London and the G20 mixed with American Idol

Right now, as I write this, anarchists and protesters are gathered outside the Bank of England and RBS in London. They are demonstrating something, but no one on CNN, FOX, MSNBC, Headline, and other cable news reporters have any idea what they are protesting. They interviewed one guy and asked him "What exactly are you protesting?" This guy had a tent in the streets, a big "NO" shirt, and he answered: "The fangs of capitalism."

What does that mean?

It seems as though many people want to send a message but they don't exactly have a great idea of what they are standing for, other than being against something. One other person was interviewed as saying she wanted the world governments to do more about global warming. So, anti-capitalism enthusiasts and climate change venturists are now holding hands at the same rally? And they breech security at RBS and climb in windows...

It seems a bit counter productive. You have to love the mob mentality.

Kind of reminds me of American Idol.

Take a risk,
N

home from the TN shindig

so, me and shauna went on vacation last week. it was rather odd...we went to our "safe" bet vacation spot in Gatlinburg, TN...and we, seriously, can't understand what has attracted us there in the past.

dont get me wrong...banjos and Dolly have their place...but we really are done with it for (I think) quite a long time.

here's a few highlights:
-our friends Dave and Traybabymomma and their new kid Drew came and hung out with us for a couple of days. it was cool to just chill and eat good food with them and laugh.
-Blue Moose Mango Habanero Wings
-Pics taken up in the hills of TN (must be Shauna's FB friend to see these) this was just goofy fun
-Cracker Barrel on the way home...one of the funniest experiences of the trip...the server brought me one biscuit and one small butter when i asked for bread before the meal...AND she hated me
-ALC weekend service went over really well and I wasn't there for any of it...this may sound weird, but it is a relief and a joy to leave and trust very capable and strong leaders (shout outs to DJ, Aaron, Tom, and Jenn...oh, and Dan...he brought it all together with the teaching...go watch the drama here, the dance here, and the March 7/8 message here...btw, Aaron plays a great Amazing Grace at the end)
- I visited a church while on vacation...and i wanted to go and visit! It was a pretty cool growing church, and I learned from them. They're moving to a new building soon...
-we avoided DC traffic coming back and saved time...

all in all, it was a fun time...i just think my next vacation might include a little more of this, and lot less of this

take a risk...
n

coming up on FIVE

this coming Saturday (Feb 21) will be mine and Shauna's five year wedding anniversary. so i have decided to list some things that i have either learned, or learned about myself, or changed in the past five years. firstly, let me say i have a very graceful and loving beautiful woman as a wife. she constantly affirms and loves me, and no card or gift i can buy will ever express my relief and surprise for how much she loves me. it really makes no sense...oh, and i love her a lot, too.

ok, so here goes (in no particular order):
1. i have more compasison than i let on: shauna has consistently made me to be a better person than i make myself out to be. i try to come across like a Hells Angels biker attitude sometimes, and she just melts that to reality. in essence, she has ruined my secret, and made me more girly in the process...

2. i am lazy. ok, i already knew this, but shauna is really always thinking and moving and cleaning and doing and awesome at thinking of others before herself. i (and i think this is mostly a guy thing) need to chill...EVERYDAY. we really balance each other out, but i never noticed how much "down time" i really took until we were married.

3. i am too busy. oxymoron, contradiction, whatever...sometimes, i cant turn my brain off...and in return, i fail to think of the more important things. this is something i have learned about myself. i dont disengage well sometimes, mentally at least.

4. i really don't need an iphone.

5. GPS devices lie...

6. Our wedding, although it may be forever dubbed "the silent film", was wonderful. my wife has a gift that she uses every week in our family...the gift of thrifty. we had the most cost effective green wedding on the face of the planet...yup, i'll challenge any vice president on that one. also, i like to spend a lot of money, so in the end it is a great thing that i didnt make many calls about our wedding...other than selecting all of the music and being doped up on pain meds the entire time (car wreck the day before).

7. The way I feel love changes...I am much different now than I was five years ago.

8. I am still younger than my wife...mentally and physically (although the weight AND the beard may make some think otherwise).

9. I am not as fast to react or talk instantly when I need to respond. Shauna has helped me understand that words hurt, looks are mean, and tone of voice really communicates much more than what is being said. I think it must suck sometimes to live in my learning laboratory.

