tonight was a horrible night bowling...

I bowl as a substitiute on a team that Chris Moore sponsers. I am horrible. I have a 138 average with no sign of improvement. Tonight was no exception to that, i basically bowled my average. The guys on the team are great. They harrassed me about lot of things. I eat Bills pizza. Ok it was Jamie's pizza, but Bill usually eats his left overs...and I ate it instead. Jamie was laughing, because Bill was eyeing me eat his pizza.

Tonight was horrible. The team we bowled against was in last place, yet they gave us pins? It was not right, they covered our handicap quite quickly and beat the tar out of us. Until the last game, they finally bowled like normal people and we tied. So here is the kicker...I finally got on a roll on the third game, I had 4 stikes in a row...then it happened...I sort of ...well...I threw 2 gutter balls in a row! It was embarrassing...all i could do was laugh at my self, because every one else was laughing at me too. I finished the game with a 144, not great! If I would have knocked down just one pin, we would have won! I am depressed now.

After bowling, Chris, Bill and I went to Steak and Shake to drown our sorrows in a milk shake. We had a great conversation. We discussed some lingering church issues and got carried away. We were there an hour or so and I am sure we are all three in trouble. We talked through a few things that really needed to be discussed. I feel really guilty about a few things and found out that I shouldn't. Things were happening long before I showed up. So it was a conversation I needed to have and Bill needed to vent a little bit and it was good. Chris asked for prayer. Wow, it was our very own little accountablility bowling group :) They made me forget all about the 2 gutter balls....for the most part.

ok..so I am still stalking Crowder....

Ok, most of you know that I am a huge David Crowder Band fan! So I have been reading his blog daily. He and the band are hanging out in his barn (recording studio) and putting together his latest CD. I can't wait! So Crowder is sharing little details of his daily agenda, giving us insight on how the project is coming and sharing little tidbits that some might find interesting.

He has gone into great detail about lunch, including before and after pictures of meals that have been eaten. I imagine that lunch is a pretty big deal. I compare his lunch crew with our lunch crew at work. Lunch becomes more than just a break during the noon hour that we enjoy delicious morsels. It is a time to breakdown the day, the week, and our lives. Lunch is a portion of time recaptured and put to good use solving the problems of our world. It is way more than just about eating. It is about our sanity. I believe that Crowder and the guys treat lunch that same way. It is a time of fellowship. It is a time for laughter. Lunch is a break from the tedious details of recording a cd, writing songs, singing lyrics, playing guitar riffs, and tracking a phat beat. It is about consuming life with friends and a Dr. Pepper.

Crowder shared a few days ago that they ran into an interesting character while eating at a local establishment. TED NUGENT! How funny is that? I am sure the Crowder band got all geeked out with the opportunity to meet a fellow rocker. The very next day, Ted showed up at the BARN! I know they had visions of Mr. Nugent jumping in on a song and lending some classic nostalgia to the next Crowder disc. It was so exciting for them...this is all Crowder could blog about that day....

so here's what has happened thus far today:

1. ted nugent came to the barn.

Awesome!

So then it happened. Crowder blogged today and announced:

no freaking way! ted nugent, aka: the nuge, terrible ted, deadly tedly, theodocious atrocious, uncle ted, sweaty teddy, great gonzos, the motor city madman, the nuge, wait i said that, anyway, he's coming to the barn again. this time he's bringing his guitar. he'll have his bow (as in bow and arrows) with him too but he told us he never leaves home with out that, but yes, he's bring a guitar. his backup songbird is what he told me on the phone. sometime this afternoon, like 3 or 4. we're going to have him play on "we won't be quiet." yes, the one that already has one bar of harmony lead guitars. this is too good. "we won't be quiet" featuring the nuge. when we asked him if he'd play on a tune he said, and i quote, "sure. you guys pick out the vehicle and i'll come over and turn it into a four wheel drive." might be a great opportunity for some monumental screen grabs.

This has to be a great time for David Crowder and the Band. They are living a dream that millions of others would love to be living. They are impacting lives with the gifts that God has given to them. Yet, they are still so down to earth that they get totally excited about an aging Rock Star from their youth that could probably care less about their ministry, but humors them just the same, because Ted Nugent is just as normal as the Crowder band themselves.

You got to love that!

Here is to great lunch crews!

still more....

Louie you gave me just way too much to think about, I could hardly sleep last night.

So what do you get when you look into the core of the Whirlpool Galaxy?

Check this out...

http://imgsrc.hubblesite.org/hu/db/1992/17/images/a/formats/full_jpg.jpg

Your the center of the Universe, everything is made for You...thank you Charlie Hall!

back to the feeling small thing....

Ok, there is more..much more. More than i can cover in just one post. Ok..so if the earth is a golf ball, the sun is 15' in diameter! That is big...but then you look at the VY Canis Majoris (which is the BIG DOG star) :) which is very far away from us! Read more on the W! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VY_Canis_Majoris This is the largest know star. Here is a picture that tries to scale our sun with VY Canis Majoris.... http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/3/3b/Sun_and_VY_Canis_Majoris.png Incredible! Louie Giglio reminded us that in Genesis our God spit this from His mouth! Indescribable, uncontainable!

ok i feel very small......

Last night Louie Giglio really helped me understand just how small I really am. Although I am really small in comparison to the illustrations he used, it still did not help me feel better about how big my belly is becoming :) But if you take a look at our structure, we are made up of millions of cells. Here was the cool part....all of these cells are connected, held together by this binding agent, it is called Laminin! WOW, Louie that was awesome...Laminin! It is what holds us together! It was a God moment when he showed us what Laminin looks like...WOW!

