Who says only girls have bad hair days?

This is what graced my inbox after my staff meeting today. No matter what kind of day you are having, this is sure to bring a smile to your face! At least it did mine!

He's the best!

apparently it has been a while....

Sorry for not updating this in the last...ohh... month. But based on the amount of complaints I got (none) I don't think that I was missed by anyone. I have been actively Twittering, so if you really want to know what is going on in my life, follow me there.

Things have been really busy, with no signs of slowing down till after Christmas sometime.

I am uninspired already. I guess I will blog again later. Have a good one!

What have you been up to in the last month?

Chris

Monday Miscellaneous

I thought I would add a few pictures to this week's edition.

The first picture is my bacon cheese burger from the Red Brick Grill. Its the best place to get a burger in SCF, and will rival about any burger I have had. Look at the generous amount of bacon they give you. MMMMM tasty!





The second picture is of ONE of the smokers I had in the back yard on Saturday. It was AMAZING! 2 hams, 2 roasts, 2 racks of ribs, 1 chicken, and fried cheese curds and onion rings. It was SO MUCH FUN! We are already planning for the 2nd Annual Folkestad Pork Fest! Next year, 3 smokers! I don't want to brag, but we did a great job! Especially the Ham!




This week was rather busy. Katie has been working really hard planning the Harvest Party for Church, I've been working a youth group stuff, and prepping for a few speaking engagements I have coming up. Other than the Pork Fest, its been rather uneventful this week.

Caden has been his usual self. He now loves to dance to music and has started to sing some songs. We just don't know what song he is singing. As soon as we can catch him dancing on camera, I will post it here.

God's love during Monday Night Football

Don't know if you saw this commercial during the Monday Night Football game, but I thought it was interesting. Yeah, its a bit on the cheesy side, but I think its something that other companies wouldn't be willing to do, even if they believed it. I am impressed! Thank you interstate Battery. The following is a quick interview with the chairman, then the commercial that ran.

Monday Miscellaneous

What a great day off! We slept in till about 9:00am, ate Chicken Tenders at The Village Pizzeria (Amazing!), I hung out with Caden, and now I am just sitting on the couch watching Caden tip-toeing around. I love Mondays!

This past week has been so busy! We had our Middle School Retreat on Friday and Saturday. The highlight of the weekend was that on Friday night, the guys were in their sleeping bag and the lights were out by 11:30! It was a great weekend!

Did you see the Vikings game? Crazy! All I can hope for is that we will have a new coach when we come out of the bye week. I don't think that it will happen, and to be honest, it probably isn't the best thing for the team, but we need new leadership.

This week I hope to settle down and organize a bit. I feel like I have been out of my office for the last two weeks straight. Its time to clean my desk my inbox. I have a fair amount of speaking to do in the next few weeks. Its something I love to do, but takes time for prep. Here's hoping for creativity.

Finally, I am 6 points ahead in fantasy football this week. I have had a HORRIBLE week with only 2 players scoring. For whatever reason, I am still 6 points ahead. If Sammy Morris stays out of the endzone and Gostkoski doesn't kick any field goals, I'll pull off a win with only 12 points. Yeah I know, I'm gonna lose!

Check out the pictures in the post below. Our friend Yetta took some pictures for us. We think that she did a great job.

A day at the park

Thanks to our friend Yetta, we have some family pictures. Caden didn't enjoy it too much, but it was a fun way to spend an hour at the park.

Monday Miscellaneous

Its been a crazy week!...
The week started with watching the Vikings beat the Saints on Monday Night Football. It wasn't a great game, but it was a good win. I wish that I could say the same about yesterday's game. Yeah it was a win, but man it was UGLY! Hope they can work something out for this week with the Bears. Childress, I hope you don't make it through the bye week!

I was able to spend Wednesday with a family at the hospital. Its not the most exciting part of being a youth pastor, but it sure does remind me why I do what I do. Glad to see that they are now at home and doing well!