10. I still shouldnt do the grocery shopping. Even with a list I am dangerous.

11. I still dont like talking on the phone...

12. I have gotten much better at around the house fix it projects...I installed my first toilet last year with the help of encouragement and cheerleading from shauna (granted she saw the $200 in labor we were saving but it grew me nonetheless)

13. There are some things Shauna and I should not do together (like going to bed bath and beyond; or maybe even golfing). We love each other, but we have learned some healthy boundaries.

14. Shauna is a horrible liar...that makes it challenging to include her in my practical jokes at times.

15. My wife has a much more convincing anger than me...that is why I made her handle our recent "phone" confrontation with a repair co. Guess what...she killed them and it was vicious...it was such a turn on

There are many more things I am sure I could write. But at this moment, this is all that is coming to mind: God has richly blessed me with a beautiful woman who is way (WAY) out of my league...the past five years have made me feel that life has just begun. I dont even remember or want to think about life without her.

What a risk...I am glad I (and she) took it,
n

(photos courtesy of dbimages)

a question...

so, here's an online discussion i had with a buddy of mine recently:

Buddy: Do you think it is "wrong" to be involved in two churches at the same time?

If you had someone that was faithful to your church (good attendance, serves, tithes) would you tell them that they couldn't serve anymore because they go to another church to participate in a mid week service that your church doesn't offer?

nate drye

Today at 9:35am

personally, i don't see the big deal; and if people in my community were pursuing their faith outside of our "services" i would be encouraged. however, if pursuing faith means they are just going to another "service" instead of actively doing something with their faith, i see that as a maturity issue.

there are a lot of schools of thought on this: the dogmatic "you get what you invest in", the "come one come all", etc. i don't know if there is a right approach to this other than allowing people to be normal. when i put my own insecurities (not allowing my "sheep" to explore) in the forefront of ministry, there will be danger...it has suddenly become about me.

and so now i ask you:
what do you think? is it "wrong" or "sinful" to be involved with two churches at the same time?

oh youtube

how addicting is youtube? really??
i just posted a few videos. one that is very cool and dear to me is the Kenya Mission Trip Memoir we put together back in 2007. Here it is below. Enjoy:

Just a face in the million(s?)...my inauguration experience

the day was filled with a lot of excitement, energy, joy, politeness, and (in danger of being cliche) hope. here is the rundown (with help from my twitter updates):

• 6am: pressed the snooze (repeated this action a few times)
• 6:27am: got up, showered, layered, skipped breakfast (bad idea)
• 7:09am: got in the honda with Chad and hit 295 to go to greenbelt (metro stop)
• 8:03am: got in line at greenbelt with pre paid ticket (thanks, chad...pic below)
• 8:25am: boarded metro (sardines in a can) and was planning to get off at L'Enfant Plaza...found out it was closed...replanned to disembark at ChinaTown/ Gallery
• 9:33am: got off the Green line and walked with EVERYONE out of the station (VERY SLOWLY)...headed to national mall and stopped at street vendor to get teriyaki on a stick...WOW GREAT chicken i love street food vendors...got a coke (it actually got colder as i drank it)...kept walking down to 18th st and then north (? i think?) to the mall...what a great moment when we saw the mall!
  
• 10:32am: Arrived on the mall. No security checkpoint. Quite a few "haters" with bullhorns and ridiculous signage letting everyone in sight know they were going to hell...but hey, here's the thing: this is freedom! even though i dont like it they have the right to do that and it is great...b/c the people around have the right to respond (and boy, did they)
• 10:32-11:40am: Mall Experience. Ok, here's the deal: we walked and got as close to the capitol as we could...we got to the washington monument (on the left if you are looking at the capitol)...about 50 yards from the flags (right at the first elevation). everyone in attendance was so cool. i love talking to pepople in crowds. i laughed a lot. had a very funny conversation with a few college students about how the first lady's prefer to all be called LadyBird after one kid mistook Rosalynn Carter as "LadyBird" Carter...it was funny in the moment. Then, one guy started yelling at these three twenty somethings because his mother couldnt see after they stood in front of her. but here's the thing: she was sitting down while the million or so people around her were standing. Moron. But I sincerely accept his "moron-ness"...We all watched on the big screen as the dignitaries entered...several cheers and several jeers.
• 11:40-noon(ish): big boos when bush and cheney showed up. big cheers when obamas and biden showed up. big cheers for Aretha and (oddly enough) several boos for Rick Warren (confused me...but from what I gathered, his stance on abortion and homosexuality is what people really hated). During his prayer though, there were a couple great moments: when he named the obama children, the crowd cracked up laughing (loud) at how he said "Sasha"...watch it on youtube here (scroll to 3:40-3:44...he just said it funny)...but the great moment was when Rick Warren began praying the lord's Prayer...and EVERYONE (around us anyway) recited it along with him. WHAT A GREAT MOMENT...one that made me very emotional (among other moments during the day)...
• Aretha and String performances: didnt hear them well at all...
  
