The rules

So this Sunday a group of us are going to play some ultimate frisbee in the field behind the church building and since the world series is over and my Chicago Bears are re-defining what it means to be bad I thought I would post the "rules" of one of the greatest sports ever invented! Read and enjoy...

1. The Field -- A rectangular shape with endzones at each end. A regulation field is 70 yards by 40 yards, with endzones 25 yards deep.
2. Initiate Play -- Each point begins with both teams lining up on the front of their respective endzone line. The defense throws ("pulls") the disc to the offense. A regulation game has seven players per team.
3. Scoring -- Each time the offense completes a pass in the defense's endzone, the offense scores a point. Play is initiated after each score.
4. Movement of the Disc -- The disc may be advanced in any direction by completing a pass to a teammate. Players may not run with the disc. The person with the disc ("thrower") has ten seconds to throw the disc. The defender guarding the thrower ("marker") counts out the stall count.
5. Change of possession -- When a pass in not completed (e.g. out of bounds, drop, block, interception), the defense immediately takes possession of the disc and becomes the offense.
6. Substitutions -- Players not in the game may replace players in the game after a score and during an injury timeout.
7. Non-contact -- No physical contact is allowed between players. Picks and screens are also prohibited. A foul occurs when contact is made.
8. Fouls -- When a player initiates contact on another player a foul occurs. When a foul disrupts possession, the play resumes as if the possession was retained. If the player committing the foul disagrees with the foul call, the play is redone.
9. Self-Refereeing -- Players are responsible for their own foul and line calls. Players resolve their own disputes.
10. Spirit of the Game -- Ultimate stresses sportsmanship and fair play. Competitive play is encouraged, but never at the expense of respect between players, adherence to the rules, and the basic joy of play.

"Basic joy of play" should be a phrase that is found in every sport rule book...it just should.

peace,
glo

Homeless hot tubs?

While I was driving on Saturday I came to a stop at a large intersection in a wealthy part of Kansas City. My attention was immediately focused on the two homeless women standing on the corner. One of them was giving water to their pet dog, the other woman was standing with a sign that read "broke, hungry, need food or supplies, anything helps." I'm sure these women wouldn't have stuck in my head if it wasn't for the sign that I saw sticking up out of the ground behind them on the same corner. It read "hot tubs - half off!" and had a phone number to call on the bottom. It struck me as odd that we live in a society in which someone driving by these women could have two contradictory thoughts when passing by a scenario like the one I just described. I'm quite sure it's possible someone's reaction to this situation could have been...

"I don't have any extra money to give this woman, why doesn't she get a job!" and then in the very next instant have the thought...
"Oh, hot tubs for half price...we need one of those!"

I'm not sure if anyone actually had those thoughts in that order, but none-the-less we live in a society in which someone can be begging for food for existence and someone else can be advertising hot tubs for half-price on the same corner and most people wouldn't think twice about it.

Think
about
it.

peace,
greg

I love her already!

Yesterday my wife and I and her parents and my father went to go have a 3D/4D sonogram of our daughter. It was simply amazing. She hid her face from us most of the time with her arms and her feet. Yeah, her feet, up by her face...I think it would literally kill me to try to do that.

This is my daugther.

She is beautiful.

I will spoil her immensely.

Take a look!

we're going...

This is going to be awesome! We're going...you should too.

he who has ears...

....let him hear what the Spirit is saying.

That is how Jesus talks to the churches in the book of Revelation. Jesus talks to and through the church. He tells them what they are doing right (love) and what they are doing wrong (religion, pharisee's and other crap). Then He promises cool stuff to those who overcome.

He talks to the church.

He has a message to the local church.

We've been on a series about what Jesus said to those seven church in the first few chapters of Revelation and now I'm thinking about what would Jesus say to the congregation that He has given me to shepherd. It's amazing that I started to ask this in my prayer life and...

He's

talking to me about it.

He has a message. He knows what we are doing, both the good and the bad. I'm going to be sharing this with the church at the end of this series.

He has a message for each one of us.

He knows.
He loves.
He forgives.
He challenges.

I don't know about you, but I wouldn't want Him any other way.

peace,
pastor greg