Thursday - Saturday I spent at Youth Leadership's COMMUNICATE class. It was a great training! It has made me think about what I say, and why I say it. Most people would have been bored out of their mind in a training about communication, but I had a great time and think that I walked away with some valuable information that will impact the way I do ministry. I highly recommend taking a training session by Youth Leadership if you have the chance (and you are a youth worker).

Tomorrow I head to Green Bay for another training session with the district youth leaders. It should be a great time. I just hope I don't hear "Go Pack Go" too often (like NEVER). I am sure that I will be twittering along the way.

But now for the best news of all! I got a new phone. I picked up the Blackberry Curve. I really like it. I didn't have to change my plan and I get internet, turn by turn directions, lots of sports stats and even TV. It is gonna be fun! Its no iphone, but I am happy with it so far!

Monday Miscellaneous

- It's 12:45 in the afternoon, the house is destroyed (toys everywhere), Caden is now napping, I am vegging out on the couch, and neither of us are dressed for the day. This has been a great Monday! Now its time to clean the house, shower, get Caden ready and head to the store to pick up some supplies for supper with friends tonight. BUT FIRST, I will procrastinate for a few more minutes with this edition of Monday Miscellaneous.
-Yesterday I didn't feel the greatest, and it showed at youth group. Man, I couldn't talk. I kept referring to the Pharisees as the Philistines. Let's just say it wasn't the greatest talk of the year. Which is too bad, cause I was really excited about it's content. It was, however, still a great night! I am still amazed the 4-square ends up being the highlight of the night.
- The billion dollar bailout confuses me. To be honest, I don't have an opinion in the whole thing. I haven't taken the time to actually think about what it means, and if it is good. I have, however, been thinking about the whole concept lately. Hundreds of billions of dollars to bail Wall-Street out of debt. That is a HUGE DEBT! A debt that couldn't ever be paid without a bail out from the US government. I have some debt, but I can't relate to the size of that financial debt. I can relate to being bailed out though! 810 Billion dollars couldn't bail me out of 1 sin in my life. Forgiveness cannot be bought, even for 810 billion dollars! Today, I am thankful that my debt has been paid, not by a government, but by God, who loves me. So much He gave His son as payment for my mess ups. Now that's a bailout I can't live without. Can you?
- At the end of this week, I am heading to a COMMUNICATE class presented by Youth Leadership. I am really looking forward to the class. You can follow me on Twitter for updates.
- That's all I can think of for now. Time to shower up and clean this house. YUCK!

Ordination Reading.

I have been working on my ordination reading lately. I just finished The Four Fold Gospel by A.B Simpson. It doesn't sound like the most interesting book in the world, and to be honest, it wasn't the most interesting book in the world. However, I was suprised by it.
Reading the chapter on Christ The Coming King, I was reminded of how great it is going to be to be re-united with Christ. We were created for a relationship with Christ, and finally, on that day, we will be reunited in that relationship. Its something that we don't really think about, either because we don't want to, or because it just seems so far off. But reading this book has reminded me that isn't not just something we can read about in a book. Its something that we will experience one way or another.
It seems like America, and probably the entire world, comes up with more excuses as to why the don't want to believe in God, or the second coming of Christ. Its a fairy-tale, we can take care of ourselves, I haven't seen God work in my life, if God was really loving, there wouldn't be some much crap in the world, ect. Why do we make these excuses? Do we really think that we'll convince God? Are you serious?
I think especially of the celebrities. The got all the money, fame, cars, homes and influence. It seems like the law doesn't apply to them. They can do what they want, when the want, and to whoever they want. If they do get caught, they'll just pay the right amount of money and all of the sudden, they are free. Its amazing.
Its also no wonder why many celebrities feel that they don't need a relationship with God. Sure, they say, "I'd like to thank my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ" when they accept awards, but lets be honest, most celebrities don't have a relationship with Christ (sorry if I am off on this). Who needs heavenly help when they can just get whatever they want now?
Fame and fortune may get you out of a speeding ticket or murder (what up OJ), but there will come a day when the fame and fortune that we have all gained will mean nothing to us. The ONLY thing that will matter is what we did with Jesus Christ. Did we accept Him into our life, and receive the forgiveness that He gave His life for, or did we rely on our own strengths and abilites to go through life.
Either we will die, or we will experience the second coming of Christ, but either way, we will be accountable. Without Christ, the future is bleak! With Christ, the future is an amazing thing to think about, and some day experience.

