This Pitch Is The One..Great Pitch

in any language... incredible!

Random...

• I am excited to continue our SS series on Haggai. so much for us to learn in two chapters.
• the baseball portion of my little league coaching season is officially over. some things were good as always; in some ways it was a rough season. On the upside my daughter is an all star in softball and has a couple more weeks and I get to help coach.
• Amazing that the Cubs have won 7 in a row. Could there still be playoff baseball in Chicago this year? Is the streak and the Barrett trade's timing just a coincidence?
• Almost time to start getting excited about the upcoming ND football season. 2 months until the first kickoff
• new dads like Perry Noble do a great job of reminding me about how the father/ child relationship is a great model of God/ us.
• there are SO MANY things that I want/ need to get done in the next month and a half that I feel like I don't even know where to begin -- need to remember the illustration about how to eat an elephant!
• our church softball team still has a perfect record... you guess which way
• excited about the upcoming General Conference in Portland, OR. never been anywhere near that far west before.
• recently found this list of discipleship quotes that will be a great resource for a long time to come.
• spent the day fishing with a friend on Wednesday; need to make more time for that!
• July will fly by: General Conference, 4H Fair, our 16th anniversary, Camp
• i need to update my reading list on the sidebar
• need to make time this week to set off some fireworks
• thankful for a great wife, kids, family, church family

The 100: The moments that have defined college football

LINK

ESPN has published a list of the 100 defining moments in college football. As with all lists there are some that are clearly up for debate. I just can't see Flutie's pass beating out The Play/ Here's the top 20, follow the link for the whole list.

1. College Try: Diminutive Doug Flutie's memorable last-second heave. (Nov. 23, 1984)

2. The Play: Cal's five-lateral kickoff return stuns Stanford, band member. (Nov. 20, 1982)

3. Silent Treatment: Kordell Stewart's bomb silences Michigan Stadium. (Sept. 24, 1994)

4. Jolly Rodgers: Johnny Rodgers' return highlights Game of the Century. (Nov. 25, 1971)

5. Race For Glory Vince Young's sprint to the pylon shoots Texas past USC. (Jan. 4, 2006)

6. Collision Course: Barry Krauss' goal-line stop helps Bama stuff Penn State. (Jan. 1, 1979)

7. Rockin' Robin: Robin Weber's third-down catch keeps ND in front of Bama. (Dec. 31, 1973)

8. Blast Off: O.J. Simpson's 64-yard dash carries USC past UCLA. (Nov. 18, 1967)

9. Main Street: James Street and Texas shock Arkansas with late pass. (Dec. 9, 1969)

10. Gut Check: Miami stops Nebraska's two-point try in 1984 Orange Bowl. (Jan. 2, 1984)

11. Raising Cane: Miami's fourth-quarter comeback knocks out Florida State. (Oct. 3, 1987)

12. Gift Wrapped: Pete Giftopoulos' pick seals Penn State upset of Miami. (Jan. 2, 1987)

13. Joe Cool: Joe Montana fights off cold, flu to spark ND past Houston. (Jan. 1, 1979)

14. Legends Of The Fall: Joe Namath and Tommy Nobis meet in Orange thriller. (Jan. 1, 1965)15. Tricks Of The Trade: Boise State shocks OU with Fiesta Bowl tricks. (Jan. 1, 2007)

16. Loose Cannon: LSU's Billy Cannon moves past Ole Miss in the gloamin'. (Oct. 31, 1959)

17. U-Turn: Pass interference turns Miami celebration into Ohio State jam. (Jan. 3, 2003)

18. The Play's The Thing: Bill Shakespeare scripts ND win over Ohio State. (Nov. 2, 1935)

19. Passing The Rock: ND and Knute Rockne initiate the passing era. (Nov. 1, 1913)

20. Breaking Away: Tommie Frazier and Nebraska run away with the title. (Jan. 2, 1996)

What Batman villan are you most like ?

