Who's Gonna Win?

I remember cheering for the Cubbies since 1983.
I was 8. No one in my family liked the Cubs. I did.
Twenty-five years later I still cheer for those Cubs.

Maybe...just maybe....we'll see a 100 year miracle!

Who do you want to win the World Series?

Only because I can't switch to AT&T

I'm seriously considering the LG Dare. It's the iPhone knock-off. I know it's not as cool. I know my Apple friends will laugh. But, I'm a Verizon guy tangled in a plan consisting of multiple lines and multiple plans.

So I'll settle for the LG Dare.

But a message to LG and Verizon....take a good look at the iPhone and notice how we know it's an Apple product without the logo. Please take notice of it's clean look. Learn. Change. Innovate.


Whatever I get, it's better than this...

The Office & Me

What NBC "The Office" character are you? Your Result: Jim Halpert You are the kind of person that everyone likes. You are funny, laid back, and not bad looking. You love practical jokes and having a fun time with your friends. However, because you are so laid back you often let the things that are most important to you get away. I miss Dwight. Congratulations Universe, you win.
Toby Flenderson
Angela Martin
Pam Beesly
Dwight Kurt Schrute
Michael Scott
Kelly Kapoor
Ryan Howard
What NBC "The Office" character are you? Quiz Created on GoToQuiz

Meet My Friend Matt

My friend Matt Wilkie has amazing stories. He travels the world as a missionary and finds himself in incredible situations, as well as random encounters with all kinds of people.

At the same time, I live in Mattoon, IL. Home of the original Burger King. Matt likes to eat there when he is in town. So as a Christmas gift several years ago, I jokingly bought him an original Burger King T-Shirt.

Now, everywhere he goes--whether its the Great Wall of China, volcanoes, Eiffel tower, Africa, indigenous tribal villages ...he tries to take his picture next to the world icons while wearing his Original Burger King shirt.

So.... as Matt as in O'Hare airport in Chicago, he met this guy....



"The Architect" Karl Rove was standing in terminal C talking on his cell phone. This was one of President Bush's major political consultants. If you know political news, you know Karl Rove.

Matt had a great--and funny--conversation with him. If you know Matt, you there will always be a good story.

Read Matt's post here.
Read about the ORIGINAL Burger King.
Who is Karl Rove?

Someday I will write the whole Matt Wilkie/Burger King T-shirt exclusive story with photographs. (But I'm pitching that idea to out local paper, first!) Should be fun.

Fantasy Church League

I want to propose a new fantasy league to all the online fantasy sports addicts out there:
Fantasy Church League.

Here's how it would work:
You get to choose 10 churches in the United States.
Only three can be from the same denomination.
Only three can be non-denominational.

Scoring:

Attendance based on previous week to current week.
1 pt for a 1-5 increase
2 pts for a 6-9 increase
3 pts for a 10-20 increase
4 pts for a 25-50 increase
5 pts for a 50+ increase
Same points are deducted if there is a decrease.

First-Time Attenders
1 pt for a 1-5 FTA
2 pts for a 6-9 FTA
3 pts for a 10-20 FTA
4 pts for a 25-50 FTA
5 pts for a 50+ FTA

Salvation responses:
1 pt for 1 response
2 pts for 2-3 response
3 pts for 4-7 response
4 pts for 8-15 response
5 pts for 16+ response

Baptisms
1 pt for 1 baptisms
2 pts for 2-3 baptisms
3 pts for 4-7 baptisms
4 pts for 8-15 baptisms
5 pts for 16+ baptisms


BONUS POINTS
5 pts if FTAs 50-99 percent fill out a information card.
10 pts if 100 percent FTAs fill out a information card.
10 pts if there are no parent notifications during service.
10 pts if there are no media glitches.
10 pts if church serves "fair trade" coffee.
10 pts if parking lot crew uses orange flags.
10 pts if church is out early.
25 pts if the first three rows are filled at least 80 percent capacity.

NEGATIVE POINTS
5 pts if the coffee runs out early.
5 pts for every 10 mins the service runs long.
5 pts if information is incorrect on sign
5 pts for every time a baby cries so much the parent carries him/her out.
2 pts for every time speaker uses a sermon illustration one year old.
5 pts for every time a speaker uses a sermon illustration 2-4 years old.
10 points every time a speaker uses a sermon illustration 5+ years old.

YOUR TURN: Add more point options, rules, guidelines....

Dear Pringles....

Dear Pringles people,

I would like to make a suggestion to Mr's Baur's invention of the Pringles can:
Make the tube wider.



I can't get my hand in the can to get to the bottom.
I know, you would say, "Tip the can and they will come out."
Yes they will fall out...along with all the broken pieces and crumbs.

I want whole chips. I like your chips.
(I even like putting them together in opposite direction and pretending they are duck lips.)

I hate that a half can of Pringles brings such poor expectations to my hungry gut. Please widen the can. Please.



My fat hand just won't fit. Maybe design a Big & Tall line of Pringles containers.

Thanks for the consideration,

Sincerely,
Travis Spencer

Does anyone else have issues with this?