So what does this mean? It means we need to examine our lives. Are we relying on our own abilities and stregnths? Are we looking for pleasures here on earth to fill the void and cover the pain in our lives? Are we too busy with our jobs and friends and families and hobbies and laziness to take time to have a relationship with Christ? I sure hope not.
God has offered a way to restoration. He longs for a relationship with you... yes, you! You may not be a celebrtity, you may not even have many friends, but God is crazy in love with you. No matter what your past is, no matter what you have or have not done in your relationship to Him, no matter how many times you have said no to Him. He still loves you. He still wants a relationship with you. He still wants to forgive you. He still wants to bring you home.

Its amazing isn't it? It's all yours if you want it.

Do you?

Monday Miscellaneous

Let's try this again.
Today I took Caden to the store to get something for lunch. I got cheap hotdogs, and cheetos. That is a healthy lunch right? They were the baked cheetos. Either way, it was tasty, and now Caden is sleeping.
Last night was a great night at youth group. I am really loving the split of the ages. I think that it is providing for more interaction between leaders and students, as well as more interaction between students. Everyone seems more willing to hang out and share. I still don't understand why the senoir highers love 4-square so much. But I gotta admit, I had fun playing last night.
TWINS... WOW what a week! I was lucky enough to go to the game with 3 guys from church. It was amazing! It was loud, it was fun, it was a HUGE WIN for the Twins. Then they go and lose the next two to the ROYALS of all people! Now we have to watch the White Sox game today to see if the Tigers roll over and play dead. In that case, I'll have to watch the Twins and White Sox play on Tuesday. I don't have a great feeling if that is the case. Oh well. I picked the Twins to finish 3rd this year in the division.
This week is going to be a busy one. I have to edit a video, prep 2 messages, prep a SS lesson, and work on details for the middle school retreat and future SS book study. I will also have a few meetings dropped in along the way. I am looking forward to it though. It should go by really fast.
Here's to hoping the twins win and next weeks post talks about the playoffs!

Tell Me Why!

Tell me something. Why are Minnesota State Lottery Sales up 4% in July and August? With everyone afraid of a recession and the horrible personal and nation finance picture, WHY ARE PEOPLE BUYING LOTTERY TICKETS? This just does not make sense to me! I am not the greatest money mind in the world. In fact, I could use some "smart money 101" refreshers! But I am not giving my money to the lottery!
This just doesn't make sense. I am announcing that I will now be taking donations. If you give me donations of 1, 5 or 20 dollars, I might give some back to you. In fact, if you give me $10, I will give you $2 dollars back. GUARANTEED! You can send the cash or checks to me. Thanks for at least giving your money to a needy cause!
Save your money!

t-shirts half off (don't worry, I am fully dressed)

randomshirts.com is having their biggest sale ever. EVERYTHING is 1/2 off! I love their stuff! I have bought several shirts there for myself as well as for gifts. Go and check it out. They have some very funny shirts. And no, I am not getting any money for this commercial. Just wanted to share the info on a great sale.

Let me know if you get anything.

Monday Miscellaneous

I am all about copying good ideas. @kurt and @Josh both do a Monday Miscellaneous post on their blogs. (Full disclosure would point out the Josh stole the idea as well). Its a good idea, so I am going to steal it. There are many things that happen that just aren't blog worthy on their own, but coupled together with all the other worthless things happening and BAM, you have a completely worthless post! I am all about that. So here I go!

