book: stuff christians like

while i try to do a good bit of reading, i recently realized that i don't read many books that simply make me laugh.  which is why i was so glad to get into "stuff christians like" by jonathan acuff.  acuff is a blogger who started the absolutely hilarious blog: stuffchristianslike.net, which became so successful that he used it as a platform for writing this book, which is really just a printed form of his great blog. 

there are two reasons why christians should read this book:

1.  it will make you laugh.  acuff has the uncanny ability to look at the traditions and rituals of american christianity and find the ridiculous in it.  as one who has grown up in the church (he is a pastor's kid), and who still very much practices his faith, this isn't done in a spirit of mockery or bitterness, but in great humility.  for the most part he mixes sarcasm, poignant honesty, and humility in just the right amounts to convince you that it is ok to laugh at yourself and your "tribe."  for example, he tackles such subjects as raising your hands in church; telling someone that you'll 'keep them in your prayers;' and using the Bible to justify our opinions.  and in the process of dealing with all of these (sometimes difficult or even taboo) subjects, he makes you laugh.  as one who believes that we sometimes take our faith journeys a bit too seriously, i think there is some real value in that. 

2.  it will make you think.  acuff isn't just making fun.  it is done in a way that often causes you to laugh until you nearly pee your pants, and then stop and think about why we do things the way we do, and how we implicitly participate in some of this stuff out of routine or habit.  he comes across (for the most part) as neither condescending nor mean-spirited.  his ability to laugh at himself and ask himself some really funny but really difficult questions is completely contagious and makes the book a worthwhile read, particularly if you've grown up in the church.  not every "essay" in the book is a home run, but many are, and i would recommend not reading it bed with a glass of sierra mist.  not that this happened to me, but you're probably going to read something like the part about "the seven people you meet in a prayer circle" and end up spewing that sweet and clear soda all over the bed spread, which your wife will then subsequently wash while threatening to take the book away from you not only because of the soda debaucle but also because "when you read that thing in bed you shake the whole bed you're laughing so hard."  so, maybe read it on the couch.  or in a pew. 

worth celebrating

well, as my readers will know by now, my sister got married on saturday.  here is the beautiful bride:

it was a whole family affair for us: i co-officiated the wedding with my Dad, Shannon was a bridesmaid, and both of our kids were ring bearers (or ring - smilers, as we called them, so that they would remember to smile and not be bears).  the ceremony was beautiful, in my unbiased opinion, and it went really well.  i don't have any pics of it, because, well, that would have been weird if i was snapping photos while asking them to declare their intention to marry one another.  so, you'll just have to trust me on that one.   it was cool for us all to get dressed up and attend a formal function together.  i personally thought our boys looked sa-weet!

that last one above is one of jackson modeling. for every serious picture we take of him, he negotiates to take a silly one.  this was one of the silly ones.  he does these crazy modeling poses.  i don't know where he gets this stuff from.  oh, wait...

yep.  that's me.  with both of my sisters.  at one point i was wearing a suit with a real tie and everything, but part of my whole wedding reception entertainment package is the wardrobe change.  it's like the big reveal: everyone is waiting to see what greg is going to be wearing.  and by everyone i mean mostly the people in my head, but still.  for this wedding i went with the t-shirt that says "i'm still semi-formal here folks: maybe i didn't want to wear the actual tie, but i care enough to at least wear a screen print of one (along with a sweet faux american eagle sweater cardigan thing). 

the best way to do a wedding reception (in my opinion) is to keep the entertainment coming in stages; you don't want to get it all out and over with during one song!  first i took off my jacket and white shirt during "i've gotta feeling" (i think).  then during the next song i busted out the sweat bands.  a little later came the sweat bands.  every once in a while during a high leg kick someone might get a glimpse of my orange stirrup socks.  the terrible towel made an appearance during the conga line.  oh yeah, and i shouldn't forget about the very popular fake vomit (just imagine something straight from the back page of a comic book - same place you probably once tried to buy the x-ray glasses) that i busted out during the YMCA.  pure awesomeness. 

all of these props are basically just to distract people from my lack of real dancing skill.  the formula is essentially this: 

