tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-74201797454505723632012-02-18T10:05:14.000-06:00KawTalk: Notes from the PrairiePastor Dannoreply@blogger.comBlogger831100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7420179745450572363.post-39429557554534102462010-12-16T10:43:00.000-06:002010-12-16T10:43:06.162-06:00Why the Barn was MagicIf you’ve been worshipping at Kaw Prairie for any amount of time now, you’ve heard about the Christmas Eve “Barn Service” again and again, I’m sure. For the last 6 Christmases, Kaw Prairie has made a ministry of presenting these Christmas Eve services to families in the west suburban communities—and beyond (attendees have told me they fly back to KC just in time to catch the late service!) Eachdanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09660876817021873948noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7420179745450572363.post-29407407510830349912010-08-12T09:16:00.000-05:002010-08-12T09:16:15.853-05:00Itsy-Bitsy Heebie-JeebiesI like trees, I’ll confess. So far I’ve planted more than 20 of them on our tract-home subdivision lot. But there is a downside to big trees, and it’s not all the leaves—I think lots of leaves are fun for the whole family, as well as the leaf-guard gutter replacement companies
Nope, for me, the big downside is only one thing: big spiders. This time of year, they’re having a great time danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09660876817021873948noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7420179745450572363.post-29982494250334566522010-07-02T17:48:00.000-05:002010-07-02T17:48:03.222-05:00Passing of a Prairie Prince of PeaceSportswriter Adrian Wojnarowski tells the story of watching 7’7” Manute Bol play college basketball in Connecticut. After an impressive game defending the basket, Bol came out as the bench took the floor for the final minute. As Wojnarowski’s party scooted toward the gym exit, he writes:
We walked slowly behind the University of Bridgeport’s bench and some kid stopped a few feet from [Bol] anddanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09660876817021873948noreply@blogger.com36tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7420179745450572363.post-5670925973738372862010-06-18T18:25:00.000-05:002010-06-18T18:25:38.564-05:00He didn't just walk on waterA group from Kaw Prairie’s WILD youth group drove over to Theater in the Park last Sunday night to see the famous musical Jesus Christ Superstar—but due to gathering lightening in the sky, the theater stopped the show right as Jesus was arriving at King Herod’s palace for his famous interview. (I was bummed because that was the part of the musical I remember best from hearing in my childhood: danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09660876817021873948noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7420179745450572363.post-2845990646890411402010-06-10T10:04:00.000-05:002010-06-10T10:04:27.204-05:00Fathers & FishcountsI am not a fisherman. But last week I took Jeremy & Eli over to Blackhoof Park to go fishing in Lake Lenexa (wow—what an impressive park that is—and what about that gorgeous, giant Spillway Dam?)
I was pretty proud of myself—I’d remembered to bring a back-up fishing pole, my tackle box, and to buy a fishing license and some nightcrawlers. Now, I did forget the bobbers-- so Eli just cast & danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09660876817021873948noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7420179745450572363.post-21011136756047395152010-06-04T22:30:00.000-05:002010-06-04T22:30:41.037-05:00Memorial Day & Duty DodgingEver since my sons & I put out our US flag for Memorial Day, I’ve been thinking a lot about all the servicemen and –women who’ve sacrificed for my family’s freedom and prosperity. Just last Sunday night, our neighborhood had planned a Sunday night campout in the neighborhood backyards, but the lightening, wind and rain changed those plans quickly. As crestfallen as the kids of the neighborhood danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09660876817021873948noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7420179745450572363.post-60355980139938194522010-04-01T06:27:00.000-05:002010-04-01T06:27:04.405-05:00The Way, the Truth & the Bike
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mso-font-signature:3 0 0 danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09660876817021873948noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7420179745450572363.post-10448656182229902242010-03-16T19:42:00.000-05:002010-03-16T19:42:02.380-05:00That's our church, dude!Kaw Prairie's multipurpose gymnatorium & lobby were shown on CBS News tonight--not the local affiliate version, the Katie Couric kind! Last Tuesday, Kaw Prairie sponsored an Ali Kemp TAKE Self-Defense classes, and 300 women from the wide metro area showed up to learn how to stay safe. See the whole story here. What we didn't learn until Tuesday morning was that a news crew was coming to watch!danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09660876817021873948noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7420179745450572363.post-80574943079610377692010-03-08T23:45:00.002-06:002010-03-08T23:51:52.370-06:00Medal Counts & Mighty MitesLike many Americans, I liked tuning in to the Olympics every once in a while over the past two weeks. Thanks to a Nintendo DS Winter Olympics game that Eli bought, he’d developed quite an interest in the various sports, so he & I chilled out on the sofa a different times watching a variety of different sports.
What I’d forgotten since the last Olympics, however, was the silly sport that danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09660876817021873948noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7420179745450572363.post-43746645494292541472010-03-08T23:40:00.000-06:002010-03-08T23:40:15.941-06:00Medal Counts & Mighty MitesLike many Americans, I liked tuning in to the Olympics every once in a while over the past
two weeks. Thanks to a Nintendo DS Winter Olympics game that Eli bought, he’d developed
quite an interest in the various sports, so he & I chilled out on the sofa a different times
watching a variety of different sports.
