Cubs v Rays (x3)

This past week I have been down in Tampa, Florida visiting my parents and what do you know, the Cubs are in town playing the Rays for a three game series. The plan was that Abbey and I were going to go the first game of the series with one of my roommates/teammates from college and his wife, skip a night, and then go to the series finale on Thursday with my parents. Next thing you know, my parents came back early from a trip, so my mom decided to go on Tuesday with us. Then my dad made a comment about going on Wed, and next thing you know we had tickets to all three games.

It was incredibly disappointing because the Cubs lost all three games, when they had won the 3 previous Cubs games I have attended this year. I then came to the conclusion that I am good luck for the Cubs, but better luck for the Rays, or I am good luck for Ted Lilly only (he pitched in the 3 previous Cubs games I attended, but not in any game in Tampa). What was also disappointing was that Kerry Wood never got in any of the games. Wood is Abbey's favorite player and in the 5 games she has been to this year he has not pitched in any of them. He warmed up in the first two and Abbey got her picture with him in the first one (see above).

The only thing that is kinda redeemable about the series is that did lose to the Rays. I was cheering for the Cubs the whole time, but I am pulling for a Rays/Cubs World Series.

GAME ONE - Tuesday - Rays 3, Cubs 2
- Our seats were great. I bought tickets online the week before the game and we had the best seats in the entire section. We were on the first row (there was a party deck between us and the field), and we were 25-30 feet away from the Cubs bullpen mound.

- I was able to see Scott Kazmir, one of my favorite players, pitch and he did really well besides a high pitch count.

- It was a great game and the Cubs made a rally in the 9th and almost pulled it out with a suicide squeeze. Evan Longoria made a great play and the game was over.

- It was great seeing Todd and his wife Rachel. Todd was one of my teammates at Milligan. They live in Ft. Meyers (where Rachel is from) and they are also big Cubs fans.

- At the end of the game, I was involved with breaking up a fight. There was a punk kid (20ish) Rays fan sitting a few rows behind us and he was past obnoxious the entire game with his cowbell. He would be standing up ringing the bell the entire game and people would be yelling at him the entire time. Once the game was over, a drunk old man Cubs fan went after him. I along with another guy were able to wrestle the Cubs fan off of him, and told the Rays punk to put down his cowbell (he would continue to ring it in the guys face). When we left the game, the Sheriff had the Cowbell guy, another cowbell guy, the cowbell guy's girlfriend (who I guess chipped her tooth), and the drunk Cubs guy. Don't know how that one turned out.

GAME TWO - Wednesday - Rays 5, Cubs 4
- This game also came down to the ninth with the Cubs trailing by 2 runs. Soto hit a home run to bring it within 1 but the Cubs could not get another run across.

- Carlos Zambrano left the game injured, and now he is on the DL.

- My dad was wearing a Cubs hat, but was cheering for the Rays. The next night he wore Rays gear.

- What is really cool is that Abbey is turning into a huge Cubs fan. Last night she had me pause Sportscenter because she wanted to see the Cubs highlights (even though we watched the whole game). She want to hear the analysis and the postgame report.

GAME THREE - Thursday - Rays 8, Cubs 3
- It was incredible to hear the stands cheering for the Cubs instead of the Rays. Cubs chants could be heard throughout the whole stadium. When the Rays pitcher would throw over to first base he would get booed. When they announced the Rays lineup one day, they got booed. When we sang the 7th inning stretch, all you heard was, "Root, root, root for the CUBBIES!"

- The Cubs made it look like they were going to win but taking a late lead, but then Carlos Marmol had his worst outing of the year walking two, and then hitting two.

- We arrived early to hopefully get an autograph (Abbey really wanted one from Kerry Wood), but probably because they had lost the first two games, nobody signed autographs. Highly disappointing.

One thing that did come out of all three games - Abbey hates cowbells.

The Windy City....Chicago Believe

This fall, Jr. High Believe will be headed back to Chicago for the first time in over 5 years. Believe will be at the Schaumburg Hotel and Convention Center the weekend of Oct 17-18. Schaumberg is a suburb of Chicago and is located in the middle of the Chicago metro.

