Tag Archives: Phillies

My Lucky Hat

My Lucky Hat the Day My Daughter Was Born

My Lucky Hat the Day My Daughter Was Born

I have a lucky hat. Yes, that’s right. I know someone will tell me that as Christians we don’t believe in luck, but I have a lucky hat. It’s a blue Phillies hat pictured here on the day when daughter was born. The “P” is green because it is an “Irish” hat with a shamrock on the back. Why blue? I’m not even sure. But it’s my lucky hat nonetheless.

I’ve worn it on good days–when my daughter was born, when the Phillies won the World Series that same year, to the championship parade down Broad Street, the day my son was born, and so forth.

It’s been with me–in New Orleans twice, Disney World, and every day places. It’s gone from clean to dirty to smelly.

I’ve worn it on bad days–the day I was “let go” from my youth pastor job, the day the Phillies lost the World Series, and even when I went to the game 6 loss to the Giants this past Saturday.

Yes, my lucky hat has been there for the good and bad, and some would suggest that the bad days show that my hat is not so lucky after all. To them, I would not recant that my faded-blue-Irish-shamrock-Phillies hat is my lucky hat.

Some would say, “Evan, your wife has been there for those times too.” To them I would respond, “Well, I can’t wear my wife on my head, can I?” So, even after all the disappointment, I will not throw out my lucky hat or tell it that “you are just a normal run-of-the-mill hat.” And yes, there are days where you don’t perform; and, yes, there are days when I dislike the outcome; and, yes, there are times when you are in a slump and drag everyone down with you; and, yes, there are days when you get beat by inferior, West coast, little league, long haired, black-bearded, impostor “lucky hats.” There are days where you pull through, and that’s why you will henceforth and forever be “my lucky hat.”

What’s Cookin’?

It’s been awhile since I gave an update on my life so here’s some things to fill everyone in on what’s been going on.

 

Highlights:

  • 1.   Amanda and I decided that God was calling us to join a church plant in Bristol, which The Well is beginning. This means (a) that I’ve withdrawn my resume from a few youth ministry positions; (b) that I must find a job in some other field; and (c) that we are really excited about this opportunity. It was really interesting when Gary (pastor) approached me about it one day when we had met for coffee. He asked me to join up the leadership team as one who would focus on theology and the like. I loved the idea! But it is volunteer so that means major sacrifices. Eventually, as I prayed about it (and Amanda did too), I felt called to do it, even though it was illogical from a financial standpoint. But I told God he would have to get Amanda on board too. One day, unprovoked, Amanda mentioned that she too felt God was calling us to Bristol. If you’re married, you know that this is a big deal when your wife feels equally called to your place of ministry. So, we are a few weeks in. We are meeting at someone else’s house right now, and we hope to find a building for the Fall. Please pray for us.
  • 2.   Amanda finished up the school year. Her first year as a teacher! And I’m very proud of her. It was difficult at times learning a new trade, but she was awesome at it.
  • 3.   Amanda also pick up summer work as a Pampered Chef representative. She did really well at her first show. If you are looking to have a show at your house for your friends, she’s the one to call.
  • 4.   Giselle’s been learning new things like crazy. She’s walking and running. She knows multiple words, and she’s so wonderful.
  • 5.   Our friends, Tim and Susan, are pregnant (well, actually Susan). They are having a baby boy so Giselle will have her choice between Nathan and the other boy. Both must fill out an application, go through an interview process with me, provide 3 professional references, 2 spiritual references, and then they can have a supervised date with Giselle, which will be supervised by me and Mr. T.
  • 6.   Our friends, Ron and Juli, became members at Tenth Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia. I’m happy for them. Praying that Juli finds a teaching job this Fall. Ron works at Delaware County Christian School, and he will be looking into ordination in the PCA before he becomes super-famous and takes over Tim Keller’s church (whoops! I probably shouldn’t have told you that).

