adam paul

my blog has moved.

2011-05-18T11:59:00.001-05:00

my blog has finally moved on. see you over at wordpress:

www.theapcblog.wordpress.com

-apc.

easter hymn: the roots - "walk alone"

2011-05-16T10:12:00.001-05:00

had the opportunity to write a guest post over at my friend christian's blog, justbeingchristian.com. he has been writing a series of posts titled "easter hymns" - telling the story of Christ's death and resurrection through hip-hop tunes. i've really enjoyed them, so i am pretty honored to get to contribute to them. mine is the fourth post in the series.

check out my post here: the roots - "walk alone"

check out the previous three installments here:
kanye west - "Jesus walks"
T.I. - "dead and gone"
common - "a dream"

thanks to doubledizz for the writing opp.

-apc.

dr. martin luther king jr. - the white church's stance on social injustice.

2011-05-05T15:37:00.001-05:00

I have been so greatly disappointed with the white church and its leadership...I do not say this as one of those negative critics who can always find something wrong with the church. I say this as a minister of the gospel, who loves the church...When i was suddenly catapulted into leadership of the bus protest in Montgomery, Alabama, a few years ago, I felt we would be supported by the white church. I felt that the ministers, priests, and rabbis of the South would be among our strongest allies. Instead, some have been outright opponents, refusing to understand the freedom movement and misrepresenting its leaders; all too many others have been more cautious than courageous and have remained silent behind the anesthetizing security of stained-glass windows...In the midst of blatant injustices inflicted upon the Negro, I have watched white churchmen stand on the sideline and mouth pious irrelevancies and sanctimonious trivialities. In the midst of a mighty struggle to rid our nation of racial and economic injustice, I have heard many ministers say: "Those are social issues, with which the gospel has no real concern." And I have watched many churches commit themselves to a completely otherworldly religion which makes a strange, unbiblical distinction between body and soul, between the sacred and the secular...There was a time when the church was very powerful - in the time when the early Christians rejoiced at being deemed worthy to suffer for what they believed. In those days the church was not merely a thermometer that recorded the ideas and principles of popular opinion; it was a thermostat that transformed the mores of society.

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
"Letter from a Birmingham Jail"
as transcribed in Soong-Chan Rah's Many Colors: Cultural Intelligence for a Changing Church

-apc.

osama bin laden is dead.

2011-05-02T11:24:00.004-05:00

osama bin laden is dead, and our nation is celebrating heartily.

a man who orchestrated the deaths of thousands of people was brought to justice yesterday at the hands of the united states military. almost ten years after september 11, our government has finally taken out the man they swore to find and kill.

this is potentially problematic for those of us who identify as both americans and christians.

on the one hand we want to celebrate with our nation because the man who epitomized evil in our eyes finally faced what he had forced so many others to face: death. even as christians we are to seek justice and strive to eliminate darkness.

Micah 6:8 - He has shown you, O man, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.

Psalm 106:3 - Blessed are they who maintain justice, who constantly do what is right.

Isaiah 1:17 - Learn to do right! Seek justice, encourage the oppressed. Defend the cause of the fatherless, plead the case of the widow.

yet at the same time, we remember the words of Jesus concerning evil:

Matthew 5:39 - But I tell you, Do not resist an evil person. If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also.

Matthew 5:43-45 - You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.

so already there is some conflict with how to respond as christians. act justly, but love mercy. we are to defend those who have lost loved ones, but pray for those who persecute them. seek justice, but if someone strikes your cheek, offer them the other one. this is certainly one of those times where we wish God was a little more explicit in his opinion on what justice looks like in a nasty world.

thus, the conflict i felt last night as i watched the nation rejoice. was justice served yesterday? was the murder of a murderer a justifiable act? i felt that we had fought for those who had lost loved ones. our nation was defending the widow and fighting for the fatherless. justice was being sought, but was the death of osama bin laden something Jesus celebrating?

Leviticus 19:15 - 'Do not pervert justice; do not show partiality to the poor or favoritism to the great, but judge your neighbor fairly.

Romans 12:19 - Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.”

Ephesians 4:31-32 - Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.

justice is for God to decide. he will have his vengeance if he wants to have his vengeance. we are to forgive others and allow God to judge the unrighteous. killing osama bin laden is something that i struggle with because it's broken human beings bestowing judgement upon another broken human being. when we decided that someone is worthy of death we are judging them as only God can. do i think God would've judged him the same way at the time? probably. but more than anything else, God seeks redemption.

Ezekiel 33:11 - As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign LORD, I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that they turn from their ways and live.

God takes pleasure in wicked people turning from their ways. there is no pleasure in the death of the wicked.

a few days ago i was watching a national geographic film called "science of evil". part of the story centered around serial killer jeffrey dahmer. dahmer was convicted of murdering 17 men from 1978-1991. these murders were the some of the most gruesome the world had ever seen.

after three years of his life sentence, dahmer requested to have a pastor come to the prison and baptize him. the pastor interviewed him about repentance, salvation, and reconciliation, and after a lengthy discussion, determined that jeffrey dahmer's motives were legitimate and he was baptized in a bath tub right there in the jail.

just months following his baptism, dahmer was murdered by a fellow inmate. 15 years later, the pastor was interviewed about his experience and he maintains that he fully expects to see jeffrey dahmer in heaven someday. there was still good in him. [insert darth vader reference here]

we can celebrate the redemption of jeffrey dahmer. we do not celebrate his actions, but we can absolutely celebrate his deliverance. one can only assume that we cannot celebrate the redemption of osama bin laden. i wish we could. i wish we at least had hope that we could.

one can argue that the 3,000+ lives on the hands of osama bin laden is vastly greater than the 17 gruesome murders committed by dahmer, and i would likely agree with that stance. my point is that pure evil is abundant in this world, that we cannot deny.

1 Peter 5:8 - Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.

evil is on the prowl, and it will always be on the prowl. we should be alert and seek justice as best as we humanly can. but God does not celebrate with us in the death of a wicked man. i wish there was another way. it is so good to fight for those who need it - the fatherless, the widows, the poor, the sick - and i think american was right in seeking justice. i'm not certain that america's concept of justice is the same as that of God's.

i just wish that osama bin laden had the opportunity to be won over by Jesus Christ. that's all. maybe there was still good in him. who are we to say there wasn't?

i'm happy for the families who have been in mourning for the last 10 years seeking justice. i'm happy that they feel vindicated, but i'd be even happier if i knew that bin laden could be redeemed.

-apc.

IT'S A TRAP.

2011-04-28T13:17:00.012-05:00

...i've always wanted to use that blog title.

i'm not sure if people saw this, but apparently someone went around setting up "hipster traps" in new york city - fake ray-bans, american spirit cigarettes, a pbr, holga camera and a bike chain on a large bear trap. let's take a moment to reflect on how perfectly hilarious this is.

hipsters are so funny to me. and funny is the perfect word because they fit both definitions of the word: i literally laugh at them, but i'm also so perplexed by their peculiar ways. they may be the first trendy lifestyle that is completely aware of their strangeness. most labeled groups aren't conscious of how ridiculously classic they are - ditzes are oblivious, computer programmers look down on others and think they're the most un-weird people around, drama kids like to sing musical renditions in public settings completely unaware of their embarrassment - but hipters totally understand who they are and are just fine with falling into a perfect stereotype. funny haha, yet funny peculiar as well.

i posted a link on my twitter to the traps knowing full well that my abundance of followers would want to share in my chortle. the next day i received a response via google buzz from a friend of mine that said:

"what would be in your trap?"

at first i was stunned. because i realized that, just like the hipsters, i certainly fall under a certain umbrella too - the only difference being that my umbrella is much smaller than theirs. i recovered well - i soon was able to fully embrace myself, and i started thinking about the five items that would be found in an "apc trap".

i felt like there needed to be some rules too - obviously i'd be enticed by an iPad or a $100 bill, but wouldn't everyone? the things needed to be relatively inexpensive, and enticing to me and very few others. my list had to be of equivalent value to the items on the hipster traps. so i needed to put a dollar value on the items and match them accordingly.

so, here are the items i came up with:

pabst blue ribbon: $2
my replacement: a lego boba fett keychain
last time i was in chicago i picked up an admiral ackbar and a stormtrooper at the lego store on michigan ave for $2.50 on sale. i could do a chewbacca, C3PO or lando too. even greedo.
american spirit cigarettes: $5
my replacement: a pack of 2010 Bowman Chrome baseball cards
the hobby packs retail between $4 and $7 depending where you go. i still want that bryce harper usa card, but i could certainly also go for a stephen strasburg, or a jason heyward auto or an aroldis chapman red prospect.
yellow bike chain: $10
my replacement: "rome" - danger mouse & daniele luppi
actually, this would come in the form of a $10 iTunes gift card right now because the album doesn't actually drop until may 17, but i've pre-ordered it on iTunes for $9.99. producer danger mouse (cee lo's partner in gnarls barkley, creator of the grey album - jay-z's black album mashed with the beatles' white album, half of the duo broken bells) is duking it out with kanye west and the neptunes for my favorite producer(s) in the music business, and supposedly this collab with luppi (an italian producer and composer whom i honestly know nothing about) is five years in the making and it's what danger mouse is truly most passionate about. it was recorded in a church-converted-studio in rome and utilizes vintage instruments and was inspired by the pair's love for 60's italian film soundtracks. all i know is that if DM is amped about it, then so am i.
fake ray-bans: $20
my replacement: a dharma initiative metal lunchbox - anyone who loves LOST like i do understands the awesomeness of the dharma initiative and would pounce on that trap if saw something so awesome. would i actually use it to take my lunch in? not a chance. i'd use it to keep secret items in: memories, artifacts, ancient coins, prized possessions, etc. i'd probably hide it under a floor board or in a vault behind a photo of abe lincoln on my wall or something.
holga camera: $35
my replacement: two tickets to a royals or cardinals game in a stadium i've never been to before. like san francisco, or new york, or seattle or boston, or los angeles. cheap seats would be fine - whatever price value is equivalent to a holga camera works for me. one of the greatest aspects of baseball is the beauty of the stadiums. the grass, the dirt, the irregular outfield wall shapes with nooks and brick walls...or that strange hill in houston. it's a gorgeous game and tickets to anywhere would be super rad.

that trap would clamp down on my ankle in a heartbeat, and it might even be worth it. now it's your turn: what would be in your trap?

-apc.

Book Review: Jesus Creed for Students

2011-04-25T15:30:00.011-05:00

the first sentence of the forward of "Jesus Creed for Students" makes it perfectly clear why this book was written: "this book is about following Jesus." the authors (Scot McKnight, Chris Folmsbee and Syler Thomas) explain that this book is to be read alone but dissected in a group setting. the "Jesus Creed" is straight from Matthew 22, "love the Lord with all your heart, soul and mind, and love your neighbor as yourself." in short: life is about "loving God and loving others."

this book has been rewritten from the original version specifically for students to connect with, and it does an incredible job of being relevant, stylistically conscious, and, ultimately, very applicable for the life of every teenager.

relevance: this book takes questions that ever student deals with and packages them in a way that students can understand and wrestle with. questions like,

- who am i?
- who does God want me to be?
- how does God want me to live?
- is there more to Christianity than just being "good"?
- how do i talk with God?
- what is life all about?

but even more than providing accessible answers to those and similar questions, the authors are contextually relevant to today's teenagers. topics like social media, respecting parents, school life, labeling and judging. there is so much insight that can be gained from so many books, but very few books are written so that students can connect with them. students pick up a book, read the first couple chapters (maybe) and then put it down because it never connects with their world. this book does that very well and is very relevant for youth. my personal guess is that this book would be perfect for the 8th-11th grade age group.

the answers to these questions also push against the religious stances of today's American teenager. in the book, "Soul Searching", sociologists Christian Smith and Melina Denton study the religious life of the American teenager in ways no one has before. they concluded that rather than the true Gospel of Jesus, today's youth are following what Smith and Denton call "Moralistic Therapeutic Deism". this idea affirms the existence of God as a Creator and supreme being, but that he is only essential in hard times and that the most important parts of life are being nice, morally good people and to be happy about oneself. clearly, this is an incorrect view of the gospel, but it is a reality of today's students. the questions that "Jesus Creed for Students" asks are exactly what is relevant.

writing style: this book is a quick read - students won't have to stumble over cumbersome wording like they may when reading a book written for adults. the authors do an amazing job of articulating the Jesus Creed in a way that is accessible to youth, but also that it doesn't lose any of its overall message. the book paints what the true Gospel is all about in a way that students can read and not be bored or turned off.

it does this in a few different ways: first, the book uses this generation's lexicon. words like "wannabe", "grunge", and "popularity" - subtly, the authors have inserted the language that students can understand and connect with, thus, making them more effective in reaching their target audience. they avoid complex language and colorful sentences and instead employ hyphenated descriptors and culturally conscious creations.

- instead of "disciples" it's "Christ-followers".
- instead of the "second commandment" it's the "love-others statement".
- instead of "material possessions" it's "iThings", "iWants", or "iNeeds".

they're youthful enough to connect more effectively, but not childish enough to lose focus or impact (or to become overly silly with their creativity). students will connect with this book - with the concept of "loving God, loving others" - because it is written in their vocabulary.

practical application: in my opinion, application is the easiest way for students to connect well or to not connect at all with a certain concept. if i say, "pray more," then students may or may not actually pray more. but if i give them a exact prayer to pray with guidelines and a terrific explanation of how to pray and when and why, then they are absolutely going to apply "praying more" in their lives. this book's greatest strength is providing practical application points for the concepts introduced.

at the beginning and the end of every chapter it either states "Recite the Jesus Creed" or "Say the Lord's Prayer". it encourages this repetition as a way of establishing a spiritual rhythm in life. they suggest reciting the Jesus Creed every morning and every night and upon both coming and going from their home. and then add to it by reciting the Lord's prayer with it at the same times for a month solid.

the authors also encourage students to get involved serving somewhere without anyone else knowing: a way for students to grow strictly with God, and to develop their desire to serve for the right reasons.

they are also very specific when it comes to asking questions. there aren't any vague or unclear questions; they are focused and intentional:

- "what do you think 'whenever you pray' means?"
- "how are you doing on reciting the Jesus Creed daily?"
- "what is your biggest temptation when it comes to branding yourself?"
- "what do your possessions reveal about where your heart is? are you serving two lords?"

questions like these interrupt the text so that students can think about them as they are reading the next paragraph - simultaneously reading and applying the text. students need this sort of dialogue within the text if they are going to process what they are reading. the application is consistently the most effective aspect of this book.

cover to cover, this book is a home run. students can connect, comprehend, and have perfect outlets to apply the Jesus Creed. i would 100% recommend this book - in fact, in the season of planning summer activities and curriculum, this book will certainly find its way into the conversation.

-apc.

buy the book: paraclete press.

theology of hip-hop: questions.

2011-04-25T11:54:00.006-05:00

i got halfway through this post on friday morning, but then i deleted it because it wasn't taking form the way i wanted it to. but when my bro CDoubleDizz over at justbeingchristian.com posts on the theology of kanye's "jesus walks" just three days later...well, i just can't help myself.

i grew up in suburban kansas city. most of you know this. if not, welcome to my blog. when i was young, i thought hip-hop was evil. i based this on the fact that rap used cuss words and was nothing but the sex-drugs-cash trifecta. i decided that DC Talk was a better route - meet rap halfway, i guess. wouldn't want to fill my mind with unholy filth. i have an inkling that this thought process was (and would still be) supported by the church i grew up in and am now employed by. this isn't a dog on my church - but more a truth about the western suburban church in general: act like life is perfect. don't doubt God. hide your sins, etc. the church isn't a place for hip-hop.

i supposed this may be partially true - guys like snoop dogg and soulja boy likely have very little to say regarding theology, faith and spirituality - but a strong collection of the rap/hip-hop artists have a great deal to say. it's honest, and that honesty makes the christian world uncomfortable. but if we were as honest as the rappers out there, i think we'd would realize that the hip-hop community has just as much (dare i say more) to say about life and theology than the white suburban culture that i've been raised in.

where does rap and hip-hop come from? it comes from the ghettos and the public housing systems - well, at least the honest stuff does. it comes from the 12 year old drug hustlers who have dreams of getting out of life they've been handed. it comes from the kids who didn't have a shot at "the good life" that i was raised in.

they're telling their story.
and their story is what frames their theology.

it's no wonder the suburban church struggles with concepts like "hope" and "mourning" and "doubt" - our theology has been framed by simplicity and ease, comfort and shelter. we avoid the challenging questions and speak in generalities like "Jesus help me to trust you more." we don't ask questions like...

