Jason Fry's Tiny Piece of the Web

Competing Stories

2008-10-14T15:43:00.000-07:00

At a recent men's retreat, BJ McMichael shared with us some material about how we are all a part of multiple competing stories. For example, at the same time, I am a man, a husband, a father, a psychologist, a fisherman, a Christian, and some times these various stories compete with one another for my time and attention.

Every man has had days when work has been the dominant story, taking up all of your time, and by default, becoming the most important story that trumps the others. I am in a position now like none I've ever been in before: my job is nailed down to a specific time slot. Ministry has no boundaries or schedule. Retail has a schedule, but it's random. My state job is 8 to 5 Monday through Friday, with very few exceptions. My job no longer has the power to automatically trump my faith, my family, or my own use of free time. It's truly a beautiful place to be.

The next step in the process was to look at what story causes the most tension with the others. If my job doesn't compete, what is it that brings me the most challenges as a father, a Christian, a man?

Those who know me a little might assume it's the fishing. Those who know me a little better might think I actually have it all together, as I put up a pretty good front.

Church is kicking my tail.
Not Jesus, Church, with a capital C.

I've been so conditioned by my ministry jobs to "use my talents" and to always want to help when I have the ability to. So has my wife. Frankly, we're pretty useful people when it comes to Church. No one is indispensable, but we've got a part in at least six different ministries. It's two cars on Sunday, because we both have responsibilities that start at different times. Both class and worship take a turn pulling. Then it's Sunday evenings, and a small group, Wednesday night rehearsals and another small group, this time with teens. And the women's ministry events, and KPT.

None of these things are bad. In fact, they're all good.But at the end of the day, I sit in Church trying to worship and find myself distracted (disgusted?) by all of the stuff going on. The forms have taken over at our expense, and the functions are lost.

I don't think changing to a Church with a different name/sign/location would deal with the problem. I don't want to give up the (few?) relationships we've built. I've been mistreated by Church folks before, and this isn't it. Everyone's been just swell.

I'm just getting tired of my family getting dragged 10 different directions so Church can be better, while Jesus and I become further and further apart.

Phil Ware preached yesterday about how church people have gotten in the way of the simplicity of the Christian call. I don't know if you can just blame the people. The whole system that created this problem is partly (mostly?) to blame. You can't blame the fish for the water he lives in.

I don't know if there's an answer, honestly.

2008-10-13T09:29:00.000-07:00

Here's a pic of some knives I have for sale. Top one's a trap spring with mesquite handles, $40.

Middle one's a trap spring with maple handles, brass pins, and brass bolster, $60.

Bottom one's a nicholson file with antler handle, antler spacer, and brass guard, $75. Can put filework on the spine for an additinal $25.

Oh Deer!

2007-10-29T07:23:00.000-07:00

I've been bowhunting a bit lately at my friend Trey's place south of Lawn. The first three times I went, I saw a couple of does, but nothing in range. Wednesday it all came together.

I got to my stand about 15 minutes before shooting light. As soon as I got there, a large deer came by at less than ten yards, but it was so dark, I couldn't tell if it had horns or not. About twenty minutes later, a doe started working its way up the trail. Problem is, the entire trail approach is downwind! She was suspicious and came in real slow, working the sixty yards from when I first saw her in about twenty minutes. About half way through her little game, a buck came out at the far end of the trail. Because the doe wasn't coming in, he didn't either. The deer was a seven point with about a 15" spread, a mature deer, plenty good for bow hunting. It worked its way toward me, also very slowly, and bedded down in the grass about 50 yards away. In the mean time, the doe had come in to about twenty yards, still down wind. After five or ten minutes of close doe and bedded buck, another buck started coming down the same trail. The first buck jumped up at the other's approach, and they both started moving toward me, heading behind a tree. I made up my mind to shoot whichever one came in range first.

Thirty yards away (ok, maybe 29), out steps buck #2. I drew, fired, and....

Sweet success...

This is my fourth deer, third buck with a bow. It's a typical 8 point, with about a 13" inside spread. Jonathan helped me cut it up in the back yard. Here are a couple of pics of that process...

Hope y'all enjoyed!

I'm not dead

2007-10-14T19:50:00.000-07:00

My blog might argue otherwise.

I have been busy sometimes, not too busy others. I am working, fishing, raising kids, and being married just like I was before.

But somewhere along the way, I lost the urge to put it all in words online.

I used blogging to process things, to write things down in order that they might make more sense to me, and to bounce things off of other people. My life has been mundane enough that I haven't had anything to process.

Until now. Am I back?

Here's a thread on a message board (I'm jkf96a) that explains a little bit about what's going on. texas fishing forum

Maybe I'll see you around.

Car update

2007-05-23T09:40:00.000-07:00

Here's an update on the status of the stolen car mess.

The police caught two more kids who were involved, one 14 and one 15, to go along with the 16 year old they caught on Saturday. Apparently the 16 year old was the ringleader, and the other two left because he was getting too crazy. The 16 year old has no insurance, and our insurance is taking the position that they won't cover it.

I don't know much about the legal system, never having spent much time on either side of the process. Apparently "suing for damages" is part of how the system works, in terms of the state requiring them to pay damages in cases like this. I didn't know that, figuring I'd have to get a lawyer and go after them on my own. The state can apparently garnish their wages and so on to enforce payment. On the other hand, what are the odds a bunch of teenage meth heads have wages? I still don't know how the whole thing is going to work, but I am thankful that Barry is taking care of it for us.

And so we're car shopping. We had planned on buying a truck this month and trading in the blue truck. Now we're keeping the blue truck and buying a lesser vehicle to replace the car. We're thinking small SUV, but we haven't shopped hard yet. Some have expressed concern that we might need "help" of some kind. I'd like to thank you for your concern, but we've got it handled this time.

I'll let you know as the situation develops.

Ups and downs, mostly downs.

2007-05-21T11:15:00.000-07:00

Just a warning for the reader as they begin... I'm grumpy. Read on and find out why.

The most challenging of the PITAs that I am facing this week is that a 16 year old on meth stole my wife's car on Friday night. It was at my in-laws, and he took it right out of their driveway. There were apparently a herd of them, and they thrashed the heck out of my car to the point that it's now undrivable. The police found the car within three hours of my in-laws reporting it stolen (perhaps my first good experience with police). We still don't know the extent to which he or they will be held responsible, the extent to which our insurance will work for us (doesn't the very term "agent" imply that they work on our behalf? I think reality demands that we quit calling them "agents.") In the mean time, my in-laws are without a car that they were expecting for the short term, and we are without a car that we were expecting to use for the long term. We have no idea right now what the next few days or weeks will hold with regard to transportation acquisition, but it's going to be a PITA either way.

The second major challenge is that I am in the final class for my degree, a one week short course on systematic theology. It's like trying to drink out of a fire hydrant. I haven't read enough, and the professor is one of the most difficult that the university has to offer.

The third major PITA this week is that I'm a hockey player playing golf today. I am good at my job, and I am 100% not interested in team sports. It's a challenge to be good at something, or even remotely invested in something, for which you have no passion. So far I've functioned well, but I'm beginning to feel the burden of a job I don't like. If I can pull this off, both personally and professionally, if I can succeed at something that I hate, there is nothing in the corporate world that I can't legitimately aspire to. If I care.

In the midst of all of this, I have taken a very scary step back toward church work. I have expressed interest in two major league church jobs. In comes the anxiety of whether or not I am competent, whether or not I want to go back to church work ,whether I'm competent or not, and whether I would or should even take that kind of job if it were offered.

The sole bright point, being consistently challenged by the aforementioned PITAs, is that last Wednesday was mine and Shana's ninth anniversary. We dropped the kids off at the in-laws, spent some time alone together, and in general had a very good time. We came back from the experience with a stronger connection that we have had in a while. Just in time for the @#$% to hit the fan, I guess.

*Exit Grumpy Rant Mode*

Proudly teaching the next generation of underwater dump truck drivers

2007-05-03T19:40:00.000-07:00

I took the boys to the lake tonight while Shana was out playing bunko. Phantom has come up about 3 feet, maybe even four, and I thought the catfish might be biting. They weren't, but I took these cute pictures of the boys. We caught one tiny catfish and that was it, but they had a good time.

We're headed to Ivie on Saturday for the next Stillwaters tournament. I'm not looking forward to it, as I haven't had the chance to prefish at all. On the other hand, when I asked the magic 8 ball at Academy if I was going to win, it said, "Yes, definitely."

Our company has recently changed the standards on a whole bunch of merchandising issues. The result is that we have had to entirely re-work almost the whole department in about a week. The district manager is coming in tomorrow to check our compliance with the standards. It will be my first big test as a "real" manager.

I guess that's about it. I had a person email me about this blog, so I guess I had better update more than once a month... We'll see.

Who really wants to read, "Today I caught more fish?"

2007-03-28T09:38:00.000-07:00

Thanks to my buddy Jared Cramer for the catchy title.

I was thinking today about why I don't blog much any more, and that's what I came up with.

The crappie are getting fired up at Phantom. Caught 17 Sunday evening, but they were all males, so there's still a couple weeks of good fishing left.

I was a fantasy fishing master, for a second. After the second tournament, I was sitting #16 in the WORLD. I actually rose to 5th during the tournament. The third T has come and gone, and I fell down to 116th or something like that out of only 20000 people.

I took the wife and kids out fishing the other day. I caught 4 crappie, but then Jonathan dropped my rod in the lake. Couldn't be a Zebco 33, but rather a 7' Falcon from Travis, and a 60$ Daiwa. I jumped in after it, even though the water was only 58 degrees. Didn't find it, but I know pretty much where it is. The bottom's too rough to drag, so I'll have to wait till the water warms a bit and go after it with goggles.

I finally have a department. I am now officially the Sports and Leisure (team sports and camping) manager. I am not really excited, since my passion is hunting and fishing, but my department needs customer service and merchandising, two of the things I do well. I should be able to show a good increase.

I got to have lunch with Ann White the other day. Good to see her.

I passed my oral comprehensive exam. If I can get B's in my next two classes, I'll be master master Fry.

Jared and Shana had birthdays this week, and Jonathan's is next week. I spoke with David Jackson the other night, and it was on the morning before we went to the hospital to have Jared that we sat and caught 40 something crappie off of a single beaver hut, before 10 a.m.

I guess that's about it. I'm going fishing again tomorrow, but don't expect a"Today I caught more fish" post, even though I'm sure I will.

I didn't die

2007-03-06T10:34:00.000-08:00

I just took a month off from blogging. Now that I'm not in school full time, I think less about things to do online.

In the past month, things have gone pretty well. If I recall, my last post was while I was in Houston for a meeting. I have another one there this week. Gotta love/hate business travel.

The boys and Shana are doing well.

Mom and Dad came to visit this past weekend. Dad and I fished a tournament on Saturday. I won 4th place, caught a 7.24# bass, and Dad caught a 6.48# bass. My friend Ben Lewis won the whole thing with a 17+ pound 3 fish limit, including an eight pounder. You can see pics of the tournament, including a great pic of Dad and I with our good fish, at http://www.stillwatersbassclub.org/tournament.htm

My finish put me at #2 in Angler of the Year points after two tournaments. The important thing is to be in the top six at the end. I'd be surprised if I can hold that spot for nine more tournaments, but it's a good start.

The Bassmaster Classic was last week. I did fantasy fishing again, and ended up ranked 69th out of 15,000 or so people. I doubt I can keep up that pace for another 10 tournaments, but it's a good start. Way to go Boyd Duckett.

I applied for graduation, and registered for my comprehensive exams. Everything is on track for me to graduate in May, even though I still have one more class to take in Maymester.

That's all the news that is news for this week. Maybe I'll be a better blogger this month....

Tournament Results, and Kid Stuff

2007-02-06T08:13:00.000-08:00

I fished a tournament last Saturday at Lake Brownwood. As predicted, it was cold, and the fishing was tough. I ended up catching a 5 pound drum, but also a 3.58 pound bass and one short bass. Three bites in 8 hours, now that's some fast action. My fish was enough to put me in probably 5th or 6th place. 12 or 15 guys out of 39 had a fish, and 1o pounds won. There were three fish over 6 pounds, but most guys just weighed in one fish at 2 pounds or so.

Jonathan's been on a "probably" kick. The other day he brought home a picture from school that looked like he had gone around and around in circles with a purple marker. I asked him what his picture was, and he said, "Probably just purple circles."

A couple of days later, Shana was at home with the boys and realized she hadn't seen or heard Jonathan in a while. When she found him, he looked like this:

When she asked him what he was doing, his reply was, "Probably just shaving."

What a mess :)

At least we're all well.

New Links

2007-02-01T08:48:00.000-08:00

I added a new link on the sidebar to the Academy Sports and Outdoors television show. We've got Chad Brauer on our pro staff, and we've produced a line of shows for about the past year. They show on the Outdoor Channel, which I don't have. The cool thing is that the older shows are available commercial free to watch on the Academy website that I linked to. As far as fishing shows go, these are typical. They lack a few things I'd like to see, but they're much better than some of the stuff out there. If you have high speed internet, give them a look.

Also, Fantasy Fishing kicks off next week. There's a link to that as well. If anyone reading this is interested enough in fantasy fishing to play, let me know and maybe we can start a little group, so I can beat you :)

I also joined a local bass club, Stillwaters. It's a "Christian" club, which mostly means that we have a devo at every meeting/tournament, and we don't support misbehaving during tournaments. The first tourney is Saturday at Lake Brownwood. It's supposed to be wicked cold, like 25 in the morning getting to 45 in the afternoon. Never been to Brownwood, and the fishing should be tough. Might just take one bite to get in the money. My goal for the year is to bring home money in two tournaments, enough to break even on my entry fees. I added a link to Stillwaters on the sidebar as well. If you're a local and want to join, give me a holler, or check out their website.

Yowza

2007-01-26T18:13:00.000-08:00

What a week.

Shana got in a wreck. It was exceptionally minor, no damage whatsoever to either vehicle, but the jerk in the other car wanted a police report, so Shana got a ticket for "unsafe start."

In the meantime, the car is sounding funny in the front right quadrant and shaking at high speed. Getting the tires balanced tomorrow, then to the mechanic for help if that doesn't work. I suspect wheel bearings.

As if that weren't plenty, the truck is running poorly as well. O2 sensor?

And Jonathan had the pukies yesterday.

And Shana is having strange pains. She went to the ER, but there was a 6 hour wait just to be seen, and so she came home.

And, on the way to the ER, Jared puked. And in the ER. And at home.

And yesterday WAS my day off.

Yowza.

I am not afraid of 10000's of people

2007-01-23T20:30:00.000-08:00

Hey, I just passed 10K on the hit counter.

I've been working out some quirks on the new blogger, so my posts should go back to "jason fry" instead of "Author."

Finally got promoted to "real" manager this week, but so far nothing has changed. The raise was nice, but amounted to adding the wife and kids on insurance, plus an extra 24$ per month.

Been cold and cruddy around here, so haven't got any fresh pics for you.

Been getting interested in trapping again, but probably won't do any this year. Here's one for old times' sake, a #4 victor and home made drag that I bought at a garage sale for 5$. Hate to get a finger caught in that one.

Ice and chickens

2007-01-17T20:03:00.000-08:00

It's been cold here lately. Tomorrow is supposed to be the first day with a high above freezing since last Friday. We had ice on Saturday and Sunday nights, and snow on Monday night, with a 10% chance of freezing precipitation tonight and 60% Thursday and Friday.
Rant mode on.
EVERYTHING seems to be cancelled. Most churches cancelled church on Sunday. Ours cancelled class and the evening activities but had service. Most schools were closed Monday for MLK day, but those that were open closed for the weather. Many schools started late this morning, and more are starting late tomorrow. Almost every church in town cancelled its Wednesday activities.
I'm sure there are wiser people than myself making these decisions, but they're making me mad. It's freakin' ridiculous how scared people are by this weather! I drove through the icy hills on 277 Saturday night coming home, and made it just fine. I went to church on Sunday morning with no trouble. I drove on the fresh ice Monday morning and made it to work in only five minutes more time than it usually takes. I went to work yesterday, and today made two afternoon appointments and a shopping trip. I didn't wreck, die, or end up in a ditch. Why can't people drive slowly when it's icy? I'm no stupendous driver, but I managed to stay on the road. Is it really that hard?
Why must we cancel everything? I was off work today, but had to go in for a meeting. Other than that, I've pretty much been at home, and I was looking forward to going to church. The kids had been out even less than I had, and needed some social interaction, but no! Church was cancelled. The streets have been clear since Monday afternoon. Seriously, grow up and quit cancelling everything, and learn how to drive.

