Being Proud of Dirk
Earlier this week the Dallas Mavericks defeated the Miami Heat to win the NBA Finals. My parents bought me the NBA League Pass for my birthday, which let us watch all of the Mavericks games online (we did not stay up to watch the games, but watched them the next day). As their star player Dirk Nowitzki hoisted the MVP trophy high above his 7-foot frame last Sunday, I wondered, ‘why do I feel like such a proud parent?’
We will always feel a strong affinity for people from our hometown, or for those who work in our hometown. One reason is that these people experience some of the same things we experience by living close to us (weather, traffic, food, etc.). Though we don’t know them, we feel a bond with them through shared cultural values and experiences.
Another factor is the media. The local media is going to cover more local stories, so we will learn more about athletes or politicians in our community, rather than athletes or politicians living in a city 500 miles away. In regards to the Mavericks, not only is it possible to drive south on I-35 and watch them play in person, I can watch many of their games on local TV. I have more exposure to them than any other basketball team in the country, which undoubtedly impacts my rooting interest.
Lastly, our memories from our formative years strongly influence the way we see the world today. Anything we associate with our halcyon days (which tend to be when we are younger) usually seems better than today’s version. Whether it is music, movies, books or sports teams, we tend to romanticize the way things use to be, over and above the way things are now.
I can see how all of these factors contributed to my fondness for Nowitzki. I grew up a Dallas Mavericks fan, and supported them through some awful years (239 wins, 549 losses in the ‘90’s). When the Mavericks added Nowitzki in 1998 he was regarded as somewhat of a basketball anomaly: a seven-footer from Europe who primarily shot three-pointers. He had a tough start in his first season, but toward the end of his first year he showed glimpses of his potential. I remember watching him play that first year and trying to decide if he was worth the rooting investment. Would he become a Maverick for years to come? Or would he wash out like many other European players?
There was one particular game in his first year where I remember not only deciding to cast my lot with Nowitzki, but also finding myself being strangely sympathetic for him. He was 20 years old, living in a new country and people were already expecting big things out of him. I was 18 at the time, but I remember thinking that would be pretty tough.
As Nowitzki was making Dallas his new home, Dallas was becoming less and less my home, as I worked summer camps in other parts of America, spent a semester in Africa, and moved to Denver in 2004. As he transitioned into life in Dallas, I was transitioning out. Keeping up with the Mavericks was always a nice reminder of my roots, and a way to relate with people back home.
It has been well documented that Nowitzki’s humility is rare in today’s culture of entitlement, but it truly makes Nowitzki stand out among the rest. The fact that he has a mentor who helped him become the player he is today, demonstrates a teachable spirit. His work ethic is legendary, which made the Mavericks meltdown in the 2006 NBA Finals tough to watch.
The Mavericks were up 2-0 in the series, only to watch the Miami Heat come back and win the next four games. Nowitzki had a tough series, but bounced back in 2007 by winning the MVP award as the Mavericks had the best record in the NBA. However, they lost in the opening round of the playoffs and Nowitzki famously escaped to Australia for a few weeks. A couple of years later, Nowitzki’s personal life made national news as his fiancée at the time was arrested for fraud. Apparently she had made her way into Nowitzki’s inner circle (despite being a well-known liar) and almost made it to the altar with him. It was a strange peak into the personal life of the normally private star.
The Mavericks and Nowitzki continued to play well in the regular season, but struggled to find their way in the playoffs. I wondered if they could ever make it back to the NBA Finals. I was almost resigned to the fact that Nowitzki would be one of the all-time great players who never won a championship.
This year’s playoffs began with many of the NBA pundits picking against the Mavericks in the first round. When Brandon Roy led the Portland Trailblazers back against the Mavericks in Game 4 of the first-round series, many thought that these were the same Mavericks who blew it in the 2006 NBA Finals. But instead of folding, Dallas bounced back in Game 5 and went on to beat the Blazers…then the Lakers…then the Thunder…and finally, the Heat.
As the game clock winded down to zero in the final game, Nowitzki did not stay on the floor to celebrate, but went back to the locker room and wept. He said the emotion of the moment was too much to bear, when he considered everything it took to get him to that moment.