"Jesus, why was there another earthquake in Japan last week?"
or
"Jesus, why was i born into an upper middle-class home and not into a slum in india?"
or
"Jesus, why do so many people have to suffer so greatly?"
or
"Jesus, why don't my parents love each other anymore?"
or
"Jesus, if you're so great, why couldn't you heal my friend's dad?"
or
"Jesus, why don't i even remotely feel your presence?"

and even when we ask these questions, we give answers like, "well, we live in a fallen world," or "we don't understand God's plan," and immediately extinguish a legitimately terrific theological question. a question that we ought to wrestle with, but instead we can forget about because of the ease of the culture that defines our theology.

hip-hop does not forget about these questions. why? because it can't.

the artists and musicians that feed hip-hop culture has defined their theology in a culture that isn't allowed to ignore those questions because they live it. it is their story. the people of Japan aren't allowed to ignore the answer to the "why was there another earthquake?" question. if someone from the Indian slums asked me, "why was i born here and not where you were born?" and i answered, "we just don't understand God's plan," then i would hope they would slap me. cause the next question would be "so God's plan involves me growing up on pennies a day?"

hip-hop is a voice for the oppressed, for the less-fortunate, for the marginalized.
it's a voice for the people who never had a chance at a different life.
it's a voice for the individuals who wrestle with the toughest of questions.

hip-hop is truer theology than most people realize - or maybe better phrased, than most people allow themselves to realize.

listen: The Roots - Dear God 2.0

-apc.

the greatest story ever.

2011-04-07T00:40:00.003-05:00

i am in a book club with a handful of my closest guy friends. it was suggested by someone that we read this book called "water for elephants" which was supposed to be a real gem.

we were reluctant at first - the book was written by a woman and this is the "ultra manly book club" (iUMBC* for short) - but we all agreed that if it was so highly acclaimed that this book must be worth some literary value.

we should have followed our hunch - the book is awful.**

the book developed well at first. it was entertaining and interesting and had all the details that made you ask, "man, how is the author ever going to get this story to come together in the end?" i like books like that. books that make you think there are going to be loose ends, but end up coming together beautifully in the end. where you turn the last page and you think, "wow. that was impressive work."

then suddenly, about 2/3 of the way through the book - on page 299 - [spoiler alert/saving you the frustration] two minor characters with developing story lines are thrown off a train to their deaths. no resolution. no answers. no real reason - they are just ditched from the story, and the reader is left to wonder why they cared so much about their well being in the first place.

the Bible does not do things like this.

the Bible is a mysteriously ancient book full of questions, creation, destruction, war, letters, songs, prophecies and stories. there are thousands of pages. there are countless stories - some historical, some metaphorical, some prophetical. the first 2/3 of the christian Bible - the old testament - is comprised of 39 different books written by a bunch of different people, but despite its varying authors, tones and styles, all the pieces fit together to develop the most incredible back story ever written. and what makes the Bible even more amazing is that everything comes together in the end. there are zero loose ends.

everything is fulfilled to perfection.

tonight i had the privilege of partaking in a passover seder dinner with this year's confirmation class and their parents. i had never had been to one of these jewish traditions before, and i didn't know exactly what to expect. i knew it would be a lot of symbolic foods and actions that pertain to the delivering of the Israelites from Egypt following the Exodus "passover". that's about all i knew.

i was amazed at the power of this meal. every piece of this Jewish tradition pointed to Jesus. granted, we read a modified script that detailed exactly how each piece of the dinner perfectly foretold the coming, suffering, dying and ressurecting of our Lord. i found myself thinking, "how can anyone read this text and be blind to how wonderfully Jesus fulfills everything foretold in the Scriptures?"

in Exodus, God sends an angel of death to Egypt to kill every first born son - man and animal - and the only way to avoid being subject to this killing is to kill an unblemished lamb and - without breaking any bones - spread it's blood across the doorframe of your house. that is what will save you from death.

1000 years before he was even born, God was already pointing toward Jesus - the sinless man who would bleed to death while hanging on a wooden cross.

just as the Israelites were delivered from bondage, so we are delivered. through the death of this "lamb" that was foretold about 1000, 800, 600, 450 years before he even shows up. the links between the old and new testaments are too perfect to be anything but God-breathed.

as we near the beginning of Holy Week, i am struck more powerfully than ever before by story of our God and how perfect his ways are. there are no loose ends or unexplained storylines. everything works together exactly how it should.

and that includes my storyline.
and it includes your storyline.

the same unchanging God who delivered his people from the grip of Pharoah, the same God who parted the Red Sea. the same God who miraculously provided food and water for his people in the desert. the same God who spoke to his prophets. the same God who sent his foretold son so that we too may be delivered.

that same God - the one who knitted us in our mother's womb and set us apart by his grace - has included you and me in his perfect story. and you better believe that he isn't going to chuck us off a train and dispose of our storylines because he's having trouble working us into his perfect plan.

cause clearly, that's not something our God does.
just look at the book he wrote.

-apc.

* - the "i" has since been added because one of our members is now in the country of columbia - making the word "international" essential to our title.

** - and i'm going to go out on a limb that the movie will be entirely worse. casting cedric diggory/mr. twilight/robert pattinson as the protagonist was the perfect move in making a bad book into a worse movie.

educating myself in the art of mystery.

2011-03-31T14:54:00.004-05:00

over the last few years, i have grown to discover that mystery is something that deeply intrigues me. it has probably always been present, but only recently have i become totally self-aware of now mystery affects my soul. if i were to make a short list of the things that have sparked this discovery, the list would look like this:

1. LOST
2. exploring the old, rundown attics and bell towers on kstate's campus.
3. traveling to spain and seeing the alhambra.

suddenly i am asking questions like, "i wonder if someone hid their baseball cards between the walls of my house," or "i wonder if we drained this lake if we'd find all sorts of treasures from 100s of years ago at the bottom," or "if i hide a note in a random book the library, i wonder how long it would take for someone else to find it." those are the questions i find myself thinking on a daily basis. i wonder, i wonder, i wonder.

but here's the catch: i'm not certain that i really want to know the answer to any of these questions. the mysteriousness of the question greatly outweighs the knowledge of any of the answers. j.j. abrams (creator of LOST) says that "mystery is a catalyst for imagination...and there are times when mystery is more important than knowledge."

i want to discover what it is that makes mystery so potent. i want to edcucate myself on the art of mystery - books, movies, history, stories - i want to find the best examples of mystery and pack my brain with tales of curiousity and questions and wonder. i don't want answers. i just want to learn of new ways to cultivate questions.

it's a large task, i know, but i already have a trio of ideas on where to start:

1. the classics according to the world
- sherlock holmes - sir arthur conan doyle
- the maltese falcon - dashiell hammett
- anything by agatha christie
2. every book seen in/referenced/that influenced LOST - amazon has a handful of LOST reading plans, and LOSTpedia has an extensive list of references and influences. i will begin this list with:
- "the mysterious island" - jules verne
- "the third policeman" - flann o'brian/brian o'nolan
- "everything that rises must converge" - flannery o'conner
- "20,000 leagues under the sea" - jules verne
3. The Bible* - the greatest mystery ever recorded.

so that's where i'm beginning my quest. i want to feed this new self-discovery. hopefully this is a launching pad into all sorts of adventure.

-apc.

* - side note here: how cool would it be to create a YouVersion reading plan reading the Bible from a "mystery" perspective? who knows what that would look like, but it's a fun idea.

guat 2011: flying home.

2011-03-20T20:41:00.001-05:00

our flight (continental 2976Y) is on time and scheduled to land in kc at 11:09pm! see you then!

-apc.

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guat 2011: from san juan to antigua.

2011-03-18T22:21:00.001-05:00

our last day of teaching was terrific. the art group did face painting, science had space day, english taught about foods, but most importantly, some amazing relationships blossomed. what a bummer it was to leave the kids; it is amazing the bonds you can develop over 5 days, but they are strong as ever. we will miss the san juan community greatly.

last night we had the opportunity to share a meal with the teachers and then exchange encouraging words with them. they are such amazing people. its such a joy to see a group of people so committed to the growth and development of these kids. so many times we have talked about what God is already doing in san juan...they are a great part of it.

this morning we awoke normal time for breakfast and by 9am we were being escorted to the docks by the 6th grade class! the boat ride across was quick and flawless and we were to panajachel and on to antigua by 130pm.

the last hours have been spent shoppingand bartering, laughing and lounging in our new home in antigua for the next day.

it is sad to be away from san juan, but we know the missions trip hasn't ended yet - even though our teaching is over, we are still seeking for places to serve and aid in God's call. pray for our final 48 hours and for safe travels. see you all soon!!

-apc.

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guat 2011: art class has expressionism day!

2011-03-16T13:30:00.001-05:00

generally, the kids in san juan struggle to think creatively and abstractly. our translators tell ua that a few weeks ago they were asked to draw something they are talented at, and almost all the kids found a picture in a book and traced it.

so when the art class presented "expressionism day" we were all curious to see how Picasso-like they could be with their self-portraits. here are a few of the finished products:

they are so talented! our art group is doing an incredible job getting the kids to think creatively and think outside the box!

-apc.

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guat 2011: wednesday student blogs.

2011-03-16T11:53:00.003-05:00

two days, two sets of student blogs! today we get to hear from four more of our students (tori, hannah, meredith and marcus) on how God has been working in them and through them while in san juan la laguna:

Hola from San Juan! Today is our third day of teaching and I could not be more excited. In English we have talked about the weather, our emotions and our families. Today we are taking about food. One of my favorite memories is from Monday. We taught the older kids (3rd-6th) grade the phrase, “How do you feel?” and the response “I feel happy”. We also taught them the phrases “How is the weather?” and the response “The weather is sunny”. As the day ended one little chico approached me and asked me both questions. That made my heart soar! We were successful in teaching them a little bit of English and connecting with them. I have really seen God working through the teachers. As we teach they listened attentively and I really admired the fact that they were also really interested in what we were teaching and it was very encouraging. I am off to teach, adios!

Tori H.

Hi! I am sooo happy that I got the opportunity to go on this trip. I can’t even explain how amazing it is to be here and in a totally different culture and environment. The weather has been perfect and it’s just beautiful here. Everyone here is so nice and welcoming. The kids are absolutely amazing. They are so eager and willing to learn and they are also interested in getting to know us more personally as well. I heard that the food wasn't going to be very good but contrary to that it’s been really good! I have also gotten to know the people who are on the trip with me and they are incredible and I am grateful that I have been able to get to know them!

Hannah S.

Hola mis Amigas! Today I woke up refreshed and energized, and for the first time didn’t wake up to the clucking of the roosters outside my bedroom window. Throughout this week Nate has been stressing the idea that our nervousness is a good thing - that our nerves allow us to enter into situations with a humble attitude and force us to rely on God. God has surprised me every single time I have been anxious from the zipline to leading devotionals, to teaching classes, he has come alongside of me. Today the science group is focusing on chemistry and all of the kids were given their own packet of pop rocks to be exposed to a chemical reaction. Juanito responded by saying “Ah! I feel miracles in my mouth!” Their joy has been an incredible source of encouragement and energy for us as teachers.

Today I am thankful for recognition. Yesterday I was able to talk with a mother across the street named Gloria. Last year I met her and was able to hear her story and pray with her and to be able to talk with her again was amazing. The moment I called her name she embraced me and welcomed me into her house/art gallery. Gloria is now a single mother. Her husband was killed two weeks ago last year. At this time last year her children didn’t yet know of their father’s death and after being told that “he is with Jesus” they would walk up and down the rows at church searching for his face. Gloria would like us to pray for her family, she fears that her husband is in purgatory for their having children out of wedlock. Relationships here are not forgotten and I am convinced that while I am at home in Kansas City praying for Gloria, she is here in San Juan praying for me as well.

Meredith S.

Last night I got the opportunity to play futbol (soccer) with some of the sixth grade boys. It was totally dark outside and we were playing every man for himself, by the end of the night I was drenched in sweat and had a tan line of dirt around my ankles. We played without words, just grunts and gestures, and it is probably one of the top highlights of this trip so far.

Another enjoyable moment was when we went to a café that hosted the best coffee in Guatemala; alejandro was crazy for the stuff. I ordered a cappuccino, which was delicious, and while waiting for it we had great conversation about the trip and Ezekiel’s ministry, I am pretty sure that we are going back again today.

If you can, I would like you to pray for Chris, Mary, Jacob, and Eric all of which who have been sick. I would also request that you pray for the whole team that we would just do God's work and join him where he needs us.

Marcus L.

our trip is more than halfway over! what a joy it has been to be here over the last few days, but God is still moving and working! our prayers - and yours – are changing lives here in san juan. thank you so much for your support.

-apc.

guat 2011: monday student blogs.

2011-03-15T12:30:00.007-05:00

as promised (only about 12 hours late): here are some thoughts from our group after our first day of teaching! read on to hear from alex, kj, trent and mary kate!!!

Hola mis amigos. Mi nombre es Alexjandro, y este dia ha sido fantastico! Alright, so that is it for the Spanish, but after speaking it for a whole morning and being in this culture, it just sticks. So far this trip has been amazing and I can’t wait to see what is still yet to come. We have become such a bonded group and it comes out in the way we teach these kids. No matter how hard it may be with language, together we work so well with the kids and we all feel that it is more then just doing activities, but truly teaching and making a difference.
Alex R.

Greetings from Guatemala,
This trip has been absolutely incredible, other than the fact that today has been one of the most stressful days of my life! In our first day of teaching I was in charge of teaching biology and anatomy to hyperactive kids who need to be constantly moving. It is however impossible to get upset with them because they are beyond adorable and melt your heart every time they smile at you. Now that my teaching is over I am able to lay back and enjoy the rest of the trip without stress.

I can’t look at the mountains enough; they are so gorgeous and take my breath away.
KJ R.

To those it interests
After a full day of teaching now under our belts, while being here for 4 days, I do know that we all are starting to feel the stress grow. However, none of that matters as much due to the amazing times we have had as a group. I feel that as a group we are having a blast and are really getting to know each other. Great bonding like standing for an hour-ish in the bed of a who only knows how old Toyota Tacoma driving down a steep, dangerous, road while coming back to the hotel from some of the most fun I have ever had in my life at the world’s highest zip-line.

Now that a day of teaching is done, I feel so much more relieved. I am assuming that most of that is from the fact that today was the day I was in charge of and it is now over. Still I am looking forward to the last 3 days and I am sure I will be sad again when we have to leave. Can’t wait to be home though so I can sleep without be serenaded at night by tuk-tuk’s, roosters, and Marcus trombone snoring.
Trent F.