Rant mode off.
Jason

It worked

2007-01-01T19:02:00.000-08:00

One of my new year's goals is to learn to finesse fish, like shakey heads, drop shot and stuff like that. I went to the lake today to begin to learn. It was 45 degrees and calm with a bluebird sky... great day for shooting, crappy for fishing. I fished about three hours and got one bite, but I got him. This largemouth, about 4.5 pounds, came on a 4" power worm on a slider head fished on top of a 10' deep brush pile. First fish of the year, first fish on the shakey head, first fish on a new rod I got for Christmas, so I thought I'd share.

Another Walmart Post

2007-01-01T11:55:00.000-08:00

Someone once accused me of never having anything positive to say. I got them this time!

A few weeks ago I posted about the oxymoron known as "Walmart customer service." Some of my management training included a statistic that 90% of customers will never complain, but that 10% that does complain tells their story to an average of 9 people. I figure I had better tell a postitive story this time.

I have not had good luck with Walmart batteries. I have been through four starting batteries in the three years that I have owned my boat. All but this last one have been replaced free, as they crapped out within the one year warranty period. As I prepared to go fishing this afternoon, I was working on the boat and discovered that the starting battery, again, was stone cold dead. My charger also quit working. Fortunately, I had an Academy gift card from Christmas. I had planned on a new reel, but it's hard to use a new reel if your boat doesn't work. I went to Academy, found a charger on clearance for 24.88 and got a new battery. But now, what to do with the old one? It was in its fourteenth month, two months past the free replacement period, but within the three year pro-rated period. I called Walmart to see if I could get credit instead of exchanging, since I had lost confidence in their batteries. The lady on the phone was not an all-star. She said I had to come in to the store, which I knew, and wouldn't tell me what kind of refund I was looking at, or if I could even get one.

I went to the Walmart on this side of town, not the same one I had called. The lady at the automotive counter was one who had been helpful before, and she appears to know her stuff. I got out my receipt from the side of the battery, told my story, and handed the receipt to her. She gave me cash back and I was out the door. The whole trip, home to automotive to home took less than fifteen minutes. What a deal!

So, I think I have the boat working again. I also re-organized my tackle to accommodate some recent acquisitions. It's cold and high pressure, but at least the wind's not blowing, so I'm still planning on heading out this afternoon. If it turns out well, I'll let you know.

One more shot at Christmas, then I'll move on

2006-12-29T07:45:00.000-08:00

Christmas is Pain
words and music by Roy Zimmerman© 1998 Watunes

There's a turkey a gobblin' out in the yard
Now he's gutted and stuffed and he's basted and charred
And your father is whistlin' and washin' the blood down the drain
Christmas is pain

There's a crowd on the hillside with hatchets and saws
With a keen disregard for the forestry laws
And they happily hum while the stumps slowly bleed in the rain
Christmas is pain

And the stockings are hung by the chimney with care
As if anyone in their right mind would hang 'em there
And some tired old crooner is croakin' out carols again
Christmas is pain

And you wait for an hour to see Santa Claus
And he's covered with velveteen, bourbon and gauze
And he pinches your mother and she can't find the words to explain
Christmas is pain

And the hungry are hungering on Hunger Street
While the people on Plenty Street . . . eat
And you punctured the roof of your mouth on a sharp candy cane
Christmas is pain

And all the good cheer is just Madison Ave..news
And all the best Christmas songs were written by Jews
And the eight tiny reindeer have left an embarrassing stain
Christmas is pain

And two-thirds of the world doesn't give half a damn
And the rest are all bloated on marshmallowed yams
And if Jesus was here, he'd be sent to the back of the train
Christmas is pain

And they double the price of whatever you need
Singin', "I pledge allegiance to corporate greed"
And you're forced to spend several hours conversing with your old Aunt Lorraine
who's insane
with a brain on a plane to Spain where the main stays rainly in the flat terrain
Christmas is pain

Now of course, Christmas really ISN'T pain, but the song's funny and provides an interesting alternative perspective. Ok, I'll leave Christmas alone now.
Jason

Merry Christmas

2006-12-25T19:14:00.000-08:00

Five things I like about Christmas
5. getting to spend time with family
4. it falls right in the middle of varmint hunting season
3. presents, of course
2. being the family song leader
1. sleeping in

Five reasons I'm glad Christmas is over
5. consumer madness inspired by a religous holiday
4. 3454 extra customers per day in my store
3. six day work weeks that turn into 9 on, 2 off, 7 on, 1 off
2. temp workers
1. 34 versions of Jingle Bells on the muzak

Sorry I haven't posted in a while... Christmas in retail is right up there with summer in youth ministry as far as work load goes. We did get to visit both Shana's family and mine, and to see alot of our cousins that we haven't seen in a long time. We also met one of the other great-grand babies, our kids' third cousin.

That'll be it for now.
Merry Christmas to all, and please, please don't play Jingle Bells when I'm around.

Done, Done, On to the Next One

2006-12-12T08:03:00.000-08:00

I just finished my church history final exam, the last test of the semester. I had to close Friday through Sunday nights, and worked 7-5 yesterday, so I didn't get to study near as much as I wanted to, but I think I did better than last time. I wasn't the first one done this time either. I took an hour and a half instead of 36 minutes or whatever it was on the last test.

Holiday plans are shaping up. I'm off next weekend and we're going to the Millers. Only had to work 9 days in a row to get a weekend off this time of year. I'll get to spend the evening Christmas eve and most of Christmas day with my family in Austin/Marble Falls. I may even get to go deer hunting the last weekend of the season.

Our district manager is coming again this week. I'll probably get promoted from MIT to regular manager. Still don't know what department yet though. The executive vice president of merchandising is coming with him. He's one of the top four or five guys in the company, so everyone's kind of freaking out. Kind of hard to maintain merchandising standards when you have a bunch of temp workers, when you're moving so much more merchandise, and when you have so many more customers to mess stuff up.

Hello to all the lurkers. That's not a derogatory term, BTW, just an internet term for folks who read but never comment. Got emails from a few of you this week, and I'm glad to know you still read what I have to say.

Planning for the future

2006-12-05T06:07:00.000-08:00

What did you expect? Advice on 401 (k)'s, family planning, education, or occupational preparation? Nope. The title comes from the fact that yesterday, I put out some brush piles at the lake. Thanksgiving day when I went fishing, I found that most of the piles I fish were now too shallow since the lake's been coming down. There are two strategies from this point: find other piles in deeper water, and put other piles in deeper water. Yesterday I was on the lake for about two hours, and only fished for about 30 minutes. The rest of the time was spent driving around putting out piles and finding deeper piles. I was successful in both regards. We'll have to see how it works in terms of fish production.

It was a day to miss David Jackson. Aside from crappie fishing, I had a friend call to see if I wanted or knew of anyone who wanted a pig. Couldn't find anyone, and had to go to the lake by my self. The weather was cold, and I started thinking about trapping again. I have traps, I just don't have much time, no good places to trap, and no place to sell hides. I decided to call Dave last night, but found that his number was disconnected since they moved. Anyone have his new number?

Since I brought up financial planning...
Has anyone participated in any kind of church based financial seminar that was any good? Our church is pushing 'Financial Peace University' again. We do OK, but could use more discipline in our giving and saving. Anyone care to comment about the effectiveness of such a class in terms of sustainable change to spending/saving habits? It seems easy to take a class, do good for a few months while the class is going on, then forget all about it. Anyone see lasting results? I'm interested in hearing about it.

That's about it this time.

Time to bring out the BRRRRometer

2006-11-30T08:58:00.000-08:00

Here's the view out my back window...

I called my friend Dave and left him a message that I had some orange golf balls if he wanted to go hit some later.

ACU cancelled classes today. We used to joke when I was here the first time that a tornado could take out the Ad building and they wouldn't cancel class. They didn't cancel class when we had 6" of snow my freshman year. Guess times have changed.

Stay warm!

Here's a good joke...

2006-11-28T15:11:00.000-08:00

Today a friend of mine was talking and he said "good customer service" and "Walmart" in the same sentence.

Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!

Doing what I do for Academy, I had to laugh.

People used to complain about Walmart having 34 checkout stands and 3 cashiers. Now they've got all of those self checkout stands and 3 cashiers. The other day, I actually had to wait in line to check myself out.

Research says that 90% of customers will never complain, but of that 10% who do, 96% of them will tell ten or more people their bad customer service story.

I wonder if that statistic holds for churches. Do 90% of people who have a bad experience at church never complain? Do those people who do complain tell ten or more people their story?

Anecdotal evidence seems to confirm the statistics.

Oh Deer, and Black Friday

2006-11-21T20:44:00.000-08:00

Well, I finally went and did it. I killed a couple of does this weekend, so now I have enough meat to get the family through the year. Thanks to my cousin Casey for keeping the feeder running at Spicewood. That guy sure knows how to set up a bow stand. Too bad I had my gun, but the end result is the same.

In other news, I am spending Thanksgiving by myself for the first time in 29 years. I work until 7 p.m. on Wednesday, and have to work at 7 a.m. on Friday. The family all went to the Millers' for the holiday. They left today and won't be back until Monday.

And so, I think I'll do what alot of people do when things don't go quite right. . . I'll go fishing.
Why not? Only problem might be the wind, and that the bait store probably won't be open on Thursday.

I finished hiring a bunch of folks at work. I think I did 22 interviews last week and hired 16 people. Some of them are working out well, others not so much, but that's just the way it goes.

Friday is "Black Friday," one of the biggest shopping days of the year, when all of the holiday maniacs come out of the woodwork to save 5$ on a pair of sweat pants or whatever. Should be madness.

I guess that's about it. Been working alot getting ready for the crazy time...

Today is...

2006-11-16T06:54:00.000-08:00

Today is the 29th anniversary of my terrestrial intervention.

I have a cold, complete with head full of snot.

I have to work 12-10, and I have six interviews so I can't call in.

My family has school, so I probably won't see them any more today.

I lost my hunting place this week. Landowner moved his cows into that pasture and it gives him the willies to have me bowhunt next to them.

Some people want to postpone birthdays indefinitely. I'd settle for a couple of days. Today I'm going to just do my normal stuff today and celebrate this weekend.

I'm going to my grandparents and parents.

I'm going to get to deer hunt. I need two deer to match the pork in the freezer.

I get to spend time with Shana and the boys.

Should all turn out just fine.
Jason

Psalm 8:6-7

2006-11-10T07:37:00.000-08:00

Last year I began using my hunting time to study and pray. I haven't been as diligent this year, but I did break out the Bible last night while I hunted. I was working my way through Psalm 8 when I found this:

"You made them rulers over the works of your hands; you put everything under their feet: all flocks and herds, and the animals of the wild..."

I was thinking: I could sure use some animals of the wild under my feet about now.

I saw a deer back in the brush feeding away when I got to my stand. Couldn't tell the gender, and it never came back. About 20 minutes before dark, a small pig came out. I put an arrow through the lungs, and it ran into the brush. Being as it was getting dark and I was supposed to be in town by 6:30, I got down after two or three minutes to go find it. I left the bow, grabbed the .223 and headed into the brush, where I immediately saw a pig staring at me. I generally don't like pigs staring at me, so I shot him. Several others ran away at the shot. I ended up finding the blood trail of the bow-shot pig and following it about 50 or 60 yards. By this time it was dark, and I found the place where the pig crossed the fence into another person's place. Since it was now 6:15, and dark, and I had a pig on the ground, I quit looking. I field dressed the pig, collected my gear, and headed back to town at 6:32. When I made it to town at 7:07, covered in pig goo, the boys were going berserk, mama was frustrated, and daddy was in trouble.

I decided not to go back this morning to look for the pig, mostly because it's the fifth pig this week. Maybe next time out I'll use my sniffer to find it and collect my arrow.

I think we've got enough pork now for sausage. If I can find a couple of deer we'll be good to go.
Jason

A Cuttin A Pig Meat

2006-11-06T18:16:00.000-08:00

Trey and I and three other guys from church went out hunting this morning. Not five minutes after I get to my stand, I hear the "don't shoot me" whistle and Trey comes out of the brush behind me. He had seen some pigs on the way to his stand, and had circled around to pick me up before he went after them. I figured it was a low percentage play, but I appreciated the gesture. We went to where the pigs were last seen and began working toward where we figured they went. As we rounded the corner of a brush pile, we saw two pigs about 100 yards away. I had no rest and was exceptionally unsteady, but I managed to knock down a pig with the first shot. Two or maybe three more pigs ran toward us. I shot three more times, and I think Trey shot three or four times at the runners. I smacked one DRT (dead right there) and Trey said he thought he got a piece of one. After the smackdown had ended, we went looking and found our pigs. The first one I had hit in the spine about even with the pelvis. Told you I was wobbly :) It took a finishing shot behind the ear. Second one was DRT. We hunted a bit through the brush where the pigs ran away, and just as we were leaving found the third with two bullet holes. They were all about 100 pounds each live weight. We collected the other hunters, came back and skinned pigs, and went home. Of course, no one had thought to bring a camera. These are the first pigs I've killed since Texarkana. Even after I give some backstrap to the other four guys, I should still have plenty of pork for grinding. The title of the post is what Jonathan said we were doing at the kitchen table this afternoon. From watching hunting shows with me, he's about got it figured out that you shoot pigs and deer with a gun, the pig or deer dies, and then you cut it up, cook it and eat it. Who says you can't teach them early?

Talking to people on the other side of the world

2006-11-01T18:58:00.000-08:00

As I write, I'm talking online with my cousin in New Zealand. Other times I talk with my brother in Africa. All for free! The internet is cool. World wide web indeed.

He's telling me about how the clergy in NZ are atheists. The liturgy committee of the church he was attending decided not to preach about resurrection at Easter because someone was offended last year. Talk about holy crap.

They also sing the Sanctus (a communion hymn) to the tune of "This land is your land, this land is my land."

There are Catholic bishops in Africa that are married with the sanction of the church, and they don't take a vow of poverty. Wisecracks about Catholics make my cousin mad.

He believes in apostolic succession and that the Catholic church is the historical keeper of the deposit of the faith, and therefore the best church.

Quite an interesting fellow.

I'm leavin' on a jet plane

2006-10-24T08:37:00.000-07:00

I have to fly this afternoon to Houston, then fly back tomorrow night. Academy is sending me and another manager to a human relations seminar. After I get back, I'll know how to hire you, document everything, and fire you, without sexually harassing you in the process.

I'm a bit nervous, this being only the second time I've ever been on an airplane, and the plane being one of the junior sized prop planes that they use for commuter flights between Abilene and Houston.

Two days after I get back, Shana is flying to Illinois for her cousin's wedding. The boys and I are going to my parents, and we'll probably go to my grandparents as well.

I took my only test of the semester today. I was the first one finished, which always makes me a bit nervous. I began to doubt myself so badly that I went back an hour later and asked the professor if I could check to see if I had left anything blank. I hadn't. I guess I'm just fast. I've put my testing philosophy on here before, but here it is again: either you know it or you don't, and it doesn't take that long to write it either way. I also got an A- on my latest essay for that class, so if I can get somewhere in the 90's with this test, I should be great unless I bomb the final.

By way of update, I did go bowhunting on Friday. I saw a doe and a yearling, but couldn't get a shot at the doe. Maybe next time. It is supposed to rain today and/or tomorrow, so maybe my rye will grow by the time I get to hunt again some time late next week.

That's about it for now.

First School Pictures

2006-10-19T20:10:00.000-07:00

The boys had their first school pictures the other day. Two little cute fellas. I wore a very similar shirt in my first grade or kindergarten picture, if I recall.