Today, I'm the only person in the office today. Everyone else is out playing, and I am here answering the phone and trying to get things done. Really I don't mind, I can have my music loud. I might change my mind if the phone starts ringing off the hook. So far so good...
This weekend I took our leaders to Menomonie for a training seminar. It was good. I was dissapointed that 10 of our leaders couldn't make it to the training. It was well done and the information was very usefull and practical. Its the kind of thing that you hope you never have to use, but if you do need to, you are glad that you have had some training...
Becuase of the training, it turned out to be a good excuse to bring Caden to the farm for the weekend. Grandma and Grandpa always want to spend time with Caden, so we thought this would be a great opportunity. Katie and I enjoyed a fun Saturday afternoon and evening without Caden. We went shopping, out to eat, and just hung out. It was GREAT... until the phone rang at 12:30am. Katie's parents had just gotten back from the ER with Caden. No big deal, he just was having troubles breathing... WHAT! Thankfully he is doing better now. Katie will be picking him up this afternoon and they have an appointment later today in St. Croix. Here's to hoping the ER bill doesn't keep us from shingling our roof this year! It doesn't matter, I am just glad that he is ok!...
VIKINGS WIN!!!! - Frerotte about it!
Finally, we had a great time at Sr. High Youth Group last night. There were several new faces there, which is always great! I am really excited about our Sunday Nights! Its going to be a lot different than the middle school night. Both of them have their unique advantages. I am just excited to be able to hang out with so many students. The highlight of the night was Luke puking up the red onion! NICE! Oh yeah, and our Sr. Highers started playing 4 square afterwords. ARE YOU KIDDING ME? That is an elementarty game!

Told you it was random.

No, this isn't my church...

For those of you wondering, this is not the church that I work at. Thanks to John for sending me this pic. It did make me laugh!

Just to hold Josh Accountable

This is a post just to see if Josh is checking his igoogle at work. Did I catch you?

a proud day as a father!

Doesn't get much better than this! Even has a black eye in honor of the start of the football season!

Greatest Birthday GIft EVER

My wife is amazing. She got me the greatest birthday gift in the entire world this year! She got me a brander for steak! Yeah, its amazing I know. Please don't be jealous, its not good for your health!
So come on over and have yourself a "Folkestad Steak!"

Thanks babe for the great gift!

you simply have to read this!

So today I stumbled across a very disturbing find. David Hasselhoff has started a new social network site of sorts. This is just too crazy to be true. Does he REALLY think that he is this special? Here is a clip from the website.

In my travels round the world I have always been surprised that no matter where I go people recognize and know me, from Europe, Australia and India to the Philippines and the Zulu Nation in South Africa. This got me thinking... I realized that while two people from two entirely different countries and backgrounds may seem to have nothing in common, the only thing they might have in common is me... So I decided to start a network where people from across the world might come together and get a conversation started over me. Where it will lead, I don't know but the world would be a better place if everyone talked a little more to each other...

So here is HoffSpace. There are videos and photos of the adventures of my life (THAT NO ONE ELSE GETS TO SEE) and also from the lives of other members. Read the discussions or start a forum on a topic that interests you. Check out Hoff TV, where I go live often. Chat with other members from around the world and make friends. Design your own home page. Add music and share your lives with others. Send me the weird, wonderful and wacky things that are happening in your life. Tell me the stories of how you are making a difference in your life and, if you need my help, ask... One man or woman CAN make a difference...

I am speachless...
check it out for yourself!

kansas city roadtrip

Brad, Bryan, Nick and I took a quick trip to Kansas City to watch the Twins play on Friday and Saturday night. It was a BLAST! We saw some great baseball, ate some GREAT BBQ and saw a couple cool museums and the college basketball hall of fame.
here are a few pictures from the trip.

Caden the Jet ski man

Had a blast at our Middle School beach party! Huge thanks to the Fisk's for allowing us to crash at their cabin for a few hours! It was a blast, but the highlight of the night was taking Caden out on the Jet ski. Not sure he knew what was happening, but it was a fun time! I had to make sure that Uncle Kevin wasn't the first to get him out on the Jet Ski :)

Good times! Good times!