Hello from Guatemala! I wanted to share with you guys a moment that happened to me today, while teaching to the kids. I am in the art group and I taught in the classes today, and through that whole experience I could feel God giving me strength to keep going and talk in front of those kids for the first time. In trying to communicate things to kids, I would try talking in Spanish and one person would get it and be able to explain it to another person. Through all of that I just saw God in helping break down the communication barrier. This trip has been amazing so far and I can’t wait to see what happens with my life through out the rest of the week.
Mary Kate P.

as i type this, we're halfway through day two of teaching and things are going great! the p.e. group is playing hockey, the english group is teaching family terms, the science team is using homemade catapults to teach physics, and the art group is having every student and teacher paint a piece of fabric that they will be sewing together to create a massive tapestry for the school to keep!

more updates to come - thanks again for your countless prayers. also, just as a reminder, you can see the short twitter updates (complete with photos) at my twitter account here: @adampaulcooper.

-apc.

guat 2011: prayer tour, zip-line, san pedro.

2011-03-13T19:46:00.003-05:00

we have been in san juan for over 24 hours now, but it already feels like days. after a gorgeous (and a little longer than anticipated boat ride) we settled into our hotel, grabbed a late afternoon lunch, and quickly set off on a prayer tour around san juan.

our first stop on the tour was the school we will be teaching at over the next week. the school is run by a man named Francisco with whom we have developed a tremendous relationship with over the years here in san juan. Francisco has taken the elementary school from a 3-room schoolhouse to a multi-level school with around a dozen classrooms and an adjacent basketball court with a brand new roof! Francisco gives all credit to God for providing groups like us to help. we prayed for our teaching, for Francisco, and for the kids at the school. what a joy and an honor to be apart of God's story here.

our next stop was a church where Francisco's son serves as youth pastor and worship leader. from there we went to a demolished home on the north side of town. it had been left in ruins by a mudslide. the house was the home of a family whose children go to the school. it was so humbling to see the hardship that this family had gone through. we prayed for the community, for the lives we come in contact with, for the divine appointments we will encounter that we don't even have in our schedule. what a rich time of convo with God.

this morning we woke up and after a quick breakfast we jumped in a truck and drove to the zipline!! we all did it! what a great time of bonding for our group - everyone was so encouraging for those of us that were a bit nervous (i.e. meredith and karlie). so awesome and so fun.

dinner is in san pedro tonight. san pedro is the neighboring town to san juan and a fun place to hang out and grab a meal. but its early to bed, early to rise tomorrow cause the teaching begins in the morning!

thanks for your prayers! stories from the students are coming tomorrow night!

-apc.

guat 2011: tori's bag is found.

2011-03-12T09:51:00.001-06:00

quick update this morning: tori's bag has made it back to the guat city airport and is en route to us in panajachel! what an answer to prayer.

the weather is PERFECT this morning for a boat ride. 70s, sunny, no clouds, gorgeous volcanoes. boat leaves in 72 minutes!

keep praying. love and miss you all in the states.

-apc.

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guat 2011: made it to panajachel.

2011-03-11T22:40:00.001-06:00

we have made it to lake atitlan!

our trip from KC > OKC > houston was flawless. we found our shuttle to the hyatt place hotel for the night. this morning came very early - left for the airport at 7 am - but our flight was delayed a bit so we were able to kick it a bit at the gate before departure.

flight was smooth, customs was a breeze, and we all got our money exchanged with no trouble at all. the only hiccup we have experienced thus far is that someone took the wrong baggage and accidentally grabbed tori's by mistake, leaving his behind! continental seems to have it under control though, and her bag should find its way here soon. the other girls have been great leaning her stuff, and she has been a great sport throughout. pray that her bag finds its way safely!

we spent the rest of the day on the windy roads of guatemala, pulling into panajachel around 8pm. the weather is gorgeous and we are all so thrilled to step outside and see the beautiful scenery in the morning! what a gift God's creation is.

a few of us have been chatting about how interesting it is that there are guatemalans all around us, all who have their own story and their own encounters with the same God we know back home. looking out on Guatemala from the plane thinking, "man, there are so many places that God - this one same God that we know and love - is working at the same time."

prayer: take time to slow down to notice things like the encounter above.

we are a tired bunch, but spirits are high and very eager to cross the lake to san juan in the morning. we had some dessert and sang some karaoke up the street from our hotel tonight, but we are all turned in now ready to see what Jesus calls us to for day 3 of 10.

we appreciate your prayers! stay tuned for an update from san juan tomorrow!

-apc.

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hillcrest covenant church: guatemala 2011.

2011-03-09T10:11:00.008-06:00

over the next couple weeks, my blog will serve as a domain for our hillcrest student missions trip to san juan, guatemala. we leave tomorrow afternoon and return sunday, march 20, and in that time i, along with others on our team, will be updating this space to keep you up to speed on the ministry our group has the honor of being a part of in san juan.

hillcrest has been doing this trip for 7 years now, and in that time we've had the opportunity to teach children, do different construction jobs, and build lasting relationships with the people of san juan. this year we are teaching science, art, english, and p.e. to around 150-200 elementary school children. san juan is on the south-eastern shore of lake atitlan in the solola region of guatemala. we fly from kansas city to houston, and into guatemala city on friday morning. we then drive to panajachel (on the north shore of the lake), and then taxi across by boat on saturday morning, march 12. feel free to explore the area on the google map below.

check back often for updates, photos, and prayer requests, or follow me on twitter (@adampaulcooper) as i will be linking each update there as it is posted.

pray for our group as we take part in what God is doing in guatemala. here we go!

-apc.

superbowl xlv.

2011-02-07T10:17:00.013-06:00

so the superbowl happened last night. congrats to the pack. here are some thoughts that i had during and following the game:

1. the emergence of jordy nelson - the k-state alum led all receivers with 140 yards - twice as many as any other receiver on the field - and scored the first points of the game. in 17 regular season games he put up 500+ yards - in the playoffs he had nearly 300. jordy suddenly emerged as aaron rodgers's favorite target: 15 times in the superbowl (of course, the injury to donald driver helped that). on most teams, jordy would be a legit #2 receiver. unfortunately he's playing 3rd or 4th fiddle behind jennings and driver. his future looks great - especially as driver is aging.

2. black eyed box heads feat. usher surprise - finally. we are redeemed from the janet jackson mishap. we've been subjected to mick jagger's 80 year-old midriff and the boss's camera crotch slide as punishment during this pop-music purgatory. glad that's behind us. however, i wasn't sure the black eyed peas were the answer.

rough start, but that's to be expected when you're leading with tracks off an auto-tuned lackluster album. couple that with fergie's microphone issues, and her overall lack of musical talent, and i thought we were in for a real bummer show. it hit a low point when fergie was grinding on slash. just unfortunate.

but then they turned a corner with "pump it" and "lets get it started". all i was hoping for was one track off Elephunk and Monkey Business, and i got both. phew. all my hopes and dreams were fulfilled that easily. but then...surprise! will.i.am broke into "omg" and usher decended from the worlds largest hd screen to blow our minds with his white kerchief. did i fist pump? yes.

the whole "LOVE" theme they ended with? total throw away for me. you can't grind your booty on slash's guitar and expect anyone to think you have a healthy concept of love. they saved the show with the box head dancers - felt like a Von Trap family/youtube sensation/flight of the conchords "humans are dead"/TRON mash up - and i absolutely loved it. then they heel clicked and i gasped at the greatness of the choreography. so simple. so silly. nailed it.

overall - 6/10...which was 3/10 more than i was anticipating.

3. why are the commercials so bad? is it really that difficult to brainstorm a 30 second concept that makes people laugh? i'm supposed to think that a grizzly cowboy singing "tiny dancer" is funny? godaddy dupes the nation into lusting after joan rivers? not funny. half of the commercials were either FOX promos or movie previews (though i was very intrigued by that new j.j. abrams movie...though i am very biased.) i was glad that they companies ditched the "lets make fun of the male gender" theme they went with last year. but they replaced it with...nothing. doritos seemed to be the only ones who came to play.

but the mini-darth vader VW commercial was so great.

welp. that's all i've got. you stay classy, internet.

-apc.

free weird cat.

2010-12-22T12:26:00.002-06:00

-apc.

REVIEW: kanye west - my beautiful dark twisted fantasy.

2010-11-22T12:18:00.005-06:00

every review i read is telling me this album is phenomenal. rolling stone gives it the often-talked-about-rarely-seen 5/5 stars. PMA blog gives it a 95/100. consider me confused.

maybe i'm just selfish and want kanye circa 2007. maybe i just throw my guard up when someone (kanye) messes with near-perfection (Graduation). there has to be something off about how i'm approaching this album, because this album certainly doesn't warrant phrases like, "It's kanye's best album" (rolling stone), or "It’s Kanye’s most complex and complete release and one of the most consistently impressive hip hop albums in recent years" (PMA).

so is it me? or is it them? something is just off.

the album is good. i will admit that, but it is certainly not "consistently impressive", nor is it "the best". its better than 808s, and that about it. individual songs can potentially compete with some off kanye's previous 4 albums, but this album ought to be viewed as a complete album rather than a collection of individual tracks. that makes it a bit dicey for me.

don't get me wrong though, there are bright spots: Dark Fantasy is a perfect lead track - the sampling draws you in and you catch your head bobbing to the back beat almost immediately. the aptly titled "Power" makes me feel like i'm about to take over the world in slow motion. it's chanting, clapping Afromerica sample puts off a dynamite underdog uprising vibe. pretty sure it has already been adopted as the team entrance music in 40% of NFL stadiums. "All of the Lights" is truly brilliant. it flows beautifully from "Power" and continues the world-domination feel.

but there are also spots where i think, "who in the world thinks this sounds remotely appealing?" tracks like "Monster" and "So Appalled" make up a dismal heart to the album. if the beginning of the album is beautiful, then this is certainly the dark and twisted portion of the album. "Monster" may give me nightmares, and "So Appalled" may never make it past five in my itunes play count.

this album stands as a whole, and i respect that a great deal. i also respect the fact that kanye pulls samples from rad old school tracks (smokey robinson, cold grits, the mojo men), but he also tosses in artists i've never even heard of on nearly every track. both of these bits, now that i think about it, revert back to his College Dropout and Late Registration days. i was spoiled with MJ and Daft Punk samples on Graduation, but he seems to have found a certain aspect of his roots while transforming them into something new and musically forward...even if i don't really care for where he's progressing at certain times.

maybe the most impressive sample on the album is the use of the original "Soul Makossa" track that is probably better known (at least by me) as a Michael Jackson reference. he throws it down as the backtrack in the Bon Iver collaboration that winds the album down to a close. the shortest track on the album (a whopping 4:17), it leads with an Imogen Heap vocoder feel that builds to an and 808-heavy Soul Makossa beat that i dig quite a bit (though its possible that he wins me over simply with the blending of the sample and the "mamakusa" line in the first verse).

it starts and finishes strong (though i can't help but be bummed out by the track 2 Kid Cudi collab - i tried, but i'm just not a Cudi fan). ultimately, save for a few songs that do anything but get me excited, the album is solid as a whole. though if i had to weigh the songs i love versus the songs i hate, it'd be an even split.

i respect the album (which i certainly did not expect to). the samples i thought were gone are present and are, truthfully, very strong. and i can ALMOST understand how this album passed with flying colors according to so many. depending on the moment - i both love it and hate it, but honestly - despite a handful of tracks i find TERRIBLE - kanye has again proven that he truly is a genius. insane? that too, but he utilizes his insanity relatively well.

ugh. i hate that i just said all that.

overall, the album is good. but not great. certainly not as good as others have claimed it to be. but as kanye says in his 35-minute film "Runaway" - "first thing in this world baby, don't pay attention to anything you see in the news." it's not a 5/5 or a 95.

i give it a 78.

-apc.

reasons i used to blog more.

2010-11-22T10:59:00.002-06:00

reasons i used to blog more:

1. i used to live in manhattan and go to radinas/bluestem every day.
2. i have very little to say to the world wide web that can't be stated in 140 characters.
3. john buck got traded (now twice).
4. i got married and have more important things going on.

-apc.

wedding dance floor playlist.

2010-10-05T14:47:00.005-05:00

just so we can all relive the epic saturday evening on the dance floor - here's a screenshot of my itunes:

dj falco absolutely killed it. thanks to everyone who sacrificed their bodies on the dance floor to celebrate the coopers.

-apc.

blogging from my new phone.

2010-09-16T13:15:00.003-05:00

so I got a new phone on tuesday. its the EVO 4G and it is changing my life rather rapidly.

you probably have no interest in this blog...in fact, the only reason I even have any interest in it is simply to test if this Blogger app I just downloaded actually works.

anyone recommend anything? EVO related or Blogger related or app related? I'm new to all this.

-apc.

word verification balderdash.

2010-09-11T10:44:00.010-05:00

typically when i go to comment on a blog, it annoys me a great deal to have to type in the jumbled set of letters. supposedly by typing these letters in i can prove to the interwebz that i am, in fact, a real-life human being and not a robot apparatus. it's truly amazing that this is enough to convince the "www" that the comment is not fake - and it's even more amazing that no one has figured out how to create a computer that can stump word verification.

the most obnoxious scenario is when you can't even read the letters - they're all distorted and overlapping and you're can't be sure if it's a lowercase "L", a capital "i" or the number "1". so you get it wrong, the page refreshes with a big red box saying "you failed to successfully reproduce the letters! go back to 1st grade!" and sometimes you even get to retype your whole comment cause it was lost in the refreshing. what a joy.

however, blogger does an exceptional job with this - their letters are legible, non-worbled, and if you get them wrong it doesn't delete your entire comment in the refreshing process. but my favorite thing about blogger's word verification, is that it creates a jumbling of letters that actually appear to be real words: drego, ligro, idesto, croida - but they're not real words. they just happen to contain some standard proto-indo-european letter clusterings and look like real words.

so what do i do? i play balderdash. i make up the definition of the "word" i see. examples...

drego - noun - an east-asian plant known for its uncharacteristically high levels of vitamin B.

phsta - noun - a deceptive, albeit illegal, maneuver in the game of chess where one is able to dupe their opponent by moving the knight only 2 spaces rather than the correctly moved 3 spaces.

ligro - noun - a baseball term developed in the 1930s as an insult to non-black individuals playing in the negro leagues.

croida - noun - any organism with a brightly colored exterior skeleton (e.g. ladybugs, scallops).

apparently i can only come up with nouns.

now it's your turn! i have turned on "word verification" on my blog. comment, and make up a definition for the displayed word! what a genius idea. maybe i'll even make it a competition and pick a winner!

hizzah! happy balderdashing!

-apc.

relationalyouthministry.com: i am not worthy.

2010-08-25T14:00:00.001-05:00

my first guest blog is up on relationalyouthministry.com! what an honor it is to be a part of a conversation on how to navigate youth ministry more successfully. you can read my post below or check it out here along with many other youth worker voices.

i am not worthy of this calling.

i have this thought on a daily basis – sometimes multiple times a day – and it burdens me. i am not worthy of leading anyone anywhere, let alone toward the only perfect being to ever live. there is no reason i should be allowed to be a voice for students. i’ve got junk in my life just like they do – i mean c’mon, i almost swore in that last sentence! i have no business even writing this blog! i don’t even use proper capitalization!

i’m not sure if you’ve ever felt this way. my inkling is that if you’ve been a youth worker for very long, then you have. i constantly feel unworthy. broken. messed up. completely unqualified to be working in “the trenches” of youth ministry. maybe you have too. maybe you haven’t yet. maybe you used to feel it and decided you had to get out of the trenches before it ruined you. maybe you’re toying with that thought right now.

the reality is that none of us are worthy of being His hands and feet. we are not Jesus. we are imperfect people trying our best to model Him in this fallen world we live in, and the moment we think we’re worthy of this calling is the moment we need to reevaluate our heart because somewhere along the way we decided we really were Jesus instead of the cracked and bruised version we truly are.

but here’s the other reality: it’s a calling. there was a moment – maybe 5 or 6 years ago – when i actually thought, “shoot. i could do youth ministry for the rest of my life. i feel God calling me to this!” in retrospect that feels like such a pompous thing to even consider. i actually thought i could be the hands and feet of Jesus on this planet? must’ve been dreaming.

it really is a calling. where were you when you heard God’s soft voice prodding you into life in student ministry? i was in 12th grade in a 15-passenger van on my way back from a middle school event. it wasn’t a monumental evening – probably just a killer scavenger hunt or something – but i heard it. it was God’s voice through one of the adult leaders in our ministry.

