An Excuse To Use Creativity

"It's the most wonderful time of the year."  So goes the tune inside my head as I think about this time of year.  No, I'm not talking about the "Christmas in July" sale happening at your local mattress store, but I'm talking about preparing for Fantasy Football Season.

I suppose I'd still be considered a newbie, but this is my fourth year playing fantasy football and I am hooked.  My love of fantasy football even drove me to watch the actual NFL draft this year follow closely every move made in free agency.  Today I rejoiced as Matt Forte and Ray Rice signed long-term contracts, because I had already drafted them in a couple of my early-draft leagues.  

Part of the process of fantasy football is coming up with the right name.  A lot of times a name will have something to do with current issues in NFL football or it will be a play on a certain players name.  I like to add a bit of humor in with some of them myself.

So, all that to say, I want to share my 2012 team names with you.  Ready?  Here goes:

1. Hoomanawanui To You Too- not much of a back story on this one other than this particular Rams tight end has a crazy name that barely fits on his jersey.
2. The Bountiful Vilmas- you have to have lived under a rock to not hear about the bounty scandal with the New Orleans Saints this year.  Jonathan Vilma is one of the players that has been suspended for the year because of his alleged involvement in the bounties.
3. 1K4A Cart Off- this one is in regards to the above mentioned bounties where players were supposedly offered $1000 to hit someone hard enough that they would have to be carted off the field.
4. Scoblo Beefy Boyz- this is a result of me being lazy and not being creative with my name.
5. Scoblo Blackshirts- this name isn't too creative either, but it fits with the league.  The league is a Nebraska Cornhusker league, so I wanted to rep the community and have the team name tie in with something Husker.
6. The Yellow Perils- here is another example of a league dictating the name.  This team is in a Green Lantern league.  The Green Lantern is a comic book character.  I had to do a little research to get creative with this one.  I researched villains of Green Lantern over the years and in different spans of the comic books existence and came up with this one.
7. The Harbaugh Backslaps- last year there was an incident between two coaches during an after game handshake.  Jim Schwartz of the Detroit Lions and Jim Harbaugh of the San Francisco 49ers met in the middle of the field for the "good game" handshake and good ol' Harbaugh got a little zealous with his handshake and gave Schwartz a little shove.  It turned into a little yelling match and if Schwartz would've had his way they would've thrown down right there.
8. APs Off-Duty PoPos- derived from Adrian Petersen's recent run-in with some off-duty officers moonlighting as security officers in a night club in Texas.
9. Tannehill?  TannYerHyde!- is just a clever little play on words inspired by the 8th overall draft pick by Miami Ryan Tannehill.
10. Weeden Out The Bad McCoys- is another play on a couple names in a tricky situation.  Brandon Weeden was the new QB drafted in the first round this year to come in and replace Colt McCoy who hasn't been doing a stellar job in leading the Cleveland Browns.
11. Manning's Last Nerve- is an homage to my favorite team, the Denver Broncos, and their acquiring of this season's hottest free agent, Peyton Manning.  He had sat out last year with the Indie Colts because of neck surgeries and nerve damage that was not allowing him to have control over his arm like he needs to have.  Here's to hoping that problem is solved and we'll see the Broncos in the Super Bowl this year.
12. The Wilfork TD Machines- is probably my favorite name this year.  It is in honor of Vince Wilfork, a massive defensive lineman with the New England Patriots.  The great thing about this 350 lb machine is that he had several interceptions last year, of which I can think of two, that he ran back for touch downs.  It does my heart good to see a big man like this running for his life toward the end zone.
13. Scoblo Shank-O-Potamus- in another ode to laziness possibly.  It was derived actually because I saw the logo first of the outline of a hippos head with a little knife and it said "Shank-O-Patamus" along the bottom.  I instantly fell in love.

So, there you have it.  A piece of my nerdery.  This is part of why it is such a wonderful time of the year.  I am waiting just a little impatiently for September when all the action of games start.

If you haven't tried fantasy football and are thinking about it, don't be afraid to plunge right in.  It's cheap and easy and provides hours of entertainment.  It also provides you with in depth understanding and studying of America's most-loved game.

Creativity and Christian "Artists"

I'm going to take a minute here for a little rant. I know I haven't blogged in a while now, but this snapped me out of my unblogging fog. Ready for a rant? Here goes...