1.  get on the dance floor

2.  look like an idiot

3.  use ridiculous props that make it look like you are trying to look like an idiot

4.  continue looking like an idiot

5.  flail limbs wildly

6.  lift up pant leg to reveal orange stirrup sock

7.  wait for appropriate time to use fake vomit

8.  look like an idiot

9.  repeat as necessary

10.  stand by the door at the end of the reception and receive everyone's wide-eyed admiration

this was me, possibly during 'thriller.'  i can't remember.  check out my sweet shoes, and the terrible towel dangling very carefully from my back pocket.  this is an art, people.  an art.  unfortunately, there is no video of the event, or at least none that i know of.  if you did take any video of the reception, please contact me and i will pay you handsomely to have it destroyed. 

no, in all seriousness, i love wedding receptions because, to me, there aren't many times more fit for celebrating.  as i mentioned in my prayer at the reception, the gospels tell us that Jesus attended a wedding in cana, in galilee, where he came from.  and, if you read and study that story, it certainly seems as though Jesus did his part in celebrating.  it's an incredible occasion: a deep and profound moment symbolizing the love, not only between two people, but also between God and us, between Christ and his bride.  it's a celebration of all that is right, all that is good, all that is...love.  and that is worth celebrating.  it's not about getting hammered with alcohol, or losing all your inhibitions.  it's about letting loose in the wild celebration of love, the love that reminds each of us that we are fearfully and wonderfully made, no matter how silly we look on the dance floor.  congrats, matt and mary.  may you have a life of wonderful love together, and may you always look back at your wedding and smile.  and laugh.  at me. 

5-1, or, now i give all my attention to football

i'm back!  sorry about that.  i needed a few days to be able to lift my arms again, after flailing them about wildly to such timeless tunes as "YMCA" and "Baby  Got Back" at my sister's wedding reception, which i dominated.  more on that later. 

in the meantime, there were a couple important sports items that i can't let slip by without at least a mention.  firstly, there was this:

that is, there was the elimination of the new york yankees from the 2010 postseason.  to be honest, i was not at all surprised, as i had very low expectations for them going into the playoffs.  the pitching had just been so inconsistent and the offense so spotty, that i wasn't at all surprised to see the yankees fall to the rangers (i was surprised, however, to see the fighting phillies lose to the san francisco giants).  even so, i was disappointed in the bronx bombers, and will watch with interest at what happens this offfseason.  what will happen with derek jeter?  joe girardi?  how long can jorge posada keep catching?  who will the yankees bring in as free agents, particularly to deal with a suspect pitching rotation? 

but, all that being said, baseball, at least for me, is essentially over for the year.  which means i can focus my full attention on this:

and fortunately (very fortunately) the steelers were able to squeak out a win against the south beach dolphins on sunday, with the help of a bad call at the goal line.  a win is a win, as they say, but if i was a dolphins fan, i'd be feeling robbed right about now.  nonetheless, the steelers, despite some pretty significant injuries, were able to hang in there with the fins and walk away with a win.  here are some of the pics from the game...pics that i had fun with:

best parts of the game: 
-hines having a big day
-ben hitting mike wallace on a deep play
-jason worilds filling in admirably as a rookie in place of woodley
-harrison didn't retire
-defense holding the fins to two field goals after two early turnovers by the steelers

concerns going forward:
-the defensive line, after losing aaron smith to injury for the rest of the year
-other injuries: woodley, flozell, keisel
-what happened to the running game?
-ben dropping the ball in the direction of someone when he's getting sacked
-lack of pressure on the qb

all in all, though, at 5-1, the steelers seem to be in a good spot as they continue their road trip with a halloween-night game against the defending superbowl champion new orleans saints, who will be anxious to recover from their embarrassing loss against the browns last week.  man, i love football. 

ps.  if you were looking for a recap of my dance moves at the reception, check back in tomorrow. 

saturday song: going to the chapel

today my little sister is getting married, so we're "going to the chapel of love."  should be a great day, full of laughter and tears of joy, and possibly a few tears by those who get accidently bludgeoned by my flailing limbs on the dance floor.  it's going to be awesome. 