“you know, you’ve got the right skills for youth ministry. you ought to look into it more seriously…”

whoa. so it wasn’t my idea after all. it was someone else’s. and it wasn’t really someone else’s either – it was God’s. it was his idea for me from the beginning, and i think it is his plan for you too.

you know what else reminds me that i was made for this? when i get to observe the lives of the students i have watched grow up. sometimes we don’t get to see the fruits of our labor in youth ministry for many years to come. we lead a Bible study, and we think, “i wonder if they even understood that.” or we meet with a student who is going through a tough situation and think, “i feel like my words weren’t the slightest bit helpful.” or someone comes to you grieving and you have nothing to say to them so you think, “i literally just sat there and said nothing.”

but then we hear of those moments years in the future: “remember what you said at Bible study that one day?” or “thanks for helping me out with that one thing.” or “thanks for listening to me vent that one time.” treasure these moments. they are few and far between, but remember them always. they are the fruits of our labor and they remind us that we are following God’s calling. as unworthy and as human as we are – this was God’s plan for us, and these are the fruits of our ministry.

and lastly, remember that God knows the plans he has for you and look forward to what you are yet to accomplish for the Kingdom. after establishing an understanding of why i’m here and what i’ve done, i can regroup and focus on the future. what is my next step in ministry? what does God yet have in store for me? how will he use me next?

for what it’s worth, here is the advice of a broken, imperfect, burnt out and messed up youth worker:

1. understand that you are broken.
2. remember you are called.
3. celebrate where you have been.
4. look forward to where God is taking you on your journey.

those are my daily prayers. actually, not daily. i wish i could tell you i prayed this as often as i feel unworthy, but i can’t. maybe it’s an inverse relationship – the more i pray that prayer, the less i feel unworthy. i think i’ll try it and see what happens.

hopefully this post is an encouragement to you – wherever you are at in your journey in youth ministry. i urge you to not give up. you were made for this. celebrate the past and look forward to what God has in store for you and your ministry.

-apc.

annie.

2010-08-12T22:06:00.002-05:00

this is genius.

-apc.

fantasy football roster.

2010-08-12T01:05:00.003-05:00

welcome to my 2010 fantasy football opening day roster:

qb - drew brees - new orleans saints
qb - matt schuab - houston texans
qb - vince young - tennessee titans
rb - deangelo williams - carolina panthers
rb - cedric benson - cincinnati bengals
rb - jerome harrison - cleveland browns
wr - desean jackson - philadelphia eagles
wr - johnny knox - chicago bears
wr - dwayne bowe - kansas city chiefs
wr - arrelious benn - tampa bay buccaneers
wr - terrell owens - cincinnati bengals
wr - antwaan randle el - pittsburgh steelers
te - visanthe shiancoe - minnesota vikings
te - jeremy shockey - new orleans saints
d/st - packers
d/st - browns
k - neil rackers - houston texans

quarterback is an obvious strength, but running back leaves a bit to be desired.

picked up the packers defense/special teams early and added the browns defense/special teams (mainly becuase of return man josh cribbs).

my receiving core is decent - led by desean jeackson - i'm putting a lot of hope in t.o. and rookie arrelious benn.

i won our league last year. here's to shooting for a repeat. yikes.

-apc.

episode one: the pancake molds.

2010-08-03T08:14:00.000-05:00

episode one with my new star wars pancake molds happened yesterday after church. it went okay - it was exciting, even though execution wasn't perfect. i put too much batter in the molds and they got stuck and wouldn't come out. vader ended up looking more like darth hillbilly with that grill. and yoda ended up with a lobotomy. TK-421 turned out great, but wasn't at his post long cause he ended up in my belly.

episode 2 may be entitled "attack of the chocolate chips". here's to hoping.

-apc.

home office decor.

2010-08-02T10:33:00.003-05:00

this room is across the hall from where i sleep every night.

we picked out and painted the orange and karlie and my mom tag teamed for the star wars prints* on my birthday back in march. finally got them up. easily my favorite room in our home.

-apc.

* - btw, the dude just came out with some new ones from the prequel trilogy....eh.

happy birthday to john buck (the all-star himself).

2010-07-07T10:01:00.007-05:00

july 7, 1980, kemmerer, wyoming - greatness was born. and here we are, 30 years later, and greatness is traveling to his first all-star game.

let's be completely honest - none of us saw this coming. even the most devout fans had not considered mr. incredible to be a serious all-star game candidate. even when he was a member of the "we send one player because every team gets to send one player" royals.

who knew that when the royals traded him away to toronto he would receive the 3rd most votes among american league catchers? and sure, he's only getting to play because victor martinez is hurt and the AL needed a replacement. but the reality is that John Buck is traveling to Anaheim this weekend to play in the all-star game. the ALL-STAR GAME. WHAT.

can i add his American League jersey to my wedding registry? or can i start taking up donations so that i can get it? or you could just go buy it for me here? i simply must own it.

back on march 31, i put together a quick blog comparing buck and jason kendall's spring training statistics. for the most part, john was making kendall look like a joke (coincidentally his initials are JK - interesting). kendall was batting .139 to buck's .304. you can read more here.

lets look at their halfway point stats:

buck - .269 avg, .502 slg, 13 hr, 40 rbi.
kendall - .267 avg, .319 slg, 0 hr, 29 rbi.

not even a contest. also, can we look at my season predictions for JB?!

.268 avg, .524 slg, 18 hr, 84 rbi

could he be anymore on pace to NAIL those numbers? i mean literally, do i know my favorite player or what?!

also there are only two catchers on the AL roster. joe mauer and john buck. good company for sure - here's to hoping that john comes in for mauer for some late inning heroics. perhaps a walk-off dinger?! all-star mvp?! ooooooo man - the possibilities! i'll be tuning in for sure.*

enjoy your birthday john. hope your trip to anaheim didn't spoil any vacation plans you had for your birthday weekend. hopefully they added to the festivities.

-ap.

and ps: wikipedia has it listed that buck throws....switch!? i'm researching this

* - i can say things like this now that i have directv. holler.

our engagement photos.

2010-07-05T11:36:00.007-05:00

sorry for the lack of blogs lately everyone. it's been a busy busy month.

but here comes a fury of posts. i've got three on my mind right now, and chances are i can get them all written down in the next 45 minutes. here's the first one: our engagement pictures are up! check out a sampling on the parson's blog - they did an amazing job. more pics after the "jump"!

just click the pic.

-ap.

EDIT: so there's no way i'll finish my next two blogs in time. but coming soon: john buck made the all-star team.

video blogs & super jack brothers.

2010-05-27T11:26:00.005-05:00

i'm thinking about dabbling in video blogs.

i have a feeling that they're a more effective way of communicating than writing paragraphs, bullet points, etc. they're more interactive and more interesting. and i feel like with my editing experience, they'd be equally as tasking to post.

BUT there are definitely pros and cons to both. for example, i can't embed clever links/asterisks in videos, but i can in text.* but when i get super excited about something - say, the LOST finale - there's no way that text can fully capture the high degree of emotion that i'm feeling in that moment.

so that's on the horizon.

also - this is the best ever (warning, potential spoiler):

FALCON PUNCH.

-apc.

* - see?

what makes me feel alive?

2010-05-24T22:49:00.007-05:00

- general mysteriousness and detective work.
- intentionally digesting a new album.
- a quality ipa.
- LOST references.
- star wars everything.
- bringing on the cats.
- jumping into bodies of water.
- planning life with my future wife.
- spontaneous rhyming.
- sizing up a room and determining how we would fare in Survivor.
- throwing rocks.
- storytelling.
- my two beautiful and genius sisters.
- understanding and actually feeling that i am an integral part of God's story.
- my initials...

-apc.

boba fett/espn.

2010-05-18T22:55:00.002-05:00

this is stinkin amazing. someone, somewhere is an absolute genius. and for the first time in my life, i want a bumper sticker.

-apc.

confirmation sunday.

2010-05-02T17:33:00.003-05:00

just a little video i put together to welcome our congregation to today's confirmation sunday. props to jay and mark for ruling the world.

and props to ALL the confirmands. i'm proud of you all.

-ap.

a 12-year old speaks: what adults can learn from kids.

2010-04-27T23:40:00.007-05:00

don't you ever tell a middle schooler what they can't do.*

for now, let's ignore the fact that this 12-year old is beyond rad and focus on the substance here:

"age has absolutely nothing to do with it."
what have we accomplished? we always ask students what they want to be when they grow up. usually their responses are outlandish - astronaut, baseball player, stuntman, etc. not many of them jump at the idea of being a [fill in boring job description here]. our ability to think outside the box and function outside our comfort zone drastically decreases as we get older. we're suffocated. held back. we start to learn the limitations in life and don't allow ourselves to dream the absurd dreams anymore.

"certain types of irrational decision making is exactly what this world needs."
how many of us still dream? how many of us still aim for Utopian perfection? youth's ability to imagine is able to push the boundaries past the limitations that adults have been conditioned into. kids are capable of things that we are NOT. what if we gave them the chance to prove it?

"the students should teach their teachers...the relationship should be reciprocal."
oh man. how many times did we all think this when we were going through middle school and high school? i for sure thought it in 3/7 of my classes each day. why do we have thoughts like that? because teachers aren't allowing their students to expand. the teacher has all the answers and you better not question their teachings. this shuts down students' ability to grow and develop. what if the students were given the chance to run the show? rather than feeling like the lower one on the totem pole, what if they had ownership of their classes?

at hillcrest we have a high school leadership group that meets on thursday nights - it's a group of students that are committed to transforming our youth ministry from the inside out. after many weeks of encouraging and teaching and vision casting, a new philosophy was set for the thursday meetings: student led discussions. these high schoolers are leading the conversations! all it takes is an opportunity to rise to the occasion and students will give it what they've got. and if the foundation has been laid properly - they'll blow you away every time.

"it is imperative to create opportunites for children so that we can grow up and blow you away." one of my 6th grade students is traveling to Haiti next week. yes, Haiti, that place of major devastation due to that major earthquake from a couple months ago. not sure if you remember it - a lot of us seem to have already moved on...shocker. this student is going to Haiti. originally, when we asked the orphanage if it was okay that we were bringing a 12-year old along, the group was hesitant to give the OK. thank the Lord that they did. this is exactly the type of opportunity that students don't get nearly enough. there is a 100% chance that this student will come home from Haiti with a greater perspective on himself, God, others and the world of which he is apart.

"adults often underestimate kids abilities...and when expectations are low, we will sink to them." fortunately, the opposite is also true - if we allow kids to achieve their potential - they can meet those expectations.

again, it comes back to opportunities - the parents of this 12-year old allowed her to pursue her dream as a young child, and now she's a TED speaker?! this girl learned to READ less than 8 years ago and now she's forming those learned words into sentences that are altering minds and influencing others and spurning late-night blog posts from yours truly! and where does it begin? with an ADULT looking at a child, at a student, at the next generation and encouraging them to dream big and providing a CHANCE for them to succeed.

so for anyone working with young people of any kind - trust them to succeed. if you show them that you believe they can do anything, and you allow them the outlet to grow and meet their potential - they'll do just that.

-apc.

* - LOST: john locke reference.

lin yu chun.

2010-04-21T23:11:00.007-05:00

if you haven't checked out this dude yet, you need to. out of nowhere he's totally ruling everything. he was on some Taiwanese Idol type of show. he sings whitney houston. hooooooly sixes:

and then william shatner joins him on "lopez tonight". as much as i love old bill, but the newcomer totally steals the show:

-apc.

adidas star wars collection.

2010-04-07T09:33:00.003-05:00

i need some star wars garb very very badly. specifically these. or these. or these.

-apc.

willie bloomquist/clean-up.

2010-04-05T22:22:00.002-05:00

"Kansas City's cleanup hitters "hit" a combined .211/.280/.315 in 2009, with just 13 home runs and 71 RBIs. In other words, just hitting Willie Bloomquist there would have been more effective."

-David Shoenfield, Page 2, ESPN.com

pre-season baseball predictions.

2010-04-05T14:45:00.002-05:00

AL East: new york yankees
AL Central: minnesota twins
AL West: seattle mariners
AL Wild Card: boston red sox

NL East: philadelphia phillies
NL Central: st. louis cardinals
NL West: colorado rockies
NL Wild Card: los angeles dodgers

ALWC: twins over red sox
ALDS: yankees over mariners
NLWC: phillies over dodgers
NLDS: cardinals over rockies

ALCS: yankees over twins
NLCS: phillies over cardinals

WS: phillies over yankees

-apc.

currently reading/listening to.

2010-04-01T23:54:00.010-05:00

currently reading:

learning evangelism from jesus - jerram barrs
your first two years in youth minitsry - doug fields

currently listening to:

of the blue colour of the sky - ok go
the unauthorized biography of reinhold messner - ben folds five
broken bells - broken bells
all killer no filler - sum 41

just if you're interested. that's all.. oh wait one more thing - i've always thought the dude on the front of reinhold looks like kevin bacon. ok now that's all.

okay fine. april fools on sum 41.

-apc.

galactic empire state of mind.

2010-04-01T20:31:00.008-05:00

chalk that title up for the next "before and after" category on wheel of fortune.

this is genius and hilarious. i just watched this 3 times in a row. i really wish they'd called jay-z and alicia keys to see if they'd do it themselves. talk about epic.

-apc.

kendall vs buck.

2010-03-31T20:19:00.005-05:00

i realized today (and twittered) the following today:

"jason kendall: batting .139 with 0 homeruns for KC in spring training. john buck: .304 and 2 homers for toronto. feel the sting."

and here we see the espn player card widgets for the evil jason kendall and the incredible (or should i say, mr. incredible) john buck.

these are last years' stats, but starting on monday, these stats will morph into the 2010 regular season statistics. as you can see (unless you access this page after april 5th, then it will be the new stats), in 2009, buck led in AVG (.247 vs .241), triples (4 vs 2), homers (8 vs 2), and almost matched kendall in doubles (12 vs 19) in well less than HALF the number of at bats (186 vs 452) and games played (59 vs 134), due to splitting time with miguel olivo.

if you project buck's totals to match kendall's 452 at bats, bucks numbers for 2009 are .247 avg, 112 hits, 29 doubles, 10 triples, 19 homers, 88 rbis. not too shabby. i'm still baffled that he split time with anyone at all. anyway, looking forward...

my predictions for 2010:

buck: .268 avg, .524 slg, 18 hr, 84 rbi
kendall: .249 avg, .450 slg, 9 hr, 66 rbi

i will be keeping a close eye on john's production in toronto this season, and i will likely be referencing this post numerous times this season.

go relish.

-apc.

k-state proud.

2010-03-27T22:57:00.002-05:00

so proud of my cats. see you in the pre-season top 10 next year.

-apc.

kstate moving forward: butler, and...uni?

