December » 2004 » SteveDennie.com - Miscellaneous inconsequential musings from Steve Dennie

Favorite Movies and Dan

Posted on December 14, 2004 by Steve
Posted in Anchor Church, Movies

I don’t expect to see any particularly noteworthy movies during these last two weeks of December, so I’ll go ahead and name my favorite movies of 2004. As if anyone cares.

There are three movies, all of them totally different, and I refuse to rank them. It would be like choosing between Steak and Shake French fries and the New England clam chowder at Red River Steakhouse‚Äîboth tops in their genres, but definitely different genres. Anyways, my favorite movies, in the order in which they came out, are:

The Passion of the Christ
The Notebook
Friday Night Lights
With a very very honorable mention to “The Incredibles.”

“The Notebook” choked me up, more times, than nearly any movie I’ve seen since “Field of Dreams.” I go to extraordinary lengths to avoid crying, whether in the theatre or watching a DVD at home. A guy thing, obviously.

“Friday Night Lights” is just a great sports movie, filmed in a creative way. I love sports movies. Saw “Miracle,” about the Olympic hockey team, on DVD this year and loved it, too.

But nothing left a lasting impression like “The Passion of the Christ.” Pam and I saw it with a bunch of our teens on a Friday night. We watched the movie together, then went back to the youth center and discussed it. Mark and Tami Solak, two other volunteers, were also there, and our director, Traci Slager, led the discussion.

Being an urban church, we have some pretty rough-cut kids. One of them is Dan, who is actually in his 20s but still seems (and functions) like a teen. He has spent time in jail. Dan became a Christian during a mission trip this summer, but he wasn’t a Christian when we saw the movie. During the flogging scene, he couldn’t keep watching. If I remember right, he actually left his seat and went into the exit-way. He told us, “They just kept hitting and hitting and hitting and hitting, and I couldn’t take it.” He didn’t say they kept “whipping” him or “lashing,” but used the word “hitting.” I wondered what in his background, perhaps his home life, prompted that reaction. I was troubled by the scene, but I certainly couldn’t connect it with any personal experience. I’ve never even been in a fight my entire life.

With a felony on his record, Dan has had great trouble finding a job. We all rejoiced with him when he finally landed a job working in a restaurant about a year ago. He’s paid under the table, and gets no benefits, but it’s something. It’s work, it’s income, it’s identity.

I’m glad we’re the type of church that attracts someone like Dan. He wouldn’t “fit” in most youth groups, I’m afraid, and maybe too many Christian adults wouldn’t want him around their kids. I remember my own suspicions when he first started coming around a couple years ago, and was soon picking fist-fights (over a girl) with one of our other young Christians. But God loves Dan, and since we exist to reach people like him, we love him, too. Over these years, I’ve seen him soften and become a totally different person. It seemed only natural on that Friday night a couple months ago when, sitting around on the floor at the youth center, Dan told us how he had accepted Christ.

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Let the Purging Begin

Posted on December 13, 2004 by Steve
Posted in The Denomination

In my continued bummed-out state, I don’t exactly draw encouragement from the UBHope discussion forum. Lately, posts there have revolved around removing from leadership, and banning from future leadership, persons who were in favor of the referendum to join the Missionary Church. I, quite obviously, am one target of that. So are the Bishop and the ELT members.

Taking it further, as one person seems to, would exclude the pastors of 11 of the 12 largest UB churches (maybe all 12–I’m not sure where one of the pastors stood). The ministers with the strongest track record in knowing how to grow a church tended to be in favor of the referendum. So, who will next hold the reigns of the denomination? Will it be proven church-builders? I think not. They wanted to do away with the denomination. They lost. As it is written online, “How will those who were lead advocates of the ‘dissolution’ movement and who made substantive negative comment(s) about the denomination, regain the trust of those who had, and continue to have, respect and regard for the denomination?…Can the laity re-establish trust with its current denominational leadership?”