I also got to go bowhunting this morning. I saw two bucks, six does, and twenty five or so pigs, and guess what I shot....

Nothing. I had a very marginal shot at the first buck, a nice eight point, but I would have had to shoot between two limbs. Three more steps and he'd have been just right, but he came in down wind and those three steps turned into a run away. I also had a shot at a pig in the forty pound range, but I was holding out for one bigger. They were also down wind and didn't hang out like I hoped they would so that I could pick a better one. I also had a shot at a doe, but it was less than two minutes after the bigger buck, and I could hear the pigs grunting, and it was still only 7:30.

We'll see if I am a farmer. I bought some rye seed at the feed store the other day and planted about 300 square feet of ground that I worked with a rake and hoe. Now if it will just rain, I'll have some food plots.

I found a 1951 New Mexico truck license plate in the middle of Trey's pasture. Another one for the "How the heck did that get there?" files.

I also shot a couple of 700 dollar bows today. They were kind of cool, but sure not worth 700 bucks if you ask me.

We're going to the pumpkin patch tomorrow. Should get some cute pics of the boys and the pumpkins.

I'm going hunting again tomorrow, so maybe I'll have some meat in the freezer, some pics to post, and a story to tell tomorrow

No Problem!

2006-10-10T07:42:00.000-07:00

I got back from Dallas just fine. Bryan did invite me fishing one evening, and I caught one 12" bass.

I have now been indoctrinated in how to give away David Gochman's money. Academy has a "no problem" policy. We take care of our customers. If each store spends half a million dollars per year on advertising for customers that might come in the store, then it's no big deal to spend some money on the customers who are already in the store. We believe that most people are honest, and so we treat our customers as if they are honest. If someone takes advantage of the system, it's on them, not on us, and they will continue to buy things at our store. If we are stingy about our return policy, we might make people mad and they might not continue to buy stuff at our store.

The natural turn is this: what if the church had a no problem policy? In some ways it would be a mess, as there are clearly things that really are problems. You can't just "no problem" everything. In other ways, if we accepted people as generally honest, and didn't hassle them in their dealings with the church, maybe we'd have a few more long term customers and a few less disgruntled former customers.

I managed A's on my first two papers for Childers. Will they be enough to keep me afloat?

Bow season is upon us, and I have no place to hunt. The place I do have requires that the landowner be there also, and he's in South America.

The fish are still around. I caught a few bass the other day, and broke off one about 5 pounds when he wrapped my topwater around a bush.

The family is doing well. The boys have school pictures today, and Jared got a new buzz haircut. He's cute.

We also bought the boys a swing set. We thought about it for Christmas, but someone put Christmas in the middle of winter, and so we thought we should get it when they could actually use it.

That's about it for now.

Now why didn't I think of that?

2006-10-03T20:52:00.000-07:00

I'm in Lewisville for core values training, kind of Academy management 101. The class has been kind of interesting. Not exactly Childers' Church History that I had to miss, but informative.

My internship at Farmers Branch in '98 has finally come in handy. Coming to Dallas last night, I missed a turn somewhere around Texas Stadium. As the roads got smaller and smaller, I finally recognized Webb Chapel and Marsh and was able to take Marsh up to 635 and get back on track. Turns out the Academy is right across the highway from Vista Ridge Mall.

And finally, the title. One of the other guys in training here is from Waco. He used to be a pro fisherman, and he pulled his 20 ft. Bass Cat up here to fish in Lake Lewisville, which is only 3 miles or so from the store. Why didn't I think of that?

Apparently I'm more popular than myself

2006-10-01T20:34:00.000-07:00

It has finally happened... my anonymous religious self is getting more blog hits per week than my real self. Could it be that all the stuff I really have to say that's interesting is religious? Some of the people who drove me to anonymity would actually benefit from reading the other site, as I hoped they would from this one before the split.

Funny how I'm more popular when people don't know who I am.

If there's still anyone around who cares that hasn't got the link to the other blog, email me and I'll send it to you.

My Dream For My Ministry

2006-09-29T11:41:00.001-07:00

I don't really like that title... is it really MY ministry? Does MY dream really matter?

That's the title given for the paper I just wrote. Some of you responded to the post a couple of weeks ago in that regard. Here's an excerpt from the paper about how I answered the question, "what is your dream for your ministry?"

Considerable pressure has been placed on me to decide what I want to do in ministry. Lectureship came and went with old friends asking, “So what are you doing now?” This paper asks the same question. In spite of my efforts, nothing has become clear. I don’t have a clear dream for what my future in ministry will look like. The best I can do is offer a few options that have risen to the top of the list.

Many people have lamented the lack of theological education in our churches. “If only the elders and deacons could understand…” Many ministers have lamented that no one in their churches knows what it’s like to work in ministry. It may well be that my future ministry may be to be the antidote to the stereotype. I have theological training and ministry experience. My ministry may well be to be a deacon or elder, or at least a member who lives the life in a worthy way, to be the member that every member should be. I could continue in my current career and be a “regular guy.”

My wife has been a school teacher, and probably will again. In four to five years, my children will be of school age, and my wife plans on returning to teaching. This will provide me with an opportunity. After the last year, I have no intention of ever trying to support my family and go to school at the same time. If my wife can provide the income, however, I would love to continue my education. I’m educationally minded. I have said before that I would like to teach at the college level, which in this field requires a PhD. I am a bit short of the requirements for many programs, having two Master’s but no MDiv. I may well have to deal with that when it comes along. Within the next five years, I will have a good chance to return to school again, and I will also have given Academy enough of a chance to see if that is what I really want to do.

Another option would be to seek a ministry job to start next summer or fall. Because I have a good job already, there’s no financial or time pressure to find a job. At the same time, I don’t know what kind of job I would seek. I am qualified for youth ministry, education ministry, or worship ministry in good sized churches. I could preach, although it would be quite the learning experience, and with no prior preaching experience, would likely end up in a smaller church. My resume is strong, and I have no doubt that I could get a ministry job at any time. Whether the job would be a good one or not is open, but if the goal was simply employment, I could do it.

So that's it. The best I could come up with was a series of options. We'll just have to see where it goes from here.

What I've been doing the past three weeks

2006-09-26T07:42:00.000-07:00

I blog too infrequently. It seems that whenever I have some great idea about what to write, I'm miles away from my computer, and whenever I sit at my computer, I'm miles away from a good idea.

Excuses aside, I thought I should let on a bit about what I've been doing the past few weeks.

I've bird hunted quite a bit. My parents came to visit on a quick pass-through on their way to Durango. Dad and I got to hunt one morning and ended up with 20. I also took Shana and the boys hunting this past Friday. Shana killed a few birds, and I killed a few. The boys mostly just played in the field. We've eaten most of the birds we killed, so I guess I'll be forced to go kill some more.

Here's my dove cooking recipe.

Filet the dove breasts. I find it easiest to do this before I freeze them, as they take up much less space in the freezer, and they're easier to filet when they're not frozen.
Marinate in Claude's Brisket Marinade

Chop into one inch pieces the following:
Green, Red, Yellow bell peppers
Mushrooms
Sweet onions
Yellow and/or Green squash

Make kabobs of the meat and vegetables, wrapping each dove breast in bacon. I recommend putting an onion or a pepper next to each breast.

Grill them over a charcoal fire. A gas grill will work as well, but an oven just won't cut it.

That's some of the best eatin' I know of, so I thought I had better not be stingy with it.

I've been working plenty. I made a fast trip to Dallas for some training about firearm sale paperwork. As far as the store is concerned, I am increasing in wisdom and stature, as the saying goes.

I wrote about 20 pages in the last two weeks for my classes. I have a ten page paper due Thursday that was the prompt for my previous posts about what kind of ministry I should seek.

I got to go out to Trey's and scout for deer. Found lots of tracks and a few rubs. Timing may be an issue, but I should get to hunt a few times with a reasonable expectation of success. Bow season starts on Saturday, but I'll be in class. I might get to go out and set up some stands on Saturday afternoon, so that maybe I can legitimately hunt some time in the next few weeks.

I may have to go for a four day training in Dallas next week, but they still haven't decided for sure. If so, it will be a major career step, as you can't be a "real" manager until you've had this training.

Haven't been fishing since I went with Mark last month.

ACU Lectureship has come and gone. I got to touch base with quite a few of my network folks, like Rob Fortson, Joe Ed Furr, and others. I didn't get to spend as much time as I wanted to on campus during the event, and they pretty much dropped the ball on Taize this year.

That's about it, I guess. Hopefully I'll post again before three weeks is up.

Bird Huntin'

2006-09-06T20:42:00.000-07:00

Dove season has been open for six days. The first two days I was in class. The third day was church and work. The fourth day it rained four inches. The fifth day was class and work. On the sixth day, God created animals and man. On the sixth day of dove season, the man harvested the raw materials for some great kabobs. That's right, I shot some bell peppers and onions, bacon and squash.

I picked up a place to dove hunt that is only 7 minutes from my house. My landlord was over working on plumbing and the roof on Saturday. I was helping (I live here, after all), and he offered for me to come hunt his place. Turns out that he has 20 acres of sunflowers close enough to town that all of those town doves come out to dine, but just outside the city limit, and less than a mile into the "North Zone" that has a 15 bird limit (the "Central Zone" one mile south has a 12 bird limit.)
I went out this morning before work and brought home eleven, mostly whitewings. I was shooting some old Winchester Super Speed shells that I got from Kayla and Dan in Canadian five years ago, and I remember now why I quit shooting them: they stink. I hit five or six more birds that didn't go down in a timely manner, instead flying 100 yards or more into a mesquite thicket. Remington Shur-Shot would have folded them. Oh well, only two more boxes of crappy shells to go.

We're going to New Mexico tomorrow for Josh and Haley's wedding this weekend. Should be interesting.

The boys and Shana had their first day of school yesterday. I think it was harder on mom than on the boys, but everyone did OK.

I'd still like some more comments on the last post, if you don't mind. If you don't want to be that personal on the internet, just e-mail me.
Jason

What I'm fixing to have to do

2006-09-01T08:40:00.000-07:00

I'm in a class right now called "Intro to Christian Ministry." Its "Snakes on a Plane" title would be "Moving from Seminary to Church Work."

The first thing we did was process a case study about a seminary all-star who fell flat on his face in ministry, which was OK, since I don't know anyone like that. (Your sarcasm meter should be going nuts)

I could complain that I never had a real mentor. I could argue that the churches were the problem. I could say that it was just my personality, or conclude that I'm just not well suited to ministry.

For a year now, I have had no idea what my ministry future would hold. I've moved up in retail and have a career on my hands in that arena, should I choose to stick with it. I'm being forced into a direction. I have to write a paper called "My Dream for My Ministry," and honestly I have no idea.

This may be too much to ask of my blogging community, but I'm going to ask it anyway. Those of you that know me, what kind of ministry do you see me doing in the future? I can sit around and think about it, but I want feedback from outside myself. I have some ideas, but I want to leave the question open. What do you think?

All Moved

2006-08-28T19:16:00.001-07:00

Sorry I haven't been blogging lately. We moved across town on Friday and Saturday. Instead of a 2 bed one bath with a tiny back yard in a marginal neighborhood for 550, now we live in a 3/1 with a huge yard only three blocks from ACU for 500. I finally live in a house consistent with my self image again.

Thanks to those who helped us move, specifically Mom and Dad and Barry and Elaine, Jason Pittinger and David Sessions, and Mark Aldreidge for the use of the trailer.

I start school again tomorrow after a 3 month lay off. Church history is interesting to me, but I don't know how interesting it will be at 8 a.m. every Tuesday. This weekend I have my first installment of the weekend class, coinciding exactly with the opening weekend of dove season. Incidentally, the second weekend of the class is opening weekend of bow season. Silly academics.

Because of the move, the promotion, and all that, I haven't been posting on my religious blog much either, but if there's still any one out there who wants the link, just e-mail me and I'll send it to you.

Fishing Pics

2006-08-23T05:59:00.000-07:00

Here are a couple of pics from the previously mentioned crappie fishing trip.

First, here are ten of the bigger ones, plus a bucket full, and there are still more in the livewell.

Second, here's me and Mark in the picture, just so Jason P. won't say I took a picture of someone else's fish off of the internet.

I guess that's it for now. We're moving across town in two days. Today is the sixth of seven days that I have to work in a row. Next week I start class on Tuesday, and I have my first installment of weekend class next Thursday through Saturday. Looks like no more fishing for Mr. Fry for a while.

Mr. Fry does right by Mr. Crappie

2006-08-17T13:21:00.000-07:00

It just wouldn't be Jason Fry's blog without a fishing report :)

I went out this morning with Mark Aldreidge, the guy who teaches our Sunday school class. He was in ministry for 20 years, and also got dumped on his head. Now he's a builder. Anyway, we chased a few hybrids early and caught one, although it wasn't big enough. We also managed about 7 or 8 black bass in the same area, all short. The plan was to hit the hybrids early and then crappie fish.

The first tree we stopped at was one I had never fished before. I had 3 fish in the boat by the time Mark got his stuff tied on. (I cheated, as I had mine all tied on already). I accidently let the boat bump the tree after the fourth fish, so we went to another tree about 100 yards away. In the next hour, we caught 28 keepers including several that were about as big as crappie get. We left that spot at about 8:30. We hit four or five more spots, ending at the place where Trey and I caught some last week. We pulled ten more from there. In all, we ended up with 42 or 43. We might could have finished out our limits, but we wanted to get home before lunch time. I might have had a few more than my limit, and Mark a few less than his, but it was a great time. I don't think I've ever had that many crappie in one mess, or caught so many so fast as that first hour on the second tree. I've caught a limit a half a dozen times, and in the teens another dozen, but this was crazy, and they were mostly 12 inches or more, plus four or five in the 14" range.

We stopped by the bait shop and had our picture taken with several of the big ones, and Mark also took some pics on his digicam once we got back to the house. I'll post one after he e-mails me.

Tight lines,
Jason

Academy does right by Mr. Fry

2006-08-17T13:13:00.000-07:00

In an email that I still have saved, Stan White told me a secret. He said that to make it in retail, all you have to do is what you're supposed to, and then a little more. Consistent effort beyond the job description was his advice to me as I entered the retail world.

It worked. After months and months of wondering when and if anything was ever going to happen, it finally did. Tuesday, the district manager came to our store. We had a meeting, and I got promoted! I'm officially a "manager in training" now, a process that they said would take 4 months (probably meaning six), after which I will be a "real" manager.

The best news for those who have been watching my family from afar is that this new title comes with a salary. Overnight I suddenly doubled my income. Now twice not much is still not alot, but it's also still twice as much, and finally enough to live on. Not only did I get a great raise, they backdated it to August 6.

And so all is well in our house. The kids are well, the marriage is well, and finally the bank is well.

Thanks to all who have been praying for our family.
Jason

8 1/4%

2006-08-07T19:10:00.000-07:00

Yesterday ended the three day "Tax Free Weekend." This title is a bit of a misnomer, as only certain items are tax free, particularly school clothes and shoes. Among the oddities, football jerseys are tax free, football pants are not. Fishing hats and vests are tax free, but backpacks and watches are not. Tennis shoes are tax free, but football cleats are not.

In retail, tax free weekend means a mad rush of customers, many of whom aren't familiar with the oddities. It means good revenue, and lots of hard work. Every single Academy employee (96, I think) was scheduled for an eight hour shift Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. We were all pretty tired by the end, but we made our sales goals on Friday and Saturday, and missed Sunday by less than 2%.

I haven't updated since my interview... Out of the six candidates that were there, I came in first. The district manager is supposed to come to our store some time this week and talk to me, presumably to make me some kind of offer. I'll let you know how it turns out.
Jason

Yeah yeah, looks pretty crappie

2006-07-26T19:37:00.000-07:00

Even though I'm not in youth ministry right now, I just can't stay away from puns.

I don't remember if I reported that my boat broke, but it did, and I fixed it. Turns out that the part I needed to fix the trim/tilt was 40% cheaper from the Yamaha guy in Texarkana, so I had him ship it.