...Christ in me, Christ in me, Christ in me the hope of glory...You are everything!
Everything by Tim Hughes and Matt Redman

tomlin and crowder here we come...

Fourty-six of my friends, Jen and I are on our way to worship with Chris Tomlin, Matt Redman and Louie Giglio tonight at the Schott. Should be a great time and we are eating at my favorite Italian place..the Old Spagetti Warehouse...

i must say that I am addicted...

Ok, I must admit that I am a huge David Crowder Band Fan! I love their worship, music, style, and openness. So I watch his site all of the time, i read his blog, i read his books, i cover his music, I imitate him in worship. Ok, i guess it sounds like I am a David Crowder stalker... so then he goes and does the coolest thing you can do for a stalker...you install 6 webcams in your house to allow people watch you create your next cd! I must say that I am addicted! I mean I am writing this blog entry while i watch David talk around the kitchen table with his fellow band members at 11:21 at night! They may be actually discussing the lyrics of the next great hymnal of our time! How can you not be drawn into the life of such a great worship leader, song writer, musician? Ok, may be i have gone slightly overboard with this, but thank you David Crowder for allowing me to sneak a peek into the process of creating songs of praise that I personnally feel is changing the face of today's worship of our Mighty God!

http://www.dcb01.com/remedy/

it is that time of year....

I love this time of year! The weather is warming up and the flowers are starting push through the ground. Everything is starting to turn green and look alive again! Just when you thought there were to many things to occupy a persons mind with spring around the corner, the month of March awakens College Basketball! March Madness baby! I have always been a sports nut, and the craziness of the NCAA Tournament has feed that addiction. Starting at Noon on Thursday, we will witness the corporate world shut down and bow to the greatness of this weekend! Time will stand still in the office...in between phone calls and emails, millions of people will be updating their office pool brackets.

So I wish you well this weekend and may the maddness begin!

it is a start....

Will I hear you to night
will you make everything alright
when i lay my head to pray
will you hear the words I say

Will you show me, will you show me, everything..everything
Reveal to me, reveal to me, all I need...All I need

Whisper in my ear
shout at the top of your lungs
anything to know Your near
for i am coming undone


Will you show me, will you show me, everything..everything
Reveal to me, reveal to me, all I need...All I need

Just a glimpse,
just a little peek
a word or thought
Lord, give me anything

Will I lay here and cry
hope that I might die
from my old selfish ways
to awake to a new day

I think the first verse needs some work..sounds to cliche' but anyway...this stems from my post about being so close, but yet feeling so far away! God, show me everything! Everything I can handle....right up to where it kills me.

this is high school basketball

On Saturday, we went to watch the Chillicothe vs Greenfield District Finals at the beautiful campus of the Ohio University. CHS won 66-60 in double overtime. 12K people in the convo? This is high school basketball? WOW

so I just had to post this too...

HowManyOfMe.com

There are: 34 people with my name in the U.S.A. How many have your name?

The funny thing is that 6% fo all Marty Ford's go to River Valley Community Church :) But even better...our church has 100% of the worlds Eli Ruggles' !!!

how can i feel so close yet..

I am in the midst of two books. This is the first time since college I have been reading out of two books at the same time, but this time is for my own enjoyment. I am reading Rob Bell's new book Sex God and Don Miller's book Blue LIke Jazz. Rob's book is one i totally connect with and am in awe of his thoughts and teaching. Don Miller's work quiet frankly pisses me off. I love it! I think he takes great pleasure in saying things that he knows will get people upset. I being one of them. It is all great stuff. So all of this study is being followed up with about 5 weekly podcasts that dive into everything from Youth ministry to worship leading to Christian pop culture. I feel like a sponge at the moment, trying to take everything in, trying to grow, trying to improve, trying to feel closer to God. How can I feel so close, yet be so far away?

So I decided to drop a few Podcasts a couple of months ago. I just did not have time to listen to all of them or they were just not reaching me. So I unsubscribed to a few of them and I feel a little better about the amount of time I was spending listening to Pod Casts. I grabed my ipod and fired up my weekely lessons and I found that one of my old podcasts came back? I am not sure what happened, or how it got there, but I continued to listen and i found out that it was actually an interview with Donald Miller? It was a great interview. He actually answered some questions I had that had really been bothering me about the last time I heard him speak. Mind you he was still not the bearer of great news, but he did make me feel alot better about his previous comments. Thanks Don.

Now I am listening to Rob's book, he is talking about Jesus always chooses the path of love. Is that the path I always take? I wish I could answer that question with an immediate YES. Unfortunately, I can't answer that queston so quickly. I find that I want to love people, but I find it hard at times. I have a much easier time loving people I don't know. There is no risk. If they turn me down and don't allow me to love them, then I just move on. The risk is taken when I try to love people I know, people I am close to, or have relationships with already. I find myself in the middle of drama. This drama allows for me to choose a side, to be angry with people i should love. It is crazy. Why does this drama happen in our church? It is no wonder why people look at the church and say "Why would I want to go in, they are just as messed up as the rest of the world." It is so much easier to be mad. It makes me feel better to close off and build a wall between myself and the conflict or the actual people who I have trouble loving. Being angry takes no risk on my part. I do not have to work hard to ignore these people. I need to take the risk. It could blow up in my face, but I know I need to love them. It doesn't mean I can't confront them. But I must love them. I want to love them.

I find myself with all of this advice, all of these resources that should help me through these situations. It is interesting that I find myself with all of the tools, but I don't quite know how to use them. I have all of these things that should bring me closer to Christ, but yet I actually feel so far away from God's love. I find myself frustrated, rather than loved. I realize only when I let go and let God help me love these people who make me furious, will I find that I may allow myself to be loved by God. I need to take the risk!