One person wrote, “I don’t think you have to fear the current leaders relinquishing power. I think you have to worry about a dearth of people ready to take over leadership.” That was countered by someone who responded, “The ‘dearth of people ready to take over leadership’ will be hard challenged to do worse that the current leadership.” Thanks for the affirmation.

This brings to the forefront something which is new to the UB church, and which has bothered me for several months now: the severe criticism–even mockery–of persons in leadership. I’ve not seen this before in my days in the UB church (all 48 years of them). It’s a door that has been opened, and which the UBHope mailings over the course of the past six months have exacerbated. It’s open season on the leadership.

I doubt that this level of criticism has existed in our midst since the days of Milton Wright (who, arguably, set the pattern and then led a division in the church in 1889). We justify Milton Wright’s actions and attitude by pointing out that the church he departed from is now the United Methodist Church, and aren’t we glad we aren’t part of the UMC? But as I have read about Milton Wright, I have noticed a spirit about him which bothers me greatly. And I think that spirit has been revived during the past year.

The door is open–it’s okay to severely criticize our church leadership, to second-guess their decisions, to even ridicule them (as we’ve seen in emails and anecdotes which have made their way to the HQ offices). And that will make it extremely difficult for a new bishop and new leadership groups to lead. This, I’m afraid, will be part of the lasting legacy of UBHope.

Okay, I sound embittered. Actually, it’s just frustration. Where will God lead us in the future? That’s the question on everyone’s mind.

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Back to the Club

Posted on December 10, 2004 by Steve
Posted in Sports

We didn’t have music practice last night, so I went back to the ping pong club. There were four other guys there, only one of whom I hadn’t met before, Mike. Mike held his paddle in an unusual way, kinda Chinese style but a little different, and he was able to hit shots in some (what appeared to me) very unorthodox ways. I started off playing him, and actually won one game (out of four).

Mike then proceeded to beat Rick, the Jamaican, and George, who had previously beaten me very badly. At the end of the night, I played Mike again, and won two out of five games, coming within reach on the final game. Go figure. Everyone’s game is a bit different, and I guess Mike doesn’t play as well against someone who plays like me. Max, the 80-year-old, can beat them all regularly.

I talked to my Mom the day before, and she mentioned a ping pong club in South Bend (where they pastor), and that one player there played on the Olympic ping pong team. I mentioned this to Max. “Oh yeah, I beat him when he was up-and-coming. He didn’t know what to do with me.”

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Fear Factor and Other Stuff

Posted on December 9, 2004 by Steve
Posted in The Denomination, TV

My nephew, Curt, went to Chicago to audition for Fear Factor back in June. He works for a credit union, so he look pretty normal during the day. But for the audition, he spiked his hair and otherwise donned the full punk “uniform.” And the Fear Factor people loved it. He got a call in September (I think it was) saying they wanted to use him on the show. Earlier this afternoon, my Mom called to say he had sent in a 45-page contract (in which he basically admitted that he could get killed, maimed, or otherwise severely abused).

So, it looks like a Dennie will be doing the reality-show thing. And if he makes $50,000 in the process, I guess we won’t be so quick to denounce the bain of reality TV.

Curt is very active at Fellowship Missionary Church here in Fort Wayne. He’s been involved in some very cutting edge evangelistic outreaches to the city’s rave and punk community, and finds himself meeting to discuss his faith with people who are into witchcraft, homosexuality, and much more. I don’t know of anything like it in the UB church.

The Missionary Church, like the UB church, has a strong traditional element. But at the same time, they have an exciting cutting edge element. That’s one of the things the UB church lacks.

I was quoted in an article about the non-joining of the UB church and the Missionary Church that appeared in yesterday’s Fort Wayne Journal-Gazette. Today, I talked to reporters from both the Fort Wayne News-Sentinel (the afternoon paper, which Pam and I take) and the Huntington Herald-Press. UBHope people were severely critical of the article which the News-Sentinel did last spring, and in particular of quotes provided by the bishop. The link on the UBHope website calls it, “When Interviews Go Bad,” with a description mockingly saying, “Who said any publicity is good publicity?” That irks me. I was heavily involved in helping the reporter with that article, and felt the writer did a conscientious job. I don’t know if they’ll get on my case about these articles or not.