relief!

about a month ago i found a door lying next to the street.  someone had put it there with a "free" sign on it.  so i stopped the van, with the whole family wondering what i was doing, and took the door.  this of course led to conversation about my borderline hoarding and so on, but i defended myself by saying that these kind of found objects are my muse in making art.  i am infinitely inspired by objects being out of place, and by the jarring possibilities of juxtaposed relationships.  i just can't help it.  even as i was trying to fit the door in between the two car seats, my mind was already racing towards ways i could use it to express this longing inside me.  a longing to mix and combine and to say something about it all. 

then, last week, i had a similar moment, although this time i was by myself so i didn't have to defend myself.  i found an old tv.  and so i took it.  i figured it didn't work, so i was thinking about how i might be able to take out the insides and do something with the frame, but as soon as i got home i plugged it in just to see, and it worked!  and as i stared into the blinking static, i had the idea to use that very static as part of an assemblage.  here's what i did:

i painted the screen black.  in fact, i put about 4 or 5 coats of paint on that screen to make sure it was completely covered and wasn't letting any light through.  when i turned it on after that, you couldn't see anything.  then, inspired by the image i sometimes have of us as zombie-like consumers of tv-ized entertainment, i used the image of a woman's head from a 1960's mccall's magazine ad, and opened it up, as if we had access to her brain.  then, using a picture of a can of pure shortening, i affixed all of this to the screen to seem as if the shortening was pouring into her brain.  then i used a metal object to remove the black paint where the shortening would be pouring.  so that when you turn on the tv, it appears as though static is pouring into her brain.  i also cut holes in her eyes, so that, depending on how you look at it, her eyes are either sparkling, or are oozing with shortening.  you decide.  i finished by decorating the television with mostly 1940's-1960's era advertising.  the end result is an assemblage that a photo just won't do justice to.  below are some pictures, but you can watch the video above for a better view. 

i hesitate to share this with you all, for fear that you will all realize just how borderline insane i am.  however, i had to prove to my family that i'm not just a hoarder - that i actually have a purpose for the "junk" i find.  i still have to figure out what to do with that door, though....

these are what i did to the sides of the tv

here's the top of it

the front view (tv is turned off)

angled view

screen shot (with tv powered on)

shine

one of the best videos for a song ever.  david crowder band's "shine."  if you like the idea of redemption or hope or eternal life, check it out.  also, watch if you like lite brites.

one hope

a few weeks ago we were taking a family day trip down to harrisburg.  on the way we were discussing our lunch options, and the kids inevitably said that they wanted to eat at mcdonalds.  (by the way, if you seriously consider eating at mcdonald's today, you should watch this first).  i knew that a big part of the reason they wanted to eat at the golden arches was the potential of a play area, so i tried to steer them in a different direction by saying, "we're only going to be in one area of town, and there's probably only one mcdonald's there.  there's not much of a chance that it will have a play area." 

from the backseat, jackson replied, "well, there may not be much of a chance, but there's always one hope."

yes, buddy.  you're right.  there is always one hope.  it may not be best founded in mcdonald's and their germ-infested hades pits of colored plastic, but there is always a hope nonetheless. 

i've been thinking alot about hope lately.  as i dream about the future, and as i allow myself to think some big thoughts about my purpose and the purpose of my place in this church, and this church's place in this community, i keep coming back to the idea of hope.  even when i hear the bad news each day, or hear the daily complaining about the economy, i just keep thinking about hope.  and i keep hearing this voice in my head, "there may not be much of a chance, but there is always one hope." 

and that's how i want to live.  and how i want to represent the Gospel.  and how i want my ministry to be known...

in the midst of bleak news...hope

in the midst of brokenness....hope

in the midst of despair...hope

in the midst of cycles of poverty....hope

in the midst of patterns of sinfulness...hope

in the midst of increasingly polarized opinions...hope

in the midst of questions without answers, issues without solutions, and situations seemingly without hope...hope.  always hope.  who's with me?

