It was a good Memorial Day weekend for us here, too. Bellingham has a Ski-2-Sea race weekend every year at this time, with a parade on Saturday and a race on Sunday. The race is 7 legs, starting with downhill skiing, then running, then cross-country skiing, then mountain biking, then road biking, then swimming, then kayaking. It starts at Mt. Baker and ends up in Bellingham Bay. Where else can you do that? That is awesome! All of you have to come up here to live.

At the parade on Saturday, our church had a float to advertise our Summer Academy that we do every summer. It's like a day camp for kids with fine arts, sports, and faith stuff going on. The float was designed and build by a team of church members lead by Bethany. She was very good coordinating everyone, I must say. Here is a picture of the float:


We also handed out 500 squeezie balls shaped like basketballs and soccer balls that had the dates of our Summer Academy on them with our phone number. We might have 80-100 kids this year...

Sunday was a fun day at church - mostly good stuff going on during service. That night we had our Alias and 24 watching party for the season finales. Alias was bit disappointing, but 24 was awesome! I love that show. We had burgers from our half-a-cow we bought. We only have 45 pounds of hamburger meat left.

Tonight we had a couple of softball games, but they were of no consequence because none of the umpires showed up on account of the holiday. I am the pitcher and we are warming up for a tournament this weekend. I am going for 3 strikeouts.

Eating Crow

So, I just put a nice t-bone steak from the half-a-cow we bought last week out on the grill. I come inside to start making mac and cheese and rotel. I go back outside and there is my steak in the grass with two crows pecking at it. I just looked at them and said, no way.

If you're going to have eating crows, put the grill lid down.

Coming Up for Air

This past week had a lot going on with us. Bethany got back yesterday from a sail boat trip where she taught students about marine biology. They stayed on the ship Friday and Sat. night, coming back on Sunday. She had a great time and learned how to sail a little bit, I think! She said at one time they were going so fast that the boat (160 feet long, btw) was leaning over to the side with a little bit of water spilling in. You've seen those sailboat races where they are tilted way to the side - kind of like that.

Friday and Saturday I was at our American Baptist convention down in Everett. It made for long days because we drove down and back each day. I played a few songs Friday night for special music and then lead worship at our dinner banquet that night. It went pretty good, but we were running behind so late that everything felt rushed and very rough. Saturday, Jay and I put on an emergent worship workshop. It began with Cowboy worship and talking about how big Cowboy church is in rural areas nowadays. I approached the emergent church worship from an urban perspective and did a "model" emergent worship service. It went well - too bad there were only 4 people there for it!

Then church yesterday - Jay was gone and another person preached. Then a hymn sing-a-long down in Warm Beach at which I played my trombone. It was a long weekend, so today I have a headache and no motivation to do anything. I do get to take Friday off, though, which will be nice.

This is pretty funny! It gives an interesting look at our "Christian-ese" culture...

Update on Sys B

The final is over and my hand still feels cramped. We had to write freehand on notebook paper, double-spaced, and one-sided our responses the questions, which I posted previously. The questions I ended up writing about were:

What really matters is the soul. The body is a trap, a burden, to be laid aside in the resurrection. So let's concentrate on saving souls.

Jesus was a wise teacher and an exemplary human being. Christianity has built him up into a god, even though he never claimed to be one.

Salvation is fundamentally about forgiveness of sins, and that's what Jesus won for us on the cross.

I ended up with 24 pages by the end. It was pretty draining, too because there was just so much information to get out of my head and onto paper. A summary of each:

1. This view of creation is incomplete and inaccurate, causing one to hold to a low view of God's creative capacity. We are made in the image of God with both a body and a soul, therefore both are valuable dimensions worthy of redemption. Also, Jesus himself had a resurrected body recognizable by his disciples, though not at first. He didn't lay aside his body, so we won't either, since Jesus showed us what it means to be truly human.

