Get your skype on

Memo to you techno-weenies: Skype.com is a "telephony" site which offers free calling over the internet. It's fantastic. Let me pimp it a bit.

First, it's great for a conference call. For our ministry, it's useful enough that we use it instead of driving 4 hours for a meeting. There are chat features, document transfer features and did I mention it's free?

Second, now skype is beta testing a video link. And it works (for windows only, you mac goobers). Today Grammy and Papa in Denver got to talk to and see the grandkids, and did I mention it's free?

For more information, check out the "about skype" page here.

What's reasonable?!?

I've been a bit slow keeping up with the current hot-button immigration debate (too much dreaming about Nap Shops...). And yet anything related to immigration is going to be a huge issue here in the Valley. Here's a report about High School students protesting in Fresno. Next, here's an article from the Fresno State paper.

What has perplexed and vexed me for years about the immigration process is the apparent insanity of the process. I've had recent friends and acquaintances pursue citizenship from Mexico, Jordan and Canada and no one has had an easy time of it (probably my Jordanian neighbor had the most difficult experience in the years after 9/11).

My take is that there has to be a process for someone becoming a citizen, but the question is what is a reasonable process. Big props to our friend Jeremy for trying to make sense of the current process, for trying to clarify the seemingly unclarifiable. You can read his summation here. (Now read it again imagining that English was NOT your first language and that you had no money, job or familiarity with the culture and it's massive institutions...)

Bottom line question: if I was faced with a process like that, would I simply choose to melt into the culture and just disappear like so many others? I think maybe yes.

The Nap Shop

From my wife's twisted but entrepreneurial mind (remember, she is thinking for two right now)...

You know when you are out doing errands, or on a lunch break, and you get overwhelmingly tired? When all you yearn for is a soft bed, but your house or apartment is many miles away? What you wouldn't give for a place, a safe place, where you could just lay your head down for a few precious minutes and get some rest. What if such a place existed? Would you go?

The Nap Shop is for you.

Imagine a store...for naps. Come on in and put your feet up. We offer the following amenities:

• Hourly rates
• Clean pillows and sheets (or to save money bring a sleeping bag)
• Snoring and non-snoring sections
• Child care
  
• A Starbucks next store (with discounts for Nap Shop customers), perfect for that "pick me up" when you're done
• Lockers to store your stuff while you sleep
• Headphones with your choice of soothing itunes
• Semi-private rooms for a nominal fee
• A safe environment with no hanky-panky going on in the nap station next to you!

Come on in today. Leave your cares behind and experience the joys of The Nap Shop.

Final Four Revealed

OK so the results are in: UCLA, LSU, Florida and...George Mason. I picked one out of four this year and finished mid-pack in both of the bracket battles I was a part of.

It's just crazy. Who on earth would have picked those teams for the Final Four?!? What are the chances? There's just NO WAY! Oh, wait, maybe there is...

What I require

How is that for a picture?!? Yikes. I enjoyed this article on CNN.com (and widely reported) on the requirements for a hotel to host Dick Cheney should he "grace them with his presence." I have heard of such things before; for instance, ahead of their visits rock stars send the arena a "rider" detailing their every whims. I'm a traveler from time to time, so in honor of our esteemed Vice President, here are my hosting requirements, should you welcome me into your home:

• Anything to drink in the fridge (or liquor cabinet?) will do.
• A place to park my car.
• Futon, couch, whatever.
• A clean towel.
  
• Some good conversation.
• My one indulgence? Mint milanos. And Nestle Quik. And if I'm there for dinner, steak. Or grilled chicken. Maybe a good burger. Yeah, definately a good burger. With fries. And, come to think of it, Dr. Pepper. 4 cubes of ice. Ice from bottled water only though. And a clean glass, fresh from the dishwasher. A perfect glass. No chips. And no water spots. On a coaster. Please.
  

What's in a name?

A lot I think. With the baby coming anytime now, we are working hard on coming up with a good and significant name for Baby Girl Dixon. So it was so helpful to get this bit of advice/word from the Lord from our friend Jeremy:

"So I was just flipping through the Bible the other day and I came to this random passage from Isaiah 8 - Then I went to the prophetess, and she conceived and gave birth to a son. And the LORD said to me, "Name him Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz." I'm pretty sure that should be taken as a sign that you ought to name the baby Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz. And the best part is that it works for a boy or a girl, in case you get surprised."

