Wednesday, October 29, 2008

Prayer and Flossing

As I was preparing to preach a message on prayer, I came across this survey while doing a little bit of research. It was a very interesting study to me, especially because they freely admitted, "Survey respondents are well known to overstate behaviors they believe are virtuous, like praying and flossing, and understate those, such as drinking, they feel might open them up to criticism." In other words, this survey really doesn't tell us much of anything - except that we want to look virtuous!

Flossing and prayer are intriguing partners to me. They're both things that we (at least most of us) would agree are important practices. Each of them can be done in a relatively short amount of time and each have proven to have positive impacts on life. (I'm not going to go looking for a study on the benefits of prayer, although I have seen them before. I can speak from experience and that's good enough for me.) However, I really question how much time and effort people put into either of these activities. I will readily admit that I almost never floss. Why not? I don't know ... I guess it's just not that important to me.

This blog post, however, is not about flossing. It's about prayer. And recently the Lord has been showing me a great deal about prayer and what my real thoughts about it have been. Sure, I would agree that it's important, but it's become clear that there has been wide gap between my orthodoxy and my orthopraxy. I would say that prayer mattered, but then I'd spend very little time daily in prayer. And while I do agree that prayer can be effective in short spurts (like flossing), I think it needs to be a daily discipline.

Jesus Himself practiced such a life of prayer and solitude with God, as Mark tells us in the very first chapter of his gospel: "Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed." (Mark 1:35) The BSU has been participating in 24/7 prayer this past week, and it's been a very challenging time for me to finally establish prayer as a true focus of my life. For far too long my Christian life has been about what I can do for God, rather than what God can do through me. The difference may seem subtle, but it is a radically different state of mind.

So far it's been an absolute amazing time for me with the Lord. It is literally transforming my life. It has brought a greater focus and clarity to each day. I've been asking God to weave divine appointments into my day - and He has! I've long believed that you can best minister to others out of the overflow of your own relationship with God and others have often impressed this truth upon me. It's absolutely true, and it's been a lot of fun watching God move and inspire me to pour into the lives of others. Praise be to God!

My prayer now is that this can become an integral part of my day for the rest of my life and not simply be a few good weeks. May I encourage you to begin each day with the Lord, drawing near to Him, seeking His will for your day, asking Him to help you to be His messenger today. Just don't ask if I've flossed today.

Monday, October 27, 2008

Who Was That Masked Man?

I have a lot of different thoughts today, so expect several blog updates soon. Here's the first one to get out of the way - I feel obliged to write about my favorite football team.

So, like everyone else, I was astounded at how well Tyler Thigpen played yesterday. Wow! As I wrote earlier, he makes good decisions with the ball. But yesterday he finally was able to get his arm to work in conjunction with his brain, and the results were both impressive and inspiring. If he can continue to develop and they build the offense around his abilities, the rest of the year may not be lost after all. Perhaps Brittle Croyle getting hurt will turn out to be a major blessing for the team.

The fact that they went with a no-huddle spread offense was very encouraging. There had been a lot of talk of allowing Brodie to roll out of the pocket, employing bootlegs and so forth, but then it just didn't seem to materialize. I've long felt that you have to play to the strength of the players that you have (in any sport - and I think that is part of what makes Tjeerdsma a great coach) and maybe the Chiefs will actually do that now. It is interesting, however, that the spread doesn't fit in with Herm's idea of a ball control offense. I wonder how that will play out if Thigpen continues to start and perform well enough to keep the job.

Related to Thigpen's good game were two "breakout" performances by previously unknown Brad Cottam and Mark Bradley. Bradley is a former second round pick of the Bears who put up pretty good numbers in ten starts for the Oklahoma Sooners. I would love for him to emerge for us like another team's castoff - Eddie Kennison. Cottam isn't so much of an unknown, as the Chiefs took him this year in the third round of the draft, but he made his first receptions of the season and showed that he can be a legitimate weapon. It's probably no surprise that Bowe and Gonzalez had good games as the ball was actually spread around to other players. It sure would be nice to see it happen again.

It was also nice to see our young defensive backs play well. I've been saying all along that they're the strength of our defense and I'm a big fan of both Flowers and Carr. Unfortunately our run defense is so bad that teams rarely have the need to pass the ball (and we just about NEVER have a lead late) and therefore we don't often force teams into major passing situations. I'm glad they played well yesterday, even though reserve nickel back Patterson gave up the game winning TD.