2. Jesus was more than just a wise sage or a model human being - He was fully human and fully God, true God of true God. I went through the seven stages of Jesus' career showing how each contributes to his divinity. (Incarnation, Inauguration, Crucifixion, Resurrection, Ascension, Intercession, and Return)

3. Salvation is more than just forgiving our sins (I had to differentiate between sin and sins). We are saved to shalom - that fulfillment of who we are in God. Jesus was our representative on the cross, absorbing our sin onto himself; he was not simply a substitute like you have in a basketball game where someone comes in for you. Jesus represented all of humanity as he died on the cross, overcoming sin and evil.

Men in Church

Ever since I went to a birthday party for a friend of mine - at which there were many guys my age - I have been burdened by the question - "what would it take for these guys to come to church?" I have since been struggling with this answer...

When I checked out Mark Driscoll's blog (pastor of Mars Hill Church in Seattle), I found this article that he wrote. Maybe we need to have kickboxing in our services... or blow stuff up...

Systematic Theology B

I want to give you a look at what our final will be for this class. The final will consist of three of the following seven propositions. The test will have five that we will choose three from.

Respond to the following propositions in the following way:
1. Rephrase them to make sure you understand them. (i.e. make sure the prof knows I understand them!)

2. Indicate what about them you can affirm: what is at least partly accurate, well-phrased, comprehensive, significant and helpful.

3. Indicate what about them you cannot affirm: what is at least partly inaccurate, badly-phrased, truncated, trivial and unhelpful.

4. Conclude briefly with your overall evaluation of them.

Here are the propositions:

What really matters is the soul. The body is a trap, a burden, to be laid aside int he resurrection. So let's concentrate on saving souls.

All of earth's creatures are holy, and none are more important than any others. So we human beings shouldn't hunt or fish or eat meat.

Jesus was truly a holy man and the Son of God. But other religions have their founders, too, and Christians shouldn't insist that Jesus is better than the founders of other faiths.

Jesus was a wise teacher and an exemplary human being. Christianity has built him up into a god, even though he never claimed to be one.

Christianity has offered "pie in the sky by and by." But what really matters is the here and now, and Christianity isn't very helpful in solving immediate human problems.

If God has chosen me for salvation, then I'm in. And if he hasn't, then I'm not. So it doesn't really matter how I live, since it's God's decision, not mine.

Salvation is fundamentally about forgiveness of sins, and that's what Jesus won for us on the cross.

---
My study group has divided these up and I have the last one about salvation. I will probably address the two phrases separately - asking what is salvation really all about and then asking what did Jesus really achieve on the cross?

Want to join my class?

The Weekend

Friday night we went down to Bellevue for dinner with our friends Jamie and Matt. Downtown Bellevue reminded me of the upscale Plano - people dressed up real nice and looking rich. We ate at Maggiano's Italian restaurant at about 9:30pm that night and stayed until 11:30 - I don't think I've ever eaten that much that late! That night we stayed with Matt and Jamie on their air mattress, which slowly deflated during the night. So, in the morning I can't get out to go to the bathroom because I am sunk in the middle with Bethany on top of me. To get out, I had to pull up on the dresser next to me.

Saturday we came back and Bethany went to work on our church's float that we are making for Bellingham's Ski-to-Sea Parade on Memorial Day. They are making it out of PVC, plywood, and big styrofoam balls. We'll have our FBC logo (standy-man cross), a soccer ball, a strip of film, a music note - it should look pretty good.

I went to work on a book review of Hans Boersma's Violence, Hospitality, and the Cross. It is a fresh look at the three main atonement theories of the Church - moral-influence, penal substitution, and Christus Victor. It was a brilliant book...

Saturday night we went to the New Orleans Jazz Orchestra concert at Mount Baker Theater. It was hot. They were good. Though with the time change, it made for a really late night - two in a row.

Sunday morning was a fun day at church. I had our sax guy take a ride on "The Blood Will Never Lose Its Power" while I did the soulful 6/8 feel on my guitar. He wailed and it was fun. A friend of mine from BAylor - Tracie Gray - was up in the Northwest on vacation running in the Oak Harbor marathon. She did the half. Anyway, we had dinner with her at Jay's house and then she came over to our house for the 24 watching party. It was really good seeing her again.

