(This video has been ripped off from MN Twins site aarongleeman.com)
10.01.2007
Putting the Fish Before the Rod
A little over two years ago, my friend Peter took me fly fishing for the very first time. I had never even touched a fly rod before. I had worn waders once but it turns out that this is not really a fly fishing skill.
There is so much to learn in the world of fly fishing. There are rods, reels, fly lines, leaders, tippet, flies, and knots. You've got to know about trout, streams, trout lies, trout food, casting techniques, how to brag about your record-breaking fish (the one that always slips back into the river just as you're about to take a picture)... I could go on. The amount of information a person needs to know to fish the "right" way is overwhelming to say the least.
Peter didn't fill my head with information. Instead, we practiced casting on the seminary lawn for maybe a half hour. I watched him, learned to keep my elbow in and the rod tip between 10 and 2, and casted for a bit.
When the day came to haul in my first trout, Peter drove me to a creek in a mountain canyon, gave me a rod, put on the right fly and told me where to cast it. The moment that first brook trout struck my line I became a fly fisherman.
Tonight, my friend Brad, who is a pastor and a professor, quoted from a book called "Chasing Francis" (which I am putting on my list of books to read). To paraphrase, the author writes, "Our tendency is usually to attempt to understand the Bible and then apply it to life. Instead, we ought to apply the Bible to our lives in order to truly understand it."
After thinking about this quote, I came to a conclusion. Jesus did not teach his disciples to the point where they had a complete grasp of a concept and then apply that concept to their lives. In Luke 10, he sent out 72 of his followers with minimal instructions to proclaim that the kingdom of God has come near. The 72 returned completely fired up because they were beginning to understand (through their experiences) the kingdom of God. Jesus had his followers live out his teachings and it was in their experiences that the teachings dawned on them and became a part of them.
I have lots of fly fishing gear now. I can buy flies at the fly shop without looking stupid (usually). I think I even know what tippet is. So why have I invested money in this sport? Why do I know the boring details of fly fishing? Why am I a fly fisherman? Because Peter didn't ask me to read books about fly fishing until I felt I could do it the "right" way. Because he didn't care that I would lose about 10 of his flies in poorly-placed bushes and low hanging tree branches (sorry, Peter).
In order for me to truly understand it, he just took me fishing.
There is so much to learn in the world of fly fishing. There are rods, reels, fly lines, leaders, tippet, flies, and knots. You've got to know about trout, streams, trout lies, trout food, casting techniques, how to brag about your record-breaking fish (the one that always slips back into the river just as you're about to take a picture)... I could go on. The amount of information a person needs to know to fish the "right" way is overwhelming to say the least.
Peter didn't fill my head with information. Instead, we practiced casting on the seminary lawn for maybe a half hour. I watched him, learned to keep my elbow in and the rod tip between 10 and 2, and casted for a bit.
When the day came to haul in my first trout, Peter drove me to a creek in a mountain canyon, gave me a rod, put on the right fly and told me where to cast it. The moment that first brook trout struck my line I became a fly fisherman.
Tonight, my friend Brad, who is a pastor and a professor, quoted from a book called "Chasing Francis" (which I am putting on my list of books to read). To paraphrase, the author writes, "Our tendency is usually to attempt to understand the Bible and then apply it to life. Instead, we ought to apply the Bible to our lives in order to truly understand it."
After thinking about this quote, I came to a conclusion. Jesus did not teach his disciples to the point where they had a complete grasp of a concept and then apply that concept to their lives. In Luke 10, he sent out 72 of his followers with minimal instructions to proclaim that the kingdom of God has come near. The 72 returned completely fired up because they were beginning to understand (through their experiences) the kingdom of God. Jesus had his followers live out his teachings and it was in their experiences that the teachings dawned on them and became a part of them.
I have lots of fly fishing gear now. I can buy flies at the fly shop without looking stupid (usually). I think I even know what tippet is. So why have I invested money in this sport? Why do I know the boring details of fly fishing? Why am I a fly fisherman? Because Peter didn't ask me to read books about fly fishing until I felt I could do it the "right" way. Because he didn't care that I would lose about 10 of his flies in poorly-placed bushes and low hanging tree branches (sorry, Peter).