Something I enjoyed: U.S.A.’s performance in the Confederation’s Cup. I didn’t think they could make it into the next round after poor losses to Brazil and Italy, but after they defeated Egypt (and with help from Brazil’s 3-0 win over Italy), they made it into the next round to beat top-seeded Spain. The final between US and Brazil was a great exhibition of soccer. Unfortunately, after the US was up 2-0, Brazil rallied to win 3-2. Thinking they weren’t even going to make it out of the divisional period, the fact that they made it to the final game is commendable.

 

Disappointed by: the Phillies. They were doing so well, but recently they’ve been dropping the ball (sometimes, literally). But we are on a two game winning streak so maybe things are looking up. (Good news, the Mets still stink so we are still in 1st place).

 

Job update: currently working two part-time jobs. Starbucks about 10-15 hours per week, and I’m a Sales Assistant at Bisco Industries 28 hours per week. Bisco is a distributor of electronic parts for cars, planes, etc. It’s a temp job, but no one has called me “Fire Guy” or “Temp” yet.

 

Looking forward to: Vacation. I need it. End of July we are going to North Carolina with my parents. When you don’t have much money, you mooch off of your family’s vacations.

Evan, a Yankees fan?: the missional-sports dilemma

Now, I have a friend, who will remain unnamed, who cheered for certain sports teams while he grew up. In his thirties, he accepted a job in the New York City area, and, thus, he changed his favorite teams to New York teams. Conveniently, at the same time as the Giants won the Super Bowl, but that’s beside the point.

I, myself, have grown up cheering for every Philadelphia team that there is (yes, even the MISL team, the “Kixx”). I love the Phillies. I love the Eagles. I love the Flyers [the Sixers, I can live without, but I love them too like I love an uncle who I never see and gives large financial contracts to mediocre friends]. You get the point. In Philadelphia (much like other blue-collar cities/towns), you live and die with your teams. I could never, ever, ever think about switching teams, but…

If I were to change the location of my ministry, should I change the teams I cheer for in order to be more missionally minded? Better yet, who would Jesus cheer for in that situation?

For some of you, this is no big deal, but, for me, it is. This may seem like a lame topic, but it’s a serious one for someone who loves his or her team so much. I could never see myself moving to New York and cheering for the Giants, or worse, the Yankees [or even worse, move to Queens and be a…a…a…(gulp)…Mets fan]. But would I be missing out on missional opportunities because I’m unable to relate with New York fans because I insist on being a Philly fan?

I don’t think many people think about this. But maybe being missional, maybe being part of the kingdom of God means changing teams? So, maybe my unnamed friend is right to cheer for the Yankees and Giants (as much as I hate to say it).

What do you think?

[PS- Yankees suck!]

What’s Cookin’? 04.20.09

I haven’t done one of these in awhile because, frankly, I’ve grown tired of them. But I figured I’ll do them ever-so-often to keep everyone updated.

 

Recent Highlights:

  1. This weekend I was privileged to speak at a high school retreat for two youth groups out of West Chester, PA – Westminster Presbyterian Church and West Chester UMC. Greg (WPC) and Cory (WCUMC) are wonderful youth pastors, and some of the best I’ve ever seen in action. They know their kids well, and it was refreshing for me to see that.

I spoke on what it means to be in community with one another. The kids responded well.

I think the best thing about the weekend was a time of sharing when two students self-proclaimed “not religious” said that because of the weekend and friendships there that they were going to try out Christianity some more. That’s cool. I’m not one to count kids raising their hands to accept Jesus, which is great, but I love seeing when relationships and Christianity in-action turns people to Jesus. Somehow, I think Jesus is proud of those times.

  1. Giselle is nailing down a few words. It’s still baby talk, but she has words that are synonymous with mom, dad, gi-gi (Amanda’s mom), pop-pop, baseball (yes!), bottle, and more. It’s great.

Also, she should be taking off for the races any time soon. She’s taken a few steps, but not enough for us to say, “She walked.”

  1. We had Giselle dedicated on April 5, a “dry baptism” if you will. It was wonderful. Friends and family were there, and the congregation at The Well was very loving.

