It's Good (Can you hear Jim Carrey saying it?)

Yesterday was one of the good days. At the Springs, we moved our gathering outdoors to the pavilion at the Y yesterday. It's fun to just mix things up a little. I taught from Philippians 1:9-11, everyone ate afterwards then about 50 of us went to see the Astros play the Pirates. This isn't another baseball post, I promise (even though the Rangers did win to take 2/3 from Boston at Fenway). It was a good day because I have grown to love the people that call themselves Springs and I got to hang out with them for about 9 hours yesterday. I have to admit that I think I saw all of about 5 plays during the game - Pete, Stan and Eric got most of my attention. It's really been the whole weekend though. Friday night we went out with some of our friends from our community group and met up with some of their friends and had a great night in the park listening to a band called Funkshun - can you guess what kind of music they played?

I really feel some positive momentum building right now for our little church. New families are coming every time we do something together and I think this summer has the potential to be a bit of a breakthrough for us. Don't get me wrong, I have not been disappointed with our growth. It's been steady and those who have come have connected. But there is something very cool when a family shows up to our gathering for the first time and can spend the entire day with us because of the pre-existing relationships already in place. That's the beauty of focusing our attention to a particular geographical area. This doesn't mean that we won't have people from outside our "zone" or that we don't want people outside our "zone." However, our goal is to make a splash in the community on the west side of the highway, and that is where we are heading.

Philippians 1:9-11 is where I want to be:

So this is my prayer: that your love will flourish and that you will not only love much but well. Learn to love appropriately. You need to use your head and test your feelings so that your loves is sincere and intelligent, not sentimental gush. Live a lover's life, circumspect and exemplary, a life Jesus will be proud of: bountiful in fruits from the soul, making Jesus Christ attractive to all, getting everyone involved in the glory and praise of God.

Live it. Love it.

Wow...A Best Day Ever!

Okay, it's done and I can go back to posting about other things, right? Wrong. One more day of recap from a great opening day at The Rangers Ballpark in Arlington.

7:00am - Alarm sounds, the day begins!

8:00 - Leave for Ft. Worth

8:15 - Stop in West, Texas for a Kolache (no place better...anywhere)

10:00 - Arrive in Fort Worth to 40 degree temperatures and blistering wind - Uh Oh, I'm in shorts and a long sleeve t-shirt

10:15 - pick up pants at Old Navy off the sale rack, then go to Lids to look for Cameron a Ranger Hat, meet two other Ranger fans doing the same thing...Go Rangers!

11:00 - Grab a burger at the BEST BURGER joint anywhere - Kincaids!!!! See sample...if you get close to your screen you might can smell the greatness!

11:25 - Engage in baseball banter with the suit that sat down next to me wearing a Cleveland Indians tie..."You can't sit there wearing that," I snapped. He growled back at first, but then with a puppy dog look in his eyes, I caved and let him sit down. We proceeded to heckle him all through his meal and out the door, though!

11:36 - Crap! We're late, let's go.

12:10 - Arrived at our "secret" parking spot and began the treck toward the park. You can see what we go to admire on the way...that's right, JerryWorld - the same stadium that our Baylor Bears will host the dreaded texas tech red raiders on the Saturday after Thanksgiving next fall!!!

12:05 - We are almost there and the full ballpark is finally in view...oh, it's a site of glory. We see the tailgaters and the die-hards, and then we smell it...not sure what we smelled exactly, but Cameron said, "It just smells right, doesn't it?" I concurred.

12:25 - Fighting through the crowds in the Ranger Shop still looking for Cameron a hat...found one, now we can proceed to our seats.

12:45 - we pass the Texas Beers booth...okay, it's located

, but I'm so cold, I can't even think about a cold beer yet...but it's there!

12:55 - we are walking up to our seats, and walking up, and walking up...row 15, 16, 17...not looking good...20, 21, 22, 23!!! There is no 24. I am now officially the prouder renter of a seat at the highest possible elevation in the ballpark, it's shaded and the north wind is hitting us right in the back and did I mention that it was FREEZING!!!!