All of those positives being said, I feel like the near-win was a bit of a mirage. The Chiefs were plus three in turnovers - one of those was returned for a TD and the other set one up. Without those it may have been a blowout. I know Derrick Johnson dropped a pick six, but so did one of their guys. Furthermore, the Jets had some bizarre play calling ... that deep bomb on third and one was mind boggling. Why do that? And really, why did they go so pass happy? I guess they weren't afraid of our pass rush, which actually led to one (or more?) of those turnovers. Yes, the gunslinger pulled it out in the end, but it was a questionable game plan against a team that gives up over 200 yards (!!!) rushing a game.

We still have problems with the run, both offensively and defensively. The big third down run for a TD came when we were in a nickel defense, I wonder how often that has been the case this season. Larry Johnson might be our best smash mouth runner, but I think Jamaal Charles is best suited to run out of the spread offense. I hope his injury doesn't keep him out for next Sunday, I'd really like to see what he can do.

Overall I was very pleased with the game and that's about all I ask for any more. It's there for my entertainment, and I was entertained. And more than anything else, I'm glad I didn't have to use the phrase "cover-your-eyes-awful" anywhere in this post!

Friday, October 24, 2008

Question for you blogger experts

A quick question: I just posted a couple of thoughts from 12 Angry Men, which I had started writing on Sunday. I published it today (five days later) but it listed itself as having been posted Sunday.

Is that just the way it works? Is the only way to prevent that to create a new post and paste the info there? Or is there an option I missed?

Monday, October 20, 2008

The Weekly Train Wreck

In the past, this sort of football season would've driven me absolutely insane. I used to take Chiefs football very seriously and would (it's silly, I know) carry a tough loss with me for the first few days of the week. In fact, early in our marriage Karin would pray that the Chiefs would win just so I wouldn't be so miserable to be around!

Coming into this year, I fully expected things to be rough. I'm 100% behind Herm's plan to rebuild through the draft - I even had the chance to tell him so personally back in June. The unfortunate thing is that the team doesn't seem to be showing any progress as the season continues to unfold.

So here are some random thoughts after yesterday's latest debacle.

It sure is hard to win without a quarterback.
  • It's amazing to me the trickle down effect of having zero confidence in your quarterback. The Chiefs rarely throw the ball downfield (although Bowe and Gonzalez both had some nice gains yesterday when we actually TRIED it) and this seems to be so by design. Often the quarterback will immediately look to dump the ball to a running back without ever looking down field. Defenses simply don't have to worry about us even TRYING to stretch the field, so they can keep all of their defenders close to the line which also makes it impossible for us to run.

  • If you were able to combine the two young Chiefs quarterbacks into just one guy, you might have a decent option. Brodie has a cannon for an arm but obviously cannot stay healthy and will no longer be viewed as the answer. He also makes questionable decisions at times. Thigpen, on the other hand, seems to nearly always choose the right receiver to throw to. Unfortunately, he is the most inaccurate quarterback I have ever seen play in the NFL. He throws so far off target that even the defensive players can't catch it. He does seem to have some durability and can make some things happen when he runs with the ball. As for Damon Huard, I don't see a single positive in him. He rarely throws deep, he has a weak arm and isn't much more durable than Croyle. On top of that he seems completely unable to throw the ball away rather than take a sack.


Is it possible to show a little creativity on offense?
  • Coming in to the season, I really thought Chan Gailey would be able to make an impact on the offense. Having former offensive line coach Mike Solari as coordinator the past few years was downright awful. I recognize that Chan doesn't have the greatest offense to work with, and the quarterback carousel has to make things difficult, but man this is bad! I don't understand why we regularly run two tight ends out there, line up in a power formation, and try to run the ball. It's not working! How about going with four wide receivers to spread the defense out and THEN try to run? We have a hard enough time blocking the standard defensive line, why line up in such a way that there are even more guys to block?

  • I recognize that the quarterback play has been awful, but can't you use that to your advantage? Since teams know we can't throw and are trying to lean on the running game, why not run more play action on first down? I hear commentators say that play action only works if you're running the ball effectively. I've wondered if it can still be effective as long as the defense is expecting you to TRY and run the ball - which the Chiefs do no matter what. I was really hoping for them to run play action when they had first and goal (and settle for three points). Instead, they tried to run (which was EXPECTED!) and got stuffed. So naturally they tried play action on second down, one play too late, and Thigpen nearly got decapitated.