• Obama swearing in and speech: ok, everything was on a delay (audio) out in the mall...BUT...when he was sworn in, i was very proud of my country, and of how far we have come. I think Obama's speech was THE best inauguration speech I have heard. CNN and several other media outlets didnt like it, but it inspired me...several phrases (unclench your fist, shake off the dust, when i was a child...) really surprised and challenged me. i was encouraged and inspired...and i will admit it, i cried a couple of times. it was such a surreal moment in the crowd listening, hoping, believing, and being inspired that we can be empowered to do something great. i really hope this lasts. after the speech, everyone (EVERYONE) clocked out and started to leave...
• 12:53pm: started walking away in a general exit direction (pic left)... however, we were moving towrd the porta potties...this cause dus to get out of the general movement toward the ONE exit we could reach...this caused us to stand together for a long time and not move for about 15-20 mins. then...
• 1:27pm: i lost chad. we decided to call and meet at the most visible landmark on the way out...the crazy christian bullhorn guys
• 1:29pm: chad and i were reunited at the bullhorn guys, and i made chad take a picture of me and the loudest one around (left)
• 1:30pm-2:28pm: we walked up 18th st (ave?) shoulder to shoulder pretty slowly...tried to find shortcuts with no luck around police barriers...flagged down a cop to help a woman who was passing out (she had family with her we didnt just leave her) and THEN i spotted heaven close to K st...
• 2:29pm: lite white berry and a doughnut at CARIBOU COFFEE (big hint: if you EVER want to get me a gift, a CARIBOU gift card is the way to go...or take me there and hang out with me i would like that more)...and we walked NORTH to the Metro after standing at the parade route debating whether to stay for the parade or not...so we boarded the orange/blue line at Farragut (sp?) around
  
• 2:42pm: packed into an overcrowded train (you didnt have to hold on because the crowd around you held you up)...and made the decision to take it to pentagon city (b/c so many stations (like L'enfant) were (supposedly) closed
• 2:45-3:46pm: caught te yellow line and went north to the green line and ended up where we started at greenbelt...had some great convos with people on the way...one couple i talked to couldnt get to the mall so they ducked into an embassy suites and watched it on tv...we laughed a lot...they were form cali...another guy i talked to lives in western baltimore...moved there from new orleans 13yrs ago...cool dude
• 3:47pm: got back to greenbelt and loaded my tired self in the car and drove home (via 95 this time)
  

the day and the moment were great. i am so glad i went. forgive the typos...i dont wanna edit.
taking risks,
n

Discovering Love From a Sponge Bath

Love. As a middle school student, I knew everything about love. In high school, I became even more of a genius. By the time I graduated college, I realized I had no idea what love meant at all; I just knew it when I saw fragments here and there. When I got married, I discovered it a little bit more (and I learned how to empty a dishwasher without being begged to do so, but not without a fight). Today, love is measured in our culture with a ridiculous scale that is mixed with emotion, pleasure, and pain. Any top ten song can tell you about love (from what I have heard of these songs, it has something to do with a lockdown and just dancing so you can shake it...no lie).

So with all this noise, let’s throw in Jesus: a Jewish man who worked with wood and became a traveling teacher of God thoughts. A man who, without the whole deity thing, would be a very odd source of wisdom. And now, with culture, religion, life history, and my own two cents, this one word (or emotion, fact, currency, choice, etc.) should be easy to define. After all, I have a bountiful buffet of things to define it with...

If I have developed from one truth since middle school, it is that my life is complete when defined through Christ (Colossians 2:6). And with this life, love therefore needs the opinion, no, the true definition from Christ.

I love what John says about Jesus in the thirteenth chapter (John 13:1): “he (Jesus) now showed them (his proteges) the full extent of his love.” At this point, Jesus takes a towel, and does the dirtiest job in the house: he gives everyone’s feet a sponge bath. From this standpoint, washing dishes isn’t that bad.

John makes a big statement about Jesus here: His love serves from the lowest point; and that’s why it is timeless (full extent here is defined as love that continues after Jesus’ death). You see, in the act of a servant, love dominates the conversation. Death and personhood are not as big as love.

Now, go figure that one out!