12:56 - we move into someone else's seats in the sun and no wind...ahhh, much better...even if only for a little while.

12:57 - The national anthem and the fly-over is awesome!

1:00 - President George W. Bush throws out the ceremonial first pitch - and a strike it was. He's walking toward the catcher in my picture.

1:05 - the Rangers take the field wearing their new red tops and red hats...blue skies, green grass and baseball...greatness realized.

1:06 - First pitch from Kevin Millwood...a strike. We're off and running now.

1:08 - we have to move back to OUR seats...oh no...

1:30 - after a couple of nothing innings, the Rangers break through for 4 runs...oh baby!

2:03 - enough is enough, I cave and go back down to the other shop and find a hoodie...I shouldn't have, I know, but it was miserable up there in OUR seats...

2:20 - Warmed and aptly prepared to tackle OUR seats again, we head back to our section. There's the Texas Beers again, this time I am warm and prepared...I have peanuts in my central pocket and I'm ready. "Hey Dude, should I get the Buffalo

or the Ugly Pug?" I say to Cameron. "I don't know...I think you should get the Buffalo Butt." Okay. I'm confident. I get up to the counter and I ask for Buffalo Butt (I know...it was as creepy as it sounds). She looks at me and says, "We don't have that!" "What? It's been advertised (at that moment, I felt like someone had played a cruel joke on me, throwing in Buffalo Butt in the middle of all the weird names, just to see if some dork like me would actually ask for it). "Do you have Ugly Pug?" She said yes, and after a discussion about the type of lager that was, I decided to go with the Rahr's Amber Lager - it was a signature beer for them and it was on tap. Okay, done...now we move up to THE seats...but this time I'm ready to win this battle.

2:25 - the crowd screams and I'm in the tunnel...fireworks go off and that means one thing at the ballpark. Someone on our team just hit a homerun! I back up and check the monitor...Hank Blalock goes yard and adds 3 more runs to our total...I'm loving it.

3:00 - Salty goes yard from the left side of the plate. And we're watching it this time. Fireworks go off! Yes!

3:39 - Michael Young squeezes the glove on a pop up to end the game. Rangers win 9-1 and the game lasts 2 hours 36 minutes. Pitching? Outstanding. Hitting? Expected. Elvis at short? Watch this kid. Young at 3B? He's played other positions? Kinsler? MVP watch. Wilson? 3 up 3 down 8th. Francisco? 3 up 3 down 9th. Jobs done well on this day.

We now drive back to Mt. Calm. We share fried chicken with Cameron's in-laws and laugh hard. Tried to check out the basketball game, but it wasn't much of a game. Then we head out to the back yard to check out the stars, the moon and partake in the great leaf. Padron 1964 Anniversario Editions. We are lucky to participate in this ritual once a year. This was the perfect night. Two pastors enjoying the smoothness of a Padron, while discussing our church and how we can help more people fully engage in the Christ-life where they live and and work. After a great day at the yard, we had a great night in the yard. Today, we work. We carry that conversation further....and we'll eat lunch at George's in Waco.

The stars are aligned and all is right in the world of Brad right now. Don't post anything to mess with that either!

All times posted above are approximations and in no way should make you think I was some weirdo watching my watch all day!

Take Me Out to The Ballgame

What you see to your left is a printable version of my tickets to see a baseball game. Not just any game. Opening Day! That's right, me and 50,000 of my friends are going to see the Texas Rangers beat the Cleveland Indians to open the 2009 season. A season filled with promise and hope. W throwing out the first pitch and some sort of fly over from nearby Dyess Air Force Base, I am sure. You can laugh all you want because I know that the Rangers are perennially a problem, but there is something in the air this year. I am not predicting a World Series, but I am anticipating some excitement that we haven't seen in a long time.