2010-03-26T13:29:00.005-05:00

i'll be honest. the university of northern iowa scares me.

they beat ku, which i'm beginning to realize was no fluke, and they have the type of team that can beat ku - themselves. they've got a big man underneath to lay on people (just like aldrich) and hot shooters (just like collins and others). they may not be the most athletic team in the league, play as fast the most or rebound the best, but when it boils down to what type of team ku couldn't beat - UNI has that physical composition. we saw this last weekend.

and as has been demonstrated 3 times this year by ku, kstate doesn't match up against a physical ogre underneath and sharp shooters on the wing. and that is exactly what UNI has. so if kstate can pull off this run to the final four, beat butler tomorrow night and end up in indianapolis next weekend - i'm really scared of the potential matchup against UNI. if they can beat the jayhawks, they can probably beat anybody. and kstate just doesn't match up well.

that having been said, its not like ohio st is anything less scary. evan turner has the potential to rip a team apart any night (not unlike byu's fredette and xavier's crawford, so the cats have some experience here). and tennessee not only handed ku its first loss earlier this season, but also beat at the time No. 1 kentucky. the only team that doesn't make me flat out nervous is michigan state - but tom izzo is a final four machine and should never be counted out. even without Lucas, they're still an izzo team.

which brings me back to UNI.

if i'm scared of all 4 teams - why wouldn't i want to face UNI? kstate beats the team that ku couldn't to go to the championship game! we lose to kansas 3 times in the regular season, and due to an early ku exit we don't get our 4th shot - could a beating of UNI be the next best thing? possible.

but lets not overlook butler. the bulldogs' win over syracuse was not a fluke. although i'm thankful to be playing butler instead of syracuse - this team is hot hot hot and has its eyes on a trip HOME to indianapolis. they matchup pretty even up and down the board with the exception of rebounding and blocks. curtis kelly has been a monster underneath so far this tournament and (i think) was the real reason for the victory last night against xavier. if kelly and jamar samuels can be a presence underneath and keep butler out of the lane - i think kstate is moving on to the final four. pullen and clemente will do what they do, sutton can shut down their best guard on defense, and colon can lay on some people underneath.

kstate looks good. butler might even look better. but i think kstate has the edge moving forward, and i'm really hoping for a matchup against UNI in the final four.

here's to hoping. bring on the cats.

-apc.

hitler finds out ku lost to uni.

2010-03-24T21:12:00.003-05:00

absolutely hilarious.

-ap.

star wars/harry potter synopsis.

2010-03-23T23:52:00.005-05:00

-ap.

lcd soundsystem, broken bells.

2010-03-04T13:46:00.005-06:00

i've been listening to LCD Soundsystem for the last week or so. i hadn't really heard anything of the decade ended. PMA was blogging the best songs of the decade. as the end of december wound down, i kept seeing all the potential #1 candidates slowly dwindle, and before #1 was revealed, i was at a loss for what it might be.

turns out i'd never heard the number one song according to my favorite music blog. in the words of hermione granger..."what. an. idiot."

the top song: "All My Friends" is great. i listened to it like 4 times in a row right then and there - which doesn't sound like many times, but it's a 7:17 track. so 4 times that is a while. 29 minutes and 8 seconds, actually. so i vowed to check them out. and when i received an itunes gift card in the mail from my mother on valentines day, i decided that this was my moment to investigate it.

so far here's what i've gathered: they're awesome, energetic, funky, and very diverse. and their first track on their first LP is called "Daft Punk is Playing at My House". that's step 1 in a recipe for success.

i'm definitely fan overall. not every song hits the jackpot, but with such an eclectic selection of sounds you can't expect every track to be your groove. check em out on theirspace.

also, i just got an email telling me that the Broken Bells album i pre-ordered about 2 months ago was shipped today. broken bells is a new collaboration between danger mouse (producer of the grey album, half of gnarls barkley) and james mercer (singer/songwriter of the shins). check out their first single "The High Road" here. you'll like it. if you don't like it then i'll treat you like ku fans treat others.

-apc.

minimalist star wars posters.

2010-03-03T12:32:00.012-06:00

i'm obsessed with these minimalist star wars planet posters.

i will be decorating my new house with these eventually. too bad the size i want are $37.78 a print. but my birthday is next weekend, so if anyone is looking for a good idea...just saying.

-apc.

the time we almost killed dick van dyke.

2010-03-02T10:56:00.009-06:00

dick van dyke is lucky to be alive.

maybe he's just not used to vehicles driving around his gated malibu community. maybe he thinks himself invincible cause he can step in time.* perhaps he's hoping for a "bit 'o magic". or maybe he thinks he's lance livestrong.

whatever the reason, the man needs to learn to look both ways before blitzing out of his garage and down the street. because lack of precation almost killed dick van dyke when he was almost struck by our vehicle.

yes. OUR vehicle.

on sunday morning, nate brooke and i had some time to kill before getting to the airport. so we decided to drive north to Malibu and check out this amazing Franciscan monastery that hosts pastoral retreats. this monastery is within this gated neighborhood. so we're weaving through the neighborhood and nate is pointing out different celebrities homes - specifically mel gibson's house - and he mentions that dick van dyke lives in the community too.

he hardly finishes his sentence and suddenly an older gentleman with a white mustache comes flying around a blind corner on a bicycle.

both vehicles screech to a stop. we end up about 5 feet away from impact. our mouths gaping open like a codfish. we make eye contact. he's wearing a silly looking face shield just in case he happens upon the hood of a car with his face mashed against the windshield. he's fortunate to have avoided such a scenario.

in the intensity of the situation, no one could be for sure that we had almost run over DVD himself. we just thought it was some mere human. just some random fella on a bike. maybe it was cause of his silly face shield that we didn't recognize him. who knows. but we drove away and it slowly settled in that we had come within a second of being front page news. we almost plowed over dick van dyke on a bike.

can you imagine?! what if we'd hit him?! what if we'd run him over?! what if he had died?! gosh. what a miserable situation. i'd cry all through Mary Poppins for the rest of my life. i would be hated by millions. heck, i'd hate myself! what a relief.

as he awkwardly maneuvered around our rental car, he could very clearly be seen muttering something under his silly face shield. it was one of those slow-motion-coach's-reaction situations - you know, the ones where you can absolutely read their lips? the ones where little bits of spittle fly out of their mouths after they unleash that voiceless labiodental fricative "F" motion? the situation where everyone goes "ooooo wonder what he just said?"

it was like that. obviously i can't repeat it here. but DVD really let 'er fly. had he not needed both hands to steer around us, i'm sure it would've been accompanied by a very distinctive hand motion.

so lets just be thankful that the situation didn't escalate. i'm not sure we could find a lawyer that could match his. i'm not sure i'd even want to. no matter what he said, no matter whose fault it really was - i'd just nod my head and respond, "whatever you say, dick van dyke."

but i will say this: he's lucky. of course, that is to be expected - a sweep is a lucky as lucky can be.

-apc.

* - flap like a birdie!

EDIT: man. so weird. dick van dyke looks like my dad. also Guy Smiley.

my trip to LA has been interesting.

2010-02-27T16:33:00.004-06:00

i had two goals going into this weekend:

1. start and finish rob bell's jesus wants to save christians: a manifesto for a church in exile. i read the first part when it first came out, but put it down and feel i need to start it over. i made it 2/3 of the way through on the plane ride into LAX* - i would've finished it if the view of the grand canyon hadn't been so amazing from my window seat.

2. get to know students as well as develop a better understanding of the los angeles youth culture through conversations with the them here at covenant camp at the alpine retreat center. this goal hasn't gone as well. after waking up in kansas city at 4AM pacific time and going to sleep at 3AM pacific time yesterday - i wasn't the greatest conversationalist. and then we had an issue at the camp - 4 middle schoolers decided to ransack all the cabins during chapel. they stole around $10,000 worth of phones, ipods and cash from leaders and students. that sorta stunted my opportunities to chat.

the theme this weekend here is "that's so messed up." it's about pain and difficulty in life - all about how we live in a fallen world. that this isn't the world God had in mind in creating it, but that through Jesus, he's leading us all toward the way the world someday will be. flipping the world right side up and redeeming the messed up world we currently are a part of.

and what a great example in these dudes who got caught swiping everyone's stuff. they're spending the evening in juvenile detention. we're encouraging the students to be praying for them and to help them in this messed up world that they've gotten tripped up on.

anyway. that's what i've been doing in LA this weekend. also it's snowing like crazy here in the california mountains and it's freezing cold and i want to go back to kansas city. i'll be back here in 2 weeks though. wonder if it'll be equally interesting next time.

-apc.

* - btw. after watching the season 6 premiere of LOST, entitled "LA X" i couldn't stop thinking about everything lost throughout my flight and landing. at baggage claim i definitely said, "LOOK! that's where kate hijacks claire's taxi at gunpoint!" also, i'm in a blizzard in LA while it's sunny in KC. definitely the work of an ALT TIMELINE.

AVATAR: 3D IMAX.

2010-02-23T01:11:00.011-06:00

so i finally saw avatar. imax. in all three dimens.....

...oh what's that? excuse me? ohhhh...yes. i'm perfectly aware that it's been out for eight thousand days and that i'm a massive loser for not seeing it until now.* but lets go ahead and save all that unproductive banter for another time and cut to the chase:

avatar just changed my life.

okay not MY life specifically - although mine will be greatly affected - it just basically changed everybody's perspective on how movies are viewed. a quick list of examples:

1. when i watch LOST tomorrow night, i will be thinking, "gee, sure would be cool if i could see the smoke monster roller coaster itself through the jungle in more than boring ole 2D. and the next time they show a clip on an airplane, i'll be thinking, "hey, is it just me, or is the back of the plane a lot smaller than the front of the plane?" it'll seem like that creepy hallway in the gene wilder version of willy wonka right before they go into the totally edible "world of pure imagination."...i'd continue. but hello, spoiler alert.

okay so only one example. but it's a good one.

the animation is the most absurd thing i've ever seen. just ridiculous. and by ridiculous i don't mean like this ridiculous...i mean like vince carter ridiculous. at one point there's a animated character, fighting a human who is in a robotic body suit. and i thought nothing of it because they all looked like they went together. i was blown away over and over again by how insane the cinematography was.

sure, the storyline was a futuristic retelling of pocahontas: a group of people invade another world in search of something valuable and have to wipe out the hippie indigenous people in order to get it. but then one of them gets too close to the indigenous people and joins their side and falls in love. war ensues. etc.

only difference is that, historically, the whites pretty much wiped out the native americans. avatar has a much happier ending...of course, disney managed to end pocahontas on a positive note too. must've forgotten about the whole small pox thing. convenient.

michelle rodriguez is in it. so that's sorta a bummer. you'll never guess what role she plays. oh nevermind, you got it. the super butch female soldier role. shocker.

also chad, who falls down in "that thing you do!" is in it. almost evens out the Tragedy of Ana Lucia...at least it wasn't shannon. ugh.

also, sigourney weaver is in another movie about aliens.

anyway. it's late and i can't be typing about this all night like i did with LG. but here is my review in bullet point fashion:

- animation/cinematography: 12 out of 10
- acting: 5 out of 10
- storyline: 7 out of 10 - second coming of Poco? sure. but it's still a powerful story. political even.

- but the real selling point: this movie is ground-breaking. NEVER has a movie been this...way. it's the first of it's kind and it is unbelievable. EVERYONE has to see this movie, and i am embarrassed that it took me this long to see it. wow.

- also the 3D is simply mesmerizing. i mean, way more mesmerizing than even antiques roadshow.

- conclusion: james cameron is a wizard...maybe they'll let him do the final harry potter movie...

-apc.

* -of course, i'm also the guy who just saw jurassic park for the first time last year. and still hasn't seen the godfather OR scarface. also this was my first ever IMAX movie. so it probably shouldn't be a shock that it took so long to see this one too. major flop. sigh. a tiger don't change his stripes, i suppose.

the knowledge of admiral ackbar.

2010-02-19T16:00:00.000-06:00

via the force tumblr.
-apc.

lady gaga.

2010-02-18T23:43:00.008-06:00

"there are two types of people in this world: those who like neil diamond, and those who don't."

-Bill Murray as Bob Wiley, What About Bob?

my reason for kicking off this post with that quote is two fold: first,there are a handful of neil diamond fans (or at least sweet caroline fans) who read my blog whom i am specifically hoping will be attracted to this post now that i've dropped his name. second, it appears the quote can be said for Lady Gaga as well.

however, i'm not sure Bob Wiley's quote can be translated to Lady Gaga in exactly the same way as it is to neil. instead, the quote ought to read more like...

"there are two types of people in this world: those who understand and admit that Lady Gaga is terrific, and those who are too concerned with social implications to put themselves totally out there for public scrutiny."

sure. she's a freak. i mean cmon. she's created this stage name that has become a lifestyle. here life is either an incredible act - like something out of The Prestige - where she has chosen to accept this lifestyle for the success of her career, or she truly has bought into the insanity of her character and truly is as freaky-wacky-nutso as she comes across.

but that's not what i care about. how could i? my favorite artist has the biggest ego of anyone in the music biz and repeatedly embarrasses himself on a national stage. if i really cared about the person BEHIND the music, i would've dumped kanye west years ago. and while we're at it - amy winehouse is likely in my top 5 artists too. as i stated following the VMA's back in september: "i have a history of liking freaks as long as they put out good music."

Lady Gaga can join the club.

i am also someone who falls hard for the catchy tracks. i don't understand when people say stuff like "it's just so catchy" as if it's a bad thing. isn't that what makes it so appealing? i guess i'm under the assumption that catchy makes music better - music is fun. and catchy is fun. however, that doesn't mean i'm just going to run out there and buy the album. there are so many artists who throw out a random catchy track and have nothing to follow it up. (read: ke$ha).

then there are other artists who have a bunch of catchy tracks, but they end up all sounding the same and listeners get very bored, very fast. (read: sean kingston, akon...nickelback would fit here if they had at least one good song. they all sound the same, but they all really suck.)

the thing about Lady G - her tracks are ALL catchy. and they're ALL different. and they're ALL GREAT. i'm not sure i've ever experienced an album that is so catchy from start to finish.

but the Fame Monster is actually two albums shoved into one release: The Fame and The Fame Monster are two discs that stand apart in one deluxe set. The Fame came out first and heralded popular tracks like "Just Dance", "Poker Face", "Paparazzi", and "LoveGame". Then instead of putting out a totally different record - she slapped an 8-track work of genius on the front of The Fame - with tracks like "Bad Romance" and "Telephone" - and released The Fame Monster as a 24-track set.

24 tracks. and they are all terrific.

and if you've developed your perspective on LG from the long list radio singles above, then you really don't have a true perspective on her work. in fact, the ones that haven't hit the radio are the true gems in the set. after a month of dedicated listening, "Teeth", "Paper Gangsta", "Starstruck", and "Disco Heaven" stand out as my 4 favorite tracks - none of which have hit the airwaves yet.

...okay okay, "Bad Romance" is among my favorites too.

...and "Just Dance" definitely gets me bumpin.

...and Beyonce absolutely kills it on "Telephone". wow.

...and "Alejandro", while silly, has an awesome Ace of Base vibe to it.

...and "Boys Boys Boys" rules.

see what i mean? this is what you're dealing with when you pick up this album. it's just stacked with killer tracks - tracks that i've been friendly enough to link over and again so that you can follow to them and understand what i mean.

i could probably write more and more, but there's a great chance that no one has followed me to this point anyway. but i will add this: in my humble opinion, there hasn't been an album with this many hits since justin timberlake released futuresex/lovesounds in Aug 2007. which i had very extensive thoughts about back in the day. back in the 3 weeks i had a myspace blog.*

i realize that i haven't spoken much about style, genius, how she writes her own stuff, how she went to school and was a musical prodigy at the age of 4. but that's for another time. and believe me, i'll have plenty of time. she's younger than i am...by 2 weeks. so if she keeps this up over the next 20+ years?! yikes. we may be dealing with LG's poker face for a long time...jackpot.

i'll have plenty of words on the LG in the future.

-apc.

* - awkward blogging times. i was in between internet identities...but hey, remember sthanga? i used to have such a crush on break_my_heart_baby.

february is a drag.