 

Job update: I began working at Starbucks (in Feasterville) about two weeks ago, and I’ve been really enjoying it. I’ve contacted a few more churches about youth positions, and some have expressed interest so we’ll see what happens.

 

Seminary update: Beginning a new class tomorrow (Tuesday) called “Jesus and His Message.” It should be good, even though there are no N.T. Wright books on the reading list, which leads me to…

 

Disappointed by:

  1. no N.T. Wright books on the reading list for my seminary class on Jesus – I know! Ridiculous, right (or should I say “Wright”?)? Oh, well.
  2. Harry Kalas’ passing. I liked what one person said: “If God had a voice, it would sound like Harry Kalas.” I think that sounds about right.

 

Been pleased by: The Well. It’s the church Amanda and I’ve been going to. We’ve been feeling really accepted by them, and I feel it would pain me if we leave. The thing is, they treat us with the utmost respect and love. They’ve been kind and gentle with Giselle. They reach out to the community. They are ecumenical. They are missional. They take communion every Sunday. The only thing better would be if N.T. Wright or Rob Bell attended. Otherwise, it’s been awesome!

 

Looking forward to:

  1. Giselle’s 1st birthday is tomorrow! It’s kinda bittersweet. We’re excited, but what happened to my newborn child?
  2. Summer

        3.  Going to a Phillies’ game

What’s Cookin’? 01.19.09

Highlights of the week:

  1. Anniversary celebration (01.07) took place Saturday night away with Amanda. Mom and Dad took Giselle, and we headed for “Old City” Philadelphia. We stayed in the Penns View Hotel, which was very nice. We had lunch at Continental Restaurant and Martini Bar, and dinner at Old Original Book Binder’s. At Book Binder’s, I ordered lobster, and they brought out a live lobster and asked me if it was “good.” I hesitantly replied, “Yes.” It was “good.” Sunday morning, we had breakfast at the Hotel, and we went to the 11 AM service at the historic Christ’s Church. The message was about God working in us to allow us to see ourselves as he sees us. That sounds “self-help-ish,” but it wasn’t. It was very nice. I never had wine with the Eucharist so that was different, and the style is slightly more traditional than The Well, but beautiful, nonetheless. We followed that up with a little lunch at City Tavern (which is where George Washington and many of the patriots dined) before we headed home.
  2. We signed up for Netflix and are streaming it through the Xbox 360. It’s pretty cool. We’ve only watched old episodes of The Office so far, but we intend to spend more time in front of the TV, don’t you worry.
  3. Gave a sermon on Job 28 for a seminary class, and I got an A. So, A’s are always nice.

Books I’m reading:

  1. The New Christians: Dispatches from the Emergent Frontier by Tony Jones
  2. The Art & Craft of Biblical Preaching: A Comprehensive Resource for Today’s Communicators edited by Haddon Robinson and Craig Brian Larson
  3. A few pages into Coffeehouse Theology: Reflecting on God in Everyday Life by Ed Cyzewski, and I will be blogging about it as part of my agreement with Ed and NavPress.

Job update: I’m interview this week at McCafferty Hyundai so please pray for me.

Disappointed by: (a) The Eagles… (b) After Proposition 8′s passing (an amendment to the CA Constitution to ban gay-marriage) in California, a Google-map was put out to show who donated to the amendment and how much they donated. I suppose we have a “right” to know, but I don’t think it is proper to do so. These people/organizations could now be victims to hate/anger/frustration on the part of those who disagree. I didn’t sit well with me to add a link here since I felt that it could spread more exposure on the privacy of others.

Let’s celebrate about something: Let’s celebrate the heroic pilot who landed the a jet place on the Hudson River

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Seminary update: like I said, gave a sermon on Job 28, and it was a success. So, I’m pretty much done what I need to do for this class. This is a benefit of being on the first to go.

Looking forward to:

  1. Flyers’ game with Aaron on Wednesday.
  2. Spring training to start…Go Phillies! (See what you’ve done to me, Eagles!)