Where is the defense??
  • There is a lot of young talent on the defensive side of the ball, and I really don't understand why they are playing so poorly. I will concede that we have no one at middle linebacker right now, and that hurts a lot in stopping the run. I will also acknowledge that the Titans are a good team (the only ones left undefeated) and were not a good matchup for the Chiefs to begin with. But this season we've already seen a pattern of huge runs given up - at some point this has to fall on the coaches not adequately getting the young guys ready to play. I still have hope for the future, especially concerning Flowers and Carr. A veteran middle linebacker has got to be added in the off season.

  • It's also difficult to win when you get absolutely no pass rush. It's crazy that Hali still doesn't have a sack. I really thought he would do fairly well this season. I don't know if he's injured, but he certainly isn't making much of an impact. Teams are killing us on third and long - I heard yesterday on the radio that teams convert third and long against the Chiefs almost 50% of the time. The league average is 19%. Wow. The opposing QB has all day to throw, although some of those long conversions have been on simple draw plays. On the other side, Turk McBride seems to be improving, which makes Hali's play all the more confusing to me. I think Glenn Dorsey will be an impact player at his position and certainly am not willing to label him a draft bust, defensive tackles generally don't make a great splash at the start of their careers.


When rebuilding is this painful, how long can the coach survive?
  • As I said before, I knew this would be a tough process. Now that Croyle is done, it's even scarier to imagine the possibility of Thigpen playing for the rest of the year. The youth movement is the right way to go, but will Herm be around to see it to the end? A franchise quarterback is absolutely crucial to the plan, and we're certainly back to square one in that regard. Clark Hunt has publicly backed Herm, while giving considerably less love to Carl Peterson. I wonder what the chances are of having a new president and a new GM next year (very likely), as well as seeing Bill Cowher's trademark grimace on the Chiefs sideline?


  • I'll eagerly watch the rest of the year and see what decisions Clark makes. But regardless of the outcome, it won't ruin any of my Mondays.

Sunday, October 19, 2008

12 Angry Thoughts

Last Saturday night after I finished watching Texas storm out to a 35-3 lead over Missouri (sorry, MU fans), I started to surf through the channels toward the Sox-Rays game. On the way I came across the beginning of one of my favorite movies - 12 Angry Men, which I happily watched to the end.

I really enjoy movies that make me think or that illustrate spiritual truth, and this one definitely falls into that category. There are a lot of things that I like about the movie, from the way Henry Ford's character is willing to stand up for what he believes in regardless of the pressure to the way the movie ends without any fanfare or recognition.

However, one particular truth is masterfully displayed in 12 Angry Men. Proverbs 18:17 says, "The first to present his case seems right, till another comes forward and questions him." I've thought about this proverb many times, and it's always challenged me in the real of critical thinking. There are a variety of reasons that the 11 other jurors quickly decide that the defendant is guilty, but as each piece of evidence is carefully examined it all falls apart and the "reasonable doubt" sets in.

It's much easier for us to find something that we want to believe and accept it at face value rather than taking the time and doing the work to actually research the point. There have been two instances recently where this has been very apparent in my life.

First off is the question of Eating Out vs Eating at Home. Karin does an amazing job of keeping our food budget low, if I told you how little we spent on food a month you probably wouldn't believe me. When our average meal costs 50 cents a person, I really don't know how anyone can argue that it's cheaper to eat out. No question it's easier, but cheaper? Come on! (I'm especially amused at how the guy in this article is going to include his hourly rate into the cost of cooking at home.) And yet there are folks who want to justify such an opinion, so they can easily point to an article like this to "prove" their point and move on. (Maybe some day I'll take one of these and disect it FJM style.)

Another area that often rears its ugly head is the wide variety of attacks against the credibility of the Bible. Sometimes I run across these myself, such as the time I wrestled with how Herod could die just a few years after Jesus was born but also alive to order John the Baptist's execution many years later. Turns out Herod the Great's son was also referred to as King Herod. Recently I was presented with the question of how Jesus could be born around 4BC (according to Matthew) since Quirinius (mentioned by Luke) wasn't governor of Syria until 6AD. Turns out Quirinius was governor twice, including the earlier time when Jesus was born. I could go on.

There are many areas of life where truth is attacked, and at first glance it seems to be defeated. We need more people who are willing to stand against the crowd and its easy answers, taking the time, effort and energy to think critically. As Henry Ford said, "Thinking is hard work which is the real reason so few people do it."

Friday, October 17, 2008

An Original Idea?

Sometimes my research consists of about twelve seconds on Google or Wikipedia, but I didn't find any references to this and I'd never heard of it before.