What I’d forgotten since the last Olympics, however, was the silly sport that danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09660876817021873948noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7420179745450572363.post-91119375398248397992010-02-26T21:22:00.006-06:002010-02-26T21:33:06.384-06:00Prodigal God in the Power & Light District
<!--[if gte mso 9]> Normal.dotm 0 0 1 193 1105 Kaw Prairie Community Church 9 2 1357 12.0 <![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]> 0 false 18 pt 18 pt 0 0 false false false <![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]> <![endif]--> <!-- /* Font Definitions */ @font-face {font-family:Cambria; panose-1:2 4 5 3 5 4 6 3 2danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09660876817021873948noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7420179745450572363.post-2001280744295713392010-02-17T10:07:00.006-06:002010-02-17T10:59:06.493-06:00All Work & No Blog makes a Memorable Ash WednesdayYikes-- how depressing to see my blog lay fallow since LAST YEAR! (So in the spirit of guilt-driven rationalization, I posted a few on our Kaw Prairie Daily Bible blog) But the big news is-- I''ve been knocked off my not-so-high bloghorse already by the growing numbers at Kaw Prairie every Sunday. Since I blogged last in December, we've grown about 100 new worshippers, from 425 up to about 525/danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09660876817021873948noreply@blogger.com31tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7420179745450572363.post-71584069593637117412009-12-31T16:29:00.001-06:002009-12-31T16:32:40.207-06:00New Year in the LibraryWednesday afternoon, after a few days of bathroom-painting and other housecleaning chores, our family took a break to bring some older winter coats and other gently used clothes to the Christian mission thrift store in Prairie Village, Blessings Abound. Luckily, we came home with fewer things than we walked in with! Then, after stopping at Costco—and getting cheap pizza for the kids and $1.50 danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09660876817021873948noreply@blogger.com55tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7420179745450572363.post-45530280438377995252009-12-09T16:58:00.002-06:002009-12-09T17:01:35.267-06:00Sabbaths and SnowdaysLike in many families, our kids pray for snow days. Not for the icy roads, lost wages, and upset childcare schedules that come with them, of course, but for the simple, surprising way that God seems to send a sudden Sabbath with cold or snow.As delighted as my boys are this morning with the DeSoto School District Snow Day (and it’s not 100% glee, since there’s actually hardly any snow to play in)danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09660876817021873948noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7420179745450572363.post-48668107291168239532009-11-19T18:51:00.001-06:002009-11-19T18:53:01.261-06:00O say can you pledge?Nowadays folks seem to not want to sing the national anthem. When I was growing up, standing in a crowd and singing The Star Spangled Banner was both a bit scary (it was hard to sing and a bit socially awkward) and invigorating (it was awesome to feel thankful for, and proud of, my country). I’m sure most of the people singing next to me felt those same competing emotions. But I did it. And danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09660876817021873948noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7420179745450572363.post-51795524013037561462009-11-12T07:39:00.002-06:002009-11-12T07:42:27.756-06:00Veterans Day PrideWhen Americans travel abroad—especially when we leave the tour groups, resorts, and airports—the stereotype of the “ugly American” is often alive and well. Laura and I lived overseas twice during college and grad school—and we’d sometimes cringe to hear fellow Americans our age wearing college sweatshirts, talking 50% louder than everyone else on the subway or asking old shopkeepers and waitersdanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09660876817021873948noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7420179745450572363.post-53091314371643984172009-10-28T14:49:00.003-05:002009-10-28T15:02:59.757-05:00Me & the Prostitute's MattressI remember living on Chicago’s south side my first year out of college: bars on our windows, sirens all night, and when you went outside for a breath of fresh air, diesel fuel film coating the yellow and red autumn leaves blowing down the sidewalk. It was an interesting mix of solitude and community, city apartment living was: Neighbors got to know each other not in frontyards and cul-de-sacsdanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09660876817021873948noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7420179745450572363.post-80927463201570034692009-10-07T22:28:00.002-05:002009-10-07T22:31:48.755-05:00I'm my own GrandpaThat pesky children’s American folk tune has stuck in my head years after our boys stopped enjoying it—and it came back to me late last night as I sat quietly on our weathered wood deck. I was grateful for the cool weather, and even more grateful that I’d grabbed a fleece jacket before stepping outside with my icewater to enjoy it. It was one of those temperature points outdoors where you’re notdanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09660876817021873948noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7420179745450572363.post-77705372766372355082009-09-14T13:38:00.005-05:002009-09-14T13:50:13.147-05:00My son's first football gameWhen I was growing up, I managed to stay away from the siren call of football. I daydreamed about being a good football player, but I wasn’t very fast, my pudgy fingers made throwing (and catching) a football difficult, and I didn’t like pain (receiving or inflicting it) well enough to try most other positions. So when fall came around, I chose the path less-traveled (and less-tackled): I ran danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09660876817021873948noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7420179745450572363.post-7752204739711098442009-09-08T23:30:00.003-05:002009-09-08T23:34:29.195-05:00A Recovering Workaholic's Labor DayMy dad was something of a workaholic for most of my growing up, but I don’t have any bitter memories or hard feelings. In fact, I’m very proud of the work he did and the work ethic in me he instilled.Even when dad wasn’t ‘at work,’ he was usually working—finishing the basements of the houses we lived in, remodeling the bedrooms, insulating the attics, repairing the lawnmowers, etc. When we wentdanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09660876817021873948noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7420179745450572363.post-61222088061843252302009-09-06T18:17:00.002-05:002009-09-08T23:29:59.859-05:00Unpacking