Crazy Sky

Saw these amazing clouds this am. As always, the picture doesn't do it justice. But check it out anyway. Did anyone else see them? CRAZY

Chris

I'm not dead

Just a quick post to tell you that I am not Dead...

In the past 7 days I have been to 3 Twins games, Valleyfair, been the only pastor in the office, hung out with the family, prepared a sermon, worked on messages for a wedding and Big Sandy, and prepared a sermon for Sunday. Whew! I can't wait for Sunday afternoon!

In my "spare time" I did make up this promo picture for our Biker Sunday coming up in August. It started out as a joke, but I actually like it...

My new workout plan

Watch This video and get a sneak peak into my new workout plan.

Think it will work?

Do Hard Things

I just started reading a book called Do Hard Things by Alex and Brett Harris. They are twin 19 year olds who are challenging teenagers to "rebel against low expectations." I've made it through the first couple chapters and have to say that I am impressed.

Here are some early impressions:
1. The authors think highly of themselves (not necessarily cocky)
2. The authors are motivated and have great ideas
3. They think for themselves
4. They had solid parents who expected great things from them

I think that this book would be a great book for any teenager (or parent of one) to read. Teenagers are too often just tossed into a meaningless age grouping. Too old to be children, but not good enough to be an adult. The Harris' fight that stereotype. They want more to be expected of them, and of other young people their age. I think more people should think this way! (both teens and adults about teens)

Quote from the book:

In the chapters that follow, we want to show you that deep down you want to do hard things, and what's more, you can do hard things. What you'll discover is a whole new way of living your teen years and of living the rest of your life. God's Word and all of history demonstrates that we are far more capable than we think. This world is trying to trap you by tying its pathetic piece of twine around your ankle. We want to help you break the twine.

As I said, I've only read the first 3 chapters of the book. From what I have read, I am impressed. These are things that teenagers, and young people (like myself) need to hear. What's the best part about the book? It doesn't come from a 50 year old that has forgotten what its like to be a teenager. (no offense intended) It comes straight from two 19 year olds who have been Doing Hard Things for a while now.

Go check it out. Have you read it? I'd like to hear your thoughts on it.

Caption Needed...

This picture was just too awesome! Do you have a caption for it? I wanna be like this when I am old.

And you thought you had a big mouth!

Next week at youth group, we'll be talking about how our mouths sometimes get us in trouble. So, today I was searching through the internet for examples/illustrations. I found this video that absolutely blew me away! Check it out!

That is ONE BIG MOUTH!

For what it's worth
Chris

Not your normal delivery

Found this clip over at my buddy's blog. This might just be the craziest delivery in the history of baseball! Although I don't agree with the umpire's call at the end, it does confirm my that umpires are blind, no matter what country they work in.

field of dreams

 
We just created a sweet softball field at chuch! We always had the field, it just didn't have an infield. So, we ordered some dirt, got a sod cutter, and all of the sudden, we got a nice field to play on. Should be fun to break it in against the old guys from church.

Some day, I'll have one of these of my own for wiffleball! That would be amazing!

My Son The Rock Star

Caden was enjoying a free concert thanks to LT and the Hillsong cd that was playing. Who cares if you are the only one in the room! The front row is the front row! I think LT has his first fan! Fun stuff! LT is a great person for Caden to look up to!

Busy...

AAAHHHHHHHH! It's busy!

district conference

So I am spending a couple days in Wausau for district conference. Its always good to connect with some good friends from around the district. The highlight so far... TV's in the bathroom of each room. Is this excessive? YES! But is it great to brush your teeth and watch sportscenter.

I'll be back soon. I miss my Caden! (and Katie too)

First Twins game of the year

 

Sure hope last night's Twins game isn't indicitive of what is going to take place for the rest of the year! We simply couldn't get anything going! 2 hits? Crazy! Oh well... it was a great night at the dome with Caden and Katie. Decided after work to run down and see a game. Bought some cheap seats on the street and spent a fun night with the family. Caden LOVED all the lights and the jumbotron. I can't wait to take him to more games as he starts to understand what's going on. He's going to love baseball (I hope).

