Jen heard about this event, and we’ll be attneding with our friends “The Vs” tonight! If you have a BR near you, looks like you get cheap ice cream, and you help out a good cause by doing so. Click the photo above (or the link right here) to read more about it…
Enjoy your ice cream!
The comments at the bottom would suggest otherwise, but I love that Tom Brady – who some compare to Joe Montana, one of the greatest NFL QBs ever – restructred his contract (took less money this year) so that they could bring in another (potentially) great receiver. Now, Moss is doing just fine with a $3M contract!!! But Brady definitely looks like the team player that he is here.
I just wish I wasn’t talking about the Patriots…
ESPN.com – NFL – Pats’ Brady restructures contract to bring in Moss
I was watching the second hockey game last night, featuring #5 seed San Jose vs the #1 seed Detroit Red Wings. And I noticed what I think the Sabres might be lacking so far in the playoffs.
Yes, they won the first round in 5 games over the Islanders, and have a 2-1 advantage in this series – only because of a 2OT victory where the Rangers played the best they could, and just barely beat us. But, they have not been impressive in most of the games they have played. They don’t look hungry.
The thing our Sabres are missing is the hunger to win. The drive. Whatever you want to call it, I saw “it” in the Sharks last night. The Red Wings might have better players, but the Sharks wanted it more. And they got it.
I’m not sure how (or if?) the Sabres can get that. I have seen them have it this year. People talked about them being able to “flip a switch”. It’s true. They’re scary like that. But the playoffs are for real. If you wait too long, you might not get a chance to flip it “on”.
What I have noticed is that when you finish first there are expectations. From without and from within. The Sabres seem to be playing a little tentative at times – you know, to “not lose”. They have been winning their games, but have been unable to put games away when they have the lead. (One game the Islanders came back when the Sabres had a 4-1 lead… and I think that was more on their effort than on the Sabres tentativeness… they were great that game.)
It’s strange to complain about the #1 team, who has a 6-2 record in the post-season thus far. But… I just notice that they look different than San Jose. And perhaps some other teams. Ottawa really wants it right now too. And they’re up 2-1 in their series. That would be a tough, tough series for Buffalo.
But first we have to win this one.
Game four is tonight in NY. Should be tough, but if the Sabres remember what they have been playing for all season… I’d say you’ll see the Sabres control and win this game tonight. I won’t say easily, but I do think they will control the game tonight.
We’ll see if they have what it takes to win!
You might know that I really, really don’t like summer… and that’s mainly due to the hot, sticky weather. Ick. Just really not for me. But this past week of warmness reminded me that there are at least 5 more reasons to not like summer…
See… once the weather warms up, the creatures come out!!!! We’re INFESTED with ants. The other day, Jen found a giant pile of them around a dirty SOCK. A SOCK. You have to be a lot more careful in the summer, cause any food on the counter or on the floor or in the sink or even IN THE TRASH CAN will bring out the bugs!!!!!
I’m not a fan of summer.
But I do like seeing our raspberries coming back to life. That’s pretty cool. 🙂
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So…. we’ll see ya out there! 🙂
Today is the big NFL Draft! Well, today and tomorrow. The Bills have 8 draft picks in the 7 rounds this year. They should be able to get some pretty decent players. (Last season, all the players we drafted made the team, and most made pretty significant contributions.)
The funny part about the draft for the Bills is that they NEVER pick who ANYONE thinks they are going to! Ha! Last year with pick #8 we picked Donte Whitner and not one single prognosticator had forecast HIM as our #1 pick. Or ANYONE’S #1 PICK for that matter. 🙂
So, there may be trades, there will be shock and surprise once pick #12 is announced… but it will be fun. And Marv and Co. will add some great talent to our already talented young team! The Bills will surprise people this year. I (almost) guarantee it. 🙂
GO BILLS!
The Sabres have Ryan Miller to thank for another playoff victory. That, and some timely scoring from guys who have been doing just that all year long.