You scored as Scarecrow, You're the twisted SCARECROW! Born under Jonathan Crane, you were an intelligent psyche professor until things went horribly wrong! Now you use chemicals to induce panic and fear in your victims! Although not a well-known criminal, Gotham City had better watch out! Scarecrow 85% Two Face 60% The Riddler 60% The Joker 55% Mr. Freeze 50% Penguin 50% Catwoman 40% Poison Ivy 10% Which Batman Villain Are You Most Like? created with QuizFarm.com

Link Dump -- June 29th

"Come see us" vs. "Let's go get 'em"
A Novel Idea to revise your summer reading plan
Proving to Jehovah’s Witnesses that Jesus is God
YouVersion: The Bible meets Web 2.0
We Will Stand...
The Lost Tribes in America

Game of the Week -- 50 states v.2

An updated version of a great game. No child should b e allowed out of elementary school unless they can pass this. That includes making adults go back :)


50 STATES V.2

Website ratings tool

What is your blog rated... looks like things are pretty tame and family friendly around here.

Mingle² -

Guy's Night out --- Minor League baseball

Tonight was a guy's night out; just me and my boys. We went to see our local minor league baseball team . Minor league baseball is great! Lots of fun in a family atmosphere that is actually affordable. Mondays are $1 night. That includes tickets, hot dogs, and sodas. We splurged and got $3 seats which put us in t he 2nd row behind the home dugout; great view.
I caught a free t-shirt which Caleb won in a game of rock-paper-scissors with Mason. A few innings later Caleb caught a game ball that had landed on the roof. The team staff throws these "gutter balls" out to the fans. It was his night. But the best things was it was OUR night together. They'll be 13 in a couple months and in what will seem like a few hours more, 23. I cherished tonight and was reminded how important times like this are.
Now if I could just convince Micki how important it would be to the family if we got season tickets...

Find Your Ideal Presidential candidate

BON posted a link to this survey that helps answer which candidate(s) fit you best. My results are below...

LINK

Your Results:
1. Theoretical Ideal Candidate (100%)
2. Chuck Hagel (70%)
3. Duncan Hunter (64%)
4. Jim Gilmore (62%)
5. Sam Brownback (61%)
6. Tom Tancredo (61%)
7. Mitt Romney (59%)
8. Mike Huckabee (58%)
9. John McCain (58%)
10. Newt Gingrich (54%)
11. Fred Thompson (49%)
12. Tommy Thompson (48%)
13. Ron Paul (48%)
14. Kent McManigal (43%)
15. Joseph Biden (40%)
16. Al Gore (38%)
17. Rudolph Giuliani (38%)
18. Wesley Clark (36%)
19. Hillary Clinton (35%)
20. Bill Richardson (33%)
21. John Edwards (32%)
22. Dennis Kucinich (25%)
23. Alan Augustson (25%)
24. Barack Obama (25%)
25. Mike Gravel (22%)
26. Christopher Dodd (19%)
27. Elaine Brown (7%)

AFI top 100 movies

There are what seems like zillions of lists out there. One of the ones that I actually think is fun is the AFI top 100 movies list. One of the fun things about this is that they have a ballot that everyone can fill out. They did it 10 years ago and another aired this past week. Interesting to see how much the list changed and how many movies made such big changes in spots.

I'm not sure what amazes me more: that I have spent so much time watching movies; or how many supposedly "great" films I have never seen.

I did a quick run through of the ballot and the most recent list. I have seen 167 of the films listed on the ballot and 54 of the films that made the top 100. I realized that there are some pretty well known films I have never seen, and some I could care less about. These things are always up for debate and that is part of the fun. Got to the AFI site and check out the lists.

How many of the top 100 and 400 from the ballot have you seen?

200th Post

Approximately 6 months ago I made my first blog post ever. Now I have reached 200. It's been fun deciding what my content will be, writing out thoughts, and learning about the vast number of people that share incredible content throughout the blogosphere every day. Glad to be a part of it. Here's looking to post number 500...

Link Dump -- June 22nd

More interesting reads and some random stuff...

How to recruit your team NCC has tons of great resources!

Does putting the scriptures on the screen promote Biblical Illiteracy?

Wishing, Desiring, Intending

Marinated Flank Steak this one made me hungry, guess whats going on the grill ASAP?