I am sure he'll post about his experience on his blog too.

Chris

I better let you in on the secret...

I just wanted to let you in on the secret to my recent drop in weight. I feel like I owe it to the world to share how I was able to/and continue to drop pounds. Well... Here it is... You can thank me later.

life's pleasures

I seem to have gotten a nice little cold. Not fun! Caden and Katie were nice enough to pick up some Simply Orange Juice from the store for me. They even left me a message to tell me they got it so I could feel better soon. I must admit, this is the greatest OJ ever! If you ever feel the need to fill my refrig with Simply Orange, feel free!

preaching on Sunday

Its been a busy week. Sometimes vacations are more work than rest. Sure it was nice to be away in the frozen tundra of northern Minnesota (Brad, you got the shovel working again?) but getting back to quickly prepare for youth group on Wednesday, drop kids off at Crown, and now get ready to preach on Sunday make for a busy couple days.
I'm excited for Sunday. I'm doing a first person narrative, which is way out of my comfort zone but I think its going to be fun. I've written it, now I just got to finish memorizing the 8 pages of transcript. Should be fun though.
I'm excited to take a 30 minute break and watch the office tonight. Gotta love that the show is back! Speaking of the office, its about that time. Gotta run!

chipolte....yum!

Just got done with a great weekend with or adult leaders. It was great to get away and spend time hanging out. We got to eat at Famous Dave's (3 feasts) and lunch at Chipolte. Gotta love both places. I was very excited about Chipolte until April informed me that one burrito is nearly 2000 calaries. Normally that wouldn't faze me, but I on the home stretch for this "biggest loser" deal. It wasn't enough to stop me from eating about half though! Tasty stuff!

In all it was a very productive weekend. We built some great memories and friendships, talked about what we are/aren't doing well, and made some big decisions about who we are and where we are going as a ministry. I have a great group of adults who do an awesome job! Now we just need to find a few more for next year.

I am really excited about what the summer is going to bring! Big Sandy Camp, Valleyfair, Beach Parties and the 5 dollar mystery night are going to be amazing! Should be good times!

Wanna join the team?

Caption This...

My son is running a little contest over at his blog. He's seeing who can come up with the best caption to this Easter photo of he and his cousin. Why not click over there and join in the fun. :)

NOTICE: Stop talking about my bald head or else!

Will Penner, a popular youth speaker reminded me of a very important passage of Scripture this week. I love it! Read it, internalize it, memorize it and REMEMBER it next time you make a comment about my bald head! I've now been to the school of Elisha and am ready to unleash the power of the she-bears! The Bible is a fun book to read, I hope you don't just see it as boring words that were recorded way too many years ago. Give it a chance, not only is it a fun book to read, its life changing if you allow it to be!

2 Kings 2:23-24
23 From there Elisha went up to Bethel. As he was walking along the road, some youths came out of the town and jeered at him. "Go on up, you baldhead!" they said. "Go on up, you baldhead!" 24 He turned around, looked at them and called down a curse on them in the name of the LORD. Then two bears came out of the woods and mauled forty-two of the youths. 25 And he went on to Mount Carmel and from there returned to Samaria.

Good stuff!

We have NO LIFE

So, thanks to our friend Josh Mann, Katie and I spent my day off sitting on the couch trying to type faster than eachother. Currently, as you can see below, I am the speed typer in this family. Although compared to Josh's 98, I got nothing. Go ahead, try it, and let us know what your best time is. A good way to spend a day off (yeah not really, Josh find something better for us to do for next Monday please!)

70 words

Speed test

Fun weekend!

Looking forward to a fun weekend! Kate and Caden are finally feeling better, so it will be good to get out of the house and have some fun!
Tonight were going to The King and I Thai resturaunt. It should be amazing! Now lets just see if I can stay within my diet there :( I've been good, so tonight, I'll enjoy some good food!