4-1 (welcome back, ben)

i have some mixed emotions about this, as i understand why people are a little hesitant to cheer for someone who seems to have tested the limits of the law when it comes to consent and control.  as has been said many times before, no charges were pressed against roethlisberger in the georgia case, but most accounts suggest that at the very least his behaviour was sketchy and immature, if not downright illegal and immoral.  so, i get the hesitation to cheer for him. 

on the other hand, everything that i was hoping would happen following these allegations has happened.  i was hoping ben would be suspended.  he was (four games).  i was hoping that this might help him get his life back on track (i can't know for certain if this true, but all accounts from him, his mentors, and the media indicate that he seems to be a changed human being), and this looks to have happened too.  he has recently satisfied the media's crushing curiosity with a slew of interviews in which he suggests that the allegations against him were false, but that he takes responsibility for putting himself in some pretty awful situations, and for falling away from his foundation and upbringing.  he has talked about getting right with God, and about reconnecting with his family in accountable ways.  will it last?  i have no idea.  but i am hopeful that this was the "rock bottom" that ben needed to get his off-the-field life on track.  because he is, first and foremost, a human being, not a football player. 

so, all of that being said, i was happy to have a reformed ben roethlisberger back at the helm for the steelers yesterday against the browns.  i'll save you the long game recap here, as you can find that on about 6,000 other steelers blogs on the interwebs.  suffice to say: it was good to have ben back.  the browns aren't as bad as they seem, and are dealing with a ton of injuries.  the steelers beat them pretty soundly, and now are in first place atop the division with the ravens losing to the cheatriots.  all is well. 

oh, one more thing, as for james harrison's supposed dirty hits, i would like someone to show me how those hits are illegal.  are they violent?  yes.  but illegal?  i just don't see it.  i've watched each one at least a dozen times and tried to imagine how he's supposed to make those tackles.  these guys get such mixed messages from us: we love the physicality and violence of the game and reward it with highlights and adulation, then, if someone gets hurt, we say they are a thug.  which is it?  we can't have it both ways.  i HATE seeing guys get hurt, as i think about their futures and their families, but i also enjoy the physicality of the game.  it is a fine line that the NFL seems to be having a more and more difficult time walking.  browns fans are upset, but until it changes to a flag-football league we can't complain.  it is the way the game is played.  james harrison did nothing illegal.  he didn't taunt.  he didn't showboat.  he made sure tackles against ball carriers who can easily make open field moves or escape arm tackles.  he should not be penalized, fined, chastised, told to scale it back, or labeled as a thug.  should the game change?  perhaps.  but harrison is only playing the game by the rules he's been given. 

the once and future (dancing) king

i'm nervous

my sister is getting married in just over a week, and my father and i will be performing the ceremony.  while this is exciting and emotionally dynamic, it is not what i'm nervous about.  the ceremony will be beautiful and perfect, i'm sure.  no, it's not the ceremony that has me sweating profusely: it's the reception.

i used to be a wedding reception champ.  i was known in the tri-state area as one of the top-ten most wanted on the guest list of any wedding.  all of our college friends got married in the same 24-month span, which gave me plenty of time to hone my craft.  and by "craft" i mean specifically my ability to dance like a drunken richard simmons hopped up on speed.  word got out through the wedding circuit, and i soon became a hot commodity.  everyone wanted me at their reception.  why?  because no one likes that awkward time at the beginning of their reception when the dj has to practically beg people to hit the dance floor.  there's always that one really overly-affectionate couple who's practically making out while slow dancing to "gonna make you sweat," and nobody wants to join them on the dance floor.  nobody wants to display their lack of dance moves for the hundreds of probing eyes just waiting to see if someone will crack the ice and cut the rug (do you mind if i just randomly use cliches like they're going out of style?).  nobody wants to be "that guy."

but greg will.  so i became a regular on the wedding scene (and don't kid yourself - there is most certainly a "scene"), and i even had business cards made up which i handed out to people at wedding conventions and shows, in between showing off my arsenal of awesomely awesome dance moves to the happily engaged couples who up until now had been searching in vain for an ice-breaking, rug-cutting, arm-flailing, attention junkie.  once they saw me doing the "driving through the neighborhood" dance or the "pushing the grocery cart through the store" dance, (usually done with necktie carefully tied around head), they knew they had found their man.  i was the king. 