We missed the game again last night due to strange TV scheduling, but we managed to catch the final 5 or 6 minutes, and Miller looked as great as they were making him sound. He preserved the 3-2 win for the Sabres several times over… just in the final minutes!
The Sabres apparently had fallen behind 2-1 after two great periods of play from the NY Rangers, but the Sabres scored two quick goals in the third to take their first lead of that game. That has been their modus operandi this season. I don’t have the stats here, but it has been quite typical for the Sabres to come back from a 1 or 2 (or more!) goal deficit to grab the victory.
And now, the Sabres have a two-games-to-none lead in the Conference Semifinal. That’s not insurmountable for the Rangers, but Lindy Ruff is 6-0 in series where he has a 2 game lead, including two sweeps. Let’s hope that trend continues.
Next game is tomorrow afternoon at 2pm on NBC! I have felt like we’re watching history this entire season. And the history making continues on Sunday. Don’t miss it! 🙂
One more quick thought for the day…
I love the idea of missions. There are so many people in the world (of course, including our own towns and our country) that do now know the reality of the Kingdom. They don’t know that God takes great pleasure in knowing us, and in restoring our relationship with Him. They don’t know the joy of living loved and complete freed of shame and guilt by that love. So, it’s good to tell them.
But recently I have been thinking of “Missions” again, and “Missionaries” and there is a big disconnect, once we have met the folks we are trying to help. And I think it might be, what are we “winning” them to? What is the end goal of our missional efforts?
I really don’t want to open up a huge debate here… though if you have any thoughts, you’re welcome to share them. I just think the biggest thing we are missing as the church today is that life with God, life in his Kingdom, is not about what we do or don’t do (though that may be evidence of the kingdom) but it’s an understanding of the reality of a Father who loves us, and wants to lead us, and walk with us through every part of life. We don’t meet him at the church building. He doesn’t just come around when we’re participating in “spiritual events”. He does not reside at the “temple”. He’s with us. In person. All the time.
So when we go out, and we tell people about Jesus… what usually happens (I believe) looks a lot like what we do here in America. We meet (usually) on Sundays, and one person leads a lesson (or sermon) from the Bible, and there’s music, maybe communion (which is eating a piece of “bread” and drinking some “juice”) and it might even involve everyone being dressed up a bit more than usual. Then there are other meetings throughout the week. Whether one on one or in bigger groups… all focused on some teaching/discipling time. That’s a good thing. But it’s not the kingdom.
Missionaries are awesome. I hope they keep going to all parts of the world and loving people. The only thing I see falling short is that we’re just “converting” them to the same systems that are not working here in America. Systems will fail. Relationships will also, but genuine friendships are less likely to. Love God, and love people. Don’t tell them where they need to spend most of their time now… help them know the greatness of being loved unconditionally by their Father. Help them know the joy in loving other people as they have been loved. Can’t that be it?
I wish it could. But I’m probably just a dreamer.
Well, the good thing is… no matter what other folks do… I get to choose what I will do.
I mentioned not long ago the extensive list of books I am currently reading. One of those was the book you see to the right. I’ve been focusing on that one lately, and it’s amazing how much what this fellow is saying about the business world (really, so far it’s just an observation of various historical events, including those in the business world) so closely mirrors what the church can (or should?) be.
The chapter I am currently reading is explaining the difference between a spider and a starfish. The spider is as we would expect it. A central head, that controls everything. If you lop off a leg or two, the spider will survive, but if you destroy the head, nothing else will survive. The starfish is different. Any part can survive on its own. “If you cut a starfish in half…” says the author, “you’ll have two starfish to deal with.” The starfish can “regenerate” from any part of its body since there is no central brain or other center of operations. The creature is a sort of neural network.
Instead of having a head, like a spider, the starfish functions as a decentralized network… The starfish doesn’t have a brain. There is no central command. Biologists are still scratching their heads over how the creature operates…”
Indeed, at first glance, that seems chaotic, but somehow in God’s design, this creature works just fine as a decentralized unit.