What’s Cookin’? 107

Highlight(s) of the week: (1) The Phillies won the World Series! (2) Partying at Five Points in NE Philadelphia. (3) Parade with Amanda and Giselle. (4) Amanda has been incredibly supportive of me, and I really appreciate it (see “Ministry Update/Something(s) that broke my heart” for reason why). (5) Sunday – I got to go to The Well, and I actually was able to go to church with my family without having to do a million things (again, see below). (6) Amanda made waffles for breakfast yesterday. That was really cool.

What I’m reading: still reading Jesus for President by Shane Claiborne and Chris Haw and The Historical Books by Richard D. Nelson; Relevant Magazine‘s November-December issue. 

Listenin’ and lovin’:

 

  • Podcasts: Listen to Mars Hills podcasts every week. The most recent one was called “Beware the dogs,” which I blogged about; and the Emergent Village Podcast; Everyday Liturgy started a podcast. I had to give a shout-out to my boy, Thom Turner.
  • Music: Sara Bareilles’ “Love Song” which I listen to, to make me happy. It’s just peppy, good fun. The Fall of Troy’s Doppelganger

 

Something(s) that blew my mind: How much fun it is when your team wins the World Series! Yeah!

Ministry update/Something(s) that broke my heart: I lost my job as a youth pastor because the economy is going down the tubes. The church had to make budget cuts. I was one of them. They’re paying me until the end of December so that helps (but doesn’t). What killed me is hearing from some of the kids about how much they’ll miss me. Talk about a heartbreaker.

So, I don’t know what to do next. I’m just praying and keeping my head up. 

Seminary update: still reading like crazy for our class on the historical books of the Old Testament with Gary Schnittjer. Almost done. 

Looking forward to: (1) What God has in store for me. (2) Trying to go to the Emergent conference on Sunday. We’ll see.

We Did It! Phillies 2008 World Series Champions!

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wOBDXe6fgv8]

 

I can’t believe it! The Phillies are World Series champions!

 

You have to understand. I’m 23 years old, and I’ve never experienced this before. 

 

I didn’t know what to do with myself when Lidge struck out the last batter. So here’s what I did:

 

  1. Kissed Amanda (my best friend, wife, and companion, whose been to a bunch of Phillies games with me and sat through plenty more. She’s the best!)
  2. My brothers and our friend Jordan ran outside like a maniacs
  3. Phil and I smashed pumpkins in the middle of the street
  4. We ran around the block with pots and pans clanging and hitting Stop signs with them
  5. Phil, Jon, Aaron, and Jordan took off their shirts and ran around the block
  6. We shot off fireworks. The good kind like the ones at the 4th of July.
  7. We set off our car alarms
  8. We hooted and hollered as loud as we could
  9. Phil, Jordan, and Jon took their bikes to Five Points (Rising Sun and Cottman)
  10. Aaron and I drove – beeping the whole way!
  11. We got to Five Points and hugged random people
  12. Started chants like “Let’s Go Phillies!” “Lights out Lidge!” “Charlie!”
  13. We sang “We are the Champions”
  14. Met friends at Five Points and hugged and shouted
  15. Jumped up and down
  16. Watched a guy climb to the top of a billboard on a building
  17. People sprayed champagne
  18. Music was blasting from a nearby restaurant
  19. high-fived a random people
  20. “Nah, nah, nah, nah…nah, nah, nah, nah…hey, hey, hey…good-bye…”
  21. Took a bunch of pictures
  22. Lost our voices
  23. Phil’s bike got stolen but we didn’t care
  24. Went back home
  25. Kissed Giselle
  26. Shot off more fireworks!
  27. Watched people on the news riot in the streets around the city 
  28. Kissed my mom (the biggest Phillies fan!)

 

 

 

What did you do to celebrate? Comment below.

What’s Cookin’? 106

Highlight(s) of the week: (1) The Phillies are up 3-1 in the World Series. Could it really happen? (2) Giselle laughed at me yesterday when I made a face at her. That’s the first time she did that without me tickling her. (3) Amanda is adjusting well to her new job. Apparently, she kicks kids out of class! If you know my wife, that would seem uncanny to you, but I’m glad she is asking kids to respect her.