Some friends borrowed my FM transmitter for my iPod this weekend so I have been reduced to listening to the radio. I tuned in to KLove, which for those of you who aren't Christian, or just don't know, KLove is a contemporary Christian music station. As I was driving back to the office after lunch I heard a familiar guitar riff from a great song called, "Overcome", written by Jon Egan and featured on a worship album called "Counting on God" from New Life Church in Colorado Springs. Only this wasn't that version. It was, according to the radio announcer, the latest song from Jeremy Camp. Disappointed I was. (Yes, I just threw in some Yoda-nese for y'all) Instead of playing the original version, written and performed by the original artist, they pawned off yet another song onto another one of contemporary Christian music's poster boys. Jeremy Camp didn't even bother to try to make it his own, except for adding his gravelly, nu-metal voice to it.

That scenario brings me to the real crux of this blog, the lack of creativity from the "artists" that seemed to be pushed so hard by the contemporary Christian music scene and contemporary Christian radio. KLove is filled with songs being performed by people doing less creative versions of songs than those that originally wrote and recorded the songs. Third Day, Phillips Craig and Dean, and now Jeremy Camp, are some of the worst offenders.

Come on Christian artists, producers, record execs, radio managers...quit spending so much time ripping off other people's songs and write your own, record something new, take a chance on the original writers and performers and push them as hard as you push all your poster children.

I'm done with my tirade for now. :) If you like the song "Overcome", I encourage you to check out the original version and go to youtube.com to check out the back story on the song and why it was written. Oh, and familiarize yourself with the writer, Jon Egan, and his body of work with New Life and the Desperation Band.

Am I Simon the Sorcerer?

I recently went to Catalyst, a conference for Christian leaders. I enjoy these types of conferences because they can energize you and give you some new ideas. This one was no different. The theme was "Take Courage" and I am at a place in my life and ministry where I need to hear that message. I was in need of some energy and fresh life in my soul. It provided that.

Today, in reading in Acts 8, I came across the story of Simon the Sorcerer. He practiced sorcery and boasted that he was someone great. When Philip came to town, Simon was amazed at the miracles he was performing. Then when Peter and John came to town and prayed and laid hands on the people so the Spirit would come on the people of Samaria, Simon tried to buy the gift. Peter answered: "May your money perish with you, because you thought you could buy the gift of God with money! You have no part or share in this ministry, because your heart is not right before God."

There was the "Ouch!" in my soul.

I just spent $500 out of pocket to go to a conference hoping that in some way it would help bring about the work of the Spirit to the Body here at WestWay. I hoped that in some way the miraculous work of leadership displayed by Andy Stanley, Mark Batterson, David Platt, etc., could be passed on to me and I would be able to do these amazing things.

I feel like I spent $500 and 5 days seeking the wrong things. Mind you, this is just me talking. I'm sure many leaders attended and do attend with right hearts that are fully set on Christ and relying on His power. I could have stayed home, completely immersed myself with the Word and prayer and then maybe come away with what God wants for this ministry here and how He plans to accomplish it.

There is a lot of talk here on the leadership team about working according to the Spirit. What is of God and what is of me? To tell you the truth, it's really hard for me to differentiate. It's a hard area for me to figure out. I have a good handle of what is of God from a Scriptural point of view, but to be led by His Spirit, it's hard for me to grasp, or feel, or know the specifics of that. On the other side of that, obviously there has to be some sort of effort on our part as far as ministry and Kingdom work go.

All this to say...make sure your heart is right before God. One of the encouragements we received from the conference was from Mark Batterson. He said this, "Don't worry about working for the miracles. All you can control is whether you are living a life consecrated to Jesus Christ."

That'll be $500 please. :D

Catalyst Labs- May 11

I'm in Dallas, TX this week for a leadership conference called Catalyst. This is my second time in Texas that I can remember. I am here with three friends; Mike Andrews, Jon Arnold, and Ted Grant.

We had the pre-conference labs today and already there are lots of ideas flowing and swirling around in my mind. One of the issues I always have with these conferences is how do I take what I'm hearing and apply it to real life, life in western Nebraska with the Church Body at WestWay? I don't have all the right answers for that at this point, but at least I'm thinking right?

Our friend Rodd Hall has informed me that I'm not tweeting my conference finds enough today, so I write this blog to make up for that. Here are some of the things I heard today.

1. Let scripture, not culture, dictate your relationships.
2. Don't build a city in your city. Engage it!
3. Push back the darkness where your life exists. (in connection with rehabilitating your city)
4. Transformational leadership always requires significantly more than you have because God wants to restore His wonder in you.
5. Every opportunity that you face has an expiration date...and often missing out will cost you more than messing up.
6. What if the church set an expiration date for itself? Self-preservation would not be an issue. We would be free to set out and do what we set out to do.
7. Transformational leadership requires God-sized obedience, not me-sized solutions.
8. A leader's job is to reveal possibility. Other people are always defining reality.
9. Transformational leadership does not rely on answers, but on God's promises.
10. Does your vision add up? If it does, it is too small.
11. Don't let budget determine your vision.
    