It is strange to think about the fact that I completely understand where he is coming from. I saw how he worked to become one of the best players of all-time. I felt for him as he struggled during the 2006 NBA Finals. I watched him as he continued to post stellar year after stellar year statistically.
In many ways I am more of a fan of Nowitzki, than a fan of the Dallas Mavericks. As it has been said, we do not just root for laundry. We root for the players wearing the team uniforms. If you remove Nowitzki from the 2010-11 Mavericks, the championship would not be that meaningful to me.
I do not know Nowitzki personally, nor does he have any idea who I am, but he allowed the city of Dallas to get to know him as a person. Somehow, a seven-foot German became a rallying point for a city of proud Texans. And as Dirk (he is on a first-name basis in Dallas) raised the NBA trophy triumphantly over his head, we felt like we were holding it up with him.
Thanksgiving Sztuka
W tym roku napisałem Thanksgiving sztuka jak rok temu. To jest nowa Polska tradycja i wykonano po obiedzie. Bardzo dziękuję aktorom!
CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS: Cześć !
FIRST MATE: No cześć. Gdzie płyniemy?
COLUMBUS: Nowy teren. Jestem zmęczony Hiszpanią
MATE: Dlaczego?
COLUMBUS: Codziennie tańczę, i śpiewam, i jem paella.
MATE: I co?
COLUMBUS: Chcę mieszkać w nowym kraju. Jak w Ameryce.
MATE: W Ameryce? Gdzie to jest?
COLUMBUS: Zobaczysz.
MATE: Tak? Znasz kierunek?
COLUMBUS: Oczywiście. Wkrótce będziemy jeść w McDonald’s.
MATE: McDonald’s? Super!!!
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SECOND MATE: Widzę ziemię!
COLUMBUS: Dobrze. Jestem głodny.
SECOND MATE: Myślę, że to nie jest Ameryka. Co to jest?
LECH WALESA: Witam serdecznie w Polsce !
COLUMBUS: Polska? Na prawdę?
FIRST MATE: Powiedziałeś, że znasz kierunek!
COLUMBUS: Kłamałem. Nie potrafię czytać z mapy. Tak naprawdę, Pani Columbus i ja walczyliśmy tylko, żeby przetrwać.
LECH WALESA: Wiem coś o wolności…
COLUMBUS: Naprawdę? Już lubię Polskę.
LECH WALESA: Chodź, chciałbym pokazać wam mój kraj.
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FIRST MATE: Gdzie jesteśmy?
WALESA: W autobusie.
SECOND MATE: Dziwne. To jeszcze 1492. Musimy czekać 500 lat.
WALESA: Spokojne.
COLUMBUS: Jest gorąco, prawda?
FIRST MATE: Prawda. Jest lato.
SECOND MATE: Czekaj, mogę otworzyć okna. (trying to open it)
BABCIA: Przestań! Co robisz?
SECOND MATE: Jest gorąco, więc pomyślałem, by otworzyć okna.
BABCIA: Bez sensu! Będziemy chorzy!
FIRST MATE: Jak to?
BABCIA: Nie wiem, ale moja babcia powiedziała mi, i jej babcia powiedziała jej i tak dalej.
COLUMBUS: Ciekawe, napiszę: Polacy boją się przeciągu.
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FIRST MATE: Gdzie jesteśmy teraz?
WALESA: W Pruszczu Gdańskim.
SECOND MATE: Pruszcz? Co tutaj jest?
WALESA: Nie wiem. Zapomnieliśmy wysiąść z SKM.
PAN HILARY: Lech! Cześć!
WALESA: Cześć!
COLUMBUS: Kto to jest?
WALESA: To jest Pan Hilary. On musi się skoncentrować, gdyż (acts) zgubił swoje okulary.
PAN HILARY: Skandal! Nie do wiary! Gdzie są——-
WALESA: Zamknij się! (smashes his glasses). Nie ma żadnych okularów!. Rozumiesz?
PAN HILARY: Co ty zrobiłeś? Chciałem tylko zapytać, gdzie jest jakaś dobra restauracja w Pruszczu Gdańskm?
WALESA: Sorry, sorry. Idziemy do baru mlecznego na Thanksgiving obiad.
COLUMBUS: Napisze, muszę wrócić do Pruszcza. To miasto ma swój charakter.
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COLUMBUS: Lech, co polecasz?