the Samson Sermon(Note: I write below about a recent visit with a Kaw Prairier. I don’t typically ‘counsel & tell’— but he gave me permission to tell the story— pd). The waitress laid down a pair of menus. “Want some coffee, hon?” Knowing I had a long morning of coffee-drinking ahead, I nodded: “Decaf please.” After a full Sunday of preaching in the morning and doing youth ministry at night, I was still danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09660876817021873948noreply@blogger.com192tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7420179745450572363.post-52451820035033519082009-08-21T16:27:00.004-05:002009-08-21T16:30:23.411-05:00Running from KP as fast as he couldNow, as friendly as Kaw Prairie tries to be on the outside, and as passionate for Christ as we strive to be on the inside, there are occasionally those who just don’t seem very comfortable with our church at Prairie Star Parkway & K-7. And last Sunday afternoon, I met just that sort of dissatisfied individual first hand. See, after tear-down was over and as Judy and her teams were preparing danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09660876817021873948noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7420179745450572363.post-18213202214542341542009-08-12T23:41:00.002-05:002009-08-12T23:43:53.114-05:00Bapto-Blast on the BeachI love baptisms: History (Jesus’ command to baptize) meets the present, and the individual connects to Christ and His Body, the church. And Sunday’s Immersion Baptisms at the Shawnee Mission Park Lake Beach were no different—we had a great crowd, lots of Holy Spirit, eight buoyant baptismands, a friendly Parks & Rec Lifeguard, a great beach-version worship band, and to end it all, a mongo danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09660876817021873948noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7420179745450572363.post-42970807043202817572009-08-12T08:34:00.009-05:002009-08-12T09:34:15.206-05:00Bible-Believers vs. Health-Care HecklersWe live in a country where freedom of speech is a cherished right—and the recent display of free—and lately, rather rude—speech at town hall meetings across America is part and parcel of our country’s heritage. So whether or not you agree with the current health care reform proposals, I thank God for your right to opine about them publicly. But for those in the picket-lines or town-halls who danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09660876817021873948noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7420179745450572363.post-51380020584829923862009-07-27T14:40:00.005-05:002009-07-27T23:27:36.108-05:00A Long, Lusty SundayThat got you to read on, didn’t it? Well, we had a similar situation Sunday—great attendance, great topic, and by some accounts, I actually pulled off a pretty good sermon—on lust, no less. It’s already generated a surprising number of thanks & notes of appreciation, including from a young man wanted to know where I got the flirtatious garbage man clip. The video clip of a teenage girl talkingdanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09660876817021873948noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7420179745450572363.post-65185500067911823372009-07-18T12:14:00.003-05:002009-07-18T12:18:23.950-05:00SancTINTification on the RoadI bought a fuel-efficient new car last July at the height of the gas-price run-up. My bumperless, catalytic-converter-less ‘96 minivan had more rattles than a baby with ten aunts, and I wanted a more reliable car that didn’t cost so much to fill up. I love the car, though I miss the extra minivan room on the way home from Lowe’s. What I also ended up missing was tinted windows, which were an danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09660876817021873948noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7420179745450572363.post-66191412577441348192009-06-28T21:22:00.004-05:002009-06-28T21:27:05.138-05:00My brother, the rabbi of relax"Dan, we’re not playing golf. We’re having fun." My brother smiled at me as he picked my ball out of the deep rough and tossed it back on the edge of the fairway. Now for some guys playing golf and having fun may not seem like opposites, but in my family of hackers, it definitely made sense. While the family and I are out here in Colorado on vacation, my brother Dave had gotten a free foursome danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09660876817021873948noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7420179745450572363.post-91799836641956631902009-06-06T20:29:00.003-05:002009-06-06T20:49:43.586-05:00D-Day in the Flint HillsI had a spiritual experience early this morning as I cruised home on I-70 this morning from beautiful Bethany College in Lindsborg. I woke up knowing it was the anniversary of D-Day, and that so I said a prayer of thanksgiving as I drove past Abilene, home of WWII Allied Commander General Eisenhower. 'Ike' was the humble farmtown-boy–turned-soldier who had to make the scary call to invade danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09660876817021873948noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7420179745450572363.post-38675136901120782992009-06-03T13:50:00.002-05:002009-06-03T13:53:54.191-05:00Teary on the PrairieIf you saw me get weepy-eyed before Communion at last Sunday’s 9:00am service, you probably know what I’m gonna write here: I was deeply moved by the Holy Spirit during our first Sunday worship in the new building. Part of it was just exhausted exhilaration: we’re finally here! (Although the person who had the most right to be teary-eyed was our really exhausted and exhilarated Operations danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09660876817021873948noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7420179745450572363.post-70417088320618765222009-06-02T09:44:00.006-05:002009-06-02T10:14:52.450-05:00No 'Rush' to Grow UpCards on the table: I think Rush Limbaugh acts like a baby. I mean that in a bad way, for all you parents of perfect babies. More precisely, I think Rush’s behavior frequently mimics that of spoiled toddlers. While he occasionally offers helpful insights to important conversations, most of the time his goal seems clearly to attract attention—and in so doing, to justify to the marketplace his danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09660876817021873948noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7420179745450572363.post-23118820129286819372009-05-31T15:52:00.010-05:002009-06-01T20:07:25.377-05:00What Jesus built...and some friendsToday was it-- the first day of worship for our young church in our first-ever, brand-new building. It was a powerful experience for me (I was lost in prayer during the opening worship set, and I started choking & tearing up during Communion). But what I'm remembering most is the countless hugs & high-fives I