Book(s) I’m reading: still reading Jesus for President by Shane Claiborne and Chris Haw and The Historical Books by Richard D. Nelson 

Listenin’ and lovin‘: Listen to Mars Hills podcasts every week; APM: Speaking of Faith with Krista Tippett – most recently I’ve been listening to one of the podcasts called “Being Autistic and Being Human” (it has exposed me to some of the ‘human-ness’ of people with autism, which I suppose was the purpose), and I also listened to an interview with Rod Dreher, author of Crunchy Cons: The New Conservative Counterculture and Its Return to Roots, talk about his care for environmental issues but how he is still Republican. That’s pretty cool. Also, I’ve fallen in love with listening to interviews by Emergent Village with Phyllis Tickle, what a wonderful and wise person. Music-wise: I created a “Genius” playlist on my iPhone with worship music so that included Delirious?, Hillsong, Hillsong United, Phil Wickham, and Jason Morant. 

Something(s) that blew my mind: (1) Did I mention that the Phillies are up 3-1 in the World Series? 

Something(s) that broke my heart: (1) I never thought Dobson would stoop so low as he did in his letter from Obama’s America in 2012. I hope to write about this later. Thanks to Thom for pointing this out. (2) Obama’s thoughts that America is the last great hope of the world still breaks my heart from a Christian perspective. This isn’t recent, but it still bothers me.

Ministry update: last night we had a combined youth group with our friends from Grace Valley Fellowship. We had a scavenger hunt, pizza, hayride, and bonfire. It was a lot of fun. Tucker (their youth pastor) and I really tried to promote interaction between both groups. I think it worked out well.

Seminary update: still reading like crazy for our class on the historical books of the Old Testament with Gary Schnittjer. I’m having trouble wrapping my mind around all of what we are talking about, specifically, Nelson’s (above book) view on the historical books. We read Esther in the Septuagint with all the additions, which I told my friend Ben who is Eastern Orthodox, and he responded, “In other words, you read the complete Esther.” That’s a seminary joke, but a funny one if you get it. I won’t tell you why. Look it up! Also, reading Genesis 22 (the near-sacrifice of Isaac) and its interpretation from the Jewish, Muslim, Samaritan, and Christian perspectives.

Looking forward to: (1) the Phillies winning the World Series! I’m really looking forward to my mom’s reaction, if my reaction will result in my getting arrested (kidding!), and a parade!

What’s Cookin’? 106

Highlight(s) of the week: (1) The Phillies are up 3-1 in the World Series. Could it really happen? (2) Giselle laughed at me yesterday when I made a face at her. That’s the first time she did that without me tickling her. (3) Amanda is adjusting well to her new job. Apparently, she kicks kids out of class! If you know my wife, that would seem uncanny to you, but I’m glad she is asking kids to respect her.

Book(s) I’m reading: still reading Jesus for President by Shane Claiborne and Chris Haw and The Historical Books by Richard D. Nelson 

Listenin’ and lovin‘: Listen to Mars Hills podcasts every week; APM: Speaking of Faith with Krista Tippett – most recently I’ve been listening to one of the podcasts called “Being Autistic and Being Human” (it has exposed me to some of the ‘human-ness’ of people with autism, which I suppose was the purpose), and I also listened to an interview with Rod Dreher, author of Crunchy Cons: The New Conservative Counterculture and Its Return to Roots, talk about his care for environmental issues but how he is still Republican. That’s pretty cool. Also, I’ve fallen in love with listening to interviews by Emergent Village with Phyllis Tickle, what a wonderful and wise person. Music-wise: I created a “Genius” playlist on my iPhone with worship music so that included Delirious?, Hillsong, Hillsong United, Phil Wickham, and Jason Morant. 

Something(s) that blew my mind: (1) Did I mention that the Phillies are up 3-1 in the World Series? 