In order for me to truly understand it, he just took me fishing.
8.30.2007
Mad TV Bob Newhart Skit
I am crazy busy with school, studying, family, work, mentoring, and my internship right now. So here is the only funny MAD TV sketch ever. I was watching it while taking a 5-minute break in between work and studying.
8.15.2007
14ers
There are 54 mountain peaks in Colorado that are above 14,000 ft. People who are way cooler than me call them 14ers. My friend Benjer talked me into hiking a double 14er (Gray's Peak and Torrey's peak) with him on August 1st. So we headed out at 4:00am (ouch) because you need to get off the mountain by about noon or you are in danger of getting caught in a sudden lightning storm. We managed to traverse the worst "road" and the largest ruts I'd ever seen in my life in a Ford Taurus to get to the trailhead (where we were laughed at by some locals in big trucks).
We left the trailhead for the summits at 5:45 am. The way up to the summit of Gray's Peak was hard, but not too bad. We took plenty of breaks and guzzled water and Gatorade. On the way up, Benjer realized his shorts were on inside out. When he was switching them to rightside in (?) he almost fell down a rocky cliff! It was hilarious.On the hike upward, we saw hundreds of little rodents called picas. Picas are like chinchillas but not as puffy/furry. 
Well, we made it to the summit of Gray's Peak at about 9:00am. Gray's Peak is the 9th tallest peak in CO at 14, 270 ft. The view was incredible! And we could see a lot with our binoculars (like A-Basin, Keystone, Silverthorne, and Lake Dillon).
While we were up there, this skinny little stick man ran (yes I said ran) to the summit, drank a little bit of water, took a couple bites of a powerbar or something and then ran back down. Benjer and I decided we are more built for bocce ball. After a few pictures and a rest to enjoy the view, it was on to Torrey's Peak.To get to Torrey's Peak, we just had to go down a few hundred feet from Gray's, cross a ridge, I guess it's called a saddle, and then back up a few hundred feet to Torrey's. But the last part of Torrey's was almost straight up and covered in loose gravel. We were bushed when we summited (nice terminology, eh?). 
Torrey's Peak is the 11th tallest peak in CO at 14, 267. We took some more pictures there and then made the long, hard trip back to the trailhead. And I mean hard. Going down is rough on your knees! I had some trouble walking for a day or two after we were done, but a good time was had by all.
I'm beat.A Theology of Bread
This past Sunday, our pastor at DCC taught one of the best sermons I have heard in a very long time. Here is a link to it:
http://www.denverchurch.org/?q=audio/download/135/20070812-+Matthew+5.6.mp3
http://www.denverchurch.org/?q=audio/download/135/20070812-+Matthew+5.6.mp3
8.14.2007
Two Views on the 35W Bridge Collapse
Jess and I found out about the 35W bridge collapse while we were at a meeting at church. When I was going to the U of M, I lived in Dinkytown, very close to the bridge. I have driven the bridge hundreds of times. Jess and I immediately began calling family and friends to see if they were okay, and they were. It was a scary moment, though.
In times like this, people often wonder how God could let a disaster like this happen if He is both all-powerful and all-good. While not getting into the full answer to this good question (maybe I'll talk about that in another post), here are links to the views of two prominent Twin Cities pastors on why the 35W bridge collapsed:
http://www.desiringgod.org/Blog/745_putting_my_daughter_to_bed_two_hours_after_the_bridge_collapsed/
http://gregboyd.blogspot.com/2007/08/why-35w-bridge-collapsed.html
I won't tell you which one I agree more with. If you really want to know, post a comment or email me and I'll tell you.
Peace,
Paul
In times like this, people often wonder how God could let a disaster like this happen if He is both all-powerful and all-good. While not getting into the full answer to this good question (maybe I'll talk about that in another post), here are links to the views of two prominent Twin Cities pastors on why the 35W bridge collapsed:
http://www.desiringgod.org/Blog/745_putting_my_daughter_to_bed_two_hours_after_the_bridge_collapsed/
http://gregboyd.blogspot.com/2007/08/why-35w-bridge-collapsed.html
I won't tell you which one I agree more with. If you really want to know, post a comment or email me and I'll tell you.
Peace,
Paul
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