We are excited about going back up to that region and can't wait to see what God is going to do in the lives of jr. high students in the great city where the Cubs play. Nate Head, from Southland Christian Church, will be the main speaker, and (like every believe) there will be the cast of Jared Hall, Eric Timm, drama, Foundation Red, and a special artist The Rubyz.

Anyways, I will be up in Schaumburg next Thursday (the 26th) and down in Orland Park next Friday (the 27th) hosting a couple of free lunches (really good food) to talk about this specific event to youth leaders and to get feedback for the future of Believe. If you know anyone in the Chicago area that might want a free lunch, have them shoot me an email (chase@ciy.com) or tell me who they are and I'll call them.

Go CUBS!

Jr. High Camp

This past Sunday night I was able to tag along with Robin Sigars to go to one night of Jr. High Camp at Camp Cyokamo in Alba, MO. My home church, Carterville Christian Church have a group of jr. high students out there this week and if my schedule had worked out, I would have loved it to attend the whole week as a sponsor - but I was glad to at least be there for one night.

It was nice to see some guys who I have know a while - Ryan Bennett and Drew Henderson from Sunnybrook Christian Church in Stillwater, OK, and Matt Harenza from First Christian Church in Carthage, MO.

There was somewhere between 250-300 students packed in a little auditorium and let me tell you it was LOUD. Occasionally people will complain about the sound level being too high at Believe, well, they need to go to camp. The band was from Owasso, OK and they did a really good job. Robin spoke, with one of his main examples about jumping off a cliff with his sons.

The theme for the week is "More than a game" and it has a Olympic feel to it. Many different churches were walking around with big country flags and I know there are many different "Olympic" stlye games planned for the week.

I really enjoyed watching the students worship. Actually I really enjoyed watching the students doing motions to some of the songs. No, actually I really enjoyed watching the students doing their own made up never seen before motions to some of the songs.

It's Not about Me - Teen Edition

The second book I read from the MOVE station is It's Not about Me, Teen Edition by Max Lucado. I'll be honest, I haven't read a Max Lucado book since I was a sophomore in college 6 or 7 years ago. From what I remember, his books were easy and quick reads. So, you can image what I was thinking when I picked up a "Teen Edition" book he has authored.

There are 14 chapters in book divided into 2 sections, God-Pondering and God-Promoting. The first half (God-pondering) is truly about recognizing who we are in God's plan, dealing with our internal and external struggles, and grasping that God's hand is never changing and His love is great. The second half (God-promoting) is how to put this into action. The chapter that stood out to me was chapter 8 and the way we live is a reflection (like a mirror) of the light of God.

Lucado did a good job of truly making this a teen book. There is an example in every chapter on every topic (set-up similar like a news story) of a student in high school or college. There was a lot of scripture, and the concepts were easy to understand and foundational.

The part that I haven't decided is good or bad, is that he used various different translations, but many times the passages that were drawn out were from The Message.

The way I would suggest a high school student to read this book is like a devotional. There are 14 chapters and at the end of each chapter there is a question and then space to journal. The chapters are fairly short with lots of examples. This would also be an easy book for a small group to go through together.

On a side note, there was a mention of the Summer Olympics in one of the chapters, which made me look forward to watching some of the games this summer.

Believe Speaker Summitt 1.0

This past Wednesday we held the first Jr. High Believe Speaker Summit. Johnny, Josh Walker, and myself met with Scott Rubin, Jason Raitz (both from Willow Creek), Steve Carter (from Mars Hill in Grand Rapids) and Nate Head (from Southland in Lexington) to discuss the next tour's theme, sessions topics messages, etc. The only speaker who was not able to be there was Kurt Johnston (from Saddleback). All of those guys spoke on the tour last year, and one thing we wanted to do this year to improve the program is gather them all before the tour to help give direction to the tour.

One thing all of them asked for - we were able to give them feedback on last year - things that went well, things that didn't, things that helped them as speakers, and ways they can improve and be more effective in communicating the messages.

Next tour's theme is "Speak" and it is primarily based on Jeremiah 1 and the life of Jeremiah. I know everything is not set in stone, but after that meeting the sessions and the topics/main points for the messages were all but done. Also, we made incredible progress on what "the call" for the students was going to be next tour.

Getting 4 of the 5 tour communicators together was valuable beyond words. All of them have been in junior high ministry for a good amount of time, so bouncing ideas off them on what a junior high student needs and how a junior high student will react was also important to the program. It also gave Johnny a chance to explain to them all the elements involved and what the purpose is behind all the different elements.