Since the boat is back in action, I invited my friend Trey to go fishing this morning. We went out early planning to bass fish for an hour or two and then try crappie fishing. I caught a good keeper bass in the first ten minutes. I don't generally keep bass, and today was no exception. A hundred yards or so down the lake we ran into some hybrids chasing shad in about 3 ft of water and caught five or six. Trey caught one about 17" long on a cheap telescoping pole with an Abumatic (like a Zebco 33) that really gave him a good run. I caught one a shade over 18", so he ended up in the live well.

We pulled up to a dock to crappie fish. The dock has brush under it, and there's also a brush pile about 20 yards out in front of it. As we were fishing out the end of the dock fixing to head to the brush pile, another boat came up to fish the same spot. Since we were there first, they "let" us have the brush pile and they fished the dock. I think they caught three keepers, and we did as well, plus we also caught a bunch of short fish. We left and went to another pile and caught four more keepers and then ran out of minnows. I honestly didn't figure we'd do much good, so we hadn't bought enough. Oh well.

After that we went to fish the lily pads before we went home. I had a fish hit my ribbit that was between three and four pounds, but he was running toward me the whole time and I never got a good hook set, so he threw the hook when he jumped. The very next cast the frog was smacked by one that was five or five and a half pounds, and I got the hook in him good. He jumped four or five times, but didn't get off. That's the biggest bass I've caught at Phantom, and it was 11 a.m. and probably already 95 degrees.

Then I waterskied and crashed twice. I'm really out of shape :)

I'm in a hotel in Fort Worth, because I have my round robin management interview tomorrow at 7 a.m. I went to the store tonight for about an hour and a half of scouting. I kind of figure it will go like many of the other tests in my life: I'll think I did OK and they'll think I did very well. I'll let y'all know how it turns out, although I won't officially be promoted for up to a month.

Oh My Goodness!

2006-07-17T07:04:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I did something that I don't really ever want to do again. I taught class for 65 junior high kids BY MYSELF. I don't mind teaching. In fact, I kind of like it. This was not the kind of teaching I like.

I was told that there would be other adults there. By the time I figured out that no one was coming, it was too late. I had the opportunity to snag a preacher and an elder's wife, but I kept thinking, "Surely someone's coming." They weren't. The room was set up with kids sitting in a circle around the edge, and we added three rows on one end. What does that mean to the teacher? Someone is always behind him. Teaching to a circle, you can't face everyone at once. In a room full of middle school kids, if you're not looking at them, they're talking, and sometimes they talk even when you look at them.

On top of that, the projector that usually hangs from the ceiling had been removed and the ceiling tile left out. The result was that hot air from the attic poured into the room and onto my head the entire time.

I can't say for sure that I've never set anybody up for that kind of experience, but I have never had 65 of any age, and I tried to set up my classrooms in ways that prevented the behind the back talking. If I ever set you up, forgive me.
Jason

Fishing Frenzy

2006-07-05T13:22:00.000-07:00

Shana and the boys headed out to the desert on Sunday afternoon to visit Gran and Big Daddy. What's a husband and father to do without his family, with three days off from work?

Fish, of course. Here's the report..
Sunday afternoon: One keeper black, 6 or 8 shorts (with Cody Goode)
Monday afternoon: 25 white bass, 1 blue cat (with Luke Hurst)
Tuesday morning: 1 hybrid, 1 black, 1 blue cat, plus 5 short hybrids, 6 or 8 short blacks
Wednesday morning: 1 hybrid, 1 channel cat, plus 8 short hybrids, several whites, 12 or 15 short blacks (with Luke Hurst)

The TPWD fishing report is as follows: Water clear; 81 degrees; 7.72' low. Black bass are slow. Crappie are fair on minnows and jigs. White bass are fair on live bait. Catfish are fair on live bait.

Seems like no one from TPWD has been fishing, or talking to any fishermen.

They family went to Roswell yesterday to see the family and fireworks.

I went to the Wallaces' to watch the Abilene fireworks. There was 1 firework every 8 seconds for 45 minutes. BORING. Even the kids got tired of watching.

Tomorrow it's back to work, which is OK, since I'm about fished out.

"Brings out of the storehouse treasures old and new"

2006-06-30T20:06:00.000-07:00

I stopped by a garage sale on the way home from work today. I don't usually stop, but I had a few dollars in my pocket and sometimes there are things that are just too good to pass up.

What I found was a great number of old books. Most were from the early teens, as in 1910-1919. There were many classics in a small sized series, although the set was incomplete: Homer, Ben Franklin, George Washington's Farewell Address, Edgar Allan Poe, several Shakespeares. There were many others as well, probably two or three dozen. I picked out Poe, Franklin, a book called "Before Adam" by Jack London, an anthology of writers from the South, and one more.

I took them to the lady, and she looked them over carefully. The books were "mistakenly" set out by her son, and she wanted to save some of them, as well as make sure that they weren't too valuable. They belonged to her mother's friend who had emigrated from England around 1900. Her mother would have been 102 this year. We talked a bit about Jack London and classics in general. Her son has two master's degrees as well. In the end, she kept the Poe, Franklin, and the one I forgot, and I took the London and the anthology for $1.25 apiece.

The London is a fourth printing, from August of 1912. The anthology contains works by Audubon, Albert Pike, O. Henry, and a whole bunch of other people I'd never heard of. It was compiled by Leonidas Payne, a professor of English at the University of Texas, published in 1913.

This week I also re-read Louis L'Amour's Last of the Breed for about the eighth time.

I've been working in the apparel department for two weeks with one week to go, then two weeks in footwear, and then the big interview. So far the "training" is going well.

And the boys are both well.
Jason

Jonathan's Trip to the Hospital

2006-06-19T11:23:00.000-07:00

Some of you might have come here looking for an update on Jonathan, so I'll give one. Jonathan had been coughing and losing his voice for a few days. Sunday morning at 3ish he woke up and wasn't breathing well. We couldn't settle him down and his throat was hurting, so Shana took him to Hendrick ER. By 7 a.m. they had admitted him, and by 9 a.m. had told us that they wanted to keep him overnight on Sunday. He has croup, and it was causing him to have trouble breathing. We stayed at the hospital yesterday, enduring breathing treatments every three hours. This morning they were satisfied that his respiratory distress was OK, so he got to come home. He's still sick, but seems to be feeling a little better.

That's the story. I think it got around at Southern Hills that it was Jared, but it was Jonathan. Thanks for those who called or prayed for my little guys.
Jason

Un Pish Warr

2006-06-16T19:39:00.000-07:00

The title is Jonathan for "I want to fish in the water." I've taken him out perch fishing a couple of times lately. His Tigger pole wasn't working very well, so we upgraded to Scooby Doo, which works much better. So far he can't really cast, but he can reel them in very well. Every one is a big one, just ask him and he'll tell you.

In big people fishing news, I went last Saturday and also this morning. Saturday we went to Lake Coleman with some friends. The fishing stank (4 fish in 4 hours), but the company and the water skiing were nice. One of the fish was a 3 pound yellow cat that I caught on a red brush hog. Here's a picture of the fish and Jonathan. That's Luke in the background, and he caught his two fish on the pink pole in the bottom left corner.

I also went to Phantom this morning. I had heard about the whites and hybrids schooling early in the mornings from several customers at Academy. Today it was windy, somewhere between crazy waves and pure insanity, far too rough to fish in open water or see fish schooling if they were there. I found a bank where the waves weren't bad and the wind blew parallel, and I fished down it about four times. I caught probably 10 bass, one for sure keeper and two that were pretty close, and also three white bass. Most of them were on a buzzbait, which is always fun. I was at the lake by 6:05, and left about 8:45 because the wind was so bad.

In Academy news, I'm in apparel for the next three weeks, then footwear after that for two weeks, then I go to the round robin interview on the 26th (not 24th as previously reported) of July.

And in fantasy land, I'm currently in the 98.2 percentile at 314 out of about 20,000 contestants. Too bad no one I know is into both bass fishing and fantasy sports.

Chill Out, Whatcha Yellin For?

2006-06-08T19:49:00.000-07:00

Slow down. Sit a spell. Rest. Veg. Chill.

Done any of that lately?

Last night we focused on intentionally relaxing, resting, and listening at Jesus’ feet, following Luke 10 and the story of Mary and Martha.

It was nice to come to church and settle down, not get wound up or get to work.

Good job, Dave, Dave, Collin, and Nick.

Finally a date

2006-06-06T19:31:00.000-07:00

I finally got my manager to commit. Next week I start my rotation through footwear and apparel, and I go to the MIT interview on July 24th. I wish it were sooner, as I can't be on salary until after that, but at least I have a date.

Believe it or not, I'm not that used to self promoting. I was raised to do good work and let your work speak for itself. I'm finding that good work doesn't always speak loud enough. Sometimes you just have to bug people to do right by you, instead of expecting them to do so because you do good work. Maybe self promotion is a good skill, or maybe it's a dangerous enterprise. What do you think? Should a person have to promote their own skills and abilities to keep a job or get a promotion, or should one's work speak for itself?

I put another post on my religious blog as well, so email me if you want the link.
Jason

While we're using song lines

2006-05-25T20:34:00.000-07:00

Paranoia paranoia, everybody's coming to get me...

Not really, but I do have my "religious discussion" blog up and ready.

No, I won't post a link.

If you want to go over there and read/discuss religious stuff, then e-mail me at jkf96a@acu.edu and I'll probably send you a link if I trust you not to share it.

Since we're doing lists...

2006-05-25T20:07:00.001-07:00

1. You've got the money, honey, I've got the time
2. Money for nothin' (and chicks for free?)
3. Can't buy me love (or anything else)
4. Turn out the lights, the party's over
5. They say that money isn't everything, but I'd like to see you live without it

Can anyone name those song titles and artists? What's the common theme?

The well has run dry.

Options:
1. Sell some stuff
2. Get a second job
3. Use credit cards for two months until salary kicks in
4. Crack into the CD that doesn't mature for two more months, but that represents our emergency fund.

Opinions?

101 Object Lessons From Chapstick

2006-05-17T20:23:00.000-07:00

A Presbyterian minister came into Academy the other day asking for chapstick with sunblock. He ended up buying 35 tubes for an object lesson with 5-8th graders. Just for kicks, I thought about what kind of lessons could be done with chapstick with sunblock. Some are good, some not so good...
1. Jesus keeps you from getting your lips sunburned
2. Jesus makes you feel better when you're chapped
3. If you leave Jesus in your pocket, you'll get burned
4. If you leave Jesus in your pocket, your mom will wash him and he'll melt and be useless
5. If you share Jesus with your friends, you can get fever blisters
6. Jesus protects us from the harmful effects of the environment
7. Jesus conditions your lips to speak truth
8. Jesus is small enough to carry with you everywhere
9. Jesus only works if you use him
10. If you don't share Jesus with your friends, they'll get burned
11. Jesus is useful year round, but especially in the summer time
12. There's no sense in carrying around two Jesus' at once
13. People all over the world need Jesus
14. Jesus doesn't discriminate based on ______________
15. Jesus also works when your nose gets chapped from too many Kleenexes
16. I don't really have 101 of these, but hey, I tried.
17. If you think of some more, feel free to add them in the comments.

Jason

On this day in 1998

2006-05-16T16:35:00.000-07:00

I shot some prairie dogs, had Burger King for lunch, and passed out at church.

Oh yeah, and I got married :)

I love you, Shana. It's been a good 8 years.

Jason

Mike

2006-05-16T16:12:00.000-07:00

For the past few weeks I've been building a relationship with Mike. It's not much of a relationship really, but it's a start. Mike is a homeless man in a wheelchair who sits at the corner of Buffalo Gap and Clack. He's there several days per week. About a month ago, I got stuck at the light right next to Mike's post. I didn't have any money to give him, as I rarely carry cash, but I figured I'd do the next best thing. I took off my sunglasses, turned off the radio, rolled down the window and asked him his name and how he was doing. We had a 45 second conversation about his health problems and the weather, then the light changed and I went on. Before I left, he said that he appreciated being talked to. A week or so later, I talked to another man on that same corner, Jim. Turns out Jim is Mike's brother, and Mike was in the hospital with the health problems we talked about the week before. I mentioned that I had talked to Mike, and Jim said that Mike had talked about me. I've talked to Mike three other times since then, including today. Today was a bit different. Today, I actually had some money in my pocket. It wasn't much, or enough, but I had it. I ended up three cars back, so I got out of my car, greeted Mike, gave him my dollar, and got back in the car. Before the light changed, a lady from the other lane came over with some money, and also picked up some from the second car in line. I don't know how much I can do for Mike in 45 second snippets, but at least I can talk to him, treat him like a person instead of some homeless creature, and give him what I can. Who knows what will come of it.
Jason

Happy days are here again

2006-05-11T20:24:00.000-07:00

I finished school for the semester with two finals on Tuesday. My guess is four A's and a B, but it could be three and two.

We went to Austin this past weekend. We went to my ten year class reunion on Saturday, which was actually quite fun. Got to see alot of people I hadn't seen in ten years. Sunday evening we went to Meemaw's and visited. It was good to get to spend some time with my grandparents. We saw a fox in their back yard, and Jonathan went to look at it. He can't say "f" or "x," so it was a "pock."

Monday morning I went fishing at Lake LBJ. For those who haven't heard, my cousin Jesse that won the tournament several months ago won another one. He is in first place in his division, in line to get Angler of the Year and Rookie of the year if he can finish 18th or better in the final tournament. Anyway, Jess told me where to go at LBJ, so I went. Chris Rylander came up and fished with me. We ended up with five black bass, one Kentucky bass, and five white bass. Here's a picture of the good one I caught. It weighed 6 pounds, 15 ounces, and I think it's the third biggest I've ever caught. Here are a couple of pictures.

And in other news, I finally was given a timeline of sorts on the management gig at Academy. I'm going to be training for the next two months so that I can do well at the manager interviews the last week of July. If I pass, then I'll be an official "manager in training," a title that comes with a salary. Not as fast as I had hoped, but at least now we know something.

Today was the first Thursday I have had off since the semester started. Instead of Tuesday tournaments, they have them here on Thursdays, so I fished. About 8:40 I was fishing this little point and got a good bite. I set the hook hard, and it was a big fish. It fought hard, and I got it to the top and it was about a 5 pound gaspergou. Figures. It was the only fish I caught, although I did have another bite that I missed. Can't win them all, I guess. Four fish were weighed in, and one guy had two four pounders, so he took home the money this week. Because I'm out of school and some of the other workers aren't yet, I have great hours next week. I only have to close once, and I'm 8-5 the other four days. I may fish again next Thursday, if I can pre-fish a little on Tuesday night.

I guess that's it for now. God bless you and yours.
Jason

We are the sermon day

2006-05-02T06:32:00.000-07:00

We recently had "We are the sermon" day at our church. We participated along with several other churches, including one or two Baptist churches. The premise was that instead of hanging out at the church building all Sunday, we'd have a quick worship and go out and do work in the community. Houses were painted, yards were mowed, and the like. Here's what the Abilene Reporter News had to say about it.

I wondered about how a family of four with two little people was supposed to mow grass or paint houses. I wanted to find a project that the whole family could do together, and so we signed up for shut-in visits. We ended up taking the boys to visit two of the church's shut in members. One we had been to see about six months ago, and we had a good conversation. The other seemed not even to consider himself a member of Southern Hills any more, and wasn't particularly friendly.

About those visits... I really don't like nursing homes, or the homes of people who can't get out of bed. They smell. They're creepy, or dirty, or both. Even so, people live there, people who need attention and affirmation just like everyone else. I was hauled around on many a visit as a child and teenager, which no doubt gave me the courage and skills to make similar visits. Thanks to my dad for that one. I hope Jonathan and Jared get similar treatment and similar results.

On the other hand, what does it mean if we are the sermon for a day? What about all those other days? Do we really need to be a sermon, or should we be something else?