The first case study was all of the peer to peer music/file sharing businesses. The more decentralized they got, the better they “worked” and the harder they were to kill. Record companies could shut down Napster because everything was in one place under one business name. But as it continues to decentralize, it’s harder to stop… can thrive without a “head”.
And last night, I was reading about the found of Alcoholics Anonymous. Pretty neat how it started out. The guy who started it (an alcoholic) was at the very end of his rope, and figured the only folks who could help him were the people in the same boat as him. So he created a structure that had no leaders, or heirarchy. Just people helping people.
The organization functions just like a starfish. You automatically become part of the leadership-an arm of the starfish, if you will-the moment you join…
Because there is no one in charge, everyone is responsible for keeping themselves—and everyone else—on track. … You have a sponsor, but the sponsor doesn’t lead by coercion; that person leads by example. And if you mess up and relapse or stop attending for a while, you’re always welcome to come back.
(emphasis mine)
That seems so close to what I see being the best model of life as the church. The living body of Christ. We are all equal parts of the greater whole—Christ’s body. I’m not sure how his being the “Head” fits that picture, when thinking of starfish, but as the rest of his body… it’s right on. Everyone is responsible for themselves, and cares for each other. Because they are all “in it together”.
After AA took off and became a huge success, the author says:
Bill (the founder) had a crucial decision to make. He could go with the spider option and control what the chapters could and couldn’t do. Under this scenario, he’d have to manage the brand and train applicants in the AA methodology. Or, he could go with the starfish approach and get out of the way. He chose the latter. He let go.
He trusted each chapter to do what it thought was right. And so today, whether you’re in Ancorage, Alaska or Santiago, Chile you can find an AA meeting. And if you feel like it, you can start your own. Members have always been able to directly help each other without asking permission or getting approval from Bill W. or anyone else. This quality enables open systems to quickly adapt and respond.
(emphasis mine)
Christianity could certainly learn from this model. Instead of fighting to protect and preserve, a more open system would encourage the body of Christ to be “known by our love for one another”. Not our big buildings, flashy presentations, big events, wonderfully entertaining programs, etc, etc, etc. And, the body of Christ could function so much better if our only direction came from The Head (not the pretend “heads” we have set up). Rather than chaos, wouldn’t it be much more perfect, and more quick to respond.
See, Jesus is a weird head. The starfish can regenerate and fix itself because the head is located everywhere. The brain is in every cell of the body (I guess?). Isn’t that kind of like Jesus. He’s not in a fixed location, in the Home Office at 1 Golden Street Drive. He’s here, with me right now, as much as he is with you. (“I will be with you always…”) So, he can quickly help me know that I need to go over and see my neighbor… and I might find out that she needs help with something… or maybe she’s just feeling down. Or maybe even, she has some good news she needs to share with someone? As the head of a body that has no heirarchichal leadership, he can quickly move and “regenerate” his body as he needs to. No waiting for staff or deacons meetings. 🙂
I’m enjoying the book. I’m sure I’ll post more here later. Just wanted to share a couple of quotes that stood out to me last night.
I was looking out my window this morning, and the grass looked a little greener. I don’t mean figuratively. I mean, literally… it looked greener. The shadows were a bit different. The sun is moving into it’s summer position. The world outside just seemed a bit more “summery”.
But the one indicator that summer is approaching… BASEBALL. The boys start baseball tonight. They’ll play every Friday night for about 2 months. Alex gets to play his first year of tee ball this year, and Ian will be moving up to “coach pitch” ball. I think that means the coach pitches to the players. I think. 🙂
It will all be great, except that the boys will be on very different fields… AT THE SAME TIME 🙁 I’m really disappointed about that. But we’ll work something out. Or, I’ll just be mad for the next 8 Fridays. 🙁
We’re excited that baseball is here! I’m not looking forward to the hot summer temps, but I am looking forward to watching my boys play baseball again, and practicing with them the rest of the week. 🙂
Come on out and root ’em on!