After the meeting I personally became more excited to see what God has in store for next tour.

Braves v. Cubs

On Tuesday, I was able to attend my thirds Cubs game, forth Major League game of the year. It also happened to be the third time I have seen Ted Lilly pitch this year. This was by far the best seats I have had at a ballgame in a number of years and it was also my wife's first time to Wrigley.

Johnny and I were heading up to Chicago for a planning meeting with all our Believe speakers on Wednesday. There was originally 4 of us planning on going to the game - Johnny, his 9 year old son Riley, one of our speakers Nate Head, and myself. As of 24 hours before the game we didn't have tickets and Abbey wasn't planning on going on the trip. I received a call from a friend and he had 2 tickets 12 rows behind home plate for us if we wanted them. The catch was they were expensive. I wasn't going to ask the other guys to pay that much, so I told Abbey she was coming (which she was really excited about because she didn't have to be at home alone for 2 days).

We saw a great game - the Cubs won 10-5, and Ted Lilly recored the win. This is the 3rd Cub win I have seen and also the 3rd Ted Lilly win I have seen - I seriously think he needs to start flying me to all his starts for good luck - what could it hurt? Anyways, below are some of the memorable moments that happened during the game.

- Riley telling his Dad, "To pay the man." Riley was extremely worried about missing the game and not getting tickets. Nate and Johnny were trying to get the best price by negotiating with the scalpers, while Riley is behind them making deals of his own.

- Riley enjoyed his first major league baseball game and now he is a Cubs fan for life!

- The Braves scored 3 in the first inning off a home run, and then the next pitch Ted Lilly threw a fastball at the batter's head. He was warned and so was each bench. If you remember the last time Lilly got ejected it was in the first inning against the Braves.

- Although Nate got to sit by himself most of the game, he was able to come down to where Abbey and I were the last couple of innings.

- Kerry Wood, Abbey's favorite player, warmed up 3 times, but never went in the game. He was warming up during the bottom of the 8th when the Cubs were only up a run, but then they scored 4 and Wood sat down. Then in the 9th, Jon Lieber (the Cubs pitcher they brought it) put two guys on base with one out. Kerry Wood started warming up. Braves hit into a double play and the game was over.

- We saw Candace and Jared Baker, some of our friends we haven't seen in a few years. Candace is the daughter of the Robin Sigars, the minister (and our good friend) that married Abbey and I. They just happen to be going to the game that night as well.

- This made me really mad - Abbey really wanted a Kerry Wood jersey shirt after the game. We went to 4 or 5 different places and none of them had one. BUT - one place had a Jim Edmonds jersey shirt. Jim Edmonds will always be a Cardinal and the fact they are selling his jersey and not Kerry Wood's in downright stupid.

Battling Unbelief

Every summer I try to read as many of the books we are selling at our high school conference, MOVE. This past week I picked up and read the first one, Battling Unbelief by John Piper. Usually, when I think about a Piper book, I know I have to brew a pot of coffee and read about one page per day. And then I have to read that same page again 4 times. But honestly, Battling Unbelief was a smooth read (I wouldn't say easy) and I was able to get a ton out of it.

The book is an excerpt from one of his larger books The Purifying Power of Living by Faith in Future Grace. Piper walks through 8 different applications on to live by faith in knowing there is future grace and how not to let these 8 sins continue to make us stumble. The 8 things we need to battle are anxiety, pride, shame, impatience, covetousness, bitterness, despondency, and lust. Below are a few things that stood out to me.

Battling ANXIETY
The thing that stood out to me in this chapter was when Piper is faced with anxiety about a range of topics, he has scriptures of the promise of future grace memorized. And then when he is anxious about _____, he quotes the scripture to himself. Example - When he is anxious about decisions he has to make about the future, he battles unbelief with the promise, "I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my eye upon you." (Psalm 32.8)

Battling MISPLACED SHAME
Piper describes two different kinds of shame: misplaced shame and well-placed shame. Misplaced shame is the shame you feel when there is no good reason to feel it - or, shame for something that's good, that doesn't dishonor God. Well-placed shame is the shame we feel when we are ashamed of something because our involvement in it was dishonoring to God.
The part that resonated with me was hearing about inflicting shame. I can look back over the past year and thing of a few specific examples where I made someone else feel shame that I never should have inflicted.

