May » 2006 » SteveDennie.com - Miscellaneous inconsequential musings from Steve Dennie

Where are the Younger Generations?

Posted on May 6, 2006 by Steve
Posted in The Denomination

The Day of Missions went great today. I thoroughly enjoyed everyone who spoke, and the chance to meet some of our newest missionaries–Mike and Jenny Burtnett (wonderful couple!), Anna Geivett, and Jami Fiedler. I’ll write more about the event later. But right now it’s midnight on Saturday, the Suns just won their series against the Lakers, Tom Hanks is hosting Saturday Night Live for his 8th time, and I’m tired. How all of those things relate–you figure it out.

Alan MacDonald - Gary Dilley.jpg I do want to comment on something Alan MacDonald said. (That’s Alan on the right, talking to Global Ministries director Gary Dilley.) Alan MacDonald works with Wycliffe, serving as a laison to government and United Nations officials. It’s a pretty important job, one which fascinates me. Alan is highly respected within Wycliffe. I’ve enjoyed hearing him speak over the years and reading his writings, because he has a wonderfully insightful view of world missions, and a strategic vantage point.

Today he mentioned some changes in missions. One, he said, was that the post-WW2 generation which really accelerated the cause of world missions is aging. Those people, he said, provided a great deal of prayer support for missionaries. But as they die out, and younger generations don’t carry the same burden for praying for missionaries, something extremely important will be lost. That’s not exacely what he said, but it’s the gist with some Stevely amplications.

This was evident in the people who attended. It was very much a graying group of people–my parents’ generation. My own generation, the Baby Boomers, was largely absent, to say nothing of the Baby Busters and Gen-Xers–a few representatives, but very few. While the retirees were out in force. The people who came out to learn more about missions and interact with missionaries were NOT the people who will need to carry the ball in the future. So where were they?

The people in today’s audience, I realized, were the people who not only faithfully pray for missionaries, but who send them cards, raise money through bake sales and other events, and otherwise keep alive their church’s interest in missions. This generation will be greatly missed if they are not replaced. And it doesn’t look like they will be.

On the other hand, many of those grey-haired people have probably never ventured overseas. The younger generations go on mission trips and do other types of foreign travel, even as part of their youth group. My generation, and the younger generations, have experienced much more of life in other countries. We’ve gotten our hands dirty. And yet, we won’t come to an event like we held today. And I greatly doubt that we’ll be prayer warriors like those people sitting in today’s audience, people who have silently undergirded the missionary force of today and yesterday with their faithful remembrances. We want to experience things for ourselves. We’re not so good at supporting and cheering from the sidelines. What are we to make of that? Is there a positive spin I’m missing?

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On the Road to Pennslyvania

Posted on May 5, 2006 by Steve
Posted in It's My Life

Tonight, Pam and I are in Chambersburg, Pa., staying at the Holiday Inn Express. Tomorrow is an event called a “Day of Missions,” here in Chambersburg at the Salem United Brethren church. This makes a nice get-away for us, the first chance to do something all year. So I’m technically working, but we’re together, out of town. Nice.

Here are some random notes from the trip.

Cracker Barrel. Pam and I like to eat at Cracker Barrels while traveling. We never eat at the one in Fort Wayne, Ind., where we live. We know the food there would be great. But we just prefer reserving this place for road trips. So for lunch today, we ate at Cracker Barrel in Cambridge, Ohio. It was noisy, like all Cracker Barrels, and the corn bread was much too gritty for my taste (Smokey Bones has the best cornbread, hands down). But that’s our place when we travel.
The Turnpike. I love the Pennsylvania Turnpike. When my family lived in Harrisburg, Pa., back in the 1960s, we traveled the Turnpike a lot going back and forth to our extended family in Ohio and Michigan. For us kids, the tunnels (three of them) were always a highlight. And the travel islands (all Howard Johnsons, back then) made neat stops. Pam and I stopped at one today, just before Breezewood. It had a Starbucks. I passed. Reluctantly.
Roadkill. Lots of deer laying beside the road in Pennsylvania. Lots of them. Some body shops are getting business. Another type of roadkill on the Turnpike: multitudes of dead trees on the north side of the road. In places, it seemed like all of the trees were dead. I don’t know if they are just late bloomers, of if 50 years of exhaust fumes took their toll. (“Toll”–good term for the Turnpike. I’m so hilarious.)
Beauty. Pennsylvania is beautiful, especially going through the mountains. Out West, where we had real mountains (the Sierra Madres in the distance in California)–now those were real mountains. But they were majestic, not beautiful. In Pennsylvania, the Appalachians are simply gorgeous, especially when you come up over a ridge and look into an expansive valley.
Enemy territory. Pam and I went to the Chambersburg Mall tonight. I was wearing an Indianapolis Colts T-shirt. But everywhere I looked, I saw Pittsburgh Steeler merchandise. I felt conspicuous.