that was then.  now, i'm several years older and i've been out of the game for awhile.  the last dance i did was the "king cobra" with my 5 year old son.  i've put on some pounds in the cummerbund area, and things seem to jiggle in directions where they're not supposed to.  instead of pointing and laughing with comments of admiration like, "hey, look at that crazy idiot on the dance floor!  let's go join him and look like idiots, too!" i'm afraid people will now be turning their gazes to the intricately designed carpet, avoiding any eye contact with the slightly-too-old and more-than-slightly overweight man trying to do the running man.  i'm nervous that while doing the twist, or the twist-and-shout, or the you-make-me-wanna-shout, or anything by lady gaga, i'm going to injure a group of senior citizens who are just trying to mind their own dancing business.  i'll be twisting and shouting and sweating and it won't stop until the police get involved ("please stop twisting sir, it is hard to get the handcuffs on your sweaty chubby arms").  sigh.

and so i'm nervous.  but i haven't just been sitting and worrying.  no, i've been training.  i mean, this is my chance to get back into the scene, you know?  like mickey rourke in "the wrestler," maybe it's my last chance to get back in the ring, so to speak. so i've been trying to remember how to tie the necktie around  my head: was that a square knot, a granny knot or a full windsor?  i've been trying to remember the right rotational angle for the slightly risque hip shake during the macarena.  i've been practicing my jackie chan roundhouse high kicks (just in case the cops get involved).  and i've hired this woman as a personal dance instructor, just to remind me how it's done:



(wow, there are so many things wrong with that, i don't even know where to begin.  another post, perhaps).  so, if you know any seriously wicked dance moves, send them my way.  i'm out of practice and looking for all the help i can get.  also, if you know how to lose about 35 pounds in a week, that would be super sweet, too.  thanks and i'll see you soon at a wedding reception near you!

book review: drops like stars

before commenting on this book, let me go ahead and tell you that i'm a rob bell fan.  if you think he's a heretic, this book (or my review) isn't going to change your mind.  i'm not like an avid follower of the guy or anything, but his writings have really inspired me and i feel that deep down "yes!" in my soul when i read his works.  like a pregnant elizabeth, something leaps within me, and i can't help but respond to that.  so, that should give some perspective to my thoughts on this book.

now that that's out of the way, let me tell you about this book.  "drops like stars" is bell's newest book (released in 2009...sorry, i'm a bit behind the times...story of my life).  continuing in the rob bell tradition of shunning the status quo, the book bucks the trends of normal publishing.  the table of contents comes at the end, which comes as a bit of a surprise when you get to it, because there are no chapter breaks in the book, and it's only when you get to the table of contents that you see how he sort of organized the stories.  i found that to be an interesting method.  this is also not just your average "christian living" book, as it is over 12 inches tall and over 10 inches wide.  it is what you might call a 'coffee table' book.  and it sort of behaves like one, too.  it is full of full-color photographs and artsy presentation.  the text is almost playfully placed, with some pages only bearing a word or two.  this keeps the book entertaining and moving fast, so that it is quite reasonable to get through its 162 pages in one sitting of about 45 minutes or so. 

but it isn't just presentation.  the meat of it is very good, as well.  the subtitle is: "a few thoughts on creativity and suffering," which was certainly enough to get my attention.  as i began reading it, i found it to be pretty classic rob bell, in that it weaves stories together in ways that connect with our own experiences and cause us to think deeply about the world around us and the God who created it all.  he begins with a compelling story about a man he knows who has two sons.  both sons are married and were to have babies in the same year.  one of the pregnancies ended in a miscarriage while the other resulted in a healthy baby boy.  he writes about the how the grandfather twice went to the same hospital and walked down the same hallways with the same family members.  once to grieve, and once to celebrate.  then bell asks, "we live in the hallways, don't we?"  which is a fascinating way to think about how we live our lives in the midst of both great joy and deep suffering.  this sets the context for the rest of the adventure book, which he reveals at the end, is subdivided by such categories as "the art of disruption," "the art of honesty," "the art of the ache," "the art of solidarity," "the art of elimination," and "the art of failure." 

