late 80's up until now and call it "The Steroid Era Wing." This would allow all the power numbers of Jose Canseco, Jason Giambi, Barry Bonds, and Raphael Palmeiro to be included in the hall, yet acknowledge what we all know!

2. Mac is better than PC. I type this entry at me favorite new spot, Port City Java, on my favorite new thing, my 14-inch iBook G4. It was easy to set up, get started and I've already made a movie using iDVD. You gotta get one of these!

3. The Biggest Problem in the Church is Our Inability to Adapt and Reach Out. We are great at handling technical issues. We will deal with text issues all day and night while evangelism is non-existent and our numbers dwindle. Could we PLEASE spend some time on something that matters?! BTW, if it doesn't bring people to Jesus or make someone a better disciple it isn't something that matters (Just in case you were wondering).

4. My Daughter, While the Cutest 20-month Old in the World, Grows Cuter Everyday. I feel sorry for other parents whose kids aren't as cute as Malia. We will try to teach her to be humble about her brilliant smile and captivating personality--but some things you can't control. Then again, this may just be the opinion of one proud papa!

5. I Married a Fantastic Woman. Rochelle's birthday was yesterday. I love birthdays--as I've written before--because they allow me to celebrate another person--not for a role they play (mother, wife, father, etc..)--but for who they are. I couldn't not ask for a better wife. Ro, you don't look but a day over 30! :-)

Drivin' and Sleepin'

Guess what? I'm typing this from my new ibookG4. It's a fantastic machine; sleek, slim, fast. What I said before may be true, I might never go back to my PC. For some reason I can't get my e-mail to work yet, but either I will figure it out or go to the Genius Bar at my local Apple Store. My experience with Apple has been terrific so far. You should get one if you can.
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Did you all hear the about the Macedonian man who left his wife at an Italian service station and only realized that he had driven off without her SIX HOURS later? The couple was traveling with their 4-year old daughter and had stopped for gas. After fueling the tank, the husband drove away, not noticing that his wife had got out of the car to go to the restroom.

The poor wife had no money and no documents. She contacted the police who eventually found her husband in Milan--210 miles north of where he had left her.

The husband said he hadn't missed his wife because she always sat in the back of the car with their daughter.

Now, most folks will think that this guy is crazy, abusive, unthoughtful, controlling--something, but I think it could be an honest mistake. If you had ever been on a road trip with my wife you would see it too. The only reason I know that Rochelle is in the car is because she's sitting next to me. If she were in the back, I might leave her too. The reason? She sleeps the entire way!

Rochelle is always wanting to go on road trips. Recently we were talking about a much overdue trip to Mississippi and Atlanta--the two places I lived before I moved to Texas to go to university ("university""--like Madonna, every now and then I like to pretend that I'm British). I try telling her that that is a lot of driving, but she rebutts by telling me that it's not that bad. Well sure, it's not that bad for her. Driving to Atlanta, for Rochelle, would be like a 16-hour nap. I can see a man getting out of his car, pumping gas, and hoping back to head down the road thinking his sleeping wife and daughter were still sleeping.

There is one lagging question though: What kind of gas did he pump that he could drive SIX HOURS without having to stop again, and when did he plan on stopping to feed the 4-year old? Now that I think about it, maybe he did leave her on purpose, maybe she hadn't been sleeping, maybe she was talking too much? :) (That's just a joke everyone, my wife is not overly chatty)

Top Five

A new friend of mine asked me to e-mail him a list of my top five books that deal with the modern to post-modern shift, spiritual formation, the Emergent conversation, missional theology etc... That was awhile back and I never did it,--not the best way to keep new friends--so I thought I would list my top five books that cover these issues in this space. The list--though a top five--is not in any particular order.

• A New Kind of Christian--Brian D. McLaren
• More Ready Than You Realize--Brian D. McLaren
• soulTsunami--Leonard Sweet
• The Emerging Church--Dan Kimball
• Missional Church--Darrel l. Guder, ed.

So, what's on my reading table right now? I thought you'd never ask.

• The Faces of Forgiveness: Searching for Wholeness and Salvation--F. Leron Shults
• The Barbarian Way: Unleash the Untamed Faith Within--Erwin Raphael McManus
• Morph: The Texture of Leadership for Tomorrow's Church--Ron Martoia

I hope you're reading some great and challenging stuff too. What's on your top five list of recent reads?

Right vs Wrong

Much is always being made about who (or what idea) is right and who (or what idea) is wrong. It doesn't matter what the subject is, people love being right because it makes us feel superior or righteous. It seems to me that this is very true in the Christian community. True, we have a lot riding on right and wrong and we should, but I hope these words from Donald Miller's "Searching For God Knows What" might help us have some epistlemological humility. Perhaps a little humility might lead us to love people first and argue philosophies later!

"If you think about it, right and wrong aren't even people, they are ideas, philosophical equations and that sort of thing, and so it is funny that anybody would think they are right in the first place. I suppose what we really mean when we say we are right is that something out there in the soup of ideas is right, and we simply agree with whatever it is the soup is saying. But this doesn't have anything to do with our rightness or wrongness; it just means we can read."

Interesting thought. What do you think?