Another thought, that makes me smile and probably makes some folks cringe... We served next to Baptists. We wrapped up the day with a worship service (a capella, of course) for all who participated, and we took communion. Church of Christ Christians and Baptist Christians worshipped together and communed together, and the roof didn't cave in, and no one was struck by lightning.

I was turned off by the statement that we were doing these things as "evangelism." The same guy who said "evangelism" from the pulpit on Sunday also said, ''We have members of our congregation who weren't members before we did this project." That's fine and dandy, but what ever happened to service just for the sake of serving? What about Matthew 25?

If we make service about evangelism, then don't we make it about ourselves instead of Christ?

Closure

2006-04-27T09:13:00.000-07:00

In many broken relationships, one party is left longing for resolution. Whether it’s the breakup of a dating relationship, the death of a friend or family member, or the loss of a job, someone is almost always left with unresolved issues.

In some relationships, there is an opportunity for the parties to reconcile and resolve latent issues, even if the relationship never returns to its former status. In others, the separation is so complete that discussion or resolution no longer becomes possible.

One of the clients I counseled during my internship at ACU’s counseling center had lost his father several years before. Two or three years later, this student would still break down into tears in class and other situations because of grief at the loss. There is a somewhat standard repertoire of techniques that counselors use in these situations, and this student eventually found the resolution that he needed. Most people naturally resolve these kinds of things, but some don’t. For some it takes longer than usual, and for some it takes professional help.

For a little over a year now, I have struggled to resolve issues surrounding a broken relationship. I loved her, flaws and all, but she chose to leave me for another man, with no other explanation but “you just weren’t good enough for me.” At times I reflected quietly and made so-called progress. At times I ranted and raved, striking out at those flaws in her that I used to have patience for. At times I resorted to passive-aggressive sniping from afar, making sideways references and taking indirect shots. At times I sought the advice of wise men and professionals. Even with all my efforts, she never granted me an opportunity to discuss these issues and work toward resolution. She made up her mind, and is content to let my questions go unanswered.

Last week I received a letter from her that basically told me, “It’s been a year. Quit talking about me. Get over it.”

I think I will. I will probably never get from her the resolution that I have so earnestly sought, but I have to learn to live with it.

And so, I quit. In the next few weeks, all religious discussion will be moved to another site. This site will stay up, but become one of those “today I went to the store” blogs with fishing reports, pictures of the kids, and so forth. I’ll tell you more about that as the time draws near.

One Year

2006-04-25T06:20:00.000-07:00

This blog turned one year old yesterday.

Somebody has come and looked at it about 7200 times. Over the year, it had an average of 19.91 hits per day. The most hits I had in a week was 338, the time I challenged a particular church's view of membership and also the week I symbol-bleeped a cuss word.

This blog began in difficult times, and has seen its ups and downs. It has been the spark for some good discussion and for some very very bad discussion. It has been a reflection of my life, good, bad, and ugly, and all three have had their moment in the spotlight. It has been useful to my friends and to those who may not be so friendly. My words have touched people, caused them to think , and pissed them off, sometimes all at the same time.

I am considering some major changes to this blog. Some have wished that it would go away altogether. Some have wished that I'd change the subject away from church, or from a specific church. Some people like it the way it is. We'll see whose viewpoint wins in my mind over the next few days and weeks, but I already have an idea in mind. I'll let you know.

And an update on my last post...
I finished all of my papers, although the 5 page outline took me till 1 a.m. on Thursday morning. They all turned out better than I thought they might, particularly the late night outline. I suppose we'll see in a few more weeks when grades come in how well it really went.

I've got another post in my head, but I'm going to save it for later.

A Marathon

2006-04-18T06:35:00.000-07:00

Sixteen pages for Hamilton's short course: twelve hours, Friday.
Two 1000 word book reviews: four hours, plus reading, mostly done before the marathon.
Five pages on the Roman Denarius: four hours, plus library time, last week.
Twenty one pages on Hebrews: nineteen hours, Sunday and Monday.
A five page outline on worship and sacrifice in Israel: two hours Monday night, probably ten more to go over the next two nights.

I had to send my family to my parents.

I had to eat, sleep, and breathe writing for the last four days.

Welcome to graduate school.

What I'm Not Saying

2006-04-11T20:07:00.000-07:00

I'm not saying I have it all figured out.
I'm not saying I behaved perfectly.
I'm not saying I never said anything wrong.
I'm not saying anyone's not a Christian.
I'm not saying names.
I'm not talking about the past, but the present.

I am saying that truth matters.
I am saying that trouble can be prevented.
I am saying that I care about other ministers.
I am saying that I care about specific congregations and specific people in them.

I don't believe that what I have said will do any good.
I don't believe that I can change the minds of people who don't want to change.
I don't believe that those involved are being intentionally deceptive.
I don't believe that those involved are evil, only mistaken.

I know that I still feel pain most days.
I know that I feel wronged, even if I wasn't.
I know that the scars and wounds may be more than my ministry career can bear.
I know that I will never quit ministering, even if I never get on another church's payroll.

I know that God is faithful.
I know that God is just.
I know that those last two statements trump all of the rest.
Jason

Revelation 21:8

2006-04-10T08:57:00.000-07:00

Did any of you ever sing the little Revelation 21:8 song as kids? Some of you will know what I'm talking about and laugh.

Apparently the "official" story that new candidates for my old job are getting is that I left to go back to school, as if it were my idea and everything was peachy up until that point.

I hope that whoever takes that job goes in with eyes wide open and knows exactly what's going on. I suspect that such an awareness is structurally impossible, so that no outsider can know what's going on, because no insider has enough awareness to explain. I also suspect that no minister who is aware of the issues will take the job.

What does that leave? Another setup. Some young guy is going to come in, work his butt off, make certain people mad, and end up back at school or selling insurance, and it will probably have very little to do with the quality of his ministry or his impact on the teens and their families.

Even something so simple as "we had our difficulties, and when an opportunity came for Jason to go back to school, we encouraged him to take it" would be better than the lie. Even "We didn't agree with Jason on some issues that were important to us, so we asked him to resign," tough as that is to say would be getter than the lie.

I honestly don't know if any of the people involved even read this blog anymore, but if you do...
TELL THE TRUTH!

Big changes

2006-04-06T09:14:00.000-07:00

I've come to some conclusions in light of the principles that I mentioned in my previous post.

I am not spending enough time with or doing a good job with or being responsible about my family.

Of the three major activities in my life (work, family, school), only one is really negotiable. You don't see church on my list, but I don't see my faith as a category separate from the other parts of my life.

The result of all of this is that I have a new direction. I have changed my degree plan from MDiv to Master of Arts in Christian Ministry, MACM. Instead of 30? more hours, I can graduate in 9. This means several things: I still get another master's, I don't have to take 10 hours per semester, I can focus on family and work, and I can finally serve at church in ways that I haven't had time for.

At the same time, I'm moving toward a management position at Academy, perhaps even going on salary as early as this summer.

The current plan is to ride the retail horse until Shana is able to return to teaching school so that I can work on the PhD. I should know within the next four or five years if retail is where I want to stay, and if I'll have my own store or just be somebody's assistant. I'm not so sure that I won't have more influence in the church as the manager of a retail store than as a staff member anyway. Don't see many deacons or elders who are also staff.

Terry argued that I didn't need to justify anything, but I'm so about being reasonable that I appreciate setting myself up as a person with reasons...

And on a lighter note, if you google "Jason Fry ministry," this site shows up as the first result. Maybe people in France really do read this...

Props to my friend Miller for this good post about staying in or leaving the institutional church, and what such a decision looks like in terms of day to day life.

Three guiding principles

2006-03-28T06:39:00.000-08:00

I'm trying to make some big decisions about my present and therefore my future. David Wray was helpful in pushing me toward clarifying my major principles. Everyone operates with some guiding principles and makes decisions based on whether certain options are in line with those principles. My three guiding principles are as follows, in order.

1. Whatever I do, God must be involved. I have been called to ministry, given talents, and have given my life as a Christian. Whatever I might decide must be faithful to God and make good use of his gifts.

2. Whatever I do should contribute to the health of my family relationships. My relationship with my wife and children must be valued, and whatever I decide must be faithful to my family.

3. Whatever I do, I must be financially responsible. I simply don't believe in debt for the sake of short term gain. I also want to take care of my family's financial needs. Financial responsibility also means simplicity and stewardship.

Other principles like "don't quit" and "take time for rest" are helpful, but must be used under the other three. If not quitting means trouble for my family, or unnecessary debt, and the like, or if "resting" means going to the lake four times per week at the expense of my children... You get the point.

We'll see where this goes as things unfold.

You may say I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one

2006-03-23T08:55:00.000-08:00

We listened to “Imagine” in class on Tuesday as an example of a current expression of Epicurean thought, but that’s not what I want to talk about.

I don’t know what I believe about dreams. God clearly spoke in dreams in the Bible, or at least his people thought that he did. Does he still speak in dreams?

After fishing and catching almost nothing on Tuesday afternoon, Miller and I sat in his living room and talked about our callings. Miller is called to a simple life of “tentmaking” and genuinely lived Christianity in South Texas. I feel called to help people in churches better understand the claims that their Christianity makes on their life. I want people to “get it.” I feel like God has called me to serve and given me a generous share of talents, and I want to have as much influence for the kingdom as possible.

After wrestling with articulating an irrational, inexplicable call, I went home and went to bed and I had a dream.

I dreamed that I was in a bar ditch, backed up to a barbed wire fence. For some reason, a series of characters, maybe two or three, were walking by on the road and shooting at me with revolvers, but although each shot three or four times, they always missed. I was scared at being fired upon. I had no retreat and no way to defend myself. I remember being amused at their poor marksmanship. At the end of the dream I remember being comforted, almost a “they’ll shoot at you, but you’ll be ok” kind of affirmation.

What do you make of that?

Wanted: One Healthy Church

2006-03-21T06:04:00.000-08:00

Even Lance Armstrong had cancer, I understand. Sean Elliot had a kidney transplant, I know. I recognize that "healthy" is an impossibility on some levels, and yet...

I want to work for one healthy church before I die. Not a church torn by sins like adultery. Not a church suffering under a succession of bad ministers. Not a church that has just lost members and can't make up her mind what kind of church it wants to be. Not a church that's afraid of what others think of her. Not a church that is content with mediocrity.

I know that there are things that my wife does that drive me nuts, but we stay married because we are committed to loving each other. Is there a church out there willing to put up with the things that I do that drive them nuts in the same way that I have to be willing to put up with their junk?

Does that church exist?

My friend Mark says it does. My friend Miller says it probably doesn't. What do you think? Is there a church out there that is healthy, whose baggage won't kill the ministers?

Baby Steps

2006-03-18T07:15:00.000-08:00

That title reminds me of "What about Bob?"

Jared is starting to walk. He can stand up on his own and then take three or four steps. Here's a cute picture.

Hopefully he'll be walking good by his birthday party in two weeks. We've sent invitations to all of our family for a combined birthday party for the boys on the 25th of March. Jared will be one on the 26th, and Jonathan will be two on April 4.

Birthday parties for one/two year olds are a "keeping up with the Jones'" kind of thing around here, but we have decided not to play the game. We want our family here, not some giant get together to shower young ones with more toys in one day than an African kid sees in his life, not to mention the zillion toys that the American kid already has.

And in other baby step news, I'm making some job progress. Since my promotion, my immediate supervisor is the store director rather than one of the assistant managers. She has been giving me progressively more responsibility. I'm reminded again of a movie quote: "I always think everything could be a trap. That's why I'm still alive." So far I've passed the tests well. Yesterday she had me deliver employee evaluations for a couple of the cashiers, something that until recently has been a manager's job. A baby step. She also let me decide what to put on the wall between customer service and register one. That area is designated "manager's choice" and a manager usually does all of the work. I went with water guns and kites, outdoor toys for springtime, and she liked it alot. Another baby step.

Shana and the boys are going out of town for a few days. They're going to Texarkana and to Hot Springs to see our friends and Shana's grandparents. I'm a bit jealous, as I have to stay home and work and go to class.

I guess that's it for today. I was planning on fishing again, but it's raining now and supposed to rain all day.

Jason

Finally fishing

2006-03-12T19:01:00.000-08:00

I stand behind a cash register and watch people buy fishing lures and gear. I also ask them if they're catching any, and once in a while someone gives me decent information. Word on the street (or at the register) is that the crappie are moving up, so I went to the lake a bit this evening. I only fished from about 4:15 to 5:45 and ended up with 7 keepers and one small. Pretty good for the wrong time of day. I caught one on my first cast at the first place I went, and ended up not moving more than 10 yards the whole time. I have a few minnows left over, so I think I'll go again for a quickie before work since I don't work till 1.
(music notes)
It's the most wonderful time
Of the year
(end music)

My Testing Philosophy

2006-03-07T07:07:00.000-08:00

I just finished in about 40 minutes my first test for my New Testament Intro class. Dr. Thompson's tests have a reputation for being hard, and I suppose that the reputation is well deserved. The essays that he chose were not any of the potential topics that he indicated in class. Pretty hard to study if you have no indication of what is going to be on the test. It didn't hurt that one of the essays was about the Hasmonean and Greco-Roman background of the New Testament, and that I have a test this afternoon in a class called "Backgrounds of the New Testament." It's nice when there's overlap like that. I think I did fairly well. I guess we'll find out next week...
Many of my classmates, and Dr. Thompson, were amazed that I finished so quickly. My philosophy of test taking is this: either you know the answer or you don't, and either way, it doesn't take long to write it down. I hated the typing class that I took in high school, but I have to admit that knowing how to type has come in handy. Those of you who have known me since high school know that I always finished my tests quickly. Oh, sometimes there would be the hopeless guy who would turn in a half blank test sheet before me, but most of the time I finished in the top 5% in terms of finishing order. It's not really a race, or about finishing fast. Like I said, I either know it or don't, and it doesn't take that long. I have historically managed to come up with good grades in spite of the appearance that I rush through tests. Again, I guess we'll find out next week if history will repeat itself once more in my favor.

Hospice, DNR order, or CPR and aggressive treatment?

2006-02-27T20:01:00.000-08:00

I preached this past Sunday at a church of less than 40 that met in a building that could hold a congregation of nearly 400. The average age of the membership was at least 65, and only that low because of one young lady in her 20’s who came with her family. There were about four couples and the rest were widows and widowers, or else had a spouse sick at home. Somewhat surprising to me considering the town and this part of the country, there were four or five African-Americans, and one of them led the singing.

I found it quite challenging to come up with a good sermon for a congregation that I had no experience with. I knew that they were the “conservative” church in town. I found it difficult to come up with something relevant that wasn’t TOO relevant. I wanted to teach from scripture, but I felt an obligation to choose a text that offered little challenge to the congregation, that didn’t push them very hard. At the same time, I can’t imagine preaching a sermon that doesn’t say anything or call for any change on the part of the hearer. I settled on Paul’s prayers in Ephesians, using chapter one for class and chapter three for the sermon. I emphasized God’s power in the first lesson, and his ability to answer prayer by means of that power in the second. I built the whole thing toward a call to pray for more than just a list of earthly concerns, but to include things like Paul says, particularly in 3:14-20, such as “that Christ may dwell in [our] hearts” and “that [we] may know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge,” because God is a god of power who answers prayers.

After the service we stayed for their monthly potluck. After class, service, and a meal, my overall impression was that these are sincere, faithful people. They didn’t seem to be legalistic, ornery, or anti-everything. At the same time, their church by all accounts is dying, with no hope of turning around. This is difficult for me to reconcile. Is it ever ok for a group of sincere Christians to let their congregation dwindle into nothingness? What should the minister’s role be in a situation like this? Is it more analogous to hospice care or CPR? Should the minister challenge them to come back to life, or help them to die gracefully?

I also felt a bit guilty because they paid me too much, but I didn't ask, and I need it.

Another Direction

2006-02-23T09:03:00.000-08:00

My last few posts have been talking about theoretical church stuff... This one's back down to earth.

We had to take Jared to the ER last night. Turns out that he has RSV, but not bad enough to admit him to the hospital. It can be pretty serious, and may still get that way. It's fairly contagious, but not nearly as harmful to older people. I don't know for sure if Jonathan's in the danger zone or not, but he has similar symptoms. Pray for the little guys.