and again, in what i perceive to be rob bell's style, the book doesn't neatly tie up each section with a synopsis about what Christians should believe.  it just sort of leaves you with things to think about.  it is compelling rather than didactic.  it is more like poetry and less like doctrine.  it is more like questions and less like answers (which, if you read this blog much at all, should give you a clue about why i like it!).  i would absolutely recommend that you read this book, especially if you've been struggling with some kind of suffering or pain in your life.  it won't likely give you any answers, but it may just help you  ask the right questions.  but one more thing: if you're going to read it, see if you can borrow it from someone, or by it on the cheap, because the $34.99 retail price is WAY too much.  i saw it at one discount store for under $10, or you could always borrow mine.  just let me know. 

flow

"flow"

mixed media collage on hardcover bookboard

gregory a. milinovich

here's a collage i made awhile back but never let you see.  there is this sense i feel sometimes of the saints (which i interpret as all those who have gone before) weeping over us.  this isn't some orthodox belief, mind you, nor is it something that i'm dogmatic about.  it's just this sense i have sometimes.  like, when i screw up yet again, i'm not just disobeying God, but disappointing that "great cloud of witnesses," or breaking the hearts (again) of those who have loved me and are no longer in this world.  it can be a guilt thing which isn't healthy, but it can also be a great reminder of the legacy i've been given by my grandparents and the other mentors in life who are no longer here.  i carry them with me.  sometimes i imagine them smiling.  and sometimes i imagine them crying.  this collage is about the latter.

the extra donut

this morning i woke up early here at my hotel and thought i'd take a walk in morning darkness.  i rambled through the pre-dawn in a kind of coffee-less stupor until my sixth sense led me to a krispy kreme donut shop, an establishment i haven't been to in several years.  like a moth to a caloric flame, i soon found myself inside ordering some donuts. 

i got a large coffee and a couple of donuts: one classic glazed and one chocolate donut.  imagine my surprise when i got to my seat, opened up my box and found that i had been given three donuts: my chocolate one and two classic glazed ones. 

now, this could have been a happy mistake, but i have a feeling it wasn't.  i think it was just good business.  i mean, how much does one little ball of dough really cost krispy kreme to make?  probably not much.  probably a cost they'd be willing to pay to earn my consumer loyalty.  in other words, they were willing to give me an extra donut if it meant that i would come back again and buy more donuts.  that's what they're counting on, and it's good business.

which got me thinking, why don't we do this in the church?  why don't we give people more than they bargained for?  if we really want our churches to grow (which is what we say until we are red-faced and angry at the world), why don't we give visitors "an extra donut?"  maybe it's a little less straightforward at church since people don't come up and expressly communicate their expectations ("i'll take one really good sermon and a good sunday school class for my kid, please"), but i still think we can be intentional about providing something more than what they would expect (and let's be honest, at this point, aren't most people expecting something south of mediocrity at most mainline churches these days?).  that's the kind of church i want to lead: a church that gives an extra donut because we believe in what we have to offer.  by the way, that would be the love of Jesus, which is so much better than a donut. 

a photo tour of my work life

 

everyday i walk to work.  which means i take the short walk over the beautiful brick building which is the Catawissa Avenue United Methodist Church, and settle into my lamp-lit office for a morning of work.  there are moments during that daily walk, or sometimes as i leave my office for a moment and catch a glimpse of the sun pouring through stained glass and shining off the rows of pews in the sanctuary, when i think that i just want to share this with all of you.  remember: my theology is that God is in all these mundane moments, from the color of the brick, to the cornerstone of legacy and memory; from the leathered patina of books lining the bookshelf, to the photographs of my precious children.  God is in all of this.  i just thought i'd let you in on my own little daily God-moments.  have a great friday!

 the view of my office from the doorway

my bookshelves



 my office view from my desk

a picture that hangs in my office of the way the church building used to look, with the old parsonage (which no longer exists) next door.   