WALESA: Na pewno pierogi , kiełbasę i bigos.
FIRST MATE: Czy jest różnica między Tyskie i Okocim.
PAN HILARY: Nie ma, wszystko jedno.
WALESA: Nie prawda! Czy drzewo i piłka nożna to to samo? Nic podobnego! Tyskie jest lepsze.
SECOND MATE: Dla mnie wygląda tak samo.
COLUMBUS: Powinniśmy mówić dlaczego jesteśmy wdzięczni.
FIRST MATE: Dobrze. Chciałbym podziękować——
KOBIETA: Przepraszam!!! Pomóż mi! Mój mąż jest nad morzem i nie umie pływać.
PAN HILARY: Spokojne. Zjemy… Kim jest twój mąż?
KOBIETA: Frederic Chopin!
WALESA: Chopin? Idziemy!!!
COLUMBUS: Napiszę: lubię pierogi ale flaki…
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WALESA: Fred! Jesteśmy tutaj, by ci pomóc!
CHOPIN: Dobrze. Grałem na pianinie i wpadłem do morza.
PAN HILARY: Zdarza się.
CHOPIN: Dobrze, dzięki za pomoc.
FIRST MATE: Nie ma problemu. Podoba mi się twój kraj.
CHOPIN: Tak? Czy zobaczyliście już Kraków? Malbork? Poznań?
SECOND MATE: Pruszcz Gdański!
CHOPIN: Oczywiście Pruszcz! To jest piękne miasto, ma swoją historię.
COLUMBUS: Dobrze. To była wspaniała wizyta, ale musze wracać do mojej żony.
FIRST MATE: Ale Chris, a do Ameryki?
COLUMBUS: Nie ma potrzeby. McDonald’s są w Polsce!
SECOND MATE: To jest najlepsze Thanksgiving!
COLUMBUS: Prawda. Do zobaczenia Lech i Fred. Pan Hilary, mam prezent dla ciebie.
PAN HILARY: Tak, co to jest?
COLUMBUS: Szkła kontaktowe. Nigdy już nie będziesz musiał szukać swoich okularów.
PAN HILARY: Super! Czekaj (na telefonie). Dobra, dobra, tak, dobra, dobra, tak, tak, dobra, dobra, tak, dobra, no dobra, pa, pa pa, pa. Sorry. Co powiesz swojej żonie?
COLUMBUS: Opowiem o autobusie, o pierogach, o Pruszczu, i o moim nowym przyjacielu. Żegnamy teraz. Do Hiszpanii!
BABCIA: Uważajcie na przeciągi!!!
My Colorado Church Closes Its Doors: A Reflection
This week I received the news that Bridge Church in Brighton, Colorado (Grace Evangelical Free Church while I served there) is closing its doors. A closing reflection:
In my first year at Denver Seminary I was hired as part-time worship leader at Grace in September 2004. This involved 2 hours of practice on Thursday nights, and 4 hours on Sunday mornings preparing and rehearsing for that day‘s worship service.
There was a full band of 6 when I started there, and throughout the years there were 2 or 3 others that played with us. The church was about 45 minutes from where I lived in Littleton, CO, so there was always a long commute to and from the church as well.
The church was small (about 40-60 people), but it did have its own building. I can still remember when I was hired, the pastor Wes said, “we can only pay you between $200-250 per month.“ I quickly said, “I’ll take the $250.“ Needless to say, we didn’t have a huge operating budget.
In February 2006, Pastor Wes moved on to be a chaplain in the Army. I never had a desire to be a pastor, but I felt God leading me to fill in at the position while the church looked for a permanent replacement. What I thought would be a 4-month commitment, ended up being a 16-month commitment.
When I stepped up to the pulpit on February 12, 2006 I had only preached twice before. My sermon was on the discipline of preaching so I could work through what the Bible said about preaching (since it was my new job and all). The next Sunday I launched into a study of the Gospel of Mark (we made it through Mark 8), did a topical series on the problem of evil, and would hop around to other texts as well. It wasn’t until January 2007 when I became wise and synced my preaching with what we learning in seminary, and taught through the book of James.
I was still leading worship at the church as well, so I was rarely off the stage. The church was extremely gracious to me during this time as I was preaching before I had any preaching training. I tried various preaching styles and tried to be creative with illustrations. Most of the time I felt in over my head, but the church was always encouraging to me. While working there I was going to seminary full-time and working at Starbucks part-time, so some of my days felt like a blur.