Blog readers:
If you would like more info on Pringles cans:
According to Wiki: the Pringles container, a tubular can with a foil-coated interior, and a resealable plastic lid (with the Pringles famous logo), was invented by Fredric J. Baur. Mr. Baur passed away on May 4, 2008. Baur's children honored his request to bury him in one of the cans by placing part of his cremated remains in a Pringles container in his grave.

Also, one positive side of the pringles can- You can use it for wi-fi antennas, known as cantennas.

Too orange.

Too orange.
Originally uploaded by travis spencer

My meal is too orange ish yellow. I have issues.

Ideas Needed

I'll be leading a discussion at the end of the month on kids' faith and the holidays. And I could use your input.

Do you have creative ways to teach Christian faith during Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas?

Do you have questions you would want answered in a discussion on this topic?

Do you have input on building kids' faith during the fall/winter holidays?

small achievements...

Sometimes the small achievements can make you feel like a warrior.

Last week a small wash rag ended up sliding down the bathtub drain after one of my son's bath. The next day the water would slowly drain. Three days later the water would VERY SLOWLY drain. Sunday... the water wouldn't drain.

Joy had been bugging asking me to take care of it. The problem was that the rag was way down in the pipe. Way Down. 

Last eager Saturday morning I purchased a special-flexible-grabber-claw-thing tool. ...too short. It wouldn't reach Way Down to get it.

I finally dismantled the drain mechanism to get a good angle, used a medium-grade metal hanger from our basement laundry area, twisted an end on the wire to create a spiral-shaped hook.

I injected the medium-grade metal hanger down the drain until it hit the trap. I twisted...twisted....twisted ... then pulled up the hanger in great anticipation. Picture a pro angler catching his trophy bass in a million-dollar fishing tournament.

As I pulled there was tension.  (I think I got something!!)

Then out of the drain....

I grunted in warrior-like fashion.

I won. The rag lost. 

I was the champion that day.

Dakota Interview: the missionaries

Here is some Sunday afternoon fun after getting home from lunch with the missionaries.

{video embedded}

Does Jesus have a ladder?

My oldest son is five years old.
I was a special guest in his kindergarten class this week for "Career Week."
I had the honor of explaining what a pastor did. (Read email, blog, twitter...stuff like that. JUST KIDDING!)

Last night I was putting my son to bed. He looks at me and says, "Dad, you will know the answer to this because you are a pastor. How do we get to Heaven."

I was excited. I explained salvation to him as a five-year-old may understand it.

He responded: "I know all that, dad. But How will Jesus get us to heaven? How do we get there?"

I explained that it wouldn't be an elevator or a rope or a ladder.

"He will just make sure we get there" was the best answer I could give.
I'm not sure he was happy with my answer.

I love kids!

...and what would you have said????

How should we respond?

I live in the Midwest.
We watch hurricanes on the news, but never have to board up windows and stock-pile supplies.
We watch forest fires out west, but never worry if our community will be evacuated or our house will be burnt down.
(We do deal with tornadoes and flooding, and sometimes an earthquake will rattle our foundation.)

But to be honest, the TV or internet is the closest we get to most of these major disasters.

So, how do we respond when it's not in our backyard?

1. We need to understand real people are hurting during these situations. Whether on the southern shores of Texas or the foreign shores of Indonesia. We need to realize that moms, dads, elderly grandparents, and toddlers are deeply affected during these situations. We need to put ourselves in their emotional shoes and try to understand what they are going through. Can we do that? Can we hurt when they hurt? Can we grasp that real people are in real need?

2. We need to pray. Invite Jesus into the situation. I'm not trying to be over-spiritual here. I just want to ask God to help the helpless. I want to stand up for those who may not even know there is a loving God who can help them during these times. I want to plead the case of the hurting. I want to prayerfully invest in people I don't even know. Most importantly, I want to call on the BEST relief effort hurting people can experience.

3. We need to DO more. It's time to get more involved in helping people. If you can go and help alongside a relief organization, then go. If you can donate money to buy supplies, then donate it. If you can buy a tarp, then buy it. Find small way to be a part of the solution. If we all DO something small, big tings can happen.

Hurricane Ike, or Gustav, or Travis (Can I get a storm named after me?) may leave people far away from your front door in desperate situations. However, we live in a world where geography doesn't stop us from getting involved.

God cares about hurting people, and so should we. Let's prepare to help in the next few days when Ike hits Texas. Then let's prepare to help during the next one. ...and the next one.

Two more newspaper stories

Our local newspaper printed two more stories about our Gustav relief trip to Louisiana.

One was about the technology side: our blogging, twittering, flickr pages, and texting.
See the story HERE

One was a follow-up story on the trip in general.
See the story HERE

This photo was in the newspaper.



MORE RECENT NEWS: Convoy of Hope is now preparing for Ike. Although I won't be making that trip, my friend, Matt, blogged how teams are getting ready right now. See Matt's blog here.

Here's a church in Baton Rouge needing tarps. You can donate online.
HERE is a good place to buy tarps and have them shipped to the church.

