Beginning tomorrow and for the next nine days, my blogging activity will be sporadic at best. I will be leaving tomorrow morning for Arkansas to turkey hunt with my dad. If we have some good luck, I’ll get on here and post pictures and tell the story of the hunt. Otherwise, my blogging will be pretty sparse for the next week.
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The best part about the opening of baseball season is the standings swing daily. Yesterday, the Rangers were tied for last in the division. Today, on the heels of last night’s 10-4 thumping of the Red Sox, the standings reveal the Rangers tied for first. Vincente Padilla was masterful in his Rangers debut.
Last night, the Rangers softball team – the team Trae plays for and the one I coach – evened its record at 2-2 with a sound 7-2 win over the Rock-Its. The 7-8 year old softball league here in Marble Falls is a coach-pitch league. I was really proud of the girls for their effort last night. They are improving with every game.
I was also really proud of Trae. She hit the ball hard both times up. Our first game saw her strike out all three times. She was losing confidence. But after a couple of hours of BP last week, she has rediscovered her stroke and is enjoying playing again.
One of the really cute things about our team, though, is all the girls on my team love Trae’s little sister, Tori. At the end of each game, when we line up to shake hands with the other team with the obligatory, “Good game” comment, Tori always lines up with us. Then following the cordialities, we run out to the outfield to talk about the game and do our “Go Rangers” yell. Tori always runs to the outfield and does the yell with us.
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My nightly reading right now is taking me through the Heart of the Restoration Series, a series of books written by professors at ACU about the state of the church in its contemporary setting. The series calls for open, honest discussion about unity, the church, Scripture, the lordship of Jesus, and the core of the gospel message.
Last night, while watching the A’s/Yankees game, I finished off the first book in the series The Crux of the Matter: Crisis, Tradition and the Future of the Churches of Christ. The book was thought provoking, scoping both the historical, sociological and theological landscape for insight into the identity, form and function of the church.
Two paragraphs I found especially insightful diagnosed the generational tension that exist within churches today.
“A lot of people who grew up in the first half of the 20th century experienced an education system, a set of values, and a view of church and country quite different from those of children who grew up more recently. The older generations were required to read more when they were young. In general they are more trusting of institutions and authority. They think with a kind of logic that was perfected during 250 years of western Enlightenment. And, in general, they have a difficult time understanding the values and perspectives of the later generations.
The younger generations tend to be less interested in reading, are more globally aware, have a much less stable view of family and institutions of authority, and are more comfortable with change and variety than their predecessors. Clearly there are countless exceptions, but many churches can testify to differences along these lines. Older generations tend to be more interested in content, ideas and doctrine; younger generations tend to be more interested in experience and in practical ministry and community” (236).