The other day Meghan suggested a new twist to a classic game. I don't know the last time I played checkers against anyone over the age of ten, although I'm sure there are people out there that still enjoy the game very much. But Meghan and I played a variation the other day that was a lot of fun and included a nice strategic element.

An explanation of the game may not even be necessary ... the name itself says it all: Capture the Flag Checkers. Each team has a flag (we used two small beads) that is captured by the first checker to cross the table and become a King. The game is won when the King (that one or another) returns the flag back to its original starting line. We didn't come across the issue of what happens to the flag if it's lost (ie the King is jumped and therefore is removed from the table) but I would suggest the flag stays in the same square and is recaptured when an opponent's piece enters or jumps over the square.

This completely changes the previous goal of checkers - eliminate all of your opponent's pieces - and therefore the way you play the game. I think it makes the game a lot more fun and I encourage you to give it a try!

Props to Meghan, who will turn ten on Monday!!

Walk Out to What?

Every Friday at 11am Michael and I get together to play racquetball at the rec center at Northwest. Since I'm not a student, I have to pay $3 to play, but it's well worth it. One of my hopes is that it will not only be a good time to get some exercise, but that it will be one more way for me to spend time connecting with students.

Fridays at 11am don't work for everyone, but I was hopeful that today would be different - tomorrow is Homecoming at Northwest, which means today is Walk Out Day. Walk Out Day equals no classes, which I expect is a great thing to students and faculty alike. Since there are no classes to keep people away, today would be a great time to get all kinds of racquetball going on!

So as I'm walking to the rec center, I get a call from Michael - the rec center is closed today. Are you kidding me??? Does anyone else understand the logic of this? It seems to me that on a day when students have no other commitments, they would be MORE likely to use the facility, not less. I wonder what else on campus has been shut down...

It's not just that I've been inconvenienced - although that's certainly a big part of it - but I simply don't see the logic here. I'm not sure that anyone out there will even read this, but I'd be happy to hear any thoughts if you do.

Thursday, October 16, 2008

Avoiding Pink Mushrooms

I've shared this with a few people already, but I'll toss it up here - my first official post on the resurrected blog!

We have a Nintendo Wii at the BSU, which has allowed me to spend some time playing Super Smash Brothers Brawl. Some of the purists out there don't like to play with items, but we pretty much always do. There are two mushrooms (at least?) that can be used - one red and one pink.

The red mushroom roughly doubles the size of your character, and I imagine it allows you to do a lot more damage. The pink one does just the opposite - it shrinks you down to half size and leaves you much more vulnerable to attack. The problem is that, since we play on the video projector, you can't tell one mushroom from the other! So it's always a roll of the dice when you grab a mushroom - will you get big or small?

The Pink Mushroom has become a symbol for me - of foods that zap me of my energy and greatly decrease my effectiveness in life. I don't know if it's normal or not, but large amounts of sugar or processed foods tend to really mess me up. Either massive fatigue sets in, or I just get lethargic and don't feel motivated to do much of anything. I've been tested and am not diabetic or anything like that.

"So just consume those things in moderation," you say! Yeah, I've tried that. And in the end, it doesn't work for me - it's pretty much all or nothing. The only thing that has worked in the past is completely cutting those things out of my life. So that's where I'm at today, once again trying to avoid the pink mushrooms at all costs.

It's funny, really. I mean, what exactly is the payoff? It's just a momentary pleasure, a quick moment of enjoyment that just isn't worth it. (Yes, I could certainly launch into a sermon here on the parallels to temptation in general, but I'll save that for another time.)

So if you see me chowing down on cookies or Doritos or slamming down a Coke, you may *lovingly* remind me to avoid pink mushrooms. And for the record, there's nothing pink about coffee :)

Lazarus, Come Forth!

I've been becoming a bigger fan of blogs lately and now have several I check on a daily basis. I have one on the BSU site, but as I have tried to post on there a few times I've found a real battle that happens between my wanting to write some thoughts and my "need" for it to be perfect - especially grammatically. Therefore it takes entirely too long for me to write much of anything.

Well, I decided to go ahead and attempt to chuck some of that and just get after it. The other problem I ran into was that a lot of the things I have considered writing had little or nothing to do with the BSU, and therefore wouldn't really belong on its blog. So I went to create my own blog today and when I went to register my name - yaggleberryfinn - it said one already existed.

I was shocked, I mean really ... who else on earth would register that name for a blog?? Oh ... ahem ... it turns out I created one back in 2004 and had completely forgotten. So here we go again. I am attempting to resurrect this blog and see what kind of shenanigans ensue.