shared in--with friends & co-workers in the Gospel whom I've labored beside for as manydanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09660876817021873948noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7420179745450572363.post-7285570620361767572009-05-20T22:49:00.003-05:002009-05-20T22:53:27.523-05:00Gravely GratefulI spent some time in a cemetery the other day. I don’t usually go to cemeteries alone; when I do go I’m usually carrying a Bible and some funeral notes, and I’m walking silently behind a casket toward a gravesite. I’m either in prayer for the family who walks behind me, or sometimes, wondering whether I remembered to turn my cellphone to vibrate. Once I didn’t— and it came back to haunt me danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09660876817021873948noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7420179745450572363.post-62137437735220903962009-05-09T17:39:00.005-05:002009-05-09T17:57:35.572-05:00Opposite Criticism: Being Mean to Beauty QueensPerez Hilton: Vermont recently became the 4th state to legalize same-sex marriage. Do you think every state should follow suit - why or why not?Miss California: Well, I think it's great that Americans are able to choose one or the other. We live in a land that you can choose same-sex marriage or opposite marriage, and you know what, in my country and in my family, I think that I believe that a danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09660876817021873948noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7420179745450572363.post-74156627920887945802009-05-06T23:28:00.004-05:002009-05-06T23:33:10.897-05:00Who would Jesus torture?A recent Pew Research poll reveals that…• those who attend church services most often support torture against suspected terrorists much more than those who don’t attend church.• evangelical Christians are the most torture-tolerant of all (62% supporting torture often or sometimes), followed by Roman Catholics (51%), mainline Protestants (46%), and—least of all—religiously unaffiliated/agnostic/ danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09660876817021873948noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7420179745450572363.post-61448977398043588212009-04-06T13:56:00.002-05:002009-04-06T14:07:03.901-05:00College-shirt v. Christian-shirtAs a Michigan State alum, you can imagine I’m wearing green & white in anticipation of the championship game tonight, as I was Saturday before the semifinal game vs. UConn. (And as I was during worship last Sunday, if I recall...) But wearing it lately has brought some interesting reactions. They started last Saturday morning when I zipped over to Costco to grab some things for the pantry. And danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09660876817021873948noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7420179745450572363.post-27417907560990695372009-03-27T20:37:00.001-05:002009-03-27T20:39:01.919-05:00March Madness Loyalty LessonThis very hour a lot of us in Johnson Co, KS will be watching KU play in the NCAA Tournament—and cheering on the Jayhawks from TV sets all around (even you Wildcats, right, gang?) But as happens to a lot of us this time of year, I’m in an emotionally conflicted position: do I cheer for my adopted KU Jayhawks, or my beloved alma mater, Michigan State? I have way more Spartan paraphernalia (danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09660876817021873948noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7420179745450572363.post-48572577574506407462009-03-15T20:41:00.007-05:002009-03-15T20:52:01.160-05:00Skateboard Sunday SchoolLaura & I drove the boys over to the Lenexa skatepark Sunday afternoon. She’s taken them a bunch of times, but it was the first time for me. As the father of one of the non-skaters on the concrete (Jeremy brought his bike, and Eli’s more of a Razor scooter stylist), I was impressed with how accommodating and polite the teenagers there were. (According to Laura, that’s not always the case!) Now danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09660876817021873948noreply@blogger.com139tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7420179745450572363.post-19291855657790343862009-03-11T16:19:00.003-05:002009-03-15T20:57:55.981-05:00Broke a leg, not a heartI experienced a ‘first’ as a parent last weekend. I got to watch one of my children really ‘act’! My oldest son, a middle schooler, was in the cast of his first play, Snow White & the Disco Dwarves—-playing the distinguished role of ‘Loopy,’ the granola-toting hippie who hangs out with 6 other diminutive colleagues in the basement of a magic disco. Like all the kids, he did a fine job—but then danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09660876817021873948noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7420179745450572363.post-73673069842875369502009-03-08T16:04:00.001-05:002009-03-08T16:08:03.650-05:00Biting the AppleSome of you are aware I’ve had a laggardly laptop for some time now. The laptop takes about 20 minutes to turn on and boot up, the DVD drive is temperamental, the battery won’t recharge more than 25% of the time, and after inadvertently flicking the keyboard’s letter ‘D’ off the computer dozens of time, it has finally broken off (having spent years in heavy Chicago traffic, maybe my danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09660876817021873948noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7420179745450572363.post-35318131717824255132009-01-21T12:05:00.006-06:002009-01-21T12:10:35.718-06:00A Classy Farewell Prayed Well, Sung Well, Played WellYesterday’s inauguration unfolded during one of our church’s regularly scheduled staff meetings—so German and Judy and I met at my house (instead of a coffeeshop) so we could stop to watch the swearing-in and inaugural speech. We gradually ramped the meeting down as the swearing-in got close (although we’d already stopped to listen to the opening prayer by Pastor Rick Warren), and started back updanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09660876817021873948noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7420179745450572363.post-79002208834271506702009-01-20T00:07:00.005-06:002009-03-15T20:55:17.334-05:00Michelle, I’m proud to be an American, tooMichelle Obama said something clumsy months ago—and she got beat up big time for it. You remember: “For the first time in my adult life, I’m proud of my country” she said. Well, that was awkward—and it got Michelle Malkin and the far right raving and scolding.Now, I'm a registered Republican (though more a RINO than anything these days). But I think that tomorrow’s inauguration will be one of my danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09660876817021873948noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7420179745450572363.post-23597004538016724132009-01-16T13:34:00.003-06:002009-01-16T14:31:14.414-06:00I