2010-02-18T21:52:00.007-06:00

historically, february has been a monster blogging month for me. who knows why that really is, but i have a couple theories:

1. february is the worst month of school year, hands down. second semester, second month, itching for spring break but still so far away. perhaps in the past this is the point when i'd get really tired of my education and start focusing on the more exciting aspects of life. typically i would do this while i was IN class in the back of the room(s). that allowed for about 15-18 hours of blogging time every week. i simply don't have that sort of free-time/boredom anymore.

2. february offers an abundance of sports-related blog topics: the superbowl, pitchers and catchers report for spring training, ncaa basketball is in full swing - february is just an exciting month in sports.

3. february marks the beginning of Lent. this is quite possibly the time of the year that the rest of the world becomes the most in-tune with God. Christmas has been watered-down by consumerism and Easter is covered in pastels. it seems like the times that we are most in tune with God is when we are preparing our hearts for the climax of the liturgical season (advent or lent). and lets be honest, people just get more excited about Christmas cause of the whole presents thing. thus, my Jesus cogs begin to churn and wha-la! more blogs.

4. february 12 marked two months without john buck. the good news is that mr. incredible has been granted the power number (14) on the blue jays as well. other good news: toronto will be in town july 19, 20, and 21. you better believe i'll be in the stands rooting for JB. i bet he hits 4 homers in 3 games. no one knows our pitching staff better.

those are just theories. the point is this: february is 64.3% over with (18/28 days) and my blogging has been miserable. i've averaged almost 16 blogs for the month of february over the last 3 years, and suddenly i'm realizing that adam-paul.blogspot.com is tanking to some degree.

however, just so we're straight, my twitter feed and my shared google reader feed are both off the chains. and now with google buzz, you can follow all of this stuff in one location. blogging is going to be obsolete soon. it's way more than 140 characters.

i'm going to try and resurrect this thing by easter. i'm not sure if i should laugh at that last sentence or marvel at the greatness of it.

-apc.

i admit that this is a blog for blogging's sake.

2010-02-10T21:21:00.006-06:00

i fell like i get on here all the time to write something, but i don't really have an abundance of things to talk about.*

scratch that. reverse it.

the last couple weeks have been good ones - we left the worst month of the year and entered the second-worst - that's sort of an upgrade. and this month only has 28 days, so that's something to celebrate as well...

probably the most exciting event to unfold over the last few weeks: my wife-to-be and i have been house hunting. my lease is up in may and that glorious tax credit is still available through the end of april - also the housing market is in prime buying condition - so NOW is the time to buy.

and by "now" i mean we may be putting in an offer tomorrow. crossies.

as if buying a car didn't feel enough like an adult maneuver - now i'm actually buying a house? like a house house house.** it's just insane.

something that HASN;T happened in the last few weeks: i still haven't seen freaking avatar. cmon!

-apc.

* - willy wonka reference - "we have so much time and so little to see!"
** - that thing you do! reference - "not one that we'd play."

espn sportsnation poll: kstate/ku.

2010-01-29T12:30:00.003-06:00

kansas poll: 30% ku, 70% kstate in 1000+ votes

my prediction: kstate 91, ku 84

watch for us on espn. we'll be among the record college gameday crowd.
bring on the cats.

-ap.

Medical Marijuana is now following you on Twitter!

2010-01-26T18:38:00.002-06:00

please note the time of the email.

-ap.

fear the beard.

2010-01-19T13:05:00.003-06:00

-ap.

thriving youth ministry in smaller churches.

2010-01-14T12:49:00.007-06:00

"the future church will thrive in being small. the mainline, middle, and mainstream are dying and splintering into countless fragments. micro is the new mega. small is big. scripture clearly roots for the underdog. david against goliath. a boy with fish and bread. mustard seeds....being smaller is a huge advantage."

-ap.

OH YEAH.

2010-01-04T16:43:00.004-06:00

via popped culture.

-ap.

goal for 2010: utilize my planner.

2009-12-29T09:28:00.007-06:00

as you can see, i'm holding my 2010 Monthly Planning Guide. it was issued to me from hillcrest (which, btw, has a newly revamped and live website). it was issued to hillcrest from the U.S. Diary Company, which i first read as "U.S. Dairy Company", and i found it odd that makers of milk and cheese also made planners. but i figured it out.

i've never been a true believer in a planner. i understand the point, and i understand that they are useful, but i also understand that i never remember to write in them.

back in middle and high school my mother would purchase me one of those school-issued planners every year, and every yearbook distribution day i would discover it hanging out with the empty Stewart's Key Lime Soda bottles at the bottom of my locker.

but now that i'm a big kid, i just might need a calendar. and since i don't have an iPhone (yet), i'm going to take my first strides with this sleek, burgandy, hard-copy monthly planning guide. call it a "resolution" if you want. but it really has nothing to do with New Year's...other than that it's a monthly calendar and the first day listed is January 1.

so a goal of mine for 2010 - utilize my planner.

-ap.

bought a new car.

2009-12-28T11:19:00.006-06:00

many of you know i got in my first car wreck a couple weeks ago. i kind of wish i could claim that it was scary and my car flipped and caught on fair, and that i was a hero and saved people from the wreckage before the car exploded or something.* but i was going 15 mph and the woman that hit me was going 5 mph. hit the wheel. bent the axle. totalled.

so i got a fat insurance check for way more than my old car was worth. sixes.

so i upgraded to a '02 Mazda Protege5. it's a 5-speed which makes me feel like a man more than anything else in my life. you guys can have your No Shave November. i'm no longer ashamed of my lack of facial hair. real men drive sticks.

-ap.

* - this feeling could probably be transformed into a talk about how Christian kids who grow up in the church often feel lame for not having some awesome "i hit rock bottom" conversion experience.

oh dear. this is just awful news.

2009-12-12T09:54:00.008-06:00

we all knew this day would come at some point, but it appears to suddenly be upon us.

the royals have signed veteren catcher jason kendall to a two-year deal.

this is disastrous news for royals fans. why? well, because JOHN BUCK MAY BE OUT OF A JOB IN KANSAS CITY.

i mean, sure, kendall is legit. he's got a career .290 batting average and a .369 career OBP. but WHY WOULD THEY DO THIS TO ME?!

General manager Dayton Moore said: "Obviously John Buck's been a big part of our catching corps the last few years and we'll have to make that decision, but it's safe to say Jason Kendall was brought in to be our everyday catcher and he's expected to catch 120 to 130-plus games."

what he REALLY means is...

"John Buck's been the emotional cornerstone of not only our catching corps, but of our entire team over - not only the last few years - but over Big John's entire five year career. Jason Kendall may end up catchin 120 to 130-plus games, but everyone knows that when JB feels the pressure, he suddenly puts up seriously scary numbers. Obviously."

it's a good thing Dayton Moore's daughter goes Hillcrest and comes to all of our middle school events. perhaps i could send some subtle hints for her to take home to the dinner table. i mean cmon, there is a reason Mr. Incredible has been in blue for the last 5 years! he's a fan favorite! he sells tickets! he's the anchor to a Royals team that would undoubtedly spin out of control without him.

it could be a very sad week to be a royals fan. it also could be my last week as a royals fan.

just a heads up for what's likely to come: there isn't a #14 on the yankees. jorge posada eat your heart out. JB's got you in the sights of his crossbow.

-ap.

and fyi: the facebook group is THRIVING.

i have a fiance...

2009-12-07T09:43:00.012-06:00

...and this is where it all started. (click it for google streetview!)

...and put this in your iCal: 10.02.10

...and don't expect this to be the only post to land the "ap is engaged" label.

-ap.

star wars humor.

2009-12-02T11:50:00.003-06:00

courtesy of docking bay 94.

-ap.

questions should lead us - dave gibbons.

2009-11-24T13:17:00.005-06:00

"one of the axioms i've come to believe about life and ministry is that questions should lead us. questions, not answers. Jesus showed us this time and again."

"if Jesus doesn't answer a question with a question, he tells a story."

dave gibbons
the monkey and the fish: liquid leadership for a third-culture church

-ap.

empire state of mind II - alicia keys (sans jay-z).

2009-11-19T20:37:00.008-06:00

woah.

okayplayer just posted this on their blog and i am speechless. just watch the above video.

all i can say is that alicia's new album is out on december 15 and i am buying it. or getting it for christmas. but if you're getting it for me for christmas, you might want to give it to me 10 days early otherwise i'll have 2 copies cause i'll already have bought it myself.

i'm listening to that again.

-ap.

REVIEW: battle studies - john mayer

2009-11-19T10:42:00.009-06:00

first of all, i must tell you that i am not 100% comfortable putting a photo of this album artwork on my blog. john looks super GQ and super lame. however, the artwork actually ended up being a blessing - when i first saw the cover a few months before its release i thought, "seriously john? this album is gonna suck."

but it doesn't. not at all. and i will yet again claim that low expectations are a much healthier way of living than high expectations. high expectations can only be met or not met*. low expectations can be met or exceeded...and my expecations were exceeded.

* - obviously there are a few outlying exceptions here: kanye's graduation, my trip to st louis, harry potter and the deathly hallows, etc.

i told my buddy jon yesterday via a text, "this album has a heavier things feel to it." and i stand by that statement...kind of. the album as a whole gives that vibe, but there are a few tracks - who says, friends lovers or nothing, assassin - that don't necessarily fit the bill. did john mayer truly reinvent his sound on this album like he has with each of his albums in the past? not really. if anything he took a step backwards from continuum and revisited a sound he'd already dabbled in before.

that having been said - this is a terrific album. really terrific. especially if you can empathize with mayer's jilted-lover theme (which i cannot). literally every song on this album is about girl problems - the "Battle Studies" he alludes to in the name of this album makes complete sense - he takes a look at the different "battles" the heart faces in dealing with the opposite sex. it's a "love is war" theme. examples: "half of my heart" deals with the inability to commit, "heartbreak warfare" deals with what it feels like to be dumped, "perfectly lonely" is all about the freedom felt without a significant other, "friends lovers or nothing" is a great picture of the extremely common "more than friends?/lets have a DTR" situation of which i'm duly familiar with.

that last paragraph was so long that my coffee went cold. crap.

however, there are a couple songs that could've been omitted and i wouldn't've really missed them. i can hear you arguing, "but adam - that means there would only be 9 songs! that's not enough for a full album!" my rebuttal: Thriller.

"edge of desire" does nothing for me - i'm just bored/annoyed throughout. and "half of my heart" doesn't impress me either - but that's probably because i sit there for the first 2 minutes dreading the impending taylor swift on backup vocals. what a ploy to 1. sell more records 2. reach a slightly different genre 3. perhaps get invited to the country music awards next year. i just wish it wasn't her. anyone else...okay not anyone - i would also veto nelly furtado, lady gaga, fergie or sheryl crow. anyone else though.

that having been said, "friends lovers or nothing" is my favorite track on the album. it's on repeat as i type this blog. it is perfect - the first two piano chords hooked me and the rest of the song just continued to reel me in...that's a fishing analogy.

i love this album, but it's definitely not his best. in fact, it might be his worst. it's not as good as continuum. or room for squares even. but it's still john mayer. so it automatically lands in the "great" category. he's just a phenomenal musician. period.

i give it a 3/5.

-ap.

staff storehouse sale.

2009-11-18T10:46:00.011-06:00

there's a sale going on this morning in the hillcrest storehouse for staff members. here's what happened to me:

dave gibbons - the monkey and the fish: liquid leadership for a third-culture church
jerram barrs - learning evangelism from jesus
john c. mcdowell - the gospel according to star wars: faith, hope, and the force
ed dobson - the year of living like jesus: my journey of discovering what jesus would really do

-ap.

more love.

2009-11-12T09:40:00.004-06:00

-ap.

mystery: velvet elvis.

2009-11-11T23:00:00.010-06:00

"the christian faith is mysterious to the core...if we do put God definitively into words, we have at that very moment made God something that God is not."

"the bible has a different understanding of mystery. true mystery, the kind of mystery rooted in the infinite nature of God, gives us answers that plunge us into even more questions."

"truth always leads to more truth. because truth is insight into God and God is infinite and God has no boundaries or edges."

"one of the great 'theologians' of our time, Sean Penn, put it this way: 'when everything gets answered, it's fake. the mystery is the truth." [entertainment weekly: feb 2004]

"being a christian is more about celebrating mystery than conquering it." "when moses enters the darkness toward the top of the mountain, he has moved beyond knowledge to awe and love and the mystery of God." [exodus 19]

all of these quotes are from rob bell's velvet elvis. i am re-reading it finally. i went through a somewhat intentional rob bell withdrawl phase - there was an uprising over about 6 words that rob spoke that were twisted and morphed into the word "heretic". which is hilarious for so many unrelated reasons. selective hearing and matthew 7:3 come to mind among some others.

but i finally decided to pick up velvet elvis again for the first time in years - and wouldn't you know that the end of the first chapter is ALL about mystery, questions, and it's correlation to truth.

you're speaking my love language, rob. i'm even in the mood for a new flow chart, but i'm also so tired. sounds much more complex than i had intially sketched out. i'll save it for the morning. anyone else want to take a stab at it before i butcher it again?

-ap.

wall clock.

2009-11-11T10:23:00.004-06:00

this is freaking genius. and i want it. too bad it's selling for $2,338. maybe i can make it myself. maybe nick can make it for me for my birthday. nudge.

-ap.

more j.j. abrams: flow chart.

2009-11-10T15:03:00.008-06:00

yesterday i posted my new favorite quote by j.j. abrams: "mystery is a better road to imagination than knowledge." my buddy, luke, commented on the importance of truth in that equation, and the more i think about it, the more i find it essential to the formula. sure, imagination is the force behind the abrams quote, but the overall point of it all is not simply imagination - the point is to discover the truth behind the mystery.

so during our all church staff meeting today i began to sketch out a flow chart of the abrams quote with "truth" added into the mix. my paper turned out looking super jumbled and sloppy and difficult to follow, so i made a quick less-confusing version quickly on my computer just now (i used a section of my desktop as the background for the chart - yep, hedges - perfectly mysterious).

i figure, if truth is the point, then knowledge doesn't necessarily get us there. we can only arrive at true knowledge if we know for a fact that the knowledge we have is truth. so we must start with mystery. we must start with the questions in order to fully arrive at the results.

my immediate response, then, is that in order to discover the truth behind a mystery, it is more beneficial to start with mystery than to begin with knowledge.

but what i also found interesting in the development of this flow chart was the importance of the process we go through between imagination and truth. that long downward arrow is essentially where all of life happens. we decide where we're going, what we're believing, who we're following, where we belong: basically how we perceive the world. this all happens within that stretch of arrow.

the quest for truth is found in mystery and imagination - not in knowledge.

anyway. those are my thoughts, but i'd like to hear yours. any changes you'd like to make to the chart? disagreements? things you really like? let me know.

-ap.

j.j. abrams

2009-11-08T21:40:00.005-06:00

"i came to realize that mystery was a better road to imagination than knowledge."

easily my new favorite quote. no seriously. check my facebook info. it's true.

i can't stop thinking about it. he said it in reference to LOST, which....duh, but it goes so much deeper than just television/entertainment/santa claus' existence. but i can't even begin to structure my stream of thoughts into a coherent blog. maybe later. maybe never. maybe let me know your thoughts? hmmmm.

-ap.

getting out of the way.

2009-11-03T19:39:00.004-06:00

it's interesting how easily we can get in the way of the work God is doing.

we can develop programs, create events and micro-manage details to the point that we're limiting the power of God to what our own structure can handle. we end up putting the Holy Spirit within our own parameters rather than trying to figure out what steps we need to take to catch up to the work the Spirit is already doing in our ministries.

it'd be interesting to see how effective our ministries could be if we quit worrying about the details, and started showing up with open arms expecting God to show up and lead instead.

-apc.

november sizzler: the blazin challenge.