Yesterday I had Regent, Quartet Practice, College Home Group, and I am glad to just chill tonight. Whoever reads this is awesome.

Bono's Prayer Breakfast Speech

I thought it was interesting that Bono spoke at the National Prayer Breakfast last month. I found this link to the video and thought I would let you enjoy for yourself! It's about 25 minutes...

Daydreamer Concert @ Three Trees Coffee House

Daydreamer Concert @ Three Trees Coffee House
Originally uploaded by jeffflint.

This was from the concert last Friday night at a local Christian coffee place in Bellingham. It was sweet. This concert did what I want concerts to do for me. It makes me want to practice my guitar and it makes me want to go be creative. Thanks, guys!

Last night, we had a Home Group party at my house for the college students. Most of them are taking finals and so it was a good study break for them. It was cool because a lot of the people who don't usually come to Home Group could make it to this. (Funny how a party can do that...) I don't know if the students just don't like the things I teach or it's not practical enough for them, or what, but hey - they know it's there for them to help them grow in Christ.

I want to plug my friends who play in a local band called Daydreamer. Check out their website and listen to some of the song clips that they have. They lead worship at a local church here and I play racquetball with their lead guitar player. Their lead singer is a guy who I started taking guitar lessons from when I first moved to Bellingham, but our lessons times starting turning into more of a coffee/chat time. They are great artists and I am pretty excited about this new album of theirs...

Just a quick update post - thanks for reading!

Back from the trip.

We returned from Orlando, FL on Tuesday night after a fun two days of frivolity in the magical world of Disney. I had to wear a button that said it was my birthday and all the employees had to say happy birthday to me and Joel. I have posted the pictures from the trip that we took with our camera. I think my favorite is the Buddha man at Epcot. You'll see what I mean.

The coolest part about the trip is that my entire family went down there, too. Mom, dad and sis meet us there and celebrated our 30th birthday. Joel had no idea and I wish I could have seen the look on his face when he walked into baggage claim and everyone was standing there waiting for him.

I had a little bit of it figured out, but I didn't know that my parents and sister would be there. B and I were waiting our shuttle bus and I decided to call dad to see where he was. He had actually been down at baggage claim waiting for us, but since we didn't have any checked baggage, we went straight to the shuttle bus. He said on the phone - "Don't get on the bus! Don't get on the bus!" Just as the bus was pulling up to take us to the condo, mom, dad, Julie, Joel, Jodie and Jordan walked up and hugged us. Julie even made a sign that said Happy Birthday Jeff! (I still have it, Julie)

Anyway - Bethany and Jodie did an incredible job of surprising us and making their husbands feel really good about turning 30. We are lucky guys, bro.

Flints, Out!

Tomorrow we are leaving for my birthday trip that Bethany has been planning for a while! She won't tell me where we are going, so it is a total surprise to me - but I know that it is somewhere sunny because she bought a new swimsuit this week. I also hear that it is a pretty long plane trip, so that is an indication of how far we are going. Hmmm... It will be nice to get away for a little bit. We leave Saturday and come back Tuesday.

There's always so much to do, though, before you leave, isn't there?

The big 3-0. My friend Mark has already hit that this year, so how is it buddy?

This post is from the Dashboard of my new iMac.  That way I can post things like crazy here!  I like it.

A Good Day

Yes! I got my computer back from the Apple reseller here in B'ham. We got our refund check from the IRS. And we are having dinner with our friends Jason and Alli tonight. Not a bad day. Oh and I got some work done, too.

Here is a pic of my dad and sister at the Freescale Marathon in Austin, TX. They are awesome.

What is up with that?

I am on my little laptop at church because my iMac (the new one I got three weeks ago) has a screen problem. I had to take it back to the store because the screen would not "un-blacken." I called the Apple support and they had me do all sorts of tests and experiments to try and wake it back up, but the screen would have nothing do to with that. That kind of stuff drives me crazy - new things that are supposed to work, but don't and then you have to wait a week to get it back. Too bad they just can't give me a new one or a loaner for the week. I am a little worried about data preservation, too...

