Why I Will Soon Hate Kentucky Basketball

If you are looking for spiritual discussion, theological reading, pastoral insight, church planting vision, or other things I sometimes try to talk about, then you have come to the wrong place. This post is a rant. And a rant about a college basketball team. So many of you can move on and read something else. If you stay you'll probably regret it. It's a waste of your time really.

Anyway...I essentially have three sports that I follow with any kind of passion and they're in this order of priority: Baseball, football, and basketball. So it makes sense that my favorite sports teams are in this order: The Pittsburgh Pirates (I'd cut my arm off to see them win one World Series before I die), The Pittsburgh Steelers (I'd cry if they didn't win another 50 super bowls before I die), and Kentucky Wildcats basketball (I follow them very very closely and yell at the TV when they're on).

This post is about Wildcats basketball. First, I have to admit that Marshall and WVU football and basketball have for the past few years been creeping up for number three on my sports team love list. So the following statement would probably have gradually happened at some level any way. The statement for all who care: If Billy Donavan is hired as the next UK basketball coach I will avidly wish harm against them (including cheer for Duke) during his lame tenure and who knows if I'll root for them again!!!!!!

Let me give you some reasons:

1. He's an overrated coach. He's a good coach at best. I watched him while I was in high school when he coached Marshall for two years and the guy drove me crazy. Our players got worse under his coaching. His current players do too by the way. They say we won, but we didn't. We had a winning record. We won 17 and 18 games in the Southern Conference when he was here. Huckaby and White did better than that. We never went to the NCAA tourney or NIT. I watched him on two occasions simply sit down and quit coaching in the middle of the second half after we were losing. In fact, when he left and took Jason Williams, our best player that year--Greg White came in and won 20 games. The same folks who love Billy Donovan hate Greg White. It's screwed up. I'm mad about it. If you look at what he does at Florida, it's not great. He went to a school where only three years before Lon Kruger took them to the Final Four. It was a step up for sure and it's a tougher conference yes, but Donovan won 13 games and then 14 games. Went to a final--Kudos. Then didn't get past the second round for 5 years. He brought great recruits and a great system that Rick Pitino came up with. I'm not necessarily knocking him for that. It works for him so go for it. But that doesn't make a guy a great coach. And until the past two years when Florida made him get an X's and O's assistant and he got a few big guys that could pick up a ton of offensive rebounds from their slop no one has done less with more than Billy Donovan. Kentucky has always had great coaches. They've differed in styles and had varied success, but their coaches have always been great coaches.



2. It is a fundamental shift in philosophy for the team. I love the Steelers because they are a class act from top to bottom. They don't put up with players getting arrested or beating their girlfriends. They have top notch coaches who respect the game and play it right. Hard hitting defense and run the football. They would never get Randy Moss or TO. They reject winning at any cost. They will win the right way. Kentucky apparently won't. Perhaps, Kentucky only wants to win. We'll see.



3. He looks like Eddie Munster. Ok, this is petty, but he does look like a vampire with patent leather hair.

So, if you've read this far allow me to illustrate my point with Scripture and why God agrees with me and no one who cheers for Billy Donovan, Randy Moss, TO, Tiger Woods, or Derek Jeter.

Deuteronomy 25:11-12 has an odd command: "When men fight with one another and the wife of the one draws near to rescue her husband from the hand of him who is beating him and puts out her hand and seizes him by the private parts, then you shall cut off her hand. Your eye shall have no pity."

There is a right way to win and a wrong way to win. Please Kentucky do not grab at people's privates to win! I know your fans want you too, but your fans where mulletts too. Remember you're the greatest college basketball team in the country, you're going to win anyway. At least do it the right way!!

Thanks From The Bennetts

Hey guys. Jeff, Shannon, and Nolan wanted me to post a thank you to everyone for praying for them, loving on them, and feeding them. Here it is:

Dear Crew Family, Jeff and I would like to express our gratitude for all the well wishes and wonderful food. We feel truly blessed to be part of a community that is so generous. Our family has been blessed by the addition of Nolan and we are excited to share him with everyone. The meals that have been delivered to us have made the transition from a couple to a family easier in our current state of sleep deprivation. I'm a little nervous to turn the stove on because I may fall asleep before I turn it off! Jeff has joked repeatedly that he hopes the meals keep coming until Nolan is three because all of the food has been so wonderful. There are several recipes that I must have. Thank you so much.