I've worked 40 hours the past three weeks, and have had class on my days "off," so I'm getting kind of frazzled. I would love it right now if I could manage to get B's this semester. I'm intensely jealous of the people who a) have a "normal" life b) get to do one or two things at a time and c) get to go fishing . I see fishing lures 20 times a day coming through my line at Academy, which doesn't help.

Speaking of jealousy, my cousin Jesse just won 1900 dollars in a bass fishing tournament. Click here for the article. Good job, Jess.

Churches "of Christ"

2006-02-21T10:03:00.000-08:00

I borrowed this idea third hand from Brian Mashburn's lecture today...

What if we had a church sign that just said "CHURCH OF" and God could fill in the rest? I've been to the Church of Rules, the Church of Tradition, the Church of Self-Righteousness, and the Church of inconsistency. What would the sign say if God filled it in?

For us to put "of Christ" is presumptive, arrogant, bold. Are we Christ's church in the sense that we represent him? Are we Christ to the world so that God would put "of Christ" on our sign?

Think about how we treat the poor. Think about the racial mix in our churches. Think about our views of the third world. Think about it too hard and you'll be scared about what God might write. I am.

I don't mind being the Church of Christ. In fact, I think we are called to it. Let's not take the signs down or change the name. Let's live up to it.

Institutionalize me!

2006-02-19T20:24:00.000-08:00

I can't get away from wanting to work for churches. I have friends who think that churches as we know them, with buildings and so forth, are a thing of the past. They all want to start house church movements, coffee house churches, African churches, Chinese churches, and stuff like that. Nobody argues that those who attend institutional churches aren't saved, but much of the rhetoric among grad students and faculty is anti-institutional. And yet, I can't escape. George Barna this, missional that, fine. Somebody still has to serve the churches that already exist, whether they're on their way out or not. I feel called to be one of the institutional guys. Every church that I've been to has in some way or another hurt me, and so I feel like Moses at the end of the burning bush scene: "Please, Lord, send somebody else." Moses didn't get off that easy, and, I suspect, neither will I.

What is Worship?

2006-02-14T06:49:00.000-08:00

Let's spin off of the previous post and ask the REAL question.

What is worship? I see several options, some with more merit than others.

1. Worship is what the church does when it gets together. It's that Sunday and Wednesday stuff. Under this definition comes the "five acts" of worship. I'm not big on that paradigm, but I think I remember that those five are singing, prayer, giving, the Lord's Supper, and reading/hearing/preaching the word. If this is all there is, there can be no worship outside of community.

2. Worship is what I do toward God. If I pray, or I sing, then I worship. Under this definition come individual acts away from the congregation. If this is all there is, then there is no need for community.

3. Worship is not about doing, but about attitude. Did you notice the language of doing in the two previous definitions? If I think good thoughts about God, then I worship. If I see the sun rise and give thanks to God, then that's worship whether I sing or "pray" or not.

I'm sure there are more accurate definitions, but these are at least a starting point for discussion. Hopefully this question isn't too broad for blogdom.

Thinking theologically about praise teams

2006-02-07T07:14:00.000-08:00

Shana and I sang on the praise team again this past Sunday. I want to talk and think about that for a minute...

Some people think you go to hell if you have one.

Others have had one so long that they think you can't worship without one.

Some see them as a great aid to personal worship for the people in the pew.

Others see them as a great hindrance to personal worship for the people in the pew.

The first question is, "Why?" Why do I like it? Why do others hate it? What's the big deal?

The second question is like it: What does a praise team have to do with theology? What biblical principles can be applied to praise teams?

I'm not out to convert anyone or bash anyone by this post... if there are some readers who feel strongly against praise teams, please comment. I assure you that I will treat your response respectfully if it is well thought out and actually addresses the issue. If you condemn me to hell up front, well, you started it.

Ripped from the headlines...

2006-02-02T11:18:00.000-08:00

I shamelessly steal a Law and Order advertising slogan for my title, so that I can talk about what I saw on Law and Order last night while I was supposed to be reading Brueggemann.

(I long ago decided that this blog should be about more than what I did today, etc. Recent health difficulties have prompted many of my posts recently, and this post is an attempt to get back to inspirational/philosophical/theological/reflective/challenging posts.)

The case involved the involuntary sterilization of a child abusing teenage crack addict (who happened to be African American) by a public health clinic nurse (who happened to be white). The girl died as a result of the sterilization drugs, and the nurse was brought up on murder charges.

"Eugenics" is the term for the kind of policy that the nurse was promoting. The premise, based on simplistic understandings of genetics, is that if certain undesirable types can be sterilized, society will benefit. Put another way, if it can be proven that people with certain undesirable physical, mental, or behavioral properties are more likely to produce offspring with those same tendencies, that it is for the greater good of the society to prevent such offspring from being born.

What do you think? Should there be a program to reduce undesirable traits and behaviors in society by the involuntary sterilization of people with those traits? I'm sure that some of my readers don't care or won't voice an opinion, but I assume that some of you will chime in on this one.

I'll post a comment later on about what I think about the issue.
Jason

No doctors, but no pain

2006-01-31T06:09:00.000-08:00

Well, things are different since last I wrote. On Friday I went in for a stomach scope which came back normal. That means that my problem isn't an ulcer. After that, I drank some barium and had a bunch of xrays. I won't get the results of those until next Tuesday.

Meanwhile (back at the ranch?), I got better. I started feeling better Thursday after my dismal last post. I did skip class and slept all morning, but I went to work in the afternoon and felt pretty well. Friday I felt pretty good. I wanted to go fishing, but having been anesthetized that morning, I decided against it, although I felt good enough.

Saturday I went to work again, and felt OK. I hadn't had a pain pill since Thursday morning, but I had to take one Saturday afternoon.

Sunday I felt good, even well. My energy had returned. I sang tenor on the praise team at second service, which was a surprise to some. My mom had called Southern Hills and Walnut on Wednesday and told them I was sick. Apparently she made it sound like I was IN the hospital and in bad trouble. Actually I was AT the hospital, and getting better.

I worked Sunday night. Inventory was Monday, so we worked our tails off on Sunday night finishing up last minute projects.

Yesterday I had to work at 4 a.m. It was interesting, but seemed to be not worth all the trouble that was made about it. As far as I can tell, it went well. Even the managers seemed to think so.

What's the moral of the story? The doctors still have no idea what was going on. Even so, perhaps in spite of that, I got better to the point that I can almost say I am normal (if I have ever been). I'm still behind in my reading because of all of this, but I'm hanging on, and haven't turned in anything late yet.

People have asked if we need financial help to deal with the medical bills. Several people have helped us already, which has made a big difference in terms of paying bills, since I missed several days of work. We have not received any bills yet from the hospitals or doctors. We have had to put some initial payments on our credit cards. My plan is to try and negotiate with the doctors and hospitals, to exhaust all institutional sources of aid (hospital aid, and I heard a rumor about ACU having some kind), work hard to take care of it all myself, and then to turn to our church, family and friends as a last resort. Maybe this is backward, I don't know, but it's my plan so far.

Too well to be sick, too sick to be well

2006-01-26T07:20:00.000-08:00

I'm starting to get a little frustrated. Tuesday night I went back to the ER with similar results: a shot of pain meds and send me home with no diagnosis or progress toward one. Wednesday I went to the ACU doctor, who referred me to a specialist. I was able to see the specialist yesterday afternoon, and he ordered another test. I did a test where they inject radioactive goo and watch what it does to my liver and gall bladder. This morning the specialist called and said that the test was borderline. I'm too sick to go to class or work, but apparently not sick enough for an operation or even for them to tell what is wrong with me. He scheduled me for a stomach scope and an upper GI series of x-rays tomorrow.

I missed my class this morning and was planning on missing work today until I had those tests scheduled for tomorrow. I guess I'll have to go to work today if I can't work tomorrow. It's a double whammy. I can't make money if I don't work, and they want me to spend more money that I don't have.

On top of that, Shana and I are both getting colds.

I want to say some cuss words, and cry.

Jason

Back to square one

2006-01-24T06:05:00.000-08:00

I told them I didn't have a cat... the scan didn't find anything. No gall stones. No tumors (good!). Nothing. There are some ways in which that's good, I suppose, but it's an expensive test to find out all the stuff that's not wrong.

Yesterday was one of the worst days so far. The pain wasn't as bad as it had been at times, but it was pretty bad and constant all day long. I was at work, and could hardly stand up straight. I spent alot of time sitting on the floor.

I talked to the ACU doctor again and got the results of the cat scan, and we decided to pretend like it's an ulcer now. He put me on laxatives (scan showed I was full of poop- never heard that before, lol) and on Plavix. My friend Leann the Nexium salesperson let me down, as the doctor had no samples to give me, so he prescribed Plavix instead. So, now I'm on Lortab for pain, Maalox for the upset stomach, some syrupy goo for the alleged constipation, and Plavix for a possible ulcer. Hope something works. If it doesn't, then he's going to send me to a GI specialist.

Jason

I don't even have a cat...

2006-01-19T08:45:00.000-08:00

After talking with the ACU doctor on Tuesday, we kind of decided that gall stones are the probable cause of the pain I'm having. The theory is that because I had eaten recently before my ER visit, the scans that they did there weren't able to detect the gall stones. Therefore, a CAT scan is the next step.

I've got the CAT scan scheduled for tomorrow at 8 a.m. The results won't be in until later, probably Monday.

I'm still not doing great. The pills work OK, but I don't have very many left, and I don't have much energy. My boss, Mike, has been great about letting me be flexible and not making me do too much work. Hopefully my professors will give me a bit of flexibilty in turning in a couple of projects that I have due in the next couple of days. It's pretty hard to concentrate and read when you feel crappy and you're on pain meds.

Jared is doing quite a bit better, and Shana's illness was quick.

I suppose that's about it for now. I'll give updates as they come. Keep praying.
Jason

Something's Wrong With Me

2006-01-16T17:49:00.000-08:00

It wasn't the sour cream that made me sick the other day. On Friday after the fishing trip, my stomach started hurting again. I went to bed about 10 but the pain woke me up at about 2 a.m. I laid there until 4 and then drove myself to the ER at Hendrick. When a cheapskate with no insurance decides to go to the ER at 4 a.m., you know the pain's bad. They did X-rays, an ultrasound, and blood tests and still didn't figure out what caused the pain. It wasn't appendicitis, gall stones, kidney stones, or an infection. They ended up giving me some pain medicine and sending me home. I was supposed to work on Saturday at 7 a.m. but didn't get home from the ER until 7:30. Two more weeks and I'll have some paid sick days. Figures. I ended up sleeping until about 4 p.m. I went to work on Sunday and rode the clock, feeling pretty crappy. Today was a bit better, although I still didn't have much energy. About the time I got home, my stomach started hurting like it had the other two times. I took some pain medicine, but it's too early to tell. It may be another long night. Classes start tomorrow, so hopefully the medicine will keep the pain under control tonight. Pray for my health, if you don't mind.
Jason

Big Fish

2006-01-16T17:09:00.001-08:00

My friend Whit once commented that for a guy who likes to hunt and fish so much, my blog doesn't have many outdoors pictures.

Friday after we got out of class, Travis and I went to the lake. We caught 4 crappie, although only one was big enough to keep, and we put the jug lines out.

First we caught this blue cat (center, black and white). It was about 3 pounds or so.

After that, we went to another spot and put the jugs out. Coincidentally, this was the spot where the lady at the bait shop said that the blue cats were biting. I usually don't put much faith in bait shop ladies. Maybe I should, as we caught this one (left, color). It weighed 8 pounds. It was big enough to pull the jug all the way under.

I like to keep my good news and bad news separate, so I'll publish this post here and write another one in a minute.

Jason

Poison, Promotions, Preaching Prophecy

2006-01-12T08:07:00.000-08:00

We're talking about preaching prophecy in class today. We just listened to Martin Luther King's "I have a dream" speech. Quite a work of art. Perhaps as close to modern prophecy as there can be.

I might have to steal that metaphor of the promissory note marked "Insufficient Funds" as a way to understand or explain my church experiences. By their very nature they promised, but when I went to the bank, they couldn't deliver. Like MLK I refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt. There must be somewhere something about church or Christianity that in fact does contain community, forgiveness, and all those things that the Bible promises.

I might have to create a dream of equality and fraternity among Christians of all flavors. I wonder to what extent racial segregation is similar to denominational segregation. I hesitate to say that all congregations of all denominations are created equal. On the other hand, I refuse to believe that the current state of dis-fellowship is what God had in mind.

I had some food poisoning yesterday. Not problems on either end, so to speak, just bad cramps. I think it was bad sour cream out of our fridge. I survived.

I also got a promotion yesterday. Starting in February I won't be "just the camping guy." I'll be a cashier supervisor, which also includes an extra dollar per hour. A step in the right direction.

"If all we do in prophecy is beat the daylights out of people, we're not really being prophetic."
- Mark Hamilton

Jason

Reflections on Context

2006-01-09T07:50:00.001-08:00

Since my friend Terry the rocket scientist asked about trap bedding, I thought I'd explain.

In Texarkana, dirt is fluffy. There's plenty of plant matter in the soil, and it compacts under pressure. To bed a trap, you pack around the outside, flip the loose jaw, pack around the inside, flip the jaw back, throw dirt on top, and go.

In Abilene, dirt is sand. There is no "dirt." When you bed a trap like you would in Texarkana, the dirt doesn't pack, and it also runs under the pan. When you get dirt under the pan, the pan won't fall under the pressure of a fox foot, and so success becomes impossible. (The solution, BTW, seems to be pan covers.)

There's the explanation for you, Dr. B.

The immediate lesson: no two places are the same. What works in Texarkana may not work in Abilene, and vice versa. Dallas isn't Austin, isn't California, isn't Saskatchewan. There is no unified theory or singular explanation for everything under the sun.

I'm in class right now, and our break is over, so bye.
Jason

Several posts from my head...

2006-01-06T15:08:00.000-08:00

I haven't posted in quite a while, but I've had a few ideas that I could have posted. Here's a recap...

1. The Year in Review. I started out a father of one, a youth minister, and happy. Now I'm a father of two, a student and sporting goods clerk, and sometimes happy, sometimes not.

2. The Once and Future Youth Minister. I was a YM once. I anticipate that I will be again some time. I sent out some resumes. I did one interview, although I didn't get that job. I then decided to turn down two more interviews. I just don't think that now is the time, or that either of those two places were the place.

3. I'm Going to MIT. Actually, I'm planning on trying to go MIT, and that's "manager in training," not the school for geniuses in Massachusetts. I spoke to my manager about advancement possibilities at Academy and have a couple of meetings coming soon that could move me toward moving toward a management position (yeah, moving toward moving toward).

4. The Neighborhoods are Ripe for the Harvest, but the Fields are Pretty Poor. This is actually a story about illegal deer hunting that may or may not have allegedly occurred :)

5. A Trapping Mis-Adventure. I put out some traps for three nights and caught 6 coons. I figured out that the way to bed traps in Texarkana doesn't work in Abilene. As soon as I got it figured out, I had to pull my traps. If I get a second chance to get traps out, I'll probably catch a bunch of stuff. Probably won't get the chance.

6. Stories About the Boys. The best stories are actually on Shana's blog, so go to my links on the right hand side of this page and check hers out.

See, I could have posted six times since December 19 instead of just one.

Please pray for my internet friend Ann White. She's been in the hospital alot lately with severe digestive problems. Her blog's on the links as well, and more details about her illness and stuff are there.

Jason

Might as well say something

2005-12-19T20:06:00.000-08:00

I generally tend to avoid stream-of-consciousness, "today I went to the store" kind of posts, but for the sake of an update, today I'll make a bit of an exception.

I'm planning on setting my first traps of the season tomorrow for fox, bobcat, coyote, and coon. The fur market is not great this year, but the cats and fox should be decent. Last year David and I trapped every day from Thanksgiving to Valentine's. It's just not the same without someone to do it with.

