Happy Anniversary!!

Happy Anniversary Lost! Can't believe it's been six great years!!!! :p

song 82 - Don't Look Back in Anger

I remember when I bought my first Oasis album. I was working for my dad, dusting parts shelves at Montrose Ford in Fairlawn. I bought it (What's the Story Morning Glory?) at the Acme across the street one day at lunch...and I wore that tape out! I think I listened to it everyday while working, at least twice. So...fast forward to my Senior year of soccer at Barberton, and you could catch the entire Varsity team singing this for pre-game in the locker room. Just thinking about it makes me laugh...fake British accents and all! I have no idea how or why it became a pre-game ritual, but it did, and it still takes me back there every time I hear it.

song 83 - Me and Mrs Jones

If you know me, then you know that I LOVE big band/rat pack music. NO specific personal reason that I really like the song, which is quite weird for me. I normally over analyze just about everything, so for me to just basically "enjoy" something is quite the feat! My favorite part of the song would just be the boombasticness (ohhhh yeah) of all of it...and I will probably enjoy just about anything that Michael Buble records. Enjoy!

Deep Thoughts on O.H.I.O

So, this past weekend was a weekend of highs and lows in the local sports world. As always with the massive swings in fandom, local talk shows light up with people who are so anxious to cut themselves off from any possible future disappointment. Disappointment, of course, is something that any fan of Northeast Ohio team is quite used to...BUT does it go deeper than that? This guys thinks it does, and I want to lay down on a couch and talk about.

Let's start with our beloved Browns. Now, the Browns have always been the team that many were ready to support despite any lack of talent or...scoring. Yet, I believe our inadequacies have finally caught up with us. One single game has run people to the edge of the cliff, but why? Abandonment. To this point in time, our "new" Browns have never been able to live up to what we once had...the "old" Browns. Somewhere deep down, we still have not gotten over the fact that OUR team is running around wearing purple and black, winning games, and sitting annually atop the standings of the AFC North Division.

Up next? The Cleveland Indians. One day, in the not-so-distant past, they were our new hope...Cleveland's Luke Skywalker. They got close, so close, and yet nothing. Then, at the top of our love affair with the Tribe, they began to abandon us one by one. Belle, Manny, Thome, and then our own team starting shipping them off for the "hope" of a brighter tomorrow. Yet, here we sit...still waiting for promises made.

And then...LeBron. This is where we all got snookered...he was supposed to be one of us, someone who understood our pain. However, in the end, he just up and left too...

So...you're probably thinking...what is he getting at? Well, you know who never leaves us? Who can never uproot itself or turn it's back on us? Ohio State! The Scarlet and Gray are firmly planted in our state's capital, and every year some lucky few make the pilgrimage to the good ole Shoe. Our hope and dreams can be realized by watching a few musical coeds spell out our favorite four letters (OHIO) and dot our expectations with a high stepping sousaphonist. Our Buckeyes come and go with each class, but that is okay because we are cheering for the name on the FRONT of the jersey and not the back. No abandonment, no disappointment. THAT is why we love our Buckeyes, THAT is why other people find OSU fans obnoxious! Because of our history, we have only one thing we can count on...and THAT is the Scarlet and Gray. In them we have no fears, in them we have seen that they CAN win.

You see...we all share this common fear. It's not just some "curse" upon one city or another, but instead the very things that worry us deep down. We watch sports to escape the fact that we have something missing on the inside. That hole that can only be filled by one thing...GOD. Thousands of fans spending hundreds of dollars each week to try and feel better by hoping that their team can come through...but in the end it's bigger than that. Bigger than a loss, or a win

Francis Chan = The Man

What's Next for Francis Chan? A Conversation with Mark Driscoll and Joshua Harris from Ben Peays on Vimeo.

Okay, so it's not every day that you get to see three men whom you consider to be loud speakers of Truth sit down and talk to one another. If you've never heard of these guys, they are Francis Chan, Marc Driscoll, and Joshua Harris. Three men who through their teaching have helped me grow in the Word, and in my leadership. If you don't know them...google them...and get with it! :p

How Have I Never Thought of This....

Pretty sweet, right?

Just Wired That Way...

Tonight I was sitting here in my living room watching tv and I felt something missing. I couldn't put my finger on it, but there was something there, in the pit of my stomach. I had felt this before, and it normally happens when I spend time with people...and then don't spend time with people. However, this normally comes out of some period where I am at summer camp, or go to Disney World to see my bff (no...not Mickey), or take a weekend away with our youth group, but today there was nothing special.

It's then that I asked myself, was today special? By normally means not really, no different from any other day when xbox, or surfing the internet, or even LOST can't quite fit the bill for what I am craving. But, what am I craving?

It's the hunger for relationship! It's those times when you can sit down with someone and they just GET you. Not in the "relationship" kind of way, but in the we really get what each other is about way. You see, just like Adam needed Eve (again...not going down the relational road), just like Jesus needed his disciples, just like Paul needed someone to travel with, and exactly like everyone on LOST needed everyone else...we are called to be in community!

I love community (not the tv show...never watched it), and I bet you do too. You might not know that you love it...but some night while you're watching tv and you feel like nothing can keep you from being bored, that's when you realize....

Ahem, ahem...is this thing on?

Okay...so, by now your probably getting pretty tired of me always saying that "I'm starting to do my blog again"! However, this time it's for reals! I have a sticky note (currently sticking to my wall...if you don't believe me, ask Sean or Carina) that is going to prompt me to post something every day. Now, this post might not always be something mind-blowing, but I will at least try to make it entertaining for all of you out there in the "blogospehere". So...here we go again. Check back tomorrow...I WILL be here!