After the Huntington Herald-Press did an article about the merger talks last fall, the Bishop received an official letter from the New Hope UB church’s board criticizing us for “allowing” the newspaper to do an article, even though it was public knowledge and we had been debating it actively on a discussion board. News flash: We don’t control the media. When they decide to do a story, all you can do is try to be helpful and make the most of it. If you try to control or censor them, you’re just asking for trouble. But I’ve been extremely pleased with the reporters I’ve worked with.

I was pleased to learn today that a mistake was made in counting votes for national conference delegates in Central Conference. Denny Miller, pastor of Emmanuel Community Church, had been listed as the first alternate (7th highest vote-getter). I was disgusted that, for the third time, he was apparently not elected by the conference as a delegate, even though he pastors the second-largest church in the denomination, has held various denominational leadership positions, and is probably our denomination’s premier, proven church-builder. But, to my joy, it turns out some votes were overlooked, and Denny actually ended up third. Ah, something right for a change!

Pam and I continue our fascination with the TV show “Lost,” which we watched again last night. I guess it won’t be on for several weeks now. They keep dropping little tidbits that you know will be elaborated on at some future date. It’s a great show.

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Ping Pong — Going to a New Level

Posted on December 8, 2004 by Steve
Posted in It's My Life, Sports

Last night, I went back to the Ping Pong club. It was a rainy night and there were only two guys there, both of them 60+ years old, and both of whom whipped my butt. Or cleaned my clock, a good Christian would say.

Max is the better of the two, and I can’t tell how old he is. But I know he served in WW2, which means he’s probably pushing 80. He’s a thin fellow, who comes wearing sweat pants and Nikes and a sweatshirt. He’s not quick laterally, like you need to be in tennis, but his reflexes are very good, and since in Ping Pong you can get away with not moving much, he does just fine. His strokes are beautiful. Having played competitive tennis for a number of years (high school and throughout college), I pay much attention to form, which is all-important in tennis. I learn a lot just by watching how Max hits that little white ball.

The other guy is George. He’s still employed, but I’m guessing he’s approaching retirement age. George and Max warm up together, and they really go at it. But in singles play, George rarely beats Max. Max just has too many shots. I enjoy warming up with George, because his style is more conducive to my bang-the-ball style, and he tends to respond to the other person’s shots more than try to control the play. George and I played two games, and he beat me both of them. We played to just 11 points, taking two serves at a time. I think I got 8 points one game. But I’m sure George can still take it up a notch or two.

I played a lot more against Max. When we get in a slicing duel, I do extremely well, because my backhand slice stroke (thanks to tennis) is very good. I can at least stay with him, though he’ll eventually win the point, most likely. But I’m pleased to discover that that’s a strength of my game. When I play Kevin at church and things get tight, I can start slicing with the knowledge that he won’t be able to keep up with me.

But Max has all kinds of spins. He’ll serve the ball with a lot of spin, and when I return it, it might veer off to the far right or to the far left–I never know which. He has a forehand shot with lots of spin that sends the ball out wide to my right; I think I’m on it, but I swing and miss it. Very frustrating. But I’ll get onto it eventually.

My backhand has always been a strength–thanks, again, to tennis–but it just doesn’t measure up with these guys. I have felt real good about my forehand. But when I mentioned to Max that I needed work on my backhand, he said, “Actually, your backhand is better than your forehand.” Which was a blow to me. But it’s because I didn’t know better. He explained that I was hitting the ball where you would in tennis, at waist level, whereas in ping pong you need to hit the ball at the top of its arc. I started doing that as I played Max–it’s very tough to break decades of habit–and it was definitely an improvement. He taught me other things about how to stroke the ball. Too many things, actually–I’m overwhelmed! But if I keep going back, week after week, I’ll be able to incorporate things into my game.