With love Jeff, Shannon, and Nolan Bennett

The Newest Addition to the Crew

As of my small group this past Wed. I found out that we have 4 gals at Crew who are pregnant. So you'll be seeing several of these types of blogs over the next 9 months. We had 5 ladies with growing stomachs until last Sunday, when God gave Jeff and Shannon Bennett a little guy they named Nolan Robert Bennett. He weighed 6 pounds 5 ounces and was 20 inches long. He is home and they are having a blast. So be sure to give them an email or a call and congratulate them and see me if you want to help bringing food. Apparently Jeff likes to eat. You know come to think of it, he might be pregnant.

Never thought I'd be doing THIS on the mission field!

I got a phone call last night about 10:00. It was my neighbor and friend, DeNise. DeNise is an X-ray tech at the hopsital here in Shell. The first words out of her mouth were, "I need a HUGE favor. This is really big, Beth." I didn't really know how to respond to this, so, "Ooooookaayyyy??" was all that came out. It was one of those "okays" where you just say it because you have no idea what else to say at that point. "I'm the only one on call, and there was an accident and there's four people waiting to get X-rays. I didn't know who else to call. Can you help?" Of course, the first thought that came to my mind was, "How in the world can I help?" But, before these words could come out, DeNise said, "I just need someone to run X-ray film through a machine for me." After a long pause, another "Ooookaaayy." came out. I thought long and hard. DeNise is, afterall, my adopted mom down here in Shell (she's cooked many a great meal for me!) and I know how hard she works. So, she wouldn't call unless she was really desparate.

I get to the X-ray room at the hospital and as soon as I walk in the door, DeNise takes me to a room in the back and says, "This is how you do it." She continues to show me, in the light, HOW I would do something. Of course, the X-rays can't be exposed to light. So, she then closes the door and says, "Ok. Do it." Remember - it is PITCH BLACK in this room. So, I'm feeling my way to open the contraption that holds the X-ray film (we didn't have time to mess with the techincal terms for this stuff!), feel my way to the machine to run the film through, then feel my way BACK to a drawer to get NEW film to put back in the contraption film-holder thingy. I open the door, and DeNise hands me another one. All I could think of at this point was, "What if I totally screw up these X-rays?!?! This is insane! Am I really qualified to be doing this?!?!"

About 30 or 40 minutes later, a couple doctors (who had ordered the X-rays) came in to check them out. One is a doctor here at the hospital, the other is a doctor that's just volutneering here for about a month. After a few minutes, the volunteer doctor says, "You must be one of the medstudents." Almost in unison, Dr. Nelson and I both tell him that I'm actually the first grade teacher at the school. I will never forget the volunteer's response..."Oh." It didn't even phase him that the first grade teacher is developing (or whatever the correct term is!) X-rays at midnight! Come to think of it, Dr. Nelson didn't really respond either when he walked in and saw me working. Hmmm...

Well, after doing about 10 - 15 X-rays on the FIRST patient, the next one came in. This guy had swallowed a fish bone, so I was pretty excited to see how these looked! This all continued on until about 1:00am. By this time, I was feeling pretty confident in my X-ray developing abilities and was moving right along! As I walked home, I couldn't help but laugh. Where else in the world would something like this EVER happen? Never in my life would I have thought I'd be doing this on the mission field. If nothing else, I was able to get a small glance into the life of an X-ray technician. I think I'll stick with being a teacher for now, though.

Game Night @ Crew

Hey I wanted to remind everyone that on March 30th at the Renaissance Theater we're having a game night. It starts at 6:30pm and we'll run until we're gamed out. Bring your games, we'll have snacks available. We're going to have a couple Texas Hold'Em Tables going too. There will be prizes for the winners. There's no buy in!!! Come and play and bring your friends who aren't at Crew. We want to meet them. Our game night is designed to meet people in a fun environment. Go out of your way to talk to folks you don't recognize. If you go home unconnected, then I'll cry. One last thing, leave a comment on whether you think we ought to play poker at our game night. Why or why not?

Let's Make the Crew Blog a Crew Blog

Hey guys. I wanted to remind you all again that the Crew blog is open for everyone of us at Crew.
A blog is short for weblog. Here's is how wikipedia describes a blog: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blog

I would love for the blog on our site to be our community blog. It isn't my blog. It is our blog. Feel free to post about a concert you went to, a class you took, an update on important days (Birthday, anniversary, etc.), editorialize, encourage, debate a controversial issue, a book you're reading, a CD your listening to, a movie review, or whatever. It doesn't have to be spiritual or religious.