2009-11-02T09:49:00.019-06:00

last night the freshman, sophomore, and junior guys small groups went out to buffalo wild wings to participate in the BLAZIN CHALLENGE: 12 blazin wings, 6 minutes, no water, celery, ranch, napkins, wet naps etc. just your face and your fingers - to take the popular Pink lyric entirely out of context: "it's just you and your hand tonight."

of the 40-some fellas that came to bww, the freshman group had 5 dudes participating in the challenge, the sophomores had 8 and the juniors added one more, bringing the grand total to 14 dudes - which, as you know, is two times the number of perfection.*

fortunately, we had managed to time the beginning of the event with the beginning of Game 3 of the world series, so our challenge began as all other terrific american sporting events do: with the star-spangled banner. so all 40 guys were belting it out along with the thousands in citizens bank park in philadelphia. an epic beginning to an epic event.

here is the sophomore event in pictures (with captions...because we found out after my st. louis trip that i'm truly incapable of doing strictly picture posts):

this is my challenge batch. notice the two stickers on the left side: one says "blazin"...the other is a warning label.

the munching begins. bring it on.

caleb polishing off wing 2 of 12. although not participating, colin is equally fierce and even brought some chocolate milk to tease the contestants. cruel.

dave is well on his way as well. both dave and i rocked white t-shirts. rookie mistake? or savvy veteren confidence? we'll see...

braden is a beast! he's a freshman, so he doesn't fit the "sophomore event in pictures" category, but LOOK AT THAT FACE! i had to include it. for more, check out tj's blog with a video of the freshman event.

caleb is feelin the slow burn! jack is all business.

my co-leader and best friend dave records the best time: 2 minutes 10 seconds. atta boy.

second place! my time: 2 minutes, 32 seconds. and hark! the white tshirts proved to be a stroke of confidence for both dave and i - not a single drop of sauce ended up there!

the group is finishing up...this is when the endorphins all ran to my head apparently.

lip ice baths! caleb and kurtis enjoying a quick dip in their ice water following the event. hilarious.

the blazin' graveyard. those bones didn't stand a chance.

this may be the first of many blazin challenges i'll participate in - all in all, i had a great time. i liked it so much that i might actually walk in to bww sometime this week and purchase 12 blazin wings for dinner. they were truly delicious. in the meantime, i'll be practicing my technique and further increasing my spicy food tolerance. can't wait for a rematch. the first sunday in november might've just become a new holiday and the host of an annual event. we'll see.

welcome to november sizzler everybody. this just might be the best month ever.

-apc.

* - john buck reference.

happy halloween.

2009-10-31T01:00:00.000-05:00

-apc.

darth sasquatch.

2009-10-27T12:03:00.003-05:00

courtesy of animals with lightsabers.

-apc.

Ratatat - LP3

2009-10-22T22:04:00.005-05:00

at first i wasn't a big fan of LP3.

Ratatat has been one of my favorite bands throughout college. track 1 off their self-titled debut album, seventeen years, is terrific. they're all instrumental, so if you like lyrics then you're out of luck, but for those of us who experience music better without words - Ratatat is for us.

it's taken me a while to understand why i like the music i do. as i've grown older and (hopefully) wiser, i've begun to understand that it has absolutely nothing to do with poetry for me. i've also discovered that some of my favorite songs ever by some of my favorite artists...i have absolutely NO CLUE what the words are. but i could sing you the guitar solo, or duplicate the back beat, or tell you what other artists they gained influence from, or tell you what other bands some dude has sung for based solely on the sound of his voice against an instrumental accompaniment.

so i've slowly realized that music like Ratatat is music made for me. and i had been a huge fan of both of their albums prior to LP3 - Ratatat and Classics, but when LP3 came out last year, i wasn't immediately hooked. it didn't possess the killer track like "Seventeen Years" on Ratatat or "Wildcat" on Classics. those songs sucked my right into the album. i thought LP3 lacked that suck-me-in track.

i listened to their "biggest hit" on the album - Mirando - and thought it was jolly enough, but it didn't leave me desiring to hear more of the album. but then some friends of mine introduced me to Shempi. and then a few months later my iPod was on shuffle and Shiller came on. and i started to get pretty curious. and for the last couple weeks - it's been my go-to album.

i don't really have a review for it - it's a harpsichord-heavy synth album that requires patience and dedication. there are few moments on the album that will blow you away (Shempi is an exception - that track rules), but the album as a whole might have you tapping your foot for quite some time.

so if you're like me, and you love Ratatat - don't give up on LP3. it'll getcha. besides...just look at that sweet album artwork.

-apc.

also, check out both of these Ratatat remix albums: Volume 1 & Volume 2 (click links for album downloads.) okay late.

coming out in middle school: non-practicing homosexuals.

2009-10-08T22:08:00.006-05:00

i had an interesting discussion at a youth pastor's network meeting on wednesday morning. the topic of the discussion: coming out in middle school.

a tough topic. we talked about how youth culture is drastically shifting, and how every kid in our youth ministry (that isn't home-sheltered/schooled) probably knows at least a couple homosexuals - or at least kids who they're pretty sure are gay. comparing that to just 12 years ago when i was in middle school - i knew 1 kid. comparing that to 25 years ago when many other youth pastors were in middle school: most didn't know any.

so the culture is changing - kids are talking about it more, and the world is telling them that sexuality (both homo and hetero) is certainly something that you should be curious about at an early age. they're thinking about it earlier, and middle schoolers who are already searching for their identity are suddenly determining that they are gay much more often than in previous years.

but we don't want to limit it to them simply searching for their identity. if you tell a kid who truly believes that they are gay that they're just going through a phase and that they'll be straight again in a few weeks...pretty sure that kid has a great chance of never making it back into the doors of your youth group. however, we don't want to make it a big hairy "revert from your sin" conversation.

my personal opinion is that we should treat them just like any heterosexual kid - "you're not ready for a serious relationship anyway - let alone sex - why don't you come talk to me about this when you're 16 and we'll discuss what it means for your life." cause it's true - ALL middle schoolers are not ready for sex, no matter what their sexual orientation. they're non-practicing sexual beings just like the straight kids are.

but then someone asked the question, "are non-practicing homosexuals sinning?"

i've been thinking quite a bit over the last 48 hours about that question. temptation is not a sin - Jesus was tempted in every way, yet he never sinned - but it is when individuals act on that temptation when it becomes sinful. if someone were to tell me, "adam, i'm an alcoholic, but i haven't had a drink in 3 years," i'd be celebrating, not worrying!

so when a middle schooler corners me and says, "adam, i'm gay," how do i respond? he's probably not dating and certainly isn't practicing at 11 or 12 years old, so is he sinning? how do i approach the situation - theologically, but more importantly individually with that kid? to what extent do i attribute it to an identity issue, and to what degree do i take the kid seriously and start unpacking his/her situation more in depth? i'm not sure i have answers for most of these.

these are questions i'll probably wrestle with for a long time in youth ministry. decades probably. and just when i feel like i've got it figured out, culture will probably change again and the church's approach will need to change again. but no matter what, everyone is welcome to enter the Kingdom. there will never be a day when a kid could say something that would shut them out of the doors of the Church.

-ap.

@adampaulcooper.

2009-10-08T01:09:00.007-05:00

so i finally gave in and joined twitter. thus, i naturally feel the need to publicly defend myself.

it's simple really:

1. i was following a bunch of my friends' twitter updates on google reader already.
2. my friends are clever and i enjoy reading their clever little insights into their lives.
3. i was updating my facebook status as if it was a twitter account already.
4. if i were to list the top 10 people i love, respect and admire in life, probably 7 of the 10 twitter. actually that's exactly how many of them do. no, bill cosby did not make the list.

so far here are the 'cons' to twittering:
1. having to eat all the critical words i've spoken about it in the past.
2. my beautiful best friend has threatened numerous times to break up with me.

but hark! don't worry guys. i've recently learned how to deduce an "empty threat" from a "veiled" or "direct" threat.

examples:

direct threat: "i'm going to blow up your house tomorrow morning..."
veiled threat: "you probably shouldn't sleep-in past 9:30 tomorrow..."
empty threat: "too bad you got twitter. now i have to break up with you."

see the difference? they're quite easy to spot.

-ap.

the hot dog season in a nutshell...

2009-10-01T21:51:00.005-05:00

i was there last saturday night to see relish clench the championship. in all honesty: i went to something like a dozen royals games this year, and relish won EVERY SINGLE TIME I WENT. the reverend tim ciccone owes me copious amounts of cash due to repeated $5 bets against the green machine. so silly.

so here they are...final 2009 hot dog race standings:

ketchup: 26
mustard: 27
relish: 28

2009 hot dog race champion: relish.

don't act like i never told ya. go relish. always and forever.

-ap.

npr: raphael saadiq desk concert.

2009-09-30T23:07:00.002-05:00

please watch this video/listen to it. everyone needs this album.

-apc.

jay cutler versus the referee.

2009-09-21T13:23:00.002-05:00

this happened yesterday afternoon: chicago vs pittsburgh. i wish he was still a bronco though so i could hate him more. ha.

-ap.

somewhat immediate thoughts on the 2009 VMAs.

2009-09-14T00:39:00.010-05:00

okay. so i first started writing about the VMAs in my facebook status, but then i started getting carried away and started writing paragraphs in the tiny little "What's on your mind?" box and decided i ought to just write it on my blog.

there are a few things that need to be addressed in regards to the VMAs. ready break:

number 1: kanye west is a jack hole. i mean, we were all thinking it 'ye - taylor swift is a no-talent clown who has somehow made it big in a questionable genre (in the VMAs eyes...also my eyes) - but you didn't have to go and throw her under the bus in front of the entire nation. she's 19 bro. just cause she makes millions of dollars she may or may not deserve doesn't mean you have to destroy her self esteem for years to come. do i agree that beyonce's video was better (and that this dude's was even better), but that's low. even for you.

number 2: empire state of mind is the best track jay-z has released since the black album. kingdom come and american gangster...not hov's greatest work. not that they weren't dece - they were - but blueprint 3 is the first album since 2003 that i've really been stunned by. more about BP3 in another post probably - for now, it is suffice to say that he and alicia keys'* performance in the VMAs tonight was absolutely bonkers. i literally jumped out of my bed and started pumping my fist before jay even uttered a syllable. i had a lump in my throat the entire performance. good grief.

* - again...possessive names ending in "S"...possessive of "keys"? keys's? keys'? keyses? this language is so stupid.

number 3: beyonce is a robot. when i consider each of the following - her voice, her body, and her dance moves - this is the only solution i can ever arrive at. no real person should be capable of being...that. she is powerful and, like her husband, absolutely killed it when she performed "all the single ladies (put a ring on it)". i mean seriously. she has to be a robot. i challenge you to derive a better conclusion. until i hear one i will continue to believe that jay-z is married to a machine.

number 4: the grammy for best hip hop album of 2035 goes to: shawn carter, JR!!! i'm telling you, if beyonce is indeed a human being and is capable of reproduction, and she and jay-z have a couple kiddos - you better believe that my offspring will be obsessed with anything and everything they do. you wait and see. those kids are destined for greatness. there is nothing they could do to screw it up.

number 5: lady gaga is a freak. also her performance was lip synced for sure. sounded pretty tight though. i have a history of liking freaks as long as they put out good music. the verdict is still out on LG.

number 6: the michael jackson tribute was perfect. oh my goodness. the most synced and beautifully immitated dance routine i've ever witnessed. music videos are impressive - MJ's especially - but they're still videos. you can take 5- 10- 20 takes before you get the perfect choreograph sequence down, but to watch the sequence perfectly matched live on stage?! brilliant. absolutely brilliant. and when janet -ahem- busts out of the background! i literally gasped and clapped. i don't think a better tribute could've been done...maybe if they played more quincy jones tracks. but that's just me getting greedy.

okay. i think that pretty much covers all my immediate thoughts. just had to get it all out of my system before i went to sleep. otherwise my heart would be racing and i'd toss and turn all night. but now i can go to bed in peace. except that 'all the single ladies' is rolling through my head. worth it.

best VMAs i can remember: kanye made a fool of himself, MJ was honored, and the shawn carter family have totally got some chops. definitely some chops indeed.

-ap.

why mafia is the greatest ministry game ever.

2009-09-09T21:03:00.008-05:00

sure it centers around murder, deception and lying. and sure it gives an opportunity for students to ruthlessly stab their best friends in the back. but i have said it before, and i will say it again:

mafia is the greatest ministry game ever.

there are a handful of reasons why mafia is the greatest game ever. i will list them now.

1. it forces students to know everyone's name.
you look like a total schmuck when you point at someone and say, "i think it's you - kid in the blue hoodie - yeah, him - you...i think you're in the mafia." people start whispering side conversations asking each other the names of the other people around the circle. students feel loved when you can call them by name (even more when you can develop a nickname for them) and when their peers know their name it means even more. by the end of a night of mafia, a room full of borderline strangers are suddenly best friends and can't wait to play together again.

2. students are forced to work together with individuals they're not used to being grouped with.
this is super fun to watch. you'll get the talkative girl, macho dude, quiet loner and stand-off-ish Flyleaf fan all working together and getting each other's back. students that would never have even talked to each other before are suddenly vouching for each other and trusting each other and working together to end the terror in mafiaville. this also breaks up the unhealthy attachments that some students have with a certain group and allows them to branch out and make friends outside of their normal bubble.

3. it develops confidence.
anyone can succeed at mafia - in fact, the already confident ones are typically the first to be found out. the quiet ones are the ones that fly under the radar and ultimately shock the group. this is something that every quiet and uncomfortable individual needs: a boost of confidence. suddenly the populars are at par with the not-so-pops. it's anyone's game, and regardless of the group, high fives always ensue following a mafia game.

4. it ultimately builds community.
when you combine the last three points, you eventually land at a great word called "community." community is what makes 'youth group' the slightest bit successful. it is at the center of what we do as Christians - we spend time and share life with each other. at the end of the day, mafia breaks down walls and replaces the with terrific avenues for students to grow together. Christianity isn't a solo exercise, and mafia aids in this fact.

5. it's stinkin' fun.
and lastly, it's just a blast. after spending years hanging out with the students at hillcrest, i can honestly say that some of my favorite moments have come in games of mafia. no other game could be played for 10 hours straight on a bus ride back from buena vista, colorado. but i've had the privilege of doing that 4 different times! and we always come back for more.

anyway. there are your reasons. if you want to know more about our mafia games, visit the facebook group or read about the 'party game' on wikipedia.

-ap.

snow leopard and the planet Hoth.

2009-09-08T11:45:00.004-05:00

i just installed the new Mac OS X (also called snow leopard) on to my laptop. is it worth it? probably. it freed up tons of disc space and everything seems to be running much snappier than before. it's fresh and clean.

the only problem i've had with it so far is that firefox would only work for about 9 seconds and then it would "unexpectedly quit" on me. but i just opened the new safari 4, downloaded firefox over again and i haven't had a problem since. feels good.

and speaking of snow, i got a new favorite tshirt.

complete with the Hoth battle scene at the bottom.

the ATAT on the right is falling over - while intimidating, i never really found the walkers very practical. any machine that can be tripped doesn't seem too powerful to me. but the shirt is sweet. i'm a sucker for anything star wars. probably why i spent too much on this new tshirt, and way too much on both star wars trilogies back in june.

and, yet again, i have to give props to jedi gym. never gets old.

-ap.

father/son trip to stl.

2009-09-01T23:11:00.015-05:00

my dad and i went to st. louis this past weekend. here's our trip highlights:

throwing rocks. our favorite pasttime.

check out the cute little tugboat puttering through the arch.

bob gibson outside new busch stadium.

ozzie smith. my all-time favorite ballplayer.

view from the top row of busch stadium. so huge.

this was the time when albert pujols hit a walk-off home run to win the game in the bottom of the 9th.

oh look. a chris carpenter and yadier molina post-game photo-op.

kings cross is apparently in union station in st. louis. never knew.

budweiser brewery tour.

these are pipes. the sub-text probably isn't important on this picture, but i dont wait it to feel left out.

this is what the middle of the bud plant looks like. pretty beautiful area. also they have a free "hospitality room" that follows the free tour. i'd suggest that everyone does this tour at some point.

anyway. that was much easier than writing out all the highlights in detail. terrific weekend. a picture tells a thousand words or something like that. so there's 11,187 words for you. dang. long post.