Something(s) that broke my heart: (1) I never thought Dobson would stoop so low as he did in his letter from Obama’s America in 2012. I hope to write about this later. Thanks to Thom for pointing this out. (2) Obama’s thoughts that America is the last great hope of the world still breaks my heart from a Christian perspective. This isn’t recent, but it still bothers me.

Ministry update: last night we had a combined youth group with our friends from Grace Valley Fellowship. We had a scavenger hunt, pizza, hayride, and bonfire. It was a lot of fun. Tucker (their youth pastor) and I really tried to promote interaction between both groups. I think it worked out well.

Seminary update: still reading like crazy for our class on the historical books of the Old Testament with Gary Schnittjer. I’m having trouble wrapping my mind around all of what we are talking about, specifically, Nelson’s (above book) view on the historical books. We read Esther in the Septuagint with all the additions, which I told my friend Ben who is Eastern Orthodox, and he responded, “In other words, you read the complete Esther.” That’s a seminary joke, but a funny one if you get it. I won’t tell you why. Look it up! Also, reading Genesis 22 (the near-sacrifice of Isaac) and its interpretation from the Jewish, Muslim, Samaritan, and Christian perspectives.

Looking forward to: (1) the Phillies winning the World Series! I’m really looking forward to my mom’s reaction, if my reaction will result in my getting arrested (kidding!), and a parade!

What’s Cookin’? 106

Highlight(s) of the week: (1) The Phillies are up 3-1 in the World Series. Could it really happen? (2) Giselle laughed at me yesterday when I made a face at her. That’s the first time she did that without me tickling her. (3) Amanda is adjusting well to her new job. Apparently, she kicks kids out of class! If you know my wife, that would seem uncanny to you, but I’m glad she is asking kids to respect her.

Book(s) I’m reading: still reading Jesus for President by Shane Claiborne and Chris Haw and The Historical Books by Richard D. Nelson 

Listenin’ and lovin‘: Listen to Mars Hills podcasts every week; APM: Speaking of Faith with Krista Tippett – most recently I’ve been listening to one of the podcasts called “Being Autistic and Being Human” (it has exposed me to some of the ‘human-ness’ of people with autism, which I suppose was the purpose), and I also listened to an interview with Rod Dreher, author of Crunchy Cons: The New Conservative Counterculture and Its Return to Roots, talk about his care for environmental issues but how he is still Republican. That’s pretty cool. Also, I’ve fallen in love with listening to interviews by Emergent Village with Phyllis Tickle, what a wonderful and wise person. Music-wise: I created a “Genius” playlist on my iPhone with worship music so that included Delirious?, Hillsong, Hillsong United, Phil Wickham, and Jason Morant. 

Something(s) that blew my mind: (1) Did I mention that the Phillies are up 3-1 in the World Series? 

Something(s) that broke my heart: (1) I never thought Dobson would stoop so low as he did in his letter from Obama’s America in 2012. I hope to write about this later. Thanks to Thom for pointing this out. (2) Obama’s thoughts that America is the last great hope of the world still breaks my heart from a Christian perspective. This isn’t recent, but it still bothers me.

Ministry update: last night we had a combined youth group with our friends from Grace Valley Fellowship. We had a scavenger hunt, pizza, hayride, and bonfire. It was a lot of fun. Tucker (their youth pastor) and I really tried to promote interaction between both groups. I think it worked out well.

Seminary update: still reading like crazy for our class on the historical books of the Old Testament with Gary Schnittjer. I’m having trouble wrapping my mind around all of what we are talking about, specifically, Nelson’s (above book) view on the historical books. We read Esther in the Septuagint with all the additions, which I told my friend Ben who is Eastern Orthodox, and he responded, “In other words, you read the complete Esther.” That’s a seminary joke, but a funny one if you get it. I won’t tell you why. Look it up! Also, reading Genesis 22 (the near-sacrifice of Isaac) and its interpretation from the Jewish, Muslim, Samaritan, and Christian perspectives.

Looking forward to: (1) the Phillies winning the World Series! I’m really looking forward to my mom’s reaction, if my reaction will result in my getting arrested (kidding!), and a parade!

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