I want it to be a place where we're all dialoguing and sharing our lives together. This is a great way to get to know one another. So, let's do it.

You're obviously free to comment on my blogs, but I want all of us posting our own blogs. See Brian and/or Chris for the how to's on this.

Thanking God This Morning

I woke up this morning in a warm bed next to my beautiful loving and godly wife. I was able to walk to the bathroom and shave, brush my teeth, and take a shower in clean fresh undiseased water. I got dressed selecting clothes from a full closet. I woke up my healthy 5 year old son Danny and got him dressed. I'm getting ready to drive to Columbia SC to pick up a van I bought on ebay. I now have 3 cars. I'm going be driven and kept company on my trip by my grandfather and my dad who have always been there for me and taught me how to be a man. Thanks God for an unbelievably gifted life. Thank you for giving me such gifts. I am acutely aware that they are gifts most people don't have. Give me a unwavering confidence in you whether I have these things or not. I hold them all loosely. Help me to love you more than these things. Amen

How blessed is everyone who fears the Lord,
Who walks in His ways.
When you shall eat of the fruit of your hands,
You will be happy and it will be well with you.
Your wife shall be like a fruitful vine,
Within your house,
Your children like olive plants
Around your table.
Behold for thus shall the man be blessed
Who fears the Lord.

(Psalm 128:1-4)

Looking For a Book to Read?

Hey guys. In case you didn't know this about me. I love to read. I always have a book that I'm reading. Sometimes more than 1. I was asked twice yesterday what I was reading. That tells me two things. First, some of you care what I'm reading. That's good. Second, some of you don't know what I'm reading. Not so good. So...

Over the last 2 months I've read a lot of the emerging stuff. No real reason, other than I wanted to read for myself some of the major authors across the broad spectrum of the "Emerging Church". I read Brian Mclaren's Generous Orthodoxy. I read Mark Driscoll's Radical Reformission. I read Doug Pagitt's Reimagining The Church. And I read a fella named Jonathan Edwards' A Treatise Concerning Relgious Affections. Can you guess what my favorite was? A hint: I quoted my favorite a couple weeks ago in a sermon. It will be online in the next couple days.

A couple days ago I started reading The Five Love Languages by Gary Chapman. It's by a marriage counselor who proposes that each person has a primary way that they express and receive love from others. There are five ways. That's nice and neat isn't it? Not 8 or 2. But a nice and clean 5. The five are:

1. Quality Time
2. Words of Affirmation
3. Gifts
4. Acts of Service
5. Physical Touch

Here's my take so far: Chapman thinks this will save your marriage. If you only learn how to express love more meaningfully then you'll have a great relationship. WRONG!!!! That can only happen as we love Christ, love like Christ, and live the gospel in our marriages.

We can have meaningful marriages whether you have a clue if your wife likes flowers or for you to give the kids a bath. Remember guys, the gospel isn't just our message it is our means. It is how we live too. The gospel is everything.

However, I want to express love more meaningfully to my red hot smoking wife Sarah, so I'm reading it.

One last disclaimer and recommendation. THE DISCLAIMER: Just because I read something or recommend that you read somethign doesn't mean that the book is a good book or what I believe. On occasion we need to read books that are full of crap. In fact there are far more bad books than good. This seems obvious, but you'd be surprised by how many folks think that because I quote something or read something that I'm affirming it or adopting it as my belief.

THE RECOMMENDATION: For you guys who love to read and can grind through Jonathan Edwards then read him. But for those of you who aren't up for that yet: Read Mark Driscoll's Radical Reformission. I really like this guy and like him more all the time. The book gives his mission strategy for three things I'm very passionate about:

1. Passion for the Gospel
2. Passion for the Church
3. Passion for the Culture

So pick a book, any book, but for the love of God--READ!!!!

A Winner In a Group of Losers

Hey guys. I found out yesterday and was reminded again today that Cathy Mercer won a creative problem solving competition this past week. Many of you know Cathy and some of you don't. She's a nursing student here in Huntington and entered a regional nursing competition for creative problem solving and won that bad boy. She'll be heading out to Florida in June to compete in a national version of this.

I thought I'd give her props and mention it to everyone since most of us at Crew are losers!!!!!!! I'm teasing, come on, lighten up.

When you see Cathy give her a big congrats and let her know you're proud of her.
We love you Cathy. Great job. Now get over to my house and put that problem solving ability to work: How can I get Jack to stop eating Crayons?