I really think it could work. For one thing, no need to come up with a middle name (or a last name, for that matter); it's all right there for you. And second, talk about options for nicknames. There's Shal, Mez, Shab, Lash, Mash, Merb, Alal, Mesh and my favorite Hash.

But then I started thinking about other Biblical options. This website lists 188 names. Top contenders could include:

• Heifer (er...)
• Orpah (talk show?)
• Gomer
  
• Dorcas
  
• Hammoleketh (means "the queen")
• Nymphas

Or maybe we'll go with current frontrunner Grace...I'll keep you posted.

NCAA Tournament Report

Jesus in Mark: "if a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand."

What a good word. For that reason, I had to sit while watching the Duke game last night. On one hand, I had them going to the Finals in my brackets and therefore needed them to beat LSU. On the other hand, enough Duke. Lose already. How could I stand?!?

In other news, what a great UCLA/Gonzaga game. That Jim Morrison is amazing. He's still doing it, so many years after the Doors, oh wait, that's Adam Morrison ("tip your waitress; I'll be here all week..."). The wild finishes to the two late games last night sum up why I, we and so many others love the Tournament. 4 more games tonight!

They can't all be right...

I was reading Parenting magazine lately (I need all the help I can get) and there was this poll: is your child smarter than average?

The response? 80% of the responders said "yes." What's wrong with that picture?!?

Missing at Berean...

...is any sort of wall-hanging, potpourri or desk plaque with 2 Timothy 3:12 on it. Paul writes to Timothy:

"Yes, and everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution."

What a gem of a verse! I wonder why they leave that one out?!? It's always Jer. 29:11 or Phil. 4:13. Weird (or not).

Anyway, here's a guy who is living that verse out. We need to pray for him!

Spring Broken

It's that time of year, students heading off for the madness of Spring Break. Fresno State's break isn't until mid-April, but plenty of schools have it right now. Let's be praying. I was reading a blog post with some sad Spring Break statistics from my Staff buddy Scott in LA. Check it out here.

Waiting...

So we went to the Dr. yesterday and she said that all is well with both Amy and the baby and then cheerfully added this little doozy: "from here on, it could come any time!!!"

Waiting is hard. For us, we have this enormous change on the horizon, this great joy, and yet we have to wait for it. We have no clue when it will come, we just know that 1. it's a huge thing, 2. we'd better be ready and 3. we really need to finish picking names.

I'm pretty sure the Bible has something to say on waiting (feel free to share your fav. passage with us!). We'll have to check those texts out (again); in this season, waiting is what we are learning about. Wait with us, we'll keep you posted...

Ah, the NIT

Today, the NIT (National Invitation Tournament) is basically viewed as the NCAA's weak younger step-child. On ESPN recently, I heard it referred to as the "battle for the 66th best team in the nation."

Pooh on that I say. If you read the NIT history, you will find that it actually pre-dates the NCAA tournament, by one year. In addition, through the 1960s, there was much debate over which tournament was more prestigious. Plus, basketball is basketball. I just finished watching Florida State vs. South Carolina (last year's NIT winner), and that was a pretty good game right there. I would say that either of those two teams would have done some damage in the NCAA tournament this year.

Now let me pimp the locals for a second...a couple of fun facts about the NIT for Fresno folks...State won the men's tournament in 1983. And, the women's NIT is going on right now with Fresno State advancing into the third round. Here's the bracket. Go Lady Dogs!

I gotta get me one of those chairs...

I enjoy reading through Christianity Today each month. Between that, Sojourners and a bunch of websites/blogs, I feel like I get a good monthly dose of all things Christendom. In the March issue for instance, there's a great article by Frederica Matthewes-Green comparing culture and the weather (check it out!). But what really caught my eye were the ads. Yep, the ads. Let me explain...

Each CT issue has a ton of ads. And in the March issue there are the usual suspects: Bible schools and Seminaries, Church financing, books (Billy Graham has a new one out), Conferences and, for some reason, Church seating (I'm not kidding. Did you know that the Celebration chair by Series has a 20" egress between rows as well as 20% more seating capacity than the conventional pew?!? Talk about a "mercy seat...").

But this time around, two "non-normal CT ads" stood out to me:

• Ethiopian Airlines has a nice ad. An interesting choice. Recruiting short-term missions teams perhaps? Evidently, "there's no better way to go to Africa." Cute giraffe.
• Lexmark. The "most interesting ad" award goes to Lexmark, the printing folks. And it even comes with a special offer! I guess it makes sense to advertize in CT; I wonder how many ink cartridges churches use each week to print up those bulletins?!?
  