B and I have been getting into American Idol this year, and in the "my two cents" department, that Katharine McPhee girl last night has an incredible voice. It is effortless and easy for her. It was the same for three of the other girls - two of whom were 17 and 16. Good stuff!

My dad and sister ran a half marathon together this past weekend in Austin. I forgot the name of the actual race, but they both finished and did okay on time. I am incredibly proud of them to do the training and the work required to make it through without too much pain! (abnormal pain, I guess.)

A week and a half until the big birthday trip!

At the Regent Library

I am here at school in the library doing a little studying (okay, I am surfing blogs...). I found a guy in Bellingham who is in my class and we have started to ride together to help defray some costs. It works out well, and he plays basketball after class so I can do a little studying in the library while I wait for him so we can go home.

It was a pretty busy weekend with the our college student presenation of our Murder Mystery dinner banquet. It went well, though kind of long and a little boring. We tried to adopt one of those "How to Host a Murder" murder-mystery for a large group, but it did not work well. There is just too much information and not enough interaction with the large group for it to work. Everyone was pretty ready to go afterwards! The students made spaghetti and green beans and root beer floats. I am just glad it is done!

I filed my taxes and we are getting a pretty good refund at the end of the month, so that will come in handy to get some new garage doors!

In other news, Bethany is taking me on a surprise birthday trip for my 30th birthday the first weekend of March. We are ready for a little vacation! She won't tell me where we are going, but I still have time to figure it out...

Well, the Seahawks lost today - it looked pretty lopsided to me, though.

I am back from Arlington. I am sorry that I didn't get a chance to see my Mansfield friends - it was a busy time... We had some of our people stay in Mansfield. Our Washington people were pretty amazed at the brick houses, how big they were, and how little they cost compared to the home prices up here.

I am really liking this new computer! It is simply beautiful. and fast. Right now, though, I am having a problem with my iPod communicating with it. I unplugged it while it said "do not disconnect" one time and it has never been the same since. I am going to have to send it in. I called the Apple people and they said that for me to talk to one of their people, it would cost $49 to connect. That is crazy. They said I could pay $59 for a year's coverage with S&H expenses covered if sending it is necessary. Well, it is necessary. iPod is the means by which I am listening to my audio course for Regent. This new machine is worth it, though!

Now, we just need a new laptop at home... :)

In Arlington

Since Saturday, I have been in Arlington, TX on a leadership training week. 5 members of my church and I were flown down by FBCA so that we could chat with their leadership, shadow them during the services, and pick their brains a little bit about why they do what they do.

We are pretty tired, but we are enjoying ourselves immensely.

I got to celebrate my dad's 60th birthday with all my family at Cantina Laredo on Sunday night. His birthday is actually on Feb. 6, but since I was down, it was fun to get everyone together.

It is a pretty fun trip because I get to show the Washingtonians the area where I grew up (kind of...). We went to the Ft. Worth Stock Show on Monday and watched the rodeo, which was a blast. We hit the Whataburger and Chik-fil-a and Dickies for fried okra. We hit the Sonic for some good treats this afternoon. We don't have any of this up North, so we have to get them all while we can!

I Have Returned!

I have kind of been waiting for my return back to this spot mainly because the hardware with which I have to access this site has been severely lacking. I am at the church right now and to access this blog from that computer was archaic. I was using an old iMac G3 400MHz computer running OS 9.1. And at home, we are running a PC with XP that is going out on us.

Well, today, my friends, things have changed. I am now on a iMac G5 Intel Duo Core 2GHz 250GB Super Drive 20" beauty that is just awesome. Holy cow, it is sweet.

It will take some time to play around with the new system to learn all the cool stuff about it, but I am looking forward to it. See you around here more often! I will probably spend more time at the office, now...

There are some new pics over at flickr. Just click the dealio over on the right. It should take you there.