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So I Was Right About Paris

Posted on May 4, 2006 by Steve
Posted in TV

I guess I was right–Paris Bennett said goodbye to American Idol last night. She’s an amazing performer, and can sing up a storm. I felt like she could potentially have the best pop career of anybody there. But alas, she didn’t get the votes.

Next week Elliott will go. Then it’ll get real, real hard. I heard a Vegas oddsmaker say they have Chris at 2-1, Kathryn at 3-1, and Taylor at 4-1. Interesting. Interesting that I should give a rip what a Vegas oddsmaker says.

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Acts of Kindness for Our Neighborhood

Posted on May 4, 2006 by Steve
Posted in Anchor Church

Some of the workers. My pastor, Tim Hallman, is third from the right. Pastor Bob Bruce of Emmanuel (with whom I roomed for one fun-filled summer in college) is second from the left.

Something happened at my church on April 22 that left me glowing all day. Just really touched me.

On that day, about 30 people descended on Third Street, where Anchor Community Church is located, and relandscaped five homes. We’re located in a neighborhood which used to be real nice, but has become a lower-income area with lots of rental properties. It’s not a run-down place, but it’s not a suburban subdivision, either.

Anyway, people from Emmanuel Community Church, a UB church located in the suburbs on the “rich” side of town, came to our neighborhood in their grubbies and worked alongside Anchor people to make these five homes look great. They spread a gob of fresh mulch, planted new plants, raked up leaves, and swept the street of debris. It was a demonstration of love by the body of Christ. And I tell you–they made those five homes sparkle!

Pam and I didn’t participate. Shame on us. Actually, that was the first Saturday after April 15, which is always a sacred day for us. It’s the first Saturday of the year that Pam, a CPA, doesn’t have to work. The first Saturday of 2006 on which she could actually sleep in. But we did pop over to the church (15 minutes from our home) to see what was happening and take pictures. I tell you, it blessed my heart. To see these people from Emmanuel working their buns off alongside Anchor people. Even now, as I type, my eyes are getting watery.

Tom Clounie, an elder at Emmanuel, started his own landscaping business in the 1980s and it has become a really big, really respected firm. My pastor selected the homes and talked to the owners, but Tom brought in his trucks and equipment and landscaping materials (and even a few paid workers, I was told) and supervised the whole thing very efficiently. Good job, Tom.

I thanked Tom, and told him it was neat seeing all his trucks on Third Street, that the neighborhood people couldn’t miss the fact that something big was happening. Tom said, “They are God’s trucks. I have them on loan.”

With all the equipment, nobody in the neighborhood could miss the fact that something big was happening.

Sweeping up after completing one of the homes.

Pastor Tim Hallman of Anchor (left) with Chris Moore, one of the staff ministers at Emmanuel.

One of the homes after the landscaping was finished. Notice the fresh mulch and the new plants around the front of the house.

Tom Clounie using a tractor to remove old mulch, leaves, and debris.

Another one of the homes after the work was done.

And finally, a well-deserved meal back at Anchor.

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Obligatory American Idol Observations

Posted on May 3, 2006 by Steve
Posted in TV

This being Wednesday, it’s time for me to divulge my pick for leaving American Idol tonight. In the process, I feel morally compelled to inject self-deprecating comments about my utterly shallow infatuation with this icon of pop culture, recognizing that no truly God-fearing creature would enjoy seeing an unabashed emissary of Satan like Simon Cowell verbally pummel hapless twenty-somethings on national TV, summing up their sorry existence with a devastating soundbite.

Anyway, Paris will probably exit tonight, but my choice to go home is Elliott, who actually sang a song which wistfully said, “I wanna go home.” This weekend, my sister-in-law Dorene, a music teacher, told me she likes Elliott’s voice, but his appearance wrecks it for her. He is, indeed, Mr. Tumnus from “Chronicles of Narnia.” To compensate, Dorene closes her eyes when he sings, and then, she says, you catch the rich tone of his voice.