Max and I played three games. He beat me all three, and without much difficulty. I had my moments, and I’m not a pushover. But Max is the master. The previous night, he was playing full-court basketball with the youth. He also plays tennis, and who knows what else. Quite the athlete. Not as quick as I’m sure he used to be (he’s about 80, for heaven’s sakes!), but great reflexes and wonderful coordination.

I could have continued elevating my game just by playing at Anchor, improving on what I already know and struggling back to the level at which I played in college. But putting myself in a whole different situation will jump-start me to a new level. I can feel it. This ping pong club will be very good for me, and I’m extremely eager to learn. I think Max appreciates that.

I know there are correlations I can draw with the Missionary Church–putting ourselves among them, learning from people who are much better at church planting and missions than we are, discovering new spins and strokes that we’ll never learn just playing among ourselves. But I’ll let it go.

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UB Election Results

Posted on December 7, 2004 by Steve
Posted in The Denomination

Today, we’re announcing the results of the UB elections. Actually, I posted the results on the UB website yesterday, but without fanfare. The referendum intended to unite the United Brethren church with the Missionary Church failed, getting just 43% of the votes of UB members in the United States. I’m crushed. Have been for a week, actually, since I’ve known for that long that it would die.

The strongest opposition came from a group called UBHope, a group which I helped create (inadvertently) by launching a denominational discussion forum. That’s where the UBHope people got acquainted. Stupid, stupid me.

Posting on the web was one of three parts of the plan to announce the results to the UB constituency, which is the responsibility of the bishop. But within hours of the results appearing on the website, UBHope sent an apparently already-prepared email newsletter to its own email list (which is pretty large). So, many UB people will hear the results first not from the Bishop, but from the group which fought so hard to defeat the referendum. It never crossed my mind that they would do that; otherwise, I would have waited to post the results on the web. Again, stupid, stupid, and terribly naive me.

The UBHope newsletter did a lot of preaching about kingdom-building and church growth and etc. The thing is, the churches that are fueling the bulk of the growth in our denomination are, for the most part, led by pastors who favored joining the Missionary Church–our larger churches, and our smaller progressive churches (like Anchor, my own church, which voted 35-0 in favor). And most of the people behind UBHope don’t exactly come from cutting edge churches, though you wouldn’t guess that by reading their progressive-sounding materials.

Oh my, I’m sounding like a very sore, embittered loser. In the grief process, I guess I’m in the Anger stage. Somewhere far out ahead lies Acceptance. I wonder when I’ll arrive there. I’m venting here, on this little blog designed for my own amusement. I think I feel better already.

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Who Speaks for Me?

Posted on December 6, 2004 by Steve
Posted in Politics, Religion in General

As I predicted, big-name religious leaders are emerging, trying to become spokespersons for the persons who voted on the basis of moral values. Dobson, Falwell, Jim Wallis, and others are out there trying to speak for me. But they don’t speak for ME.

If anyone represents me, it would be persons like Rick Warren and Bill Hybels, and I hope they just stay off the airwaves.

The morals-based voters came as a surprise to nearly everyone. Nobody really tried to organize them in advance–they just showed up on their own. They were leaderless, but motivated. I think these voters will just be turned off by the religious opportunists seeking to become spokespersons for the morals-based voters. I know it turns me off.

There will undoubtedly be much attention on this audience in the 2008 election. And I’m sure, as with every election, people will tout this as “the most important election of our lifetime.” But will the conservative evangelicals turn out again? Who knows.

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NBA Thoughts

Posted on December 5, 2004 by Steve
Posted in Sports

I’m a big NBA fan. Most people love the purity of college basketball, and I certainly do. But I’m more attracted to the NBA, where the best players in the world compete. The NBA has many flaws, and too many players are seriously flawed. But I still like it.