have a Dream meets I have a PlanThere’s an interesting dialectic in our country lately. President-elect Barack Obama will be sworn into office on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day weekend, a testimony to the inexact but inexorable march of history in the miracle called America: An African-American man, placing his hand on the Bible to take the oath of office as our President and Commander in Chief, affirming his loyalty not only to danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09660876817021873948noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7420179745450572363.post-32054529646888872202008-12-06T11:00:00.006-06:002008-12-06T11:40:18.873-06:00No crowd at the feederI admit it: I'm an eco-poser. I do a little for the environment, but not too much. I want the natural world that God created for our benefit & enjoyment to stay as healthy and vibrant as possible, but not if it costs me too much. I do my part: I plant lots of trees, I've started a rain garden to help the streamways stay clean, and I bought a more efficient car last year. We recycle thoroughly; danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09660876817021873948noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7420179745450572363.post-53531237093561008892008-12-05T23:19:00.003-06:002008-12-05T23:27:35.626-06:00Black Fri-dolatryWild mobs angrily rioting outside an under-guarded store with goods in short supply. Glass shatters, people are hurt, a terrified employee is trampled to death.A mob riot after a natural disaster? A championship celebration turned ugly? A third world country? A burned-out urban core? No, this didn’t happen somewhere way different than where we live. This wasn’t a gang-related thuggery, frat-boy danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09660876817021873948noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7420179745450572363.post-57851693382881691462008-11-20T12:09:00.003-06:002008-11-20T12:22:55.142-06:00Seven Score and Five Years Ago145 years ago today, President Abraham Lincoln stood on a recent Civil War battlefield with 15,000 others, and listened respectfully to the keynote speaker’s two-hour dedication speech, which was well-crafted and wonderfully received. [The speaker, Edward Everett, was actually the 1860 VP-nominee of one of the three major-party tickets that ran against Abraham Lincoln’s Republicans—and he had danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09660876817021873948noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7420179745450572363.post-29126188685759790482008-11-07T16:25:00.001-06:002008-11-07T16:28:50.057-06:00Ingratitude at the Gas Pump“We don’t vote in my house,” the guy across the gas pump said. Trying to make small talk with the young Missouri man yesterday, I’d asked him if he’d gone to vote yet. My eyes must have grown as wide as dinner plates, because he quickly went on to explain: “All the negative ads. It just disgusts me and my wife, so we don’t vote.”My guess is that many people around the country—and especially danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09660876817021873948noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7420179745450572363.post-42588681462919385652008-11-03T22:53:00.004-06:002008-11-03T23:00:33.199-06:00What if he doesn't win???!!!Within 24 hours—assuming there are no hanging chads in Charleston or court fights in Florida—another exhausting and frighteningly expensive US presidential campaign will be over. Many folks are hopeful John McCain will emerge victorious. And many others of us are hopeful that Barack Obama will prevail. And yet most of us know that, whether our first choice gets the nod or not, the sun will rise—danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09660876817021873948noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7420179745450572363.post-75436871127938654532008-10-31T19:47:00.003-05:002008-10-31T20:08:55.894-05:00Halloween HalvsiesIt's been like this for years now. Laura & I want to be friendly members of the neighborhood, and loving, involved parents of our own kids, and it's hard to be both on Halloween when you don't have a grandma or in-law to staff the candy bowl (even in the calm world of Kansas cul-de-sacs, nobody'd leave an unattended candy bowl!)Last year I got T&T duty with our youngest (our oldest is much danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09660876817021873948noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7420179745450572363.post-19520061523388315842008-10-10T21:42:00.004-05:002008-10-10T21:57:37.357-05:00Way to go, John McCainTonight the news is all abuzz about John McCain having to stand up for Barack Obama in the middle of his own campaign rally. Within 20 minutes, McCain had to shush a young husband who said he was afraid to see Obama as President, and he had to clarify for a confused elderly woman that Obama isn't an Arab, but a trustworthy, decent man (never mind what that felt like for the millions of decent danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09660876817021873948noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7420179745450572363.post-63304774425415792902008-10-05T22:22:00.006-05:002008-10-05T23:16:43.814-05:00Monopoly of LoveMy boys and I like playing Monopoly together. Well, actually, each of them likes playing with me, but not so much as a threesome. I think they've intuited that when one of them plays me, he usually wins; when the 3 of us play, it's a toss-up between them who wins. And incredibly, I NEVER win! Obviously, when I play games with my 8 or 11-year olds, I'm not in it to win, but rather to 1) just danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09660876817021873948noreply@blogger.com21tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7420179745450572363.post-30660790580082584972008-09-03T22:24:00.002-05:002008-09-03T22:26:58.888-05:00When the "right thing" might not beWow, have things gotten spicy. John McCain picks an outdoorsy wife and mother of five—oh, yeah, and a Governor—to be his VP running mate, and then it became needful to announce that the governor’s 17 year-old daughter Bristol was five months pregnant—and unmarried. One of the earliest talking points out of the campaign was the silver lining—Bristol was “keeping” the baby, and more specifically,danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09660876817021873948noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7420179745450572363.post-8795939379678887902008-08-27T23:09:00.005-05:002008-09-03T22:28:27.382-05:00English-Only Only Makes US StupidI about choked when I read that the LPGA is now requiring its tournament golfers to pass an oral English test or face suspension from its tournament. Now, nobody whine to me about how people in America ought to know English! Yes, even