How to keep from being so negative...

Isaac Newton predicted the Apocolypse

5 most common capital campaign mistakes

If Chuck Norris ran for President... BON is good for sevreal great posts every day!

make your own demotivational poster

What firearm are you?

You scored as Assault Rifle, You are soldier. Or you want to be a soldier. Or you just love military-type firearms. You need assault rifle. M16 or AK-47 will do good. Assault Rifle 88% Sniper Rifle 75% Revolver 75% Pistol 75% Shotgun 69% SMG 44% Machinegun 19% What Firearm Fits You Best? created with QuizFarm.com

What Marvel Superhero are you?

Been having fun with these quizzes from Quiz Farm.

You scored as Mister Fantastic, Mister Fantastic can shift his body (or portions of same) into a super-malleable state, enabling him to stretch, compress, expand, deform, elongate, contract or otherwise reshape his physical form at will. He can stretch his limbs, neck and torso to incredible lengths, though extending himself beyond approximately 1500 feet is a serious physical strain. Reed Richards is perhaps the greatest living genius of his time, proficient in almost all fields of science and technology, a visionary theoretician Mister Fantastic 60% Spider-Man 60% Blade 55% Captain America 50% The Hulk 50% Wolverine 35% Iron Man 35% The Thing 25% What Marvel Hero would you be (Version 2)? created with QuizFarm.com

Link Dump -- June 20th

A few more from around the blogosphere...

Cracked me up ... you'll appreciate this if you ever stepped on one of Barbie's little plastic shoes with bare feet.

The Gospel of manliness : this is quickly becoming one of my favorite blogs

Will you be going to see Evan Almighty?

Derry posted a link to some hilarious t-shirts; seriously pondering an order.

Why are Christians such dorks?

All you'll ever need to know about falafel

Mark Batterson shares 10 ways he hears from God.

What sport are you meant for ???

Did another quiz for fun (they're really quick!). The big surprise was how high socer scored. I have always enjoyed the game but never would have dreamed that it wold tie for the top spot. What was your sport?

You scored as Baseball, You should play baseball, the true American sport. There's lots of positions to choose from, but the most important are pitcher and catcher. Soccer 92% Baseball 92% Football 83% Softball 83% Volleyball 58% Tennis 58% Basketball 42% Golf 33% Ice Hockey 33% Swimming 33% Field hockey 25% Lacrosse 17% Track 0% What sport are you meant for?? created with QuizFarm.com

What Theologian are you???

Just for fun I ran through this quiz. Not sure I liked all of the questions wording but I think all in all I would probably agree with the results. I am glad I was not a 100% match to anyone as I have yet to find a theologian that I have agreed with 100% of the time. Go ahead and give it a whirl.

You scored as Jonathan Edwards, You're the original hellfire-and brimstone preacher and you take God's justice very seriously. You are passionate about preaching and an accomplished theologian. Charles Finney 73% Jonathan Edwards 73% John Calvin 73% Martin Luther 67% Karl Barth 60% Anselm 53% Friedrich Schleiermacher 53% Jürgen Moltmann 40% Augustine 27% Paul Tillich 13% Which theologian are you? created with QuizFarm.com

Book #10 - Breakout Churches by Thom Rainer

Seems like forever since I actually finished a book so I could post about it. This time of the year is always slow reading for me. I have little extra time and it seems that I start more books at the same time. Seems like the busier schedule kicks ADD into gear. I am confident that I can still reach my goal of 30 books in 2007. Just finishing my currently started ones will help put a major dent in my deficit.
I am wrapping up Thom Rainer's book, BREAKOUT CHURCHES . I think that this book should be added to the required reading list of every church staff member as well as every ministry student in school today. It is not a "magic formula" for a great church but the lessons provided could save many heart and head aches for it's readers.
The book is based on Jim Collins' GOOD TO GREAT (another book on my "to read" pile). It breaks down how 13 churches that Rainer's team compare to other churches that show basic similarities to them have achieved their breakout status. Stringent filtering guidelines were put into place to find these churches. The truths provided will keep me thinking about this book for some time I believe. It may well serve as a resource book as well. I am sure that I will be returning to selected chapters as the need arises.
I was surprised to understand how relevant this book is to where my church is at this time. I can easily see how we could go down the path to being a breakout church as well as how easily we could become distracted from what we have been called to do in our community and become a mediocre congregation. This book combine the principle of being an easy read along with a depth of information that is rare.