I finished reading “The Last Season,” Phil Jackson’s book about his final season with the LA Lakers. My goodness, he was hard on Kobe Bryant! But I’m sure he was fully justified. He describes Kobe as highly selfish, temperamental, aloof, and always trying to, basically, prove his manhood. Though he’s immensely talented, a team’s best player also needs to be the team leader, and I don’t think Kobe can rise to that responsibility. I imagine the goals at the top of his agenda right now are: to be the league MVP, and to be the league scoring champion. He’s too self-centered to think otherwise.

Shaq has a good situation in Miami. Duane Wade is also immensely talented, with many of the capabilities Kobe has. But he’s okay with being the “little brother,” the “sidekick.”

Jackson’s book was truly fascinating, with great insights into the game and into many players from around the league.

For too many years, I’ve been rooting for Sacramento, but they keep disappointing me. Maybe this is their year. If not, they need to remake the team, I’m afraid.

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Word on the Street

Posted on December 3, 2004 by Steve
Posted in The Denomination

Word on the street is that the referendum on joining the Missionary Church failed. The results from several conferences are floating around, and the Central Conference figures–just 44% in favor–were released on Wednesday and quickly made the rounds. I happen to have all of the results on my computer (except for Northwest Conference, which is counting their votes on Sunday). We’ll probably be able to publish the results on Monday. I’m thinking, anyway.

I’m pretty bummed out. I fear that the United Brethren church will enter a period of “experimentation,” trying this and that and finding nothing that works. I don’t see any good scenarios out there for us as a denomination. This pains me, since I’ve served the denomination my entire working life, and have never attended anything but United Brethren churches. I love this denomination, but fear that some dark, directionless days lay ahead. I feel that a huge, huge opportunity for a bright future has been lost.

Yesterday was the funeral for Fred Bauman, father of my good friend Tim Bauman, one of the guitarists on the worship team. Tim asked four of us on the worship team to be pallbearers. Just shows how much of a “family” we are. Fred and Lena hadn’t attended church for many years, but began about five years ago after Anchor started up (which is when Tim and Alice started attending). Anchor made a difference in Fred’s life, and they were extremely faithful in attending. Whatever happens in the denomination, Anchor will move forward.

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Ping Pong Club

Posted on December 1, 2004 by Steve
Posted in It's My Life, Sports

In light of my Sunday losses in Ping Pong to Kevin Kay, I realized I needed to get more practice. Otherwise, next time he returns from Ball State, it’ll go even worse for me. I had heard about a Tuesday night ping pong club at the Aldersgate United Methodist church on my end of town, so last night I decided to check it out.

Soon after I arrived, around 7 pm, two guys older than me arrived–one in his 50s, the other in his 60s. I wondered if they would be much competition for me. Then they started playing against each other. Wow. Another guy arrived a little later, a black fellow with, I believe, a Jamaican accent. Named Rick. Great guy.

We didn’t actually play any singles matches–just hit around. I could hold my own against the two older guys, especially when it came to just banging and returning. In an actual singles game, they would pull out some spins which I wouldn’t know what to do with, but in a slugging match, I could do okay. I didn’t get to play Rick, who is probably the best of the three. He’s amazing at returning the hardest of slams.

We ended up playing nine games of doubles–2 out of 3 games, and rotating so that each of us was teamed once with each of the other three guys. I think my team won two of the three sets.

I had a great time, and got a pretty decent workout. I’ll definitely be going back. It was a rainy night, which probably affected the number of people there, but I don’t think they have many coming anyway. They seemed delighted that someone of my calibre showed up. I think they’re used to newbies coming who can’t hold a candle to them in ability. I could. That pleased them, and pleased me.

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Monthly Archives: December 2004

Favorite Movies and Dan

Let the Purging Begin

Back to the Club

Fear Factor and Other Stuff

Ping Pong — Going to a New Level

UB Election Results

Who Speaks for Me?

NBA Thoughts

Word on the Street

Ping Pong Club

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