Battling IMPATIENCE
Last week, I gave a devotion to our MOVE interns about how God can call you to "not move" at a particular time. This chapter showed me that our faith in future grace will allow us to walk with God and to wait in his place, and go at his pace.

Battling BITTERNESS
This chapter really made me think. It states that faith in God's judgment is another form of faith in future grace. We need to overcome vengeance and bitterness by trusting God to settle all our accounts justly.

Battling DESPONDENCY
This is not something I have really ever thought about, but after reading the chapter I know it has been true in my life as I am sure it has been in every Christian at some point. Despondency is becoming dejected and/or depressed about our spiritual lives. We have to fight this by preaching to ourselves and believing in future grace.

There are many things I got out of this book and many things that make me think (Piper has a tendency to do that). I also know I will keep this book on my shelf and refer back to it in the future.

The Mariners are terrible

I am currently in Seattle/Portland area for a few days to help promote the Oregon Believe that is going to take place this October 31-Nov 1 at the Oregon Convention Center in Portland, OR. Yesterday was a travel day to get to Portland for a lunch today. So, I planned it and was able to go the Mariners/Angels game in Seattle yesterday. This was my second time to Safeco Field in Seattle (I went last year with my wife on a similar trip).

I met Nathan Cookston, a junior high minister from Smokey Point Community Church, and we went out to lunch and then he went to the game with me. For pretty much the whole game I learned all about his church and what his typically week, month, and year look like for his junior high ministry. I also learned all about what his kids are dealing with and how he actually got into Junior High Ministry. It is interesting to me to hear about similarities and differences in students in different parts of the country.

It is an incredibly nice stadium and the game actually turned out to be a pretty good game. I don't follow the Mariners that closely (besides Bedard and Ichiro - they are on my fantasy team), but I do know they are terrible. What I didn't know is how terrible they are with such an expensive payroll. I read an article in USA Today this morning about how the Mariners will probably be (unless something crazy happens) the first team in history to lose 100 games with a payroll of over 100 million dollars.

The Mariners gave up 3 runs before they recorded an out in the first inning, but only lost the game 5-4. There were two plays at the plate - one where the Mariners' catcher got ran over by Torii Hunter and the other where the Mariners' runner coming home Betancourt got knocked down and humiliated by the Angels' catcher. I guess after the game the Mariners' coach John McLaren took all the food, beer and towels out of the locker room and laid into the team. Then he later let it out on the media.

I am glad I am a Cubs and Rays fan - at least this year.

Artsniff and the Amazing Llamas

This past Believe tour, we had the privilege of having Evan the Keytar Player play in the band and raise awareness for the "Save The Keytar" Movement. What most people don't know is that Evan is a real live junior high kid from Webb City, Missouri and that he has his own band (if you want to call it that - it is more 3 friends that do crazy stuff) called Artsniff and the Amazing Llamas. The members of the group are Preston (goes by Artsniff), Alex (goes by A-Buck), and Evan (also known as Monkey Luke). Alex and Evan are the llama tamers. Don't ask - I don't know.

Artsniff and the Amazing Llamas are the best thing that ever happened to You Tube. I actually think You Tube was created for them. You can click here and it will take you to their You Tube Page. Below you will find a couple of my personal favorites of their videos. I will give you a little background on a few videos, because I stayed up with Evan in Michigan at a hotel and watched pretty much all the videos. It was like having the director/producer/creator/actor sitting beside you watching a movie.

"Be a Friend" - The boys shot this at church and it was played during one of the Sunday youth services. This is about the only serious video on the page.

"Moving Forward in a Backward World", "A Day at the Park", and "Reversafiction"- These videos are reverse engineered. If you want something to mess with your head a little - watch these. Evan (or Monkey Luke) did everything backwards and then they played it forward. Seriously, watch it - then you will understand.

"Time Line" (featured above) and "Trevor Birthday Remix" - Classic Artsniff. The three boys sitting on the couch making up raps.

We have been recording videos with Evan over the last couple of weeks for our promotional DVD, and one of the videos is Artsniff and the Amazing Llamas on the couch with a rap they made up specifically for Believe. I can't wait till the video is done.