-ap.

i can't get over the hedges.

2009-08-31T21:33:00.007-05:00

karlie and i went to spain. this should not be news to any of you for two reasons:

1. i've mentioned it numerous times in previous posts on this very blog
2. since 96% of my blog frequenters are personal acquaintances of mine...the excluded 4% is comprised of a couple mormons and pat sajak.

however, i haven't gone into much detail about the trip on here and i don't really talk about it much to my friends. its hard to field the comment, "tell me about spain." way too general and all you'll probably get as a response is "it's so cool." or "it's so old."

but if you asked me a more specific question, say, "what was your favorite part about spain?" i would very easily and quickly respond...

"hedges."

there were so many amazing things that i did and saw and ate and experienced, but the one thing that blew me away and really got my heart beating: hedges. more specifically, the hedges that they have in the generalife section at the alhambra.

the alhambra is this 14th century fortress in granada. it was erected while the muslims ruled in spain, and the islamic architecture and itricate detail work is absolutely incredible. and don't get me wrong, the rooms were beautiful and enchanting and i was completely captivated by the entire fortress. well. the entire trip really. the mediterranean sea was pretty tight too.

BUT. within the alhambra were these gardens. and within these gardens were these hedges. and within these hedges were the most mystery and intrigue i've ever felt. it wasn't even a maze! it was just walls and archways and rooms of 20-foot high hedge walls. my two observations were...

"they're like walls...only they're alive!"

"they're like green walls that you never have to paint!"

childish? maybe. but totally honest and straight from moments of pure wonder. karlie was off snapping photos of the gorgeous flowers in another section of the garden, but i just kept getting pulled deeper into the living walls. there was this ornate fountain in front of me lined with flowers and vines and little streams of water going every way - totally magnificent - but i was continually beckoned by the archways in the corner of the 'rooms'. i would walk past one and it was like the gardens were whispering "come in here. you need to know what's beyond my walls."and the garden was right. it must have known that i am a detective at heart and that i wouldn't sleep well if i didn't investigate the entire blueprint of the hedges.

i realized something about myself that afternoon - i am captivated by mystery. i want to know what is in the nooks and crannies. i want to discover what is beyond the next archway. i want to know what secrets lie in each corner. spain is full of mysteriousness - probably just cause it's so old - but i found myself constantly wondering "what's behind that door?"

maybe that's just the adventurer coming out in me. the "explorer inventor" in his element. but i felt at home among those hedges, and here i am a month later using flowery language and giving these living walls a voice. reminds me of the talking trees from the wizard of oz.

anyway. now you know my favorite part about spain: the mysterious hedges within the alhambra. you also probably now know more about the inner workings of my soul - something that i didn't truly realize until just recently. consider yourselves up to date on my own search for self.

-ap.

air jesus.

2009-08-30T23:35:00.002-05:00

proof that jesus was a baller:

this was in a cathedral in spain. well, it still is probably. but karlie and i aren't anymore and thats when this picture was taken.

-ap.

save the planet.

2009-08-26T16:01:00.006-05:00

i'm leading a discussion throughout october with our middle schoolers called "save the planet". it could also be called "environmentalism from a biblical perspective: what it is and why it's supposed to be important to us as Christ-followers", but if i called it that, then none of them would want to hear my discussion. either way, it definitely has the potential to be a great topic for our middle schoolers to digest.

as youth workers, it is important for us to understand what society says is important and reexamine the image through a biblical lense: what doest the Bible say about this? where is this written? politics and society tells middle schoolers (and us) that environmentalism is important, but not really why it is important. but to be honest, i'm not seeing the importance of it to society either. i understand its importance to us as Christians, but the rest of the world doesn't really have a good reason to take care of it.

but anyway. i've been watching documentaries and reading articles about global warming, genesis, creation, and environmental everything this afternoon. going into this little research session i had the "God made us in his image so we're above the rest of creation, but we're supposed to take care of it and not abuse what is rightfully his" perspective. and i still chiefly hold this perspective, but there were two thoughts that i hadn't really considered yet.

many environmentalists hold the perspective that the world would be better off if humans didn't exist - that way, the world could run its own course and we wouldn't be here to destroy its beauty. but to God, we are a part of creation. sure, we are at the top of the creation pyramid - made in God's image (col 1:15-17), dominion over the earth (gen 2:15), etc. - but the claim that nature would be better off without us is strictly unbiblical.

the second thought isn't as perspective-altering, but a good insight for sure. when we're thinking about being environmentally friendly and going green and all that business, we need to remember that we are doing so as an act of worship to the Creator, not creation. it's important for Chrsitians to understand this distinction. plants and animals are a part of God's creation, but they are not the object of our worship - their (and our) Maker is.

just some insights into what i've been doing today. now it's time for me to go break into my girlfriend's car at rockhurst and leave her flowers in her cupholder.

awwwwww.

-ap.

the cooper family: myers-briggs.

2009-08-25T23:00:00.005-05:00

i went to my parents' house tonight for dinner and to help anna with her pre-calc. after we'd finished her homework and i'd helped her all i could, we (my mom, dad, anna and i) got into a conversation about the myers-briggs personality test. apparently my family had just taken the test recently or something cause my mom already had all the results listed out except for mine. i already knew mine too, but i retook it when i got home just to confirm.

here are my 5 family members' results:

dad - ESTJ - implementer supervisor - "Because they naturally devise systems, procedures, and schedules, others rely on ESTJ s to take charge and get things done. Others may also find them overpowering at times because ESTJ s are so certain about how things should be. Because they are clear and straightforward in their communication, people seldom have to wonder where they stand."

mom - ISTJ - planner inspector - "ISTJs are sociable when comfortable in the roles they are playing; however, they generally do not share their wealth of rich Sensing observations and memories except with close friends. Others see ISTJ standards and judgments, their desire for structure and schedules, but they may not see their individual, sometimes humorous, private reactions."

holly - ESFJ - facilitator caretaker - "ESFJs are energized by interaction with others and genuinely interested in others' lives and concerns. They feel most comfortable in structured situations and enjoy creating order, structure and schedules. They prefer to do things the traditional and accepted way."

anna - ENFJ - envisoner mentor - "ENFJ s are energetic, enthusiastic, and very aware of others. Their genuine interest can usually draw out and involve even the most reserved person. They listen to and support others, but also have a very definite values and opinions of their own, which they will express clearly. ENFJs are energized by people and are socially adept; however, they also have a strong need for authentic, intimate relationships."

adam - ENTP - explorer inventor - "ENTP s are spontaneous and adaptable. They find schedules and standard operating procedures confining and work around them whenever possible. They are remarkably insightful about the attitudes of others, and their enthusiasm and energy can mobilize people to support their vision."

all 5 different, but i think all 5 are spot on in their descriptions. i think it's really cool how unique my family is separate from each other, but when we all get together we seem to mesh so well. the 5 combinations all seem to interweave somewhat...actually, in order to further illustrate my point, i'm going to create a diagram. for all you visual learners out there.

easily the coolest diagram i've made in the last 48 hours. maybe even 72. just threw it together in paintbrush (the mac version of the paint program for windows...i'll admit, not as good.)

anyway. it's a cool visualization i think. it's neat to see that - with the exception of my mom being the only introvert and my being the only perceiver - we all share all our traits with at least one other person around the circle. 4 of the traits are shared by at least three people. 2 of the traits (extrovert and judging) are shared by everyone buy one person (my mom and me respectively). it's fun to see the differences and similarities. i encourage you all to look into this with your family(s); if only to see what each other is. it's really fun.

i just wish we'd done this as a family years ago, it would have made family vacations so much less of a burden.

-ap.

a blog involving NER*D, michael jackson, hungryboy10, youth ministry books and calculus tutoring.

2009-08-24T11:39:00.010-05:00

i've been getting back into N*E*R*D lately. and by "getting back into" i mean that i've been listening to strictly fly or die and in search of... for about 3 weeks now. i've decided that the neptunes (pharrell williams and chad hugo) are the source of my favorite beats - maybe with the exception of mr. kanye west and the king of pop himself.

speaking of MJ: i was at 810 zone with one twittering and one non-twittering homie watching the mexico/usa officiating nightmare, and this chunky, newly-corporate, mid-20's babyface sitting at the table to my right says the following phrase to the other gentleman at his table...

"dude. did you hear michael jackson died?"

um.

have you not been out from the rock you live under/your parents basement in the last 2 months? is this boy really that removed from all sorts of media? has he not gone into a single store and seen the various magazines putting out michael jackson tribute editions at every register aisle? do you even know what the internet is? how does someone miss news like that? my guess is that he was hungryboy10 in the flesh, and that he had failed to notice due to the copious hours of world of warcraft he's been playing.

moving on.

i got two new books last week that i'm really excited about. marko's newest book "middle school ministry: a comprehensive guide to working with early adolescents" and doug fields'* book "your first two years in youth ministry". books with straightforward titles are my favorite i've decided. except for catcher in the rye. that title is in no way straightforward, but it's my favorite book. i should probably say that it holds true for non-fiction at least.

* - okay. i've asked about this before, but how do you make a name that ends in an 's' possessive? mostly i'm curious about the name "JESUS" because thats the one that comes up most often in my lifecourse. jesus'? jesus's? i'm very clueless.

also i'm tutoring my youngest sister in pre-calculus this year. i'm actually excited about it. not only do i get to see my sister, but i get to do math and get paid and do my laundry and eat a meal when i come home to help her out. it starts tomorrow. i'm going to probably have to add a math book to my list of new books too. can't wait.

anyway. thats probably enough things to talk about. otherwise my title will keep getting longer and longer. sweet. late.

-ap.

ps...i might get twitter? gasp.

usain bolt is borderline human.

2009-08-22T13:23:00.006-05:00

it's unfortunate that usain bolt was running at the same time tiger woods was choking this past sunday. if these hadn't been aired at the same time i'm sure plenty more people would be talking about how much more amazing usain bolt is than y.e. who?

everyone needs to go here and here to watch him run in the 100m and 200m respectively. the dude is a freak.

after you watch the clip on metacafe, you need to scroll down and observe the following comment about his new world record...

-ap.

respect the royalty.

2009-08-22T09:36:00.008-05:00

this is me sitting at dunn bros at 8:30 on saturday morning, i came to work on hillcrest stuff for tomorrow morning, but as it turns out i feel more confident upon arriving here this morning than i did when i set my alarm last night planning to wake up and get some work done. so i'll blog instead.

my internship is going great - so much better than my past summer internships. i feel like i'm being challenged, i'm growing, i'm not being cutely shepherded along in everything that i do (as was the case in past summers), but i'm being given some terrific freedom and ownership of the things i'm in charge of. i'm also getting repeated confirmation that this is what i'm supposed to do with my life. i feel like i've been ready for this next step for a couple years, and it feels really good to step into a new level of responsibility.

speaking of steps - i was eating some red vines and talking to tim (my boss, friend, and softball teammate) this week about what my future looks like. while i am not a gypsy and cannot transparently foresee the future, i know where my life is headed and can make a couple rather good estimates on different avenues i could take. namely:

1. i could stay at hillcrest for two years and look for a full time covenant youth job a couple years from now, or...
2. i could start putting my resume out there starting in december and plan on ditching kc around may for another covenant youth job.

..."youth" should probably read "middle school".

both of these ideas scare me. i'm leaning towards the first option (mainly because i dont think my heart would be able to handle running away from the city and people i love just yet), but i'm starting to wonder if i should start looking now? the thought of leaving kc is devastating, but is it something God has for me to step into?

good thing these decisions are months away...but now that i've said that i realize that "months" isn't really a very long time away at all. oh goll.

i might have just wet my pants.

-ap.

also i want everyone to realize that cedar rapids and overland park are 2 of the top 10 places to grow up. i will add that OP is one of the best places to move when you're newlyweds. i have no article to link to supporting this claim, but when you guys move here you'll understand that it is absolute truth. that is all.

a golden tee moment.

2009-08-19T12:05:00.007-05:00

sometimes dan and i play golden tee at buffalo wild wings. we played yesterday afternoon and this is my second shot on hole 5. it's a par 5. watch and be amazed...

a DOUBLE EAGLE?!? are you even kidding? man i love this game.

best thing about this round of golf: i finished the front nine holes at -9...then i shot a +8 on the back nine. pitiful, but still so great.

and yes, my player name is Wizard McGavin.

-ap.

baseball card fever.

2009-08-13T11:34:00.001-05:00

i have baseball card fever.

in the last couple weeks i've acquired the 1982 and 1989 topps complete sets along with the trade updates and debuts from '89. i've also picked up a couple boxes of 2009 topps and upper decks, and a few other packs in hopes of some lucky jackpot acquisitions.

the fellas i've been going card shopping with - mostly tj and motown - are all into the new age cards: jerseys, autographs, spx upper decks, topps allen & ginter, etc. expensive boxes with a much greater payoff if you get lucky.

but i'm different. i'm into the classic sets - the rookie cards and team sets of the hall of famers and championship teams in the 80's and 90's. i'm old school probably, but i'm okay with that. i'm not in it for the money or the flashy collection, i'm in it for the players i love and the teams i respect.

also, from my personal perspective it seems like there's no real "collection" when you open up a pack and there's a stephen strasberg signed jersey rook card staring back at you. it's a sweet thrill and certainly an addition to a collection, but a collection - to me - is a group of cards that all go well together. so i've decided to make some short term goals for my card collection.

Goal #1: the topps rookie cards of the 1982 st. louis cardinals world series champ team.

not a crazy difficult conquest, but not an easy one by any means at all. i'll need to do my research - acquire a full team 1982 checklist roster (plus updates and debuts), determine the rookie year of every athlete on the team (for example, ozzie smith was a rookie in 1979), and then figure out how i am going to acquire each of these individuals.

i'm not sure when/if Goal #2 will surface, but for now i'm going to focus on the task at hand. wish me luck.

-ap.

ps. this is my 400th post.

my fantasy football team.

2009-08-13T00:33:00.005-05:00

i've never played fantasy football before. i always get to about week 3 and think "ah crap, i forgot to talk to some guys and get a league together." but this year, those guys came to me. the graduated seniors from hillcrest asked me to join their league before they ditched next week for college.

the draft was tonight at buffalo wild wings (which, by the way, gives your draft group $100 free food and a draft packet with stickers of all the players' names to stick on a sweet draft board). here is the team i ended up with:

QB:
peyton manning - ind
joe flacco - bal
kerry collins - ten

RB:
brandon jacobs - nyg
joseph addai - ind
fred taylor - ne
dominic rhodes - buf

WR:
larry fitzgerald - ari
steve smith - car
lee evans - buf
santana moss - was
devon hester - chi
hakim nicks - nyg
laverneus coles - cin
robert meachem - no
antwaan randle el - was
jordy nelson - gb

TE:
kellen winslow - tb

K:
rob bironas - ten

DEF:
baltimore ravens
indianapolis colts

better hope kellen winslow stays healthy. but would you look at my tight receiver core? i even added randle el and jordy as my own feel-good picks. i can't wait til this season kicks off.

also you'll notice i have zero members from the AFC West. two reasons: 1. i can't root for the other teams that i hate and 2. my confidence in the chiefs is minimal.

i feel more than confident about my team however. i feel like rolling sixes all over these dudes. no mercy anymore fellas, you're out of high school now. you're in the real world. i'm all business and you best get out of the way.

-ap.