You see, I am a baseball fan. I am a Texas Rangers fan. I am hoping that in a few days, I watch Ian Kinsler run out to second base, Michael Young scoot over to third base, Josh Hamilton fill the three-hole playing centerfield, Nelson Cruz in right , Hank Blalock batting fifth as the DH, David Murphy shagging balls in left field, Chris Davis popping out of the dugout to catch balls at first base, Taylor Teagarden stopping everything and gunning runners down, and the whiz kid, Elvis Andrus playing short. That's what I'd love to see...along with a 5-1 Ranger victory posted by Kevin Millwood.

I've been following this group of kids for a few years now and I can't tell you about my excitement. It's supposed to be in the low 60's and partly cloudy on Monday at 1pm. I will be there with my friend Cameron, and we will be perched up high, between home plate and the Ranger dugout. It's going to be awesome! I hear that a local Fort Worth brewery will be selling hand-crafted beer at the park this year: Blonde Lager, Rahr's Red, Buffalo Butt, Ugly Pug, Stormcloud, and Blind Salamander will fill out their "Beers of Texas" program. Oh the choices... No more Hebrew National Dogs, which is a bummer, and we may have to taste-drive the new Sherrif Blaylock's dogs, owned by the noted Baylor alum and Houston Astros owner, Drayton McLane, Jr.. But there are plenty of options (the Sliders have my attention):

I realize that this may not be appealing to some of you...in fact it may cause some of you to remove your RSS feed of my blog, but part of me being real is sharing my quirks with you. This is just one of them. I may or may not post again before the game Monday, but I will definitely post after the game. I hope you have something that gets you excited like Ranger baseball does for me.

"It's a beautiful day for a ballgame...let's play two!"

This might just be my favorite quote of all time. I know, being a pastor, I'm supposed to have a particular verse of Scripture that I claim to be my favorite, but I think this may have been as inspired as anything in the Bible. I think it's what God said right after he said everything was good, but since baseball hadn't been invented yet, Moses didn't know how to translate it. Is there a better phrase to relay the pleasures of a perfectly warm and sunny spring day? I can't think of one ("Tee it up boys!" might be a really close second). Thank you Ernie Banks.

I love this time of the year. Today, Rhonda and I took Graysen to his first baseball game. We went to see a Freshman/Sophomore game at the high school. Our friend Jacob was playing so I hoped Graysen would be able to connect a little bit...not so much. He loved running around and seeing the balls fly and the crack of the aluminum bats...for about 5 minutes. Good thing Jacob's little brother, Ben, was there to take him around and show him the ropes when it comes to running around during a baseball game.

A few weeks ago, I took Garin to Minute Maid Park in Houston to watch Baylor play Rice, and it was one of my favorite dates to date with my daughter. I think she really enjoyed it also. I discovered that playing "I Spy" during a baseball game at a big league park can be quite a time consumer...and I didn't miss any of the game. For the first time, I understood the joy that fathers have had for years taking their kids to ball games.

GRAND SLAM!!!!! I'm watching Baylor v. tamu online as I type this and the Bears were down 3-1 in the bottom of the 6th when my team hit a grand salami...that's right...5-3 Baylor now. I love this game...have I let you in on that little secret?

I follow the Rangers religiously. I got to listen to my first game of spring training this weekend and last weekend I got my opening day tickets to go to Arlington and see them beat the Indians. I love it all...I want to see Saltalamacchia catching, Davis at first, Kinsler at second, Andrus at short and Young at his new home on the corner. I want to see Cruz in right, the inspirational Hamilton in center and fellow Baylor alum, Murphy in left. Oh what a day of rejoicing that will be. We will make our way up to Section 327 and enjoy the game with some peanuts and maybe a beer. Our conversation will be rich and our optimism will be high. I can't wait for August 6th!

I believe very much that God is involved in and cares about my daily life. One day, I watched my son play with something so insignificant that I can't even remember what it was. He was so caught up in that little something that he carried with him for the day and he looked at it and laughed. I had silly joy. As his dad, that silly joy was passed upward to me and my heart smiled when I watched him. I know that my love for baseball is silly joy, but my hope is that when I walk up to the Rangers Ballpark in Arlington on April 6th, with a giggle in my throught, my silly joy is passed upward and His heart smiles with me.

p.s. - we just scored again - Baylor up 7-3 now...