I went fishing yesterday afternoon even though it was 45 degrees. We tried a few spots for crappie, but didn't get a single bite. We don't have any brush piles located, and we didn't have enough time to do much prospecting.

My Academy store had its biggest sales day ever on Saturday, about 171K.

I made all A's again. Usually it's no surprise, but with all that I've been doing, and with the lack of effort I put into SPM and a couple of its papers, all A's is good.

Apparently I have a good resume. I sent out a few just for kicks about a month ago. Three of the five churches have called me to set up interviews. I don't know if I'm ready, or willing, to take another job, but I can't really decide unless a job is a legitimate option. More on that front should develop in the next few days and weeks, and so I'll save the specifics for later when I have more info.

Jonathan is starting to talk a lot. His vocabulary includes Jared, Jonathan, Mommy, Daddy, cheetos, candy, vacuum, out, yes, no, down, please, thank you, cheese, coke, wow-wee, away, awake, Santa, diaper, poo poo, the letters O, A, E and T, and home. He likes to pretend to talk on the phone. He was carrying Shana's cell phone around this evening, so I got on the house phone and called it. He can't answer it yet, but Shana answered for him and he listened. I told him it was Santa and that he should be good so he would get lots of presents. After I hung up, I asked him who called and he said, "Tanta." Pretty cool.

I guess that's about it for today.
Jason

There is No Difference: Romans 3:23

2005-12-10T19:54:00.000-08:00

Here's the sermon I preached in class on Tuesday night. As with many sermons, this one began as a conviction of the preacher. I'm a sinner, just like them.

The church where I grew up had a habit of having the young men do the Wednesday night devotional. I remember one time when Josh, a guy a couple of years older than me, forgot that it was his turn. The look of horror on his face when he figured it out was indescribable, but he made a plan to speak. After the obligatory two songs, he went to the pulpit and said, “Romans 3:23 says that all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. If you have sinned, please come forward as we stand and sing.”

Romans 3:23 has been used for a long, long time to illustrate how we are all sinful. I’ve sinned, you’ve sinned, and we all fall short of God’s glory. This use is so ingrained in our consciousness that an unprepared high school kid can use it correctly in a last second sermon.

It is often used at a certain point in an evangelistic Bible study. “I’m not a sinner. I haven’t murdered, or committed adultery, and I don’t even cuss.” Romans 3:23 is our answer to that: nope, you’re a sinner, and you’d better get baptized pretty quick or it’s gonna get real hot. This text has been a text of bad news: we are all sinners.

So why would I preach a sermon on something that we already know? Because this passage has more to say beyond “all fall short”

Remember the context in which this verse is written. Paul writes to a church in Rome that is dealing with issues surrounding the Jewish Christians being expelled from Rome by the emperor Claudius in AD 49 and their return in AD 54. The Jewish Christians were banished for five years, but the Gentile Christians remained. After five years, the Jewish Christians returned.

Imagine with me what that would be like: it is as if everyone over the age of 35 were banished from this church for five years. That’s all the elders, ¾ of the deacons, and a large proportion of the fathers and uncles. Those of us young ‘uns left behind didn’t give up our faith. We continued to worship, serve, and grow. With no one around to tell us differently, we did church the way we thought it should be done. At the end of the five years, the exiles returned only to find that things were not how they used to be. The young people had changed everything! Imagine the turmoil, the discomfort, even the anger felt on both sides.
- you messed it all up while we were gone
- you’re trying to mess it all up now that you’re back
- we did just fine without you
- we built this church without you

Into this kind of division and separation, disorientation and discomfort, anger and conflict that Paul writes this letter. Keep that in mind as we read the text.

Read Romans 3:21-24- did anything jump out at you after seeing this text through the lens of a Jew-Gentile/ insider-outsider conflict? The thing that struck me the most wasn’t the usual- all have sinned, all fall short. What got me was this: there is no difference.

There is no difference. They’ve sinned, you’ve sinned, there is no difference. They’ve fallen short, you’ve fallen short, there is no difference.

But where’s the point of connection? Why would I preach this text with this message to the church here? Let me put it this way, at the risk of being too direct.

Some of the members of this church grew up here. Your grandparents went here, your parents went here, and now you and your children go here. This is your church, and you built it. Years of your hard work have gone into it. Years of your contributions have paid for its buildings, its ministers, and its mission work. You have put in faithful service to this church for decades, and this is your church. Now all of these young people from out of town are trying to change the church that you built. What does this text say to you? There is no difference! You are sinners just like them.

Some of the members of this church are new to the area. You moved to Texarkana to work, your job transferred you here. You grew up in Alabama, or Dallas, or Austin, or Abilene. You didn’t grow up in this church, but you chose it, and so this is your church. Instead of any other church in town, you have given your time, your service, your money, and your devotion to this church. This is your church. You’ve seen different ways to do things because of some of the places you’ve been. You may even have different ideas about how things should be done. You may even feel like the older people are holding you back, or even holding back the progress of the very body of Christ. What is the message of this text to you? There is no difference! You are sinners just like them.

Remember who Paul is writing to, and who I am preaching to: the church. The audience in Rome and the audience here are Christians. Paul isn’t saying that there’s no difference between Christians and non-Christians. Paul isn’t talking about who is in and who is out of the Lord’s body. Paul isn’t saying those things, and neither am I.

No text of bad news is complete without good news. I’m a sinner. You are a sinner. That’s bad news. The good news is that we share some things in common. In spite of our differences in age, in spite of our differences in opinion, in spite of our differences in philosophy, and in spite of our differences even on finer points of doctrine, this text brings good news. There is no difference! This text gives us two ways in which there is no difference.

The bad news- all have sinned. I think we understand that part.

The gospel- all who believe are justified by grace through the redemption that came by Jesus. The way I understand the New Testament is that those who truly believe will seek to participate in the death, burial and resurrection of Christ in baptism. Paul and I aren’t talking about that at all. We’re talking to the church, to the Christians, to those who have already been baptized. Inside the church, there is no difference. That means us, and that also means them. That means the young and the old, and the liberal and the conservative. All who believe, there is no difference.

By our sinful nature we share in the bad news. By our faith we share in the good news of redemption in Christ. The bad, we share together. The good, we share together. There is no us and them. There is no young and old. There is only all of us together, for there is no difference.

That's the end of the sermon. I'll probably post a hunting report some time in the next couple of days. The short version is "No deer."

Jason

Moving Sermons

2005-12-06T19:51:00.000-08:00

There's a long standing preacher joke about moving sermons, you know, the kind that after you preach them, you have to move.

I have done some thinking today, after sitting through twelve sermons in three hours for preaching class, about what a moving sermon is and should be. I have come to the conclusion that there are three kinds.

One, there is the kind of moving sermon where you preach that Jesus was a homosexual, or that God is a female, or that Muslims are the same as Christians. Blatantly erroneous teaching ought to precipitate a move. Duh.

Two, there is the kind of moving sermon where what is heard is not what is actually said. Sometimes people don't hear the message accurately. Oh, their ears work, but there's no connection between their interpretation of the sermon and the actual sermon itself. Sometimes these misunderstandings lead to a move. I've been there. You never actually get to explain what you actually said, or what you meant, or anything, because you never get the chance to on your way out of town. (Plus, they already know what you said, at least they say they do.)

Three, there is the kind of moving sermon where you preach a truth that is too true to be heard well. (I think my last sermon at Walnut was one of those.) Put it however you like: the pioneers get the arrows, people kill prophets, or whatever. I have noticed a tendency among humanity, myself included. If a preacher preaches a sermon that should be particularly convicting of a certain behavior in which I am engaged, my reaction is not to be humbled or convicted, but to be angry at the preacher for getting in my business. This is from Satan. Think Pharisees and Jesus, think Jeremiah, think Elijah, if you really need a biblical example. People kill prophets.

In our preaching class, we were required to preach our sermons as if to a specific congregation. I chose Walnut, it being the congregation with which I had the most familiarity. The sermon I preached tonight from Romans 3 was too true to be heard, although it was one of the less inflammatory and convicting sermons that could be preached to Walnut from Romans. My plan is to tweak it a bit to clarify a couple of points of potential misunderstanding, and then to post it here. (Can I be fired twice?) If I can get 300 hits a week by accidentally saying something, surely those who recognize the truth in the sermon can hit the forward button as vigorously as those who would do harm. If only people would be as diligent and enthusiastic about spreading the truth as they are about perpetuating discord and misinformation. We'll see, I guess. Give me a couple of days to get it ready.
Jason

A Rule of Life

2005-11-28T08:23:00.000-08:00

I hope my loyal readers haven't given up on me, since I haven't posted in quite some time. I've been doing very little but working and writing papers. Even today's post is just one of the papers, but that's the best I can do for now.

I had to write a rule of life for one of my classes. More than a "rule" it's like a set of spiritual goals. It's somewhat personal by nature, but I decided to post it here.

I have always been a planner. As a kid, I was always scheming a way to go to my cousin’s, or to spend the night at someone’s house, or to go fishing. Later, I had a specific plan about how my life should go in terms of education, occupation, and so forth. To make a plan now about my spiritual development is a new application of an old tendency.
I have always done things on purpose. I seldom do anything “just because.” My reasons may be weird, the connections seemingly random, but I can usually explain the thought process behind many of my actions. My spiritual life has been one of the few areas of my life without purpose. To add intentionality to my spirituality is to bring it in line with my natural tendency toward purpose.
I have always framed my goals as “I want.” I want to write a book, kill a bear, be respected by my peers as a good minister, and to see my children grow up to be faithful. To frame these spiritual goals as “I want” rather than “I will,” “I desire,” or simple bullet points is to use my usual language.
I have always enjoyed time alone. I like to hunt and fish by myself, sometimes for as much as a whole day. So far in my life, those times of solitude and silence have been distinctly non-spiritual. After learning more about the benefits of spiritual solitude and silence, I began to intentionally insert a spiritual component into my deer hunting this fall. I want to continue to add spirituality to my silence. I want to learn more about spiritual silence and listening to God in nature.
I have always aspired to a life of simplicity and frugality. I don’t believe in credit cards. I don’t have to have new furniture or a new car. I hunt and fish and eat what I kill and catch. I make my own ground meat and sausage. I am intentional about my giving. I want to give more. I want to expand the simpler aspects of my life. My dad taught me many of these things, but not as a distinctly spiritual discipline. I want to be spiritual in my simplicity.
I have been a full time minister, and I expect to be again. Study of the Bible has been a part of my professional life for some time. Only recently have I begun to study for the sake of study, not in the course of lesson preparation. Meditation in my religious experience has been little more than the memorization of scripture. I want to study on purpose. I want to learn to meditate more effectively. I have been practicing lectio divina on my deer stand this year, and I want to explore this and other types of meditation further.
I have almost always been able to worship personally in the corporate assembly. To me, the purest worship is that in which the congregation around you disappears. I want to worship like that even more. I want to continue to worship well in community, and I want to teach others to truly worship within our movement’s worship style and structure.
I have always tried to pray. I understood Romans 8 as “the spirit helps you pray when your list runs out.” I knew instinctively that there must be something more to prayer than that, but until this semester, I never knew what else was out there. I want to expand my prayer repertoire. I want to pray the prayers of antiquity. I want to pray breath prayer throughout the day.
I have always thought that confession didn’t apply to me. Introduction to the practice of examen has led me toward confession as a discipline. I want to learn more about the practice of spiritual self-examination. I want to be intentional about searching my life for sin.
I have always sought spiritual direction and spiritual companions, although I didn’t have the vocabulary to call them that. I want to continue to seek a spiritual director. I want to learn from those with greater experience. I want to walk alongside of other Christians in community. I want to be in relationship with other hungry beggars with whom I might share a bite of bread.
I want my ministry to be shaped by my experience of God through spiritual discipline. I want my ministry to teach others how to seek and know God in ways outside our movement’s rationalist experience. I want young people to fall in love with Christ, and I want to guide them toward that love.
I have been a father for nearly two years. I have been a husband for nearly eight. I want to be a better spiritual guide for my family. I have always guided my family toward participation in corporate church. I want to encourage my wife to engage in spiritual disciplines, and I want to show her rather than tell her. I want to teach my kids, even at their young age, the importance of faith in God.
I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection. I want to share in his suffering and conform to his death. I want to pour out my life and be filled with his spirit. I want to know the joy that follows suffering and the life that follows death.

Thank you for reading.
Jason

Contemplative youth ministry

2005-11-08T08:48:00.000-08:00

My poor neglected blog...

I read a few articles recently about people advocating a non-program, non-activity based, contemplative youth ministry. Teaching young people how to meditate on scripture, how to pray in ways other than the usual, and how to listen to God sounds like a good idea. I think there's definitely some value in teaching the classical spiritual disciplines, particularly in churches of Christ. This could be the answer in part to the problem of biblical illiteracy in our churches.

On the other hand, a contemplative ministry does great for the involved members but ignores the fringe and those on the outside. There's no mission aspect to a group focused on themselves and their own spiritual development.

While I don't think that a purely contemplative youth ministry is exceptionally effective, I can certainly see how contemplative elements could be (and should be) included in the way we do ministry. I had made a few steps in that direction prior to coming to school (adding some silence and Taize into the youth worship time, for example), but I plan on being much more intentional on the next go-around.

Changing the subject, I didn't kill a deer this past Saturday, which was opening day of rifle season. I saw one small buck a long ways off, and Travis saw two small bucks and a doe. Trav ended up shooting a pig right at dark, the big brown sow I saw a couple of weeks ago. The crappie are allegedly biting, but I haven't had a chance to go yet.

Shana and the kids are going to my parents house for a few days to visit. They leave today and should return on Saturday.

Mom called and told me that my grandmother's (her mom's) cancer has returned. It was in her throat and they treated it, but this time they found it in her lungs. Doesn't look to good. No word on treatment options or anything yet, but keep her in your prayers. Her name is Ruth Isaacs.

Guess that's it for today.
Jason

Writing a spiritual autobiography

2005-10-24T07:30:00.000-07:00

I'm in the process of writing a spiritual autobiography. Some of those things are hard to re-live. I'm not going to post it here in its entirety, because it's too personal, and because it's a bit critical of many of the people and churches that have brought me to this point. Even so, here are the highlights:

1. Because of my family history, I had no choice but to be a faithful member of the Church of Christ. Kind of the opposite of Hank Williams' "Family Tradition" song.
2. My spiritual mentors have included my Dad, Whit Pennock, Greg Brumley, Dean English, Jered Benedick, and Donald Sandlin.
3. Most of the elders I have ever known have protected the status quo or their backsides at my expense.
4. I have been plagued, or perhaps blessed, by a nagging dissatisfaction with the way things are.
5. I can honestly say that I can think of very few times when I have found my church experience completely satisfying. Like many folks who end up in seminary, I found myself saying that there must be something more to Christianity than what I had experienced.
6. I fully believe that God has worked through circumstances throughout my life to lead me along to various places and people, and I have no reason to suspect that he'd quit now.
7. I have no idea what's going to happen next, or where the Lord is leading me right now, or what I want to be when I grow up, but I have faith that he'll work it out.

And there it is. The long version is 13 pages.

It was another good weekend to be a fan of the orange and white.

Friday night we took the boat and the kids to the lake. Jonathan was funny. He saw me casting and wanted to do the same. He picked up my pole with a Pop-R on the end and started waving it around and whacking me in the head. Not wanting my ears pierced, I got him a pole from the rod box that I hadn't put a reel on yet. He threw a fit because there wasn't a lure on the end, so we clipped a float on to the last eye and he was OK. Turns out that an All Star will float if it doesn't have a reel attached. In between Jonathan's stuff, I managed to catch one decent bass. They were busting shad in the back of this little cove, but I didn't have the opportunity to fish hard enough to catch more than the one. Even so, it was a pleasant trip.

I went deer hunting on Saturday and didn't see anything, but the deer are eating my corn from the demand feeder, and I finally figured out how to make the other feeder work. Turns out that it has to be turned to "off" when you leave, not "on" as intuition would make you think.

Have a good one,
Jason

Missional Church?