For April, I humbly suggest some other CT ad options:

• Kleenex (Jesus wept. Buy Kleenex.)
  
• Gatorade (Is HE in you?)
  
• Verizon (Can you hear HIM now?)
  
• Lysol (Lysol: A fragrant offering unto the Lord.)
• Nike (Just WWJDo it.)
• AT&T (Your Lord. Delivered.)
  

Props to the UC

Was reading google news this morning and came across this article about the UC Regents taking a stand on the genocide in the Sudan.

Good stuff. Now on to lower tuition and minority student recruitment!

We finally gave in...

...and bought one of these. Holy cow.

In related news, farewell to the JEEP. Rest in peace, you big purple Barney-mobile.

Fabio

I spoke last night at our weekly Fellowship meeting on the topic of Leadership and Ownership. Text was 1 Cor. 12, the old "one body, many parts" analogy. My challenge at the end was for the folks in our Fellowship to commit to use their gifts to bless the body, and I wanted some sort of application/response/committment activity. So to whom did I turn?!?

To Fabio of course. After all, who better to represent the, ah, body? I went down to Partyworks and plunked down $24 to buy a 6 foot tall cardboard Fabio cut-out. He's all ripped up, bare-chested, with this "sexy" look and his famous hair all wind-swept. Cheeseball. At the end of the talk, students were invited to go forward and slap a sticker on Mr. Fabio that had their name and the gift they were pledging to use to bless our Fellowship.

During the worship time at the end of the night, my Staff partner and our worship guy Robert called it "the most awkward application time ever." I call it "the most memorable application time ever." Either way, here's a sampling of what students put on Fabio's washboard stomach (in response to the prompt "Here's what I'm bringing to our body"):

Maria: "I love talking and listening to others."
Brian: "The will to lead."
Erica: "A heart for the homeless and suffering."
Ross: "Tech/computer skills."
Kelly: "Energy. Organization. Love. Excitement.

Good stuff. But now the question remains...what the heck do I do with Fabio?!?

Perfect for my next Staff Meeting...

From the Fresno Bee this morning:

"CBS realizes people at work are supposed to do work, not watch basketball. So it has designed its video player for broadcasts of NCAA Tournament games via the Internet with a 'boss button.' Clicking the button changes the display to a ready-made spreadsheet--just in case the boss walks by."

So much for integrity, honesty and a healthy work environment...

The picks are in

I love this time of year. March madness starts this Thursday. I won't steer you wrong, and here are my Final Four picks (drumroll please):

UCLA Bruins
Duke Blue Punks
Boston College Eagles
UNC Tarheels

Then for the title game go with the Dukies vs. Boston College in a rematch of the ACC Championship game from last weekend, only with BC coming out on top this time 72-69. Look for BC's Craig Smith to drop 24 and 13 in the champtionship game to take the MVP trophy back to Chestnut Hill. Thus saith the Rob.

Feel free to follow along as I absolutely decimate Amy's family this year...

Sick sucks

I've been laid out for much of the weekend. Really, I hate being sick.

Thanks for praying

By the way, thanks for those who prayed for our meetings this week. I think/trust that God met us and, well, I like the way our work in the Division is "trending." As for me, I'm "trending" for a day off...

It's all about trending

The other day some Staff partners and I were talking about a student and I found myself saying, "I like how this guy is trending." Trending. I think it's a term from the political world ("Ohio is trending Republican this year"). But I/we used it in the spiritual one, and I think it's a good term. Here's what I like about it:

1. It implies a journey has begun. In Adventures in Missing the Point, the authors talk about a faith "starting line;" that is, the starting point of a faith journey. I think that when most of us toss around the cliche that goes "crossing the line of faith," I think we mean the "finish line," as in "the seeking is over and the process is done." But the reality is that that is flat out incorrect. It's just begun of course. So to "trend" rightly notes that the process is underway.

2. In this context, it suggests positive forward progress. To trend in a direction is to move that way. In the case of the above student, he had been raised in a strict fundamentalist church context. So consequently (and tragically), he had a warped view of both God and the world. But in the last years Jesus has been redeeming his broken views (through the IV ministry on one of our nearby campuses), and he is thus trending in the right direction. So there is renewal in his life and praise God for it. I like the way my friend Adam expresses this idea on his blog.