This weekend some friends from back home will be here! We're excited to grill Salmon, hang out and have them join us at church. It's always good to catch up with them.

Hope you have a great weekend!

Deal or No Deal

My friend Aaron (From Stand Your Ground) is a finalist for being on Deal or No Deal. he has gone through a great amount of work to get onto the show. TRUST ME he is one you want to see on the show! He has done everything required to be on the show, but now he is putting together a survey to send in to Deal or No Deal.
All you need to do is CLICK ON THIS LINK and fill out the quick survey. We are talking only 30 seconds max. You don't even need to give your social security number! :)

Click on the link and lets watch Aaron on Deal or No Deal!

So bad, SO SAD

Great News, the writers strike is over! Bad news, 24 will not return until January of 2009. Can you believe it? Oh well, guess we will have to find something else to fill our Monday evenings from 8-9pm.

On another note, Happy Late birthday to my Brother and Brother-in-law! I really didn't forget about either one of you, but didn't have a chance to call you guys. Sorry. Hope you had a great day!

All for now,

off for a few days!

We're off for a few days away at the pastor's and wives retreat in central Wisconsin. Should be nice to be away for a few days with just Katie. Kate's Mom has come to stay with Caden, so it will be a nice break away for just the two of us.

I'll see if I can find time to blog while were there, but we'll see.

Big Day!

This is a big day! I was in our local Wal-Mart today and saw what may be the greatest deal in Wal-Mart history! 2008 Calendar by with motivational pictures from "The Office." Gotta love it! To make it better it is a 16 month calendar. It sounds like a good deal, but really it isn't. They just put the last 4 months of 2007 on one page. Oh well, still great pictures! ALL FOR 2.50! Great deal! Thanks Wal-Mart!

The Power of Google

I think that there are seriously people who think that I can do this on my computer. I know, I am on my computer a lot, but come on. This isn't possible...yet :)

Stuck in the women's department with nowhere to go!

So last night, Caden, Katie and I went on a nice little "buy a carseat date." I have to admit, it was a ton of fun! We went to the Macaroni Grill (with a gift certificate!), shopped at Babies R Us, Target, and Herbergers. It was a great night with the fam! (We even discovered a Jimmy Johns in Forest Lake, though we didn't eat there)

Herbergers however, offered some challenging situations for me. I found a great sweater (75.00 marked down to 19.99) so I thought it was only fair to see if there was anything for Katie. We make our way to the women's department and find a cool pair of pants for her. But apparently women's cloths are different that men's clothes. So she tried on a couple different pair. This left me and Caden's car seat and diaper bag in the middle of the women's section alone!
At first I didn't see this as too big of a problem. That is, until I started noticing all the ladies looking at me strange. Its not like you can just look through the clothing, that is even MORE strange. I didn't know what I could do. Here I am a fat guy, hat on backwards, smack dab in the middle of "no man's land."
So, I did what any good man would do. I positioned myself by the ugliest sweaters I could find, and stood there. There was NO WAY anyone could think I was trying to hit on anyone in this section! These were not your ordinary sweaters! (sorry for any of you who may own one of these). They were so ugly, I pulled out my camera and took a picture! See below.



Unfortunately, I didn't think about the fact that taking a camera out of your pocket and taking a picture made me look even more strange and suspicious. Thankfully Katie and Caden returned from the dressing room soon after and I was saved.
All in all, it was a great night with Katie and Caden, but please, and we not return to the women's department for a while? At least at smaller stores I could have moved to a different section. THE WHOLE FLOOR was women's!

Is Church Condemning?