babies know that! The bigger point missed by puffy-chested patrialinguists is that we Americans are now statistically among the more stupid educated people in thedanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09660876817021873948noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7420179745450572363.post-21506012732341678442008-08-26T22:49:00.004-05:002008-09-01T17:01:30.266-05:00A Premier SpankingRemember the disturbing story a few years ago of the Houston mother who tried to hire a hitman to kill a rival cheerleader contestant— to give her own High School daughter a better shot at making the varsity cheerleading team? I got some of that Cheerleader Killer Mom vibe this last week watching the Chinese Premier congratulating his Chinese gymnastics team—so proud, and probably, so culpable:danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09660876817021873948noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7420179745450572363.post-29264638007590206182008-08-22T08:59:00.003-05:002008-08-22T09:05:35.655-05:00Not your average trip to IsraelAlthough I have not, a good number of my friends and pastoral colleagues have been to Israel—-usually for the typical Sites of the Bible-tours of some sort or the other. (I’m eager some day to do the same!) Laura & I also have a good friend--now an agnostic Jew--who lived on a Zionist kibbutz in Israel when he was younger.But this weekend ahead, one of my pastor-friends is going to Israel for danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09660876817021873948noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7420179745450572363.post-26444286479968845702008-07-24T21:24:00.001-05:002008-07-24T21:25:29.884-05:00Partners behind the PrairieThe current presidential campaign is noteworthy, I think, for the aisle-crossing, middle-of-the-road outreaching that both Democratic and Republican candidates are doing. John McCain seems to always have former Democratic VP-nominee Joe Liebermann with him frequently, and Barack Obama is off to Iraq and Afghanistan with Nebraska Republican Senator Chuck Hagel. It’s as if they’re trying to danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09660876817021873948noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7420179745450572363.post-31516287144487182672008-07-24T21:21:00.002-05:002008-07-24T21:23:54.823-05:00I'm a lumberjack and I'm...not feeling okay...Logging isn’t exactly a big industry in Kansas, but I’m getting a quickie introduction to the vocation here in Colorado. First, the backstory: the Fraser Valley in Grand County, where my parents and one of my brothers live—is near the epicenter of an infestation of tree-ravaging buggers called Rocky Mountain Pine Beetles. They’ve been here for a long time, but they’re usually kept in check by danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09660876817021873948noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7420179745450572363.post-76698450022950335702008-07-19T23:23:00.003-05:002008-07-24T21:20:54.705-05:00I can't help it, God! I had a flat tire. My in-laws were in town!I got a friendly poke from a KawTalk reader a few days ago telling me I needed to get back to my blog-- it'd been almost 2 months since my last post! Well, like any of you, I've got plenty of responses-- some are darn good reasons (I got the shingles, big personnel search at work, etc), and some more like lame excuses (laptop carpel tunnel syndrome, I had to buy a car, I had to sell a car, etc).danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09660876817021873948noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7420179745450572363.post-78503331761169199202008-05-22T21:42:00.004-05:002008-05-22T21:50:34.385-05:00Words that wound--and sometimes killPeople around the world have mourned the tragic and angering tale of 13-year old Missourian Megan Meier’s suicide—after she was tricked into believing that an online flirtation an 16-year old boy was ending amid nasty name-calling and rejection. Heartbreaking as the tragedy is, it’s been compounded by the knowledge that a 49-year old mother had a leading part in creating the fictitious boy’s danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09660876817021873948noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7420179745450572363.post-54450254582677012182008-05-22T21:40:00.002-05:002008-08-26T22:53:40.032-05:00Thank KyuMy two boys got a living geography lesson this week—from a real-life High School geography teacher. In-Kyu Lee is 34-year old husband & father from a suburb of Seoul, South Korea, and he’s been at the McKnight house since Mothers’ Day afternoon. His English isn’t super, but we’re managing to communicate. He & Jeremy seem to speak PlayStation just fine, and even Eli is captivated by “Q”. Jeremydanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09660876817021873948noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7420179745450572363.post-49561012579355212312008-05-09T08:47:00.005-05:002008-05-09T08:57:10.647-05:00Funeral for an AuntDeath isn’t common at Kaw Prairie. Being such a young church (we're 4 years old), funerals are common among us, just not for Kaw Prairiers. Instead, it’s more typical that every week several families are out of town for funerals for grandparents, parents, or aunts and uncles, etc. Both Laura and I are fortunate to have our moms and dads alive and kicking (or more literally, tinkering and goingdanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09660876817021873948noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7420179745450572363.post-17746038451596856602008-04-02T23:20:00.004-05:002008-04-02T23:34:37.428-05:00High School DesertersDid you hear the news release about the abominably high rates of high school dropouts in America’s 50 biggest cities? (KCMO, sadly, made the list!) News like this—that as many as half of our students are deserting High School—tears at my heart, and I believe should tear at all our hearts as people of God.I worked my way through seminary by teaching ESL (English-as-a-Second-Language) and GED (Highdanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09660876817021873948noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7420179745450572363.post-75316871905053722712008-03-26T23:57:00.008-05:002008-04-02T23:46:10.345-05:00I've been to Barack's churchWow, but the fur is flying in politics these days—most recently about how Barack Obama’s home church pastor in Chicago has used incendiary rhetoric, offensive language, and unpatriotic-sounding turns of phrase in many of his sermons. When I entered seminary some twenty years ago, I signed up for a class to introduce me to the bigger world and blighted neighborhoods surrounding the more racially danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09660876817021873948noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7420179745450572363.post-62942493123470128472008-03-14T22:20:00.012-05:002008-03-15T11:23:55.006-05:00Local