3. It's a useful way to talk about degrees. When you trend someplace you've begun the journey and you're moving in a positive direction, but it's really a journey that never ends. Instead, it's about degrees. Like maturity, wholeness or knowledge, you never fully arrive when you are trending. It's more that one day you are further down the pike than the day before. Recently at our Large Group meeting a student told a gnarly story about her painful past. Drugs, depression, suicide, you name it. But she didn't say "I've met Jesus and I'm done with all that." She said, "Jesus has brought me through the worst of it, and I'm experiencing more and more healing as I get to know him better." I like the way she is trending.

Bottom line is that we are all "trending" really and the only question is in which direction and with what level of intentionality and purposefulness.

It's a shame...

...that they are going to go this route. Let 'em ride I say!

The wind on your...whole body, the feel of the seat on your...bare butt, the thrill of knowing you could crash at any moment and lose skin...everywhere. Take it from someone who's done it, there is something totally "liberating" about a nice clothing optional bike ride...

Man, sometimes I really miss college...

A limerick prayer request

I have a big meeting tomorrow
Strength from above I need borrow
We're making some choices
We'll need all our voices
Come Thursday there'll be joy and sorrow

Please pray for our DLT as we discern God's will for the future of our Division (including Fresno). Thanks...

Another "pelt"

Chalk up another one for my Mario Kart playing savant son Josh. Tonight he bagged Amy, pummeling her with a lightning bolt on the last lap to beat her at Banshee Boardwalk. When interviewed, Amy had this to say, "He got lucky, the little stinker..."

By chance could there be money to be made off of this?!? Somebody call Oprah...

The Global Church

The Feb. 06 edition of Sojourners Magazine has an interesting article on an important shift affecting the global church; namely, the movement of populations and influence from the North to the South. Absorb this quote:

"Whereas a few decades ago 70 percent of all evangelicals were in the 'North,' primarily in the United States, today 70 percent are in the churches in the global South. The Catholic Church, which is projected to lose 20 million members in Europe in the first quarter of this century, will gain 100 million members in Africa, 50 million in Asia, and 140 million in Latin America. At the beginning of the 20th century, 81 percent of Christians were white. By the century's end, the number was 45 percent."

So here are a couple of questions that this raises for me:

Will the northern church share (or give) power, money and resources to their southern brothers and sisters, or will they assume a posture of protectiveness or, worse, denial? I know from first hand experience in Central America that the churches there could use some resources as well as a platform to articulate their experiences.

Will high-profile northern leaders point their flocks to what God is doing in the south? One thing I am excited about is Urbana 06 speaker (and 40 Days guy) Rick Warren's work in Africa. I'm eager to hear about that next December in St. Louis.

Will the North American church begin to really (and finally) wrestle with Biblical multiethnicity and racial reconciliation? I sure hope so. If our churches can get a handle on this and work out their issues, we will be well poised to have a healthy posture as we continue to experience this global shift. If we dig in our heals and deny it's happening, heaven help our witness.

What will this mean for our missions programs? Here a thought: Imagine 50 years from now churches in the south sending teams of missionaries...to the States! Guatemalan evangelicals walking the streets of Clovis looking to talk about Jesus? Love it.

New Evangelism Campaign?

Came across this one on the internet.
What would the caption be?!?

"Hanky"

Dictionary.com defines the word "hanky" as a square piece of cloth used for wiping the eyes or nose or as a costume accessory. That sounds about right to me. Which is why it has baffled me to hear our son Josh use that word all day, in a variety of contexts and clearly with the wrong definition.

So help us out! Here is a list of the things that he has described as "hanky" over the course of the day:

• the Pacific Ocean
• a walking bridge
• his dinner (namely, cheerios, strawberries, toast and milk)

And, conversely, here's a list of things that are not "hanky:"

• Mario Kart (by the way, add Moo Moo Farm to the list of courses he's now beat me at)
• Mommy
• our house

OK, help me out. What does he mean?!?

Off to SLO

There are lots of things we are excited about today:

Heading over to beautiful San Luis Obispo
Seeing dear friends
A sandwich from Gus'
Worshipping tonight with our old IV Chapter
Rob speaking tonight on the Parable of the Great Feast (Lk. 14)

But here's something we're not excited about:

Important Doubles Luge Update

Thanks to Mom for sending along this nice bit on our favorite Olympic sport...