I learned a lot about leadership and a lot about people. While I was there, there was a church-split, which had origins from before I started at Grace. I felt insulated from the controversy leadership-wise (since I deferred to the elders) but when it happened it consumed my thoughts and energy. Looking back now, I learned the authority of Scripture and how we can err when we get outside of what God has revealed for us to do.
It was an older congregation, with many grandparents in attendence and I think that would be a good way to charecterize a lot of my relationships there: I felt like a loved and supported grandson with the freedom to fail and try many things.
It is strange to think the environment that was so warm and shaping for me does not exist anymore. However, we know that almost no local church lasts forever. Where is the church of Colassae? Ephesus? Corinth? They do no exist anymore. But the fruit of those churches are still seen today. The people that used to be in Grace Evangelical Free Church are now in other churches in the area and hopefully teaching their children the Gospel of Christ.
It is always sad when a church closes its doors, but hopefully those who were a part of Grace take heart in knowing that their investment in me is bearing fruit in other parts of the world. I am indebted to Wes and the elders for giving me all of the opportunities they did to serve. While I learned plenty at seminary, I think I learned just as much serving at Grace. I don’t think I would be doing what I am doing today, had I not served there.
September 2004 to May 2007 was an unforgettable chapter of my life, filled with highs and lows, challenges and victories. But I got to meet a lot of godly people who loved and encouraged a 23-year old kid to keep chasing after God. As Paul wrote to the church in Ephesians, “I thank my God in all my remembrance of you.“
List do Kolosan 1:1-2
I have started teaching the Bible weekly at a local choir in Polish. We are starting with the book of Colossians. I would love your comments and opinions. This is from the first week:
W naszej szkole, żeby uczyć się przyimków, uczyliśmy się wierszyka „Pan Hilary.” Czy znacie go? Czego on szuka? I gdzie to jest? Właśnie. Dlaczego to jest takie śmieszne? Ponieważ cały czas nosił on swoje okulary na własnym nosie. Szukał czegoś, co już miał. Śmiejemy się z Pana Hilarego, ale czy jesteśmy inni? Czy może nie zauważamy tego co już mamy?
Dzisiaj wieczorem zacząłem studiować “List do Kolosan”. W tym liście Paweł powiedział, że w Chrystusie mamy skarby (Kol. 2:3). Czy może nie wiemy, że siedzimy na złocie? Zobaczymy.
„Paweł, z woli Bożej apostoł Chrystusa Jezusa, i Tymoteusz, brat” – Kol. 1:1
Czy słyszeliście o Pawle? Jak ten sklep “Piotr i Paweł”, Paweł? Paweł napisał wiele listów w Nowym Testamencie. Czasami Paweł pisał list własno ręcznie, ale od czasu do czasu miał kogoś do pomocy. Timateusz był z Pawłem i mu pomagał. Dlaczego Paweł jest godny wiary? Ponieważ był apostołem. W nowym testamencie wszystkie listy były pisane przez apostołów lub ich pomocników.
Było 12 (u) apostołów, którzy byli z Jezusem, Paweł również twierdził, że jest apostołem, choć nie był jednym z dwunastu. Dlaczego? Być apostołem oznacza być ” kimś kto został zesłany” przez Boga, aby był jego posłańcem. I także Paweł pisał „z woli Boga.”Paweł napisał mocne ogłoszenie. Słuchajcie, w tym jest wiadomość od Boga.
„do świętych i wiernych w Chrystusie braci w Kolosach: łaska wam i pokój od Boga, Ojca naszego!” - Kol. 1:2
On napisał do świętych. Kto to jest? Najświętszy wierny? Nie, zobaczymy że ludzie w tym kościele nie byli doskanali. Dlaczego napisał “do braci”? Tylko do mężczyzn? tak więc chyba powinienem przestać czytać, skoro w chórze spiewają prawie same kobiety.