2005-10-18T09:15:00.000-07:00

I just finished reading "The Shaping of Things to Come" by Frost and Hirsch, a book about the theory of missional church leadership as compared with the institutional church. They make some good arguments about the dangers of institutionalism in our churches. For example, we are identified by our hierarchy, by our buildings, and by our "attractional" stance: if you build it, they will come. Since we have the truth, it is our responsibility to get people to come and hear it. Our outreach events are oriented around bringing them to us. They're more in-drag than out-reach, to use Frost and Hirsch's language. Instead of attracting non-Christians to church with our new buildings, fancy programs, and "great worship and preaching," Frost and Hirsch argue that the Bible seems to say "You go" more than "make them come."

The authors argue for a non-institutional model: no church building, no hierarchy, no us-them language, no attraction to our fancy programs, no dualism. By dualism, we mean the tendency of institutional churches to allow and unintentionally encourage Christian behavior on Sunday that is not connected at all to the rest of the week. If you remember, I constantly and intentionally tried to teach against this kind of dualism. I want teens to know that Christianity IS life, not a part of it. Jesus IS Lord, and that means even on Tuesdays and Saturdays. I couldn't (or wouldn't) play the institutional games, and so even my chance to teach truth was cut off.

Frost and Hirsch argue that the institutional church is dead but doesn't know it yet. I'm convinced that if those of us who are trained and training to be ministers jump ship to build a new model, then we will contribute to the death of the institution. Somebody needs to stick with the program and help those folks.

And so I'm back to another version of the same question... How does a person who is anti-institutional function within the institution? I suppose that by nature the gospel is subversive, but I hate to be intentionally subversive. I don't want to "play institution" while being anti-institutional in my teaching and life. At the same time, I love the people in the institutional church, warts and all, so I can't just take off and start my own thing like so many want to do.

In case you haven't figured it out by this point, I don't entirely buy Frost and Hirsch's arguments in their entirety. Remember that I blog to inspire thought in the readers more than to convince them of certain points.

Have a good one!
Jason

Eureka!

2005-10-11T11:01:00.000-07:00

I think I found my first book. (Actually I already wrote a children's book, but haven't pursued any kind of publication.) I've always wanted to write a book, but have never really had anything important to say. I think I found something yesterday...

Since my family is out of town, I decided to go deer hunting yesterday evening. I got out of spiritual formation class at 3 and headed to the country. I took along my bible. I spent about an hour in meditation, kind of lectio divina style, about the story of Ananias and Sapphira. What have I given up for God? What have I held back? From whom did I withold it? What were the consequences of my witholding? What does this text call me to repent of? After that, I spent the next hour praying the Jesus prayer. I can't say that I had any great revelations or anything, but it was a good exercise. Didn't see any deer either, for those who wondered.

Now to my book... Steve Chapman wrote a book called "A Look at Life from a Deer Stand." It's kind of a fluffy book about seeing God in nature and remembering all about family stories. I think my book is going to be called "The Deer Stand Monk" or something like that and offer a series of spiritual formation exercises for guys sitting around in a tree waiting for a deer to show up. I have a ways to go yet, as I probably shouldn't write a book after only two hours of actually doing what the book is about, but I really like the idea. I think I'm going to continue this practice, lectio divina followed by hesychastic prayer (nice technical words there, huh?) through this deer season and see what comes about.

Jason

2 Legit 2 Quit

2005-10-10T09:10:00.000-07:00

Well, I wrote the letter I spoke about in my previous post. While a case could be made for posting it here, I think a stronger case can be made for not posting. However, here's an outline of the key points.
1. The published criteria are too general to be useful.
2. Expectations must be clear. Differing expectations, or unspoken ones, will lead to frustration and failure.
3. Success requires an efficient feedback structure. Unmet expectations must be clearly addressed and specific suggestions must be made about the nature of any improvement needed.
4. Walnut must be clear about its vision and must hire a minister who shares the same vision and philosophy of ministry.

I think I did a decent job of saying what needed to be said without saying all the things I could say that might make me feel better. Like I said before, I think that what I had to say was important enough that I couldn't not say it. 2L2Q.

Speaking of legit, how 'bout them Longhorns! Looks like the OU monkey is finally off of Mack Brown's back. That title game with USC is going to be a tough one, should the rest of the season go as expected.

My family went to New Mexico this week. Shana's mom came here for a Mary Kay thingy, and Shana and the boys rode back with her. So far I've boiled my traps, built two bow stands, read two books, written the aforementioned letter, and I plan on hunting this afternoon. It sure is quiet around here, which is both good and bad. I can get alot done, but I miss my wife and kids.

I suppose that's about it for now. A special thanks to those who commented on my previous post. Your comments were helpful.

Jason

An interesting opportunity... advice sought

2005-10-04T19:17:00.000-07:00

It comes as no surprise that Walnut is looking for a new youth minister. What has surprised me is that they published criteria in the bulletin for what kind of YM they say that they want. Some would say that they had a YM that met those criteria...

My concern is mostly that they not set up another poor fool for a fall by being unclear about their expectations. A second major concern is the effect another difficult transition will have on the church and the kids in particular. I called Bob Fry and expressed some of my concerns, and he said that it would be appropriate and perhaps helpful for me to make a written statement to the eldership.

I appeal to the collective wisdom of my readership. Jerry, Stan, Kim, Travis, Mom and Dad, Kristie, Gabe, Ann, and even you folks in France...

This is a tough thing, a delicate matter. I need to say what needs to be said, but in a way that will be heard. What advice can you offer?

Friends, fastflight, fake checks, and falls

2005-09-28T19:24:00.000-07:00

I suppose things are plenty busy, but it’s not with the kind of stuff that’s really blog-worthy. Oh well, here it is anyway…

The Dempseys came and stayed with us on Monday night. Jason’s grandpa died, and his funeral was in Cisco. All of the hotels were booked with Rita evacuees, and so they came and stayed with us. Not ideal circumstances, but it was nice to see them.

I got a “rejection letter” via email from Eastland… so far the unhireable premise holds true.

I’ve been shooting my bow some getting ready for deer season, which starts Saturday. Unfortunately, one of my cables started to break on Monday night. I had to get a new cable today, which will stretch and put my bow out of tune bit by bit for a while, at the same time I’m trying to hunt.

I rode around with the police this past Friday night from about 9 p.m. to 2 a.m. It was interesting. We arrested a guy for public intoxication and had to spray him with pepper spray since he was fighting the cops and not getting in the car. Then we caught a lady who had passed about 200 fake checks in the past three weeks. The detective who was working on her case was going to the store at 11 p.m. to buy toilet paper when he saw her sitting in her car in the parking lot. He called it in and the rest is history. She also had drugs in her purse, so she’ll be in jail for a while. We also checked on a dispute between two neighbors and also a drunk driver. There’s a whole other side of the world right across the street that only comes out late at night.

(My recent studies in Greek have made me think about grammar… does the other side of the world come out at night, or is it across the street that only comes out at night? Isn’t grammar fun!)

Shana sprained her ankle today. She twisted it at Dollar General. She had the boys with her, but some nice guy helped her get them into the car since she couldn’t walk. She went to our friend Lindy’s house. Lindy was great! She helped Shana with the boys all day long until I got off at 4 and brought them all home. They kept ice on it and it seemed to be getting better by bedtime. The second day’s usually pretty bad, but she was starting to get around OK this evening.

I talked to my friend Chris tonight about our semi traditional annual bowhunting trip. It’s still up in the air, as he’s doing job interviews. He stuck with the plan and just graduated with his Ph.D. in biomedical engineering.

I guess that’s all I have to say for now. I have to work 36 hours, read two books, and take a midterm next week, so I ought to get off the computer and get to work…

Two instances of blatant plagiarism

2005-09-21T20:43:00.000-07:00

I have always hoped that my blog would challenge people to think. Other folks sometimes (actually very often) challenge better than I do, so this time I'm going to just copy their stuff.

First, a bit from Mike Cope's blog about youth ministers....

Just a word about youth ministers here. I've been blessed to speak at lots of conferences for youth ministers through the years, and I've gotten to know many of them.

Here's what I've discovered: so many of them are among the most passionate, godly leaders I've ever met. They tend to fly under the radar a bit since they are "youth ministers"--but trust me, their influence permeates throughout their churches.

Most of them are thinking theologically in a way that connects with culture. They have to answer the question "Where was God in this?" constantly, because teens aren't afraid to ask. They have developed a knack for seeing beneath the surface to the deeper issues. For example, when everyone was blathering on about Generation X, most youth ministers saw beneath those "studies" to the deeper cultural shifts involved.

Church leaders are, thankfully, talking more and more about missional living. I think many youth ministers led the way. Over the past couple decades they have moved away from the ski trip model of youth ministry (though there's nothing wrong with a good old ski trip!) to the mission trip model. They know that their job isn't to meet all the perceived needs of their teens or to compete with the next megachurch down the road but to help in the transformation of students into passionate disciples of Christ who seek to participate in the work of God.

So many youth ministers I know are passionate about kingdom, mission, incarnational living, authenticity, and -- of course -- the gospel. They have little time for denominational concerns and have been moving beyond those borders long before others decided that is a good idea.

Second, a post from Greg Kendall-Ball's blog about certain people he calls "the unhireables." Although the Travis in his post isn't my brother Travis, we'd both certainly be members of Greg's club. I know I'd buy the T-shirt anyway.

My pal Travis and I have formed a club recently. Actually, I would venture to say that this club has been formed for some time, but we're officially proclaiming its existence, and possibly even making t-shirts.

The Unhireables: a club for men and women, who through academic association, positions on certain key issues, and attitudes toward a great number of things have made themselves unhireable by many, if not most, Churches of Christ currently in existence.

Let's face it: some of us are screwed. I just spoke with a couple who were being interviewed by a church recently. As the meeting went on, they were asked about their view of the "core" of the Gospel. They talked about the Divinity of Christ, Sovreignty of God, and so on. One elder asked them about their view on instrumental music. When they responded that it was not a "core issue" for them, the elder closed their information packet, very visibly, and quickly called the meeting to a close.

This happens more often than we'd like. I know a guy right now who has his M.Div, was recognized as a great servant by his teachers, has years of ministry experience at churches around here, and he can't find a job. He's not even half as controversial as I am, so what hope do I have? I know of some very gifted preachers, excellent teachers and so on, who can't find jobs because of the lack of certain male body parts.

Are we overreacting? Are we really Unhireable? Are we just suffering from a period of low self-esteem? Are we just talking to the wrong churches? Are there churches out there who would actually let us serve as ministers?

Like the hangman said...

2005-09-20T08:37:00.000-07:00

No noose is good noose.

Not much happening around here. Some friends and I just recently made fun of "stream of consciousness" blogs with no point, so I won't tell you everything I did this week.

One item of interest... I got to go look at a piece of land that I have permission to hunt. Turns out one of the elders from Canadian has moved to Abilene and bought 400 acres. He gave me permission to hunt. Pays not to burn the bridges some times. Looks like it'll be super excellent varmint hunting and trapping, plus it's got lots of quail, some pigs, and some deer, and it's only a 3 gallon round trip in the truck.

So far we've got Kurt Russel and Herschel Walker on the previous post... anyone else?
Jason

Brushes with greatness

2005-09-15T18:43:00.000-07:00

Also the title of a biography of a guy with huge teeth...

I met a couple of semi-important people today. One, I had a five minute conversation with the vice president of Academy Corporation. Turns out he's from Austin and he has a son who coaches at Bowie, so we talked about Leander and Westlake football. We also talked about some of the old Academy stores, like the one on Burnet Road and the one on I 35. I bought one of my first rod and reels at the I 35 store. They were also one of the only places in town to get Benjamin pellets. Academy apparently does about a Billion dollars a year in sales, so the #2 guy is a pretty important fellow. Our store got good reviews, and our department did really well compared to the other departments. This bodes well for my manager, but also for me, as I have a review coming up in the next couple of weeks that'll determine how much of a raise I get.

Two, I had dinner with about 20 other guys and Paul Scott Wilson, a preaching professor from somewhere in Canada. He's one of the top scholars in the field of homiletics (preaching). It wouldn't be like meeting the best player for the Yankees (hate 'em, but they're good), more like the best player from the worst team, but he's still major league, and top in his (rather small) field. Upside of the meeting was a "free" copy of one of his books about preaching, and also dinner from Harold's BBQ, plus I got to take home an extra plate. Not bad for 15 bucks.

Nobody's been commenting lately...Any of you met anyone even semi-famous?

I served Laura Bush a glass of tea once.

Jason

Thoughts for the day

2005-09-12T19:52:00.000-07:00

I don't have many original thoughts, but at least I'm thinking.

One, I think sometimes I'm a real jerk. Now, some of you knew this already, but to others it may come as a surprise. I was unfair in my treatment of the ACU police guy, and I've apologized to him for acting like a horse's patoot.

Two, I think I really like Taize. Some of you have heard of Taize from my previous experience in February. If you want to know more, ask Kent Jobe, or better yet Google Taize and check out their website. Highland does a once a month Sunday night Taize style worship, and I got to go last night.

Three, I think my boat has forgotten my name. I haven't fished in 17 days and counting. A travesty, I know.

Four, I think my parents are coming up this weekend. It'll be nice to take dad dove hunting.

Five, I think I'm going to lead the small group I mentioned. I don't know what form it will take yet, as our church is pretty much wandering aimlessly when it comes to vision for small groups. It'll be pretty much up to me and the group to decide on our group's purpose and topic of study. I'm leaning more toward spiritual formation and spiritual disciplines than another look at Galatians or whatever. We'll see.

Six, I think it's good that I still remember how to count.

Seven, I think we made some new acquaintances. We had a classmate of mine and his wife over to dinner tonight. David and Rachel are both grad students. He's working on a MDiv and she's doing MFT. They've been visiting Southern Hills, and so we invited them over.

I think I'm done with thoughts for the day.
Jason

Two reasons to go to seminary

2005-09-09T07:25:00.000-07:00

Here we are at the end of week three of the semester, and so far I'll I've figured out is exactly why I decided to go to graduate school. There are pretty much only two reasons.

I want to develop spiritually. I don't pretend to be perfect, even though I may occasionally come off as if I think I am. There are many areas of my spiritual life that need development, and I think that seminary should be a place where that kind of development is encouraged.

The second reason is to figure out the answer to a dilemma that has plagued me throughout my entire ministry career. How do you bring non-sectarian, even anti-sectarian, biblical messages to people who really want to hear what they've always heard, or want to hear lessons about "the issues?" I've determined for myself that I think most of the "issues" are 99% irrelevant to the gospel. At the same time, the cultural identity and self concept of Churches of Christ, particularly the ones I've worked for, is based heavily on (primarily?) our positions on those same issues. We are the church that doesn't use instruments, that doesn't allow women in leadership positions, etc. For me to challege those positions (which I did probably too often) even from a position of biblical scholarship and truth, was not a challenge to the intellect of those churches, but to their very identity and self concept. I've decided that you just can't use logic, reason, or scholarship when the issue is one of identity and not of intellect. So the burning question in my mind remains: how do you communicate truth to people who would rather fire you than be pushed? If a member at a church doesn't like the teaching of a minister, they can leave, and often do. On the other hand, if the eldership, or even some opinion leaders, don't like the teaching of the minister, the minister "gets" to leave.

As for my reasons, I've pretty much taken it for granted that fulfillment of reason #1 is part of the process. If I apply myself to my studies, if I seek godly wisdom from my mentors, spiritual development is virtually guaranteed. Reason #2 is not so simple. So far I haven't been able to get a straight answer, although I haven't asked the question in private contexts, only in classes.

In other news, the ACU police deparment denied my appealed parking ticket. We've exchanged a few "interesting" emails. They've accused me of being sarcastic and rude (which I was), and I've accused them of being irrational and bureaucratic (which they are). I don't imagine much good will come of it.

Some of our new acquaintances (to call them friends is probably appropriate, but we have had such good friends that these people don't even come close to, so...) have asked me to lead a small group for them, "since I'm a bible major." I was considering it already, but availability will be an issue since I can't get my work schedule more than a week in advance. We'll see.

Jason