Lou Holtz Speech to Notre Dame - for dave and the nation

This man makes you want to run through a brick wall for him. Gets me fired up every time I hear it!

Friendly Atheist -- Atheists Hurting Atheism

The Friendly Atheist blog has a follow up post to the "Christians Hurting Christianity" post. This time he is looking at Atheists who hurt Atheism. Interesting read...

Link Dump -- June 17th

Here are a few more interesting articles and posts...


LEGO Man -- be sure to view the gallery
I hope she brought a change of underwear
Religion vs. The Gospel
Is it ever right to lie?
eBay your religion
How to give your resignation...
We have it way too easy... Iraqi Christians "disappear"

more to come.

Another "time to get a clue moment" -- Little League International

I just added Google Analytics this past week. It tracks all kinds of cool stuff. The thing that I and many others are finding interesting and fun is the feature that tracks the searches that people did that led them to your blog. In the past week I have had 13 people visit my site due to searches involving the Little League rule book. The sad thing is that you will never find this book online. If you do it will be for a short time because if LL finds the site they will sue to take it down. They have done it in the past. You cannot just call Williamsport and get a copy of the rules either. You have to get one through an approved source (like your ballpark). It makes me frustrated to see that volunteerism is at it's all time low at our local park and it appears others are struggling as well. Why are the rules almost treated as secret? Organizations who act this way tend to slowly die. I love baseball; I love most of what LL stands for; I hope they wake up before it's too late.

Game of the week -- Bowman 2

Like Bowman, but better! Bird hunting is fun.

BOWMAN 2

Blogger gets the boot

Governing bodies like NCAA just can't seem to get out of their own way sometimes. Heaven forbid a championship tournament event (that by the way is available to only a limited audience by radio or TV) be given coverage like it is important. Instead of people being drawn to the sport and the tournament, they just alienate more people, real smooooooth!
Here's the article

Link Dump -- 6/9/07

A few things I found interesting/ thought provoking from around the blogosphere... some are recent, others have been around for a while; all are worth a read.

Belief-O-Matic : find what religion best suits you.

Churches with websites are more likely to grow

Life in the Googleplex No wonder these people are cutting edge creative

Keys to picking a great team member

It's a wonder I survived my childhood

Church 7 days a week

Living as practical atheists

Love 'em or lose 'em (Volunteers)

Fire in Perfidy

More to follow in the coming days/ weeks.

New Theme

Trying on a new design for the blog... do not be alarmed. :)

The Friendly Atheist -- Christians who hurt Christianity

I just found this blog. One thing I wonder is why someone who is convinced that there is no God would spend so much time talking about Him. I have other questions as well... anywhoo. He has a well written blog entry called "Christians Hurting Christianity" that is a good read. We need to understand how others perceive us. The comment about the person who started with "how can I explain this to a secular person..." makes me cringe. I look forward to reading more of his thoughts in the future.

Game of the Week -- Levers

A bit frustrating, but a good mental challenge.


LEVERS

Nobody's Watching Soda and Candy Experiment #4

a good laugh... 30 years of Star Wars has had it's effect

Sharing my birthday...

My birthday was Sunday. I always find it nice that people will wish me a happy birthday, give me a card or some other similar nice gesture. I have never been real big on celebrating myself, doesn't seem that big a deal to me. Within the past 24 hours I have found out a couple of cool people I share "my" day with. I grew up with a girl named Laura who always was in my circle of friends. She brought her mom to church on Sunday and after wishing me a happy day she let me know that her son also was born on June 3rd. kinda cool.
The ones that I find really cool are that I have just found out that a pastor whose blog I read as well as a young lady in our church have June 3rd as their spritual birthday. That makes me happy! Here's hoping for a whole bunch more people to share this day. I really am willing to share!