Nowy Testament napisany został po grecku, i tutaj słowa mogę tłumaczyć jako „brat” czy „bracia i siostry.” Więc myślę, że Paweł miał na myśli „ludzi w kościele” A więc możemy kontynuować. Ale, co to znaczy „w Chrystusie?” Jeśli jest możliwe być w Chrystusie, czy można być na zewnątrz Chrystusa? Potem zobaczymy, że tak, ale popatrzcie na 1:13 i czytajcie:
“On uwolnił nas spod władzy ciemności i przeniósł do królestwa swego umiłowanego Syna” – Kol. 1:13
Gdzie byli wierzący? I gdzie są teraz? W jakimś sensie jest możliwe być wewnątrz czy na zewnątrz. Ale to nie jest wszystko. Niestety dla wielu osób to jest wszystko. Czy będę w niebie czy w piekle? Oczywiście to jest ważne pytanie! Ale jeśli jesteśmy w Chrystusie to możemy oczekiwać na wiele więcej.
Przeczytamy w liście do Kolasan, że w Chrystusie mamy skarby lepsze niż na świecie. Ale pytanie jest, czy jesteśmy jak Pan Hilary, czy je dostrzegamy te skarby?
Reflections on Auschwitz (Part One)
There is no possible way to prepare for a visit to the Auschwitz concentration camp, the largest and most brutal of the concentration camps constructed by Nazi Germany. It is not the fact that a human could do such evil to another human, since we read news of horrific murders everyday. It is the scale of what happened during the Holocaust that we simply have no categories for. It is the fact that so many humans organized and carried out that much evil against so many humans.
As the bus took us to Auschwitz a documentary played with footage shot by a Soviet cameraman who was one of the first to capture video there. The film was not scored with any music; it was just long cuts of the concentration camp with interviews from some of the survivors. We all exited the bus quietly as we entered the gates of Auschwitz I. We passed under the famous German sign “Work Makes You Free,” which was recently in the news because it was stolen for a few days. The uproar it engendered in the world testified to the fact that even though this event was 70 years ago, the wounds are still open and fresh.
Our tour guide mirrored the despondent mood of the camp. Every step she took was slow and calculated as she led us from a distance. The inflection of her soft voice did not vary since the weight of a phrase like, “the extermination of the Jews” does not require any theatrics.
We wandered through the barracks and saw the massive piles of glasses, shoes and other belongings of the prisoners imprisoned in Auschwitz. One of the rooms focused on the starvation within the camp, while another focused on the cruel medical experiments conducted by the “Angel of Death,” Josef Mengele.
Many times I tried to close my eyes and imagine what took place 70 years ago in the rooms where I stood. The screams, the torture, the despair. Sorrow upon sorrow upon sorrow.
We saw the death wall where the “criminals” (prisoners who tried to escape, people who wrote about what was happening in the camp, etc.) were lined up and executed. We learned of the daily life of prisoners, which usually consisted of 11-12 hours of slave labor, minimal food portions, sleeping conditions that had no heat or running water and sometimes 700 people sharing just one toilet. 10 people at Auschwitz would share the bed that Missy and I sleep on, with everyone laying sideways. Starvation, exhaustion, typhus and diarrhea usually claimed the prisoners who were not otherwise shot by the SS. I read a quote that one way to rebel against the Nazis was simply to maintain your will to live.
Of everything we saw, there were two visuals that gripped me the most. At Auschwitz I, it was the crematorium room. Standing ten feet away from the ovens in which bodies were continually hoisted was simply haunting.
When we went over to Auschwitz II-Birkenau, I was stunned by the sheer size of the camp, which housed most of the barracks. The Germans destroyed the majority of the barracks, but there were chimneys erected over the bare foundations that represented each barrack. Rows and rows of chimneys as far as the eye could see.
We also saw the railroad tracks that run through Auschwitz II-Birkenau where the prisoners were transported thinking they were coming to work. They were then divided into 2 lines. One line was for the men they thought were fit for work (usually 25% of the group). The other line was for women, children, the elderly and men who did not look able-bodied (75% of the group). The latter group was not registered in the camp so it is tough to know precisely how many of them came. They were forced to undress and deceived into thinking they were going to take a shower, but instead went into a gas chamber disguised as a shower facility where they were gassed to death. It is said that at Auschwitz II-Birkenau 20,000 people could be gassed and cremated in one day.
We left Auschwitz as quietly as we arrived, but went home as different people. You cannot see the atrocities with your own eyes and leave the same.
Next: (Part 2) What can we say biblically about Auschwitz?