See all my Gustav blog posts HERE

LOOK at all our pics HERE

It's a home, not a house.

Ashley and Chris will soon be home owners in our community, thanks to Habitat for Humanity. I got the opportunity to pray and lead in scripture reading at their groundbreaking ceremony this weekend. This is a great couple to partner with Habitat. This is a wonderful blessing to this newly married couple in our community.

Read the news article.

What is Habitat for Humanity?
Habitat for Humanity is a nonprofit, ecumenical Christian housing ministry. The organization seeks to eliminate poverty housing and homelessness from the world, and to make decent shelter a matter of conscience and action.

Habitat invites people of all backgrounds, races and religions to build houses together in partnership with families in need.

Habitat has built more than 250,000 houses around the world, providing more than 1 million people in more than 3,000 communities with safe, decent, affordable shelter.

News Media Updates

Some of our team members from Mattoon are in the background of this video.

Check out other media reports:
Convoy News Release
Journal Gazette
The Daily Iberian
AG News Feed
Joyce Meyers Ministry (website news feed)
The Advertiser, Lafayette, LA (Photo gallery)

Heading home

Heading home
Originally uploaded by travis spencer

i post from my phone. We're on our way home. thousands of people's needs met in a first responder way. Still alot of work for all those who have major home damage. I'll post more stories when we get home. on the road . . . Later.

Gustav update: One class

Social classes merge into one during a natural disaster where there is no food, water, or electricity.

We have served families in $30,000 vehicles and $200 vehicles, on foot, and on a bike. I can assume some live in incredible houses, and many live in trailers.

But when all utilities are shut down, the need is the same.

A guy showed up on a bike.


A guy showed um in a Hummer.

Gustav Day 2: afternoon update

It's rained all day.
We have passed out ice and water non-stop for four hours with no signs of traffic ever ending.
We are partnered with National Guard and military police.

I talked to one family and they said, "What day is it? We feel lost. Is it Tuesday or Wednesday. Do you have food?"

We're helping the best we can.

A few pics from this morning:

Getting started

Getting started
Originally uploaded by travis spencer

Setting up water in the rain.

Gustav Relief: Day 1

DAY 1:
We drove through the night to meet up with our fleet of Convoy of Hope trucks. After three checkpoints of local and state police, we met up with them 30 mile west of New Orleans. After flooded roads kept us from going to Houma, we landed in New Iberia, LA for distribution.

We are in a 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. curphew. We have 24-hour police security around our trucks.

No one in the community has power or running water as of yet. Police are warning us of possible looting.

Our distribution will begin Wednesday morning. We expect non-stop traffic and need for the next several days. Convoy of Hope plans on being here a week. Our team will leave Friday.

Conditions are good. We have power via a generator connected to the Mobile Command Center of Convoy of Hope. We also have wifi through their satellite hookup.






- - -
LINKS

Evan Courtney is also blogging our trip. CLICK HERE

Our Photos are here.

Our story is published here.

Driving through flood

Driving through flood
Originally uploaded by travis spencer

We are driving through six to eight Inches of water. road closed . . . Not for us!

Major pain still.

Major pain still.
Originally uploaded by travis spencer

we can't see anything. Major rain storms still in the area. Heading to New Iberia.

Hello Gustav

Hello Gustav
Originally uploaded by travis spencer

Hello Gustav! We're here. And it's pouring.

Gustav Update

We've been re-routed to Baton Rouge, LA for disaster relief.

Here is the press release we released yesterday,

MATTOON: Local men from First Assembly in Mattoon will be heading to Louisiana Tuesday morning to help as first responders to Gulf communities affected by Hurricane Gustav.

“We have a rare opportunity to leave at a moment’s notice and join first-responder relief efforts to help people who have been tragically affected by this hurricane,” said Travis Spencer, staff pastor at First Assembly in Mattoon.

Five men from the church will be traveling in an RV to join Convoy of Hope disaster relief personnel in the coastal area of Louisiana.

Convoy of Hope is considered a “first responder” organization in disaster relief. A fleet of trucks loaded with water and supplies, along with a Mobile Command Center departed for the region Sunday evening.

Convoy of Hope president Hal Donaldson said the organization is prepared to meet the basic needs of tens of thousands of Gulf residents if it becomes necessary.

“Our trained personnel, corporate sponsors, church partners, and individual donors will once again link arms to meet the needs of a significant number of people, just like we did following Katrina and many other disasters,” Donaldson said.

Spencer said First Assembly financially partners with Convoy of Hope, but has never been able to physically join them in disaster efforts. This time, they didn’t want to miss the opportunity to work hand-in-hand with the relief efforts.

Groups joining in on the efforts have provide their own transportation, sleeping arrangements and food with our any dependence on electricity or water supply.

“We had access to an RV, so me made some calls and put together a small team of guys to go help people in need,” Spencer said. “We believe God cares about people in need, so we should care, too.”

The team plans on being on site for about three days to help with distribution of water, food, and supplies during the first few days after Hurricane Gustav’s landfall.

PRESS RELEASE
Me and Evan Courtney will update as often as we can.