Lawmaker Threatens Bible Teachers"Mrs. Flanigan, I looked up that word in a Bible dictionary, and my mom says you're going to jail."Yes, you read right. In another example of why so many people around the country wonder what’s in the beef here in Kansas, a self-confident state senator from Olathe has proposed legislation to allow criminal prosecution of teachers who assign literature that a parent may find obscene. Well, gee, danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09660876817021873948noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7420179745450572363.post-12569525467077172092008-03-13T23:07:00.002-05:002008-03-13T23:11:40.178-05:00Home Alone!Earlier this month Laura went out of town for several days on a church conference, and for the first time I can remember—I was the one left home alone with the boys. I know they were envisioning four days of Happy Meals and Pizza Hut, but Laura left us with plenty of food ready-to-go in the fridge, so our dining-out experiences were dropped from the playbook. Obviously, we survived (you saw me indanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09660876817021873948noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7420179745450572363.post-28170182272095676672008-03-13T22:59:00.004-05:002008-03-13T23:03:20.915-05:00ex cathedra with Cap'n CrunchBack in a seminary church history class I learned about a little Latin phrase called “ex cathedra.” Now, if you’re in the medical field or just have a Monty Python sense of humor, you can imagine all sorts of meanings for that little Latin morsel, which means literally, from the chair. Roman Catholic thinkers, though, weren’t being gross, but serious, when they spoke of the infallibility of the danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09660876817021873948noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7420179745450572363.post-77457297074817026022008-02-21T16:09:00.001-06:002008-02-21T16:13:06.984-06:00Sharia Hysteria Across the PondAs we pastors are sometimes wont to do, this past week the Archbishop of Canterbury—head of the Church of England and worldwide Anglican Communion to which most US Episcopalian churches belong—said something stupid: He suggested that some of the moderate elements of conservative Islamic religious law (Sharia) be intentionally incorporated into the British legal system to show respect for Muslim danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09660876817021873948noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7420179745450572363.post-75752314435184015712008-02-21T16:04:00.002-06:002008-02-21T16:08:49.380-06:00No Mattress for Old MenLast week when kids were out of school Thursday & Friday, Laura & I surprised our boys with our first-ever overnight trip to an indoor water park in the area—let’s call it Great Fox Lodge. We had a wonderful time in the waterpark (I liked the green slide best), a super dinner at one of the Legends’ restaurants, and thankfully, because we were so exhausted from all the fun, we also enjoyed a danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09660876817021873948noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7420179745450572363.post-68754338267552507632007-12-19T23:19:00.000-06:002007-12-22T16:08:43.013-06:00Needin' to be Readin'Both Laura and I are readers. Now, she's way smarter than me, so she reads books. I'm more mentally suited mostly for weekly magazines and the daily paper. Yes, I read the Scriptures, but I'm like a fine-motor-reader. I like to study God's word phrase by phrase, historical connection by grammatical inflection. Laura's more of a big-muscle reader; she loves to devour one book after another, then danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09660876817021873948noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7420179745450572363.post-42704391525504613962007-12-12T22:52:00.000-06:002007-12-22T16:04:17.713-06:00Gored on global warmingSo Al Gore won a Nobel Peace Prize for his work fighting global warming. I've heard plenty of snickering by conservative friends about him running for office in Sweden, etc-- and I just cringe. Are we so ornery and foolish that we'd rather destroy our children's global inheritance than admit that a nerdy guy many people don't like could actually be, well...pretty much right? He may campaign and danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09660876817021873948noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7420179745450572363.post-29190917967712882432007-12-07T18:11:00.000-06:002007-12-07T18:55:13.069-06:00Born in a BarnLike most American kids, this is the time of year I get really excited. Not so much for presents, since I hate to shop for them and I don't like to get things all that much, either. No, I'm excited about our church's Family Christmas in the Barn services, when we offer the western KC suburbs what has to be the most unique way in Kansas City to celebrate Christmas--in a barn! It's actually in danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09660876817021873948noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7420179745450572363.post-65986258005729880592007-12-06T23:42:00.000-06:002007-12-07T00:05:49.225-06:00Turkey Day, X-mas, and what the hay?I didn’t like people calling Thanksgiving “Turkey Day” but oddly and impiously enough, I'm not all that bothered by people writing the word Xmas. A little detour: While like most Christians I obviously reject pronouncing "Xmas" out loud (i.e., like Ex-girlfriend), the written word “Xmas” doesn’t upset me so very much. The name “Christ” begins in Greek with the letter chi (pronounced ‘kai’) danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09660876817021873948noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7420179745450572363.post-76138463727981721482007-10-25T18:51:00.000-05:002007-10-25T22:44:45.328-05:00Last Supper meets Karma Kitchen...at the Offering PlateEat a fancy dinner out-- and pay whatever you want! That's the gist at Karma Kitchen in Berkeley, CA (http://www.karmakitchen.org/), a revolutionary restaurant experiment offered on Saturday nights in the land of brainy students and aging hippies. After you enjoy your dinner, served by volunteers, you're given an envelope to make a donation--or not-- and to volunteer to help serve others later--danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09660876817021873948noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7420179745450572363.post-25744080399348408382007-10-10T13:40:00.000-05:002007-10-10T13:48:32.695-05:00BlackEyeWaterI really love my country. I’m grateful for all its blessings and resources, and I’m proud of the hard work, heart, and resilience of most Americans—especially that majority that doesn’t take their blessings for