In preparation Wednesday night, I was reading a book, What's so amazing about Grace by Philip Yancey. I like his stuff! he uses stories and can really keep the readers attention. However, I was disturbed by one of the stories he shares to start off the book. It's a quote from a friend of his from Chicago:

A prostitute came to me in wretched straits, homeless, sick unable to buy food for her two year old daughter. Through sobs and tears, she told me she had been renting out her daughter--two years old!-- to men interested in kinky sex. She made more renting out her daughter for an hour than she could earn on her own in a night. She had to do it, she said, to support her own drug habbit. I could hardly bear hearing her sordid story. For one thing, it made me legally liable - I'm required to report cases of child abuse. I had no idea what to say to this women.
At last I asked her if she had ever thought of going to a church for help. I will never forget the look of pure, naive shock that crossed her face. "Church!" she cried. "Why would I ever go there? I was already feeling terrible about myself. they would just make me feel worse."

How sad. Are all churches really condemning? As a pastor, our church or student ministry to be a condemning place. I want church to be a place that people flock to for help. Yancy reminded his readers that in the Bible, prostitutes and criminals flocked toward Jesus and took refuge in him. Is the church of America too busy with ministry that we forget about those who need Jesus? Are we too worried about what others might think of us to welcome in those who need Jesus? Are we too comfortable with who we have now, that we don't seek to open our doors to others?
My prayer is that the church would be a refuge for people; all people. Each of us are on in a different place in our relationship with Christ. The church exists to help people continue to make steps toward Jesus. It sounds so easy here, but its not. I want to help people become Children of God, and experience what that means.

One word of clarification. Being a refuge for all people does not mean that the church should accept the sin that one is living in. I don't believe Jesus accepted the sin, but He did love the sinner unconditionally. He also spoke truth to them and challenged them to change.

I'd love to hear your thoughts about this. no matter where you are in life, I'd like to hear how you feel when you walk into a church, if you do. How can the church be more of the refuge that Jesus was, while still challenging people to take their next step with Christ?

Santana, we'll miss you

Am I sad Santana is gone? YES... Will my life continue, most likely.

All I can say, is they better be some amazing prospects!

At least he will be in the NL where he can hit. (and we don't have to watch him pitch against us!)

My brother is CRAZY

All the props in the world to my older brother Brad for running in the Brrrrrmidji Polar 5K race in Bemidji this morning. Currently, the weather in Bemidji is -21 with a windchill of -34! That is not the weather I would like to be running in (oh wait, I wouldn't WANT to be running in any weather!)

Good luck Brad, you're nuts!

Wild Game

Had a great night at the Wild game with one of my students, LT. His grandpa supplied the sweet Club Level seats! SWEET!

The Wild didn't do so hot. Only one fight. Down 3-0 in the second period the Wild scored 2 goals in 7 seconds! It was the most exciting 7 seconds of the day for sure, but they just couldn't get anything going. 2 shots clanked the post later in the 3rd period. Oh well, still a great night!

Even more exciting was trying to remember where we parked our car! Hey, at least we were in the right parking ramp!

Quote of the night: "Oh lets just follow these guys, they look like they know where they are going." There were 15 of us in an elevator... ALL of us said the same thing! NOBODY knew where we were going!

Thanks LT (and grandpa!) Great seats... Great game... Great times!

One reason I am NOT a packer fan...

THEY ARE CRAZY! Just saw an article talking about a dad who tied up his young son because he would not wear a Packers Jersey during last weekend's game against the Seahawks. Come on! This just might be taking your team loyalties a bit too far. It just goes to again prove that PACKER FANS ARE CRAZY!

You can read the entire story here.

The big Pooper!

Just saw this post on Caden's blog that he finally did it! He hadn't pooped in a couple days. Its funny to hear his (I mean Katie's) take on what happened! All I can say is that I am proud of him for doing it on his mom's watch! THANK YOU! Go and check it out!

I guess I am not a cool youth pastor

I guess I am not a cool youth pastor. Broadie, a youth pastor friend from our network put his black belt on display at our new year party. Its a good thing I consider him a friend and not a foe. Great Job Braodie and crew. It was a fun new year.
First Baptist may have a youth pastor who can break bricks, but we brought home 4 of the 5 tournament trophies! take that brick breaker!