So last night, during Elliott’s first song, Pam suggested I try that. I closed my eyes, and sure enough‚Äîman, his image just won’t go away! But yes, I did appreciate his voice more.

Since I play ping pong on Tuesday nights, Pam tapes “American Idol” and we watch it when I get home. Makes a late night, but hey, we gotta see it. Last night, the contestants had to pick a song from the year they were born. Taylor Hicks did “Play that Funky Music,” by Wild Cherry, from 1976 (Taylor’s the oldest). It was incredible. I rewound the tape to watch it again. Of the people left, Taylor’s the only one I would travel some distance to see perform, because I know it would be fun.

Okay, let’s wrap this up with some more self-deprecation. I’m a culturally unsophisticated worm, a fallen Christian enraptured with worldliness, a compromised specimen of humanity totally unworthy of bearing the label “Huntington University graduate,” an institution of such transcendent refinement that, I’ve heard once or twice (or untold zillions of times), US News ranks it way way up there in whatever category it fits. Enough. Confession’s over.

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Welcome to My Revamped Blog

Posted on May 2, 2006 by Steve
Posted in This or That

The move is complete. My blog has taken up residency at the RandomPokes.org domain, and I bought a whole new wardrobe for the place.

I started Whatever in the fall of 2004 and gave it a name with very little thought. I didn’t check around to see if other blogs were using the “Whatever” name. I just plugged it in and took off. I didn’t know if I would enjoy blogging or not. Just thought I’d give it a try.

Turns out I really enjoy it. As a writer, I’ve always been told that I should keep a journal. Well, journalling never worked for me, though I made half-hearted efforts over the years. But blogging is basically journalling, and this does work for me. Meaning, it helps me keep my literary muscles flexed.

Previously, I used Blogger, which is now owned by Google. It’s nice, and it’s free. But I’ve moved to Movable Type, which gives me all kinds of new flexibility and capabilities. Since I’m proficient with HTML and FTP and CSS, I can make it work (otherwise, stick with Blogger).

So, I’m here, and will be for the forseeable future. I’m sure there are all kinds of things I still need to fix, but I’ll catch those as I go. I’m just glad I was able to transfer all of my old posts. I didn’t get the comments moved, but maybe I’ll figure something out.

Anyway, enjoy RandomPokes, and stop by often. I’ll try not to bore you silly.

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The Bridal Shower Alternative

Posted on May 1, 2006 by Steve
Posted in Family

Yesterday afternoon, Pam and I went to Convoy, Ohio, for a wedding shower. My niece, Paula, is getting married on June 24 to Tom, a guy I wholeheartedly approve of. I, of course, was not invited to the shower. Pam was, though. So I dropped her and Mom off at the Convoy United Brethren Church, and then went over to the parsonage (where my brother Stu lives), to hang out with my two brothers, Tom, and Stu’s sons Benjamin and Jonathan. There was, among us, no sense of being “left out” of the festivities (i. e., silly little games) which are allegedly common at bridal showers. We, instead, talked about computers and dogs, and did some grunting.

Benjamin, who is 21, bought a house in Willshire, about 20 miles away. It’s a two-story house sitting on three lots, with a separate brick building. This place is a true fixer-upper, but when you realize he got the thing for just $10 grand, it’s a steal. Fortunately, Benjamin knows handyman-type stuff; Stu seems to have hogged all of Dad’s handyman genes, since me and Rick sure didn’t get any of them. Anyway, Benjamin took me (and my brother Rick) over to his house. Yeah, the thing is torn to pieces, with stuff everywhere. Benjamin sleeps on a couch in what will be the living room. But I say–good for him! He’s willing to put all the work into totally renovating this house, and when he’s done, it’s gonna be worth a whole lot more than he paid for it.

The shower ended, and I did get some leftover cake. Paula and Tom hauled their loot upstairs. I guess they’re looking for a house to rent. Better hurry.

Back in Fort Wayne, Rick, Dorene, and their two kids stopped by our house. We ordered the aforementioned Hungry Howie’s pizza, which they’d never had. Pizza, regardless of brand, always works at Dennie gatherings. Rick and I were both bummed to learn that the Lakers had taken a 3-1 lead over the Phoenix Suns. This just can’t happen. Kobe cannot be validated.

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Monthly Archives: May 2006

Where are the Younger Generations?

On the Road to Pennslyvania

So I Was Right About Paris

Acts of Kindness for Our Neighborhood

Obligatory American Idol Observations

Welcome to My Revamped Blog

The Bridal Shower Alternative

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