granted, but uses them gratefully to make the world a better place. But even more than everything we have and everything we accomplish in the United States, I’m proud of the compassion danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09660876817021873948noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7420179745450572363.post-51163706627004357112007-10-01T23:49:00.000-05:002007-10-02T00:35:09.293-05:00Stuck Up Churches at the SpaI went to a great Leadership Spa tonight. It's not a spa with saunas & massages, but rather, just Bibles! Leadership Spa is a Bible Study conversation for leaders at Kaw Prairie ;ed by one of our Vision Team members (aka elders) Mark Chrislip. (As a pastor, I love the gift of sitting under a "wise someone else"'s teaching on a regular basis!) Mark's Bible Study tonight was based on Max Lucado's danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09660876817021873948noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7420179745450572363.post-64461299561675781172007-09-27T22:39:00.000-05:002007-09-27T23:59:46.453-05:00Churches & Strip Malls Closing their DoorsLaura sent me out late last night to return some videos to Hollywood Video in east Shawnee. She wasn't feeling well but I was still wound up from a great night at Alpha, so I was happy to go out. I was happy she was using Hollywood instead of Blockbuster because we have gobs of free rental coupons from Hollywood Video I used my Discover cashback reward on. I was supposed to get them returned by danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09660876817021873948noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7420179745450572363.post-24091629600257076742007-09-26T12:45:00.000-05:002007-09-26T12:55:23.235-05:00Saving the World & Lying to your Boss about itThis morning’s Wired.com newswire has a long-known but worth revisiting story by Tony Long. It’s short but important, so I’ll quote it here:September 26, 1983: A Soviet ballistics officer draws the right conclusion -- that a satellite report indicating incoming U.S. nuclear missiles is, in fact, a false alarm -- thereby averting a potential nuclear holocaust. Lt Col Stanislav Petrov was duty danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09660876817021873948noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7420179745450572363.post-90705509056642771152007-09-25T19:34:00.001-05:002009-06-06T20:59:37.261-05:00The need to get defensivePraise the Lord, the Chiefs finally won a game this year. Not a pretty one, or a blowout one, but a regular season one, at least. Beating the Vikings 13-10 was a slugfest that had our hero running back Larry Johnson vainly trying to regain last year's momentum, in 2.8 yard intervals at most. Fortunately rookie receiver Dwayne Bowe brought down a super corner-of-the-endzone pass for the Chief'sdanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09660876817021873948noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7420179745450572363.post-955262941881555812007-09-12T23:29:00.000-05:002007-09-25T19:33:00.547-05:00Red State/Blue State/For Christ's sake!This week the Kansas City Star carried a very interesting report by Denise Gellene about an NYU-UCLA study that asked respondents to self-identify their political points of view, then wired them to an EEG machine and asked them to identify one of two letters (M or W) on a screen that was changing every 4/10 of a second—sometimes in predictable patterns and sometimes outside of those patterns. In danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09660876817021873948noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7420179745450572363.post-80606058472915167132007-09-05T23:36:00.000-05:002007-09-05T23:48:54.229-05:00USAF Missile SNAFUThose of us in the Great Plains and Heartland of these United States were startled to learn this afternoon that an old bomber of the US Air Force had flown about a half-dozen live, armed, nuclear-tipped cruise missiles from North Dakota down to Louisiana—-by accident! Apparently, the North Dakota base thought the missiles were decommissioned and harmless; the Louisiana airmen discovered the danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09660876817021873948noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7420179745450572363.post-63437370107222858392007-08-29T14:46:00.000-05:002007-08-29T15:49:38.280-05:00Crooked Labels for ChristHere at Kaw Priaire, I don't attend--or preside at-- many funerals. Sure, we have some older folks, but hardly anyone in the real sunset years of life. So when I attended the funeral this morning of a dear older woman named Martha Mitsven at an old Gothic church in KC's Westport, I was in a setting that's grown unfamiliar to me in the last few years. Martha was a nurse in her younger years, but danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09660876817021873948noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7420179745450572363.post-70609193121263382432007-08-22T14:06:00.000-05:002007-08-22T14:08:19.338-05:00VickdomhoodLike most Kansas City Chiefs fans, I harbor a little bit of uncharitable resentment toward NFL franchises with big-name, go-getter quarterbacks (I hear Miami has a great new one J) I never actually wish for any player to do any less than his personal best, of course—except when facing the Chiefs (or frankly, my old team, da Bears). So while I generally wish the Atlanta Falcon franchise ill in a danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09660876817021873948noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7420179745450572363.post-34175373444835784972007-08-18T17:12:00.000-05:002007-08-18T17:15:10.124-05:00Game Day Sermon Almost SidelinedI was so excited last Sunday morning! I saw not only the faithful Kaw Prairie summer crowd, but many first-time visitor families coming through the doors. I saw them getting the Kaw Prairie welcome, and I was just praising God for all the Kaw Prairiers who had invited their friends! Raising PG-Kids in an R-Rated World would be a great series to help eager parents find relevance in the church…danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09660876817021873948noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7420179745450572363.post-53205002357100696042007-08-11T00:19:00.000-05:002007-08-11T01:03:20.457-05:00It's what you learn after you know it all that countsIt's what you learn after you know it all that counts.I got that little phrase years ago from a decades-old copy of Public Ceremony Speeches for Dummies-- or something like it. I remember I used it at my seminary class graduation banquet along with a couple of not-too-funny jokes from a jokes-for-preacher handbook I found in the library. The irony was that when I first said it to an audience ofdanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09660876817021873948noreply@blogger.com