My Brother, The Thief

tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-62598722009-07-14T15:51:23.017-05:00My Brother, The ThiefThe Thiefhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17221972114141282402noreply@blogger.comBlogger685125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6259872.post-31123123861159307882009-07-11T14:07:00.001-05:002009-07-11T14:07:00.853-05:00Dear Governor Strickland,

Thanks a whole lot for selling out the voters, who have emphatically denied the expansion of gambling. Thank you for selling out your Methodist roots and all of your United Methodist supporters. Thank you for selling out the poor by cutting programs to help them while expanding gambling, which always harms them most. Thank you, Governor Strickland, for showing your true colors.Sincerely,Your

The Thiefhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17221972114141282402noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6259872.post-42875718564875562962009-07-03T13:13:00.001-05:002009-07-03T13:13:18.377-05:00Rising Park: 100 year celebration

A few years ago, we had driven from New Knoxville to Lancaster for Tara's participation in the Lancaster Festival, and one day I took the boys to the park. It was a fantastic park (yes, New Knoxville's local park was a nice one, and it was within walking distance, which we loved), but Rising Park was fantastic. It was only about 7 months before we were appointed to Millersport, and another 4

The Thiefhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17221972114141282402noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6259872.post-81301739239794064242009-06-30T09:44:00.003-05:002009-06-30T09:51:15.286-05:00

Weekend Reflections #3By far, the best moment of my weekend, even outplacing my soccer game (in which I scored 2 goals), was Jennifer Dymek's baptism. She came to me earlier wanting to talk about making a commitment to Jesus Christ in baptism, and I was so excited. I was really excited about all of the people who have helped her along in her journey to this point, and it was awesome to invite

The Thiefhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17221972114141282402noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6259872.post-16595991521047142272009-06-30T08:57:00.004-05:002009-06-30T09:44:17.129-05:00

Weekend Reflections #2I didn't only experience death and funerals over the past couple of weeks; this weekend I had the privilege of conducting the wedding of Rudy and Maggie Alexeeff (I love putting their names together, by the way) and celebrating the 50 year anniversary of Larry and Doris Dawson with a renewal of vows.Weddings can be really stressful. Many women have dreamed all their lives

The Thiefhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17221972114141282402noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6259872.post-16226889816641711772009-06-30T08:35:00.003-05:002009-06-30T08:56:12.823-05:00

Weekend Reflections #1This was supposed to be Monday Morning reflections, but somehow the computer ate the original. So here it is Tuesday morning, and here are some reflections from the weekend.Actually they are thoughts from the past couple of weeks.In just a couple of weeks' time, I have seen a lot. I conducted two funerals (during Vacation Bible School week) and suffered the tragic loss of

The Thiefhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17221972114141282402noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6259872.post-20431486190414203852009-06-28T17:01:00.001-05:002009-06-28T17:01:35.873-05:00Run for the Roses 5K

A week ago Saturday, I headed out to Lancaster to run their second annual Run for the Roses 5K, a race with proceeds going toward the Fairfield County MRDD.I was disappointed that they didn't have any age-group awards (and they didn't even announce age group winners - that was the big thing. I don't necessarily need another medal; I want to know how I did against other people my age).Anyway, the

The Thiefhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17221972114141282402noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6259872.post-5438929627100391072009-06-22T20:07:00.001-05:002009-06-22T20:07:53.063-05:00A Difficulty with "Reality"

...TV that is... or social networking... or blogs...In real reality, there are rules of etiquette that govern daily life. But in reality TV, those rules are thrown out. In real life, when something "private" goes on, it stays private. A difficulty with this comes when something tragic, but private, happens, such as a miscarriage or finding out about an infidelity in the family.When something

The Thiefhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17221972114141282402noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6259872.post-8242292050699684692009-06-22T09:48:00.003-05:002009-06-22T09:54:31.162-05:00

Update to my post about Chad MillerChad's body was recovered downstream from where he and his brother died. Their funeral was back in Iowa. Here is the funeral home website with a more complete obituary for Chad.If you go there, click on the online memorial book to read about someone who really made an impact for Jesus Christ in his short life.

The Thiefhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17221972114141282402noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6259872.post-3079542867701725712009-06-17T08:49:00.002-05:002009-06-17T08:54:02.305-05:00

How Powerful is God?Have you ever asked that question? Of course you have. You probably haven't asked it in that exact way, unless maybe you're a skeptic and you're trying to stump a Christian who can't really conceive of how powerful "all-powerful" could possibly be.Anyway, on my handy-dandy Google Reader is a great blog called "Stuff Christians Like" and today's post really hits a home run in

The Thiefhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17221972114141282402noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6259872.post-51202842371804924422009-06-15T19:40:00.002-05:002009-06-15T19:41:58.915-05:00

Found ItemI found this in the street by my neighbor's house.

The Thiefhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17221972114141282402noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6259872.post-91219614872662173892009-06-15T08:35:00.003-05:002009-06-15T08:48:56.181-05:00

Constitutional Amendments #2Here are the voting numbers from the West Ohio Conference (on the proposed Constitutional Amendments). I will form these in three columns (to the best of my ability: column 1 is the amendment number, column 2 is the "yes" votes, and column 3 is the "no" votes).I. 697 786II. 267 1209III. 528 947IV. 516 962V.

The Thiefhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17221972114141282402noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6259872.post-86115077731395755982009-06-13T20:07:00.005-05:002009-06-13T20:56:29.892-05:00

Another Good-ByeOn the very first day of my very first seminary class, I met him. Many of my colleagues had told their various horror stories of seminary Greek - they waited as long as they could to take it, but being a contrarian by nature, I set out to take it first. I entered the classroom and scanned the scene, and found the seat nearest the back left corner (by the chalkboard). The corner

The Thiefhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17221972114141282402noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6259872.post-56647714619091632072009-06-10T13:30:00.003-05:002009-06-10T13:57:56.011-05:00

UMC Constitutional AmendmentsThere seemed to be some confusion about the proposed constitutional amendments from the General Conference. Simply put, these amendments must be ratified by 2/3 of all voting United Methodists (not simply 2/3 of annual conferences).Our conference has entered our votes...I. that all persons shall be eligible for church membership (No)II. that all organizations shall

The Thiefhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17221972114141282402noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6259872.post-63909735267150729342009-06-10T12:45:00.004-05:002009-06-10T13:30:29.130-05:00

Blogging from Annual Conference #2Due to an unforeseen computer issue (with the demise of the hard drive of this computer - the second time that happened to me since Holy Week), I missed out on a day's work. Thanks to my brother-in-law Saint Tim, who rebuilt my computer as well as it could be rebuilt...Anyway, back to conference. One of my highlights has always been running with my friends.

The Thiefhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17221972114141282402noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6259872.post-60392121887701090582009-06-08T10:24:00.001-05:002009-06-08T10:24:26.439-05:00Blogging from Annual Conference #1

After a late arrival on Saturday night (in which our kids practiced their "No Sleep 'til Lakeside" attitude) and a Sunday of fun and relaxation, it's time for Conference.This morning I met Daniel and Rob for a run - and we got to see the beautiful Lakeside sunrise before the run.After the run and cleanup, it was time for the Conference. I showed up at Hoover for a while, but I decided that the

The Thiefhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17221972114141282402noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6259872.post-17967116742286625682009-06-04T10:02:00.001-05:002009-06-04T10:02:54.148-05:00Baccalaureate

I vaguely remember my high school offering a baccalaureate service when I graduated, but I didn't go. I didn't know what it was all about - I knew it was a religious service and I knew it was voluntary. That was enough for me. And (to my memory) that was the last I'd heard of a Baccalaureate service.But our community offers such a service, as 15 years ago it was revived after a 10-15 year

The Thiefhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17221972114141282402noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6259872.post-76049953801298705272009-06-03T09:17:00.001-05:002009-06-03T09:17:55.542-05:00New Blogroll

In a day when Facebook has overtaken blogs (and in which I am certainly guilty of not blogging much), I'm glad that there are some people who still blog!I mostly read my blogs on Google Reader (on my igoogle homepage), and it's been a LONG time since I updated my blogroll (on the right sidebar of this page).So today I finally did it. You can check out the blogs I read along the sidebar: but here

The Thiefhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17221972114141282402noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6259872.post-28423232414810540272009-05-31T18:52:00.001-05:002009-05-31T18:52:57.259-05:00Camping!

We're camping out tonight in the back yard! The boys are too excited!

The Thiefhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17221972114141282402noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6259872.post-73364545988883433302009-05-28T19:32:00.005-05:002009-05-28T19:39:21.373-05:00

Twins?

The Thiefhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17221972114141282402noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6259872.post-46928961257110099912009-05-27T12:44:00.002-05:002009-05-28T19:40:05.430-05:00

This morning as I was running, I decided to make a loop around Brooks Park. If you're not from around here, Brooks Park is a little park that extends into Buckeye Lake; in the mornings it's quiet (unless you disturb the geese, especially if you do it on purpose) and the lake is still. It's a nice short little run by the lake.Anyway, as I headed out to the park, I first noticed that there were

The Thiefhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17221972114141282402noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6259872.post-10757175041564678932009-05-21T20:57:00.002-05:002009-05-28T19:40:17.888-05:00

I love the "throwback" Pepsi with real sugar.Sincerely,A Coke Drinker

The Thiefhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17221972114141282402noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6259872.post-71739998200928050322009-05-15T10:06:00.001-05:002009-05-15T10:06:37.614-05:00Four Reasons for Four Reasons

Yesterday my family and I had lunch at Four Reasons Bakery and Deli in Lancaster, Ohio.We went down for a funeral, and since we were all dressed up and since we were hungry, we decided we'd like to go out to eat. The usual places, pizza and fast food, weren't all too attractive, so we decided to drive around a little and see what was available.We saw Four Reasons and decided it looked good.

The Thiefhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17221972114141282402noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6259872.post-40512219642358227812009-05-06T13:06:00.001-05:002009-05-06T13:06:10.099-05:00A Comedy of Errors

... but it all worked out ok.It all started with a phone call on Sunday - between soccer games. Apparently the musical entertainment for the preschool Mothers' Day party (which is a pretty big deal) canceled. They had a good reason, having to do with a death in their director's family.But it left the preschool director in a jam: now they didn't have entertainment for the party, and it was

The Thiefhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17221972114141282402noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6259872.post-43014166356926999672009-05-04T21:16:00.001-05:002009-05-04T21:16:30.662-05:00A Cool Description

First a little background: I am playing soccer in an over 30 league nearby. This Sunday, a guy from church asked me if I'd play on his team, not knowing that I'm already on another team. As is the custom for the Adult Sunday Soccer league (I'm not making it up; that's really what it's called), I stuck around after my game and played with the guy from church.As it happened, I scored his team's

The Thiefhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17221972114141282402noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6259872.post-79291735080443783712009-05-04T13:00:00.007-05:002009-05-05T19:33:11.948-05:00

40 Days of PrayerThis is an exciting time to be a part of the United Methodist Church.There. I said it. Almost out loud, too.There are all sorts of reasons to deny how exciting a time it is, but the truth is - it's an exciting time to be part of this movement.Why?I believe God is moving in the UMC. God has grabbed onto the hearts of United Methodist Christians in a new way and is beginning

The Thiefhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17221972114141282402noreply@blogger.com0