12. If you want God to come out of nowhere and do the miraculous, consecrate yourself and continually submit yourself to seeking and being obedient.
13. Don't worry about working for the miracles. All you can control is whether you are living a life consecrated to Jesus.

There are some of the thought morsels and nuggets I took away from the pre-conference labs. I'm excited to see how God will work through some of these things.

Hit Me With Your Best Shot

"The man who loves his life will lose it, while the man who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be. My Father will honor the one who serves me." John 12:25-26 Ouch. That's the first word that came to my mind after reading this passage this afternoon. Not the playful "ouch" delivered with a half-smirk, but and "ouch" that stems from deep in my soul as the Spirit grabs my ears and makes me stare straight ahead at truth. As I look at my life, (the things I have, the things I do, how I spend my time and money, my thought life, the many comforts I surround myself with) I come to one conclusion: I LOVE MY LIFE! Now as I say that, those who are close to me know that outwardly I haven't shown that I love my life over the past 6 years as I struggle with the dark night of the soul, but the self-satisfying that goes on in my life is the tell-tale sign that I TRULY LOVE MY LIFE MORE THAN ANYTHING ELSE. MY LIFE is where I put the majority of my time. MY COMFORT is where I place the most emphasis with my energies and finances. I have to "hate my life in this world". I don't need to walk around and live a depressed, suicidal existence, I don't believe for a minute that is what Jesus is teaching. Rather make your life, your comforts, and your needs secondary. Don't love the comforts of your life so much that you fail to give of yourself completely for the sake of eternity. Don't be afraid of rejection. Don't make excuses for not taking care of the needy when you have Dish and eat out all the time. Don't allow your "down" time or "me" time to get in the way of you serving and ministering to those who desperately need the love of a Savior. DON'T! Later in John chapter twelve, we see a group of leaders that have fallen into this trap, the trap of loving their own lives more..."Yet at the same time many even among the leaders believed in him. But because of the Pharisees they would not confess their faith for fear they would be put out of the synagogue; for they loved praise from men more than praise from God." (v.42-43) God, help me to hate my life on this planet. Help me to love You more. Help me to disregard the praise of men, the selfish urges, the comforts...for Your praise.

Confessions of a Fat Man Two (A Lesser Man)

On January 4th I wrote a blog, "Confessions of a Fat Man" in which I described my life and feelings as a fat man and basically let you all know that I was sick of it and doing something about it.

This is an update. I can't say that it is without pride and boasting that I post this, because there is a little of that here. I can say that part of my posting this information is for accountability purposes.

On Monday, January 3rd, 2011 I signed up for Weight Watchers for Men Online. I chose Weight Watchers because they teach you healthy, balanced eating and portion control, along with a steady regimen of daily exercise.

I had tried Weight Watchers before from hand-me-down materials my mother and friends had given me. It would work and then after 3 months I would quit. ( I say three months because that is the longest I ever lasted)

This time seems different to me. I am committed to taking off the weight and being healthy. There is a resolve that is God-given...a self-control given by the Spirit, that is allowing me to commit to this and get things done.

As of Monday, April 11th, I have lost 51 pounds! I can tell a little bit of a difference around various parts of my body and can feel a bit more energy. My ultimate goal is to get down around 225 pounds. I still have a long road ahead of me and many more pounds to shed.

I share this and get this out in the open because I do want to continue and need you to bug me about it now and again to make sure I'm doing it.

Again, I'll ask you to raise one of your 8 daily glasses of water...Here's to healthy living!

It Hurts

It hurts me to lead.
It absolutely kill me to make a decision.
I don't want to make a decision too quickly.
I will appear arrogant and pushy.
I don't want to make a decision too slowly.
I will look slow and stupid.
There is a lot less anxiety in my life this week.
The reason, I don't have to lead anything on Sunday.
I have tried to pinpoint the reasons why leading is so tough for me.
A few reasons have come to mind.
One, I am afraid to fail.
Two, I am afraid to look foolish.
Three, I have a really low self-esteem.
Four, I am positive that leadership is not my gift.
Five, I do not want to be responsible for the outcome.
Six, I am lazy.
This sucks because I am expected to lead.
I am in a position to lead.
No one is following.
Yay!
I am successful at not leading.
I can feel good about something.