one or nine

this coming sunday i'll be preaching about the story told in the gospels (luke 17) where Jesus encounters a group of 10 lepers and tells them to go show themselves to the priest.  on their way (they must have been confused about such a strange order from this rabbi) they are made clean.

did you catch that?  that's a big deal.  10 people who were considered wildly unclean; who were not permitted into the center of society; who were forced to live life on the margins; who were excluded not only from fun and casual situations, but also from living the life of faith, were made clean.  just like that.  this is a huge moment.  everything has just changed for them.  they've been healed and in an instant find themselves off the margins and back into the mainstream.  this is monumental.

so what do they do?

well, they go on with their lives.  they've been made clean.  so they go on living normal lives, as best as they could fashion.

except for one. 

one came back.  he came back because he realized the magnitude of what had happened.  he realized that there was never going to be normal again.  he realized that this man had just healed him not to a normal life, but from a normal life.  and realizing this, he came back to thank Jesus.  and Jesus says something interesting: "your faith has made you well." 

wait a second here, wasn't he already well?  didn't luke already tell us that he had leprosy and then he didn't, so he was good to go, right?  what kind of added bonus did he get by coming back to Jesus?  well, the word that gets translated into english as "made you well" is possibly better translated as "made you whole."  in other words, our lonely leper had already been clean - they all had - but he was not being made whole.  the difference could be important for us. 

many christians, it seems to me, are content with normal.  they've had an encounter with God through the incredible love and mercy of Jesus Christ, but they live as if the great power of this encounter is that they can now blend in and be as normal as possible.  but this story seems (at least to me) to challenge that notion.  that we aren't just saved, or changed, or "made clean" so that we can return to normal lives.  if we really recognize the incredible magnitude of our salvation, we can't help but throw ourselves at the feet of the mercy that saves us, to say thank you thank you thank you.  and when we do, we find ourselves "made whole."  in other words, we find that we are more our true selves than we have ever been before.  life isn't about being normal.  it's about being whole, which is way more than normal, way more than fine, way more than just ok. 

ten people were saved from the margins.  9 of them returned to the happy center.  one of them, i have a feeling, went back to the margins to tell others.  are you the one or the nine?

baby monkey on a pig

hey friends!  sorry, but it's been a crazy week over here at agent orange records.  i'm hoping to have some time in the next few days to post something thoughtful, but for today its mostly this:

and for those who are less enthused about the baseball postseason, then there is always this fascinating bit of culture:

now, go get a kleenex and wipe your eyes because you are either laughing at the pure ridiculousness of this, or crying at the meaninglessness.  either way, wipe your eyes and watch it again. c'mon, it's less than one more minute of your life.  then ask yourself, which one am i?  the pig or the monkey?  is my life more characterized by being...oh forget it, and just laugh a little!  life is a wild ride - might as well laugh a little while we're "holding on tight."  have a great wednesday and i'll be back tomorrow.  peace.

monday morning

my monday morning, following a divisional loss against our bitter rival, when we almost squeaked out a win with our fourth string quarterback looks something like this:

it wasn't exactly a good weekend for a steelers/yankees/gators fan.  blech.  double blech.  triple blech. 

that is all.

ravens week

yes, another steelers post.  this week is ravens week, which is to say that the steelers will be playing their divisional arch-rival on sunday, the aformentioned baltimore ravens.  i could go into a detailed analysis here about why i vehemently dislike the thuggs from baltimore, but i have decided instead to show you the evolution of their starting quarterback, joe flacco.  here's a picture of him from a few years ago.

then, after a year of facing the steelers and getting acclimated to losing, he began to grow some facial hair, so he looked like this:

it really is unfortunate, but the young quarterback who used to be a pittsburgh panther, started growing facial hair in the wrong places.  instead of a stylish goatee or a sophisticated handlebar moustache, he donned the infamous unibrow, as if to underline his forehead or serve as an eave for his eyes.  either way, it hurt to look at.  but his transition was only beginning, as it turns out.  because his most recent picture in the baltimore ravens media guide looks like this:

kinda looks like this guy, doesn't he? 

ladies and gentleman, the quarterback of the baltimore ravens:

here we go steelers, here we go!