Last Sunday my wife and I decided to eat Brunch at the Elmwood Lounge. The appearance of the inside is just as smarmy as the outside. I quite like that, although they pushed it RIGHT to the edge of scary.

Six Dollars gets you coffee, a drink (oj, champagne, or a Bloody Mary) an entree, and a dessert. The price is right. Some places would charge $6 for just the drink.

Of course, the old adage, "you get what you pay for" still holds true. Some come expecting a buffet, because for us gluttons, "brunch" and "buffet" have become synonymous. Here's a refresher on definitions for your convenience.

Brunch (definition provided by Jacques on the Simpsons): "It's not quite breakfast, it's not quite lunch, but you get a nice slice of cantaloupe on the side." It's a meal where I can have fish and chips and my wife can have eggs Benedict, and we are still eating the same meal (which we did).

Buffet: Often prefaced by "Old Country," "Number One lucky Chinese," or "Best deal in town free with one hour of slot play," a buffet is the favorite restaurant for people who prefer variety or quantity over quality. It's also a popular training ground for competitive eaters and various food- born illnesses. It consists of many foods, which the diner selects and puts on a a tray. Sometimes a diner must pay by the pound, or limit his or her (ok, lets face it--his) seafood choices, but this defeats the purpose of the buffet. A buffet is not, by definitiion "all you can eat," but unless you like walking for your food, or food served warm, the "all you can eatiness" is really the best reason to go.

Ok. So I was hard on Buffets, but I can kid because I love. If anybody wants to try the Indian Lunch Buffet on Elmwood, I'm game.

Back to the review. Coffee was fine. Server put the coffee pot on the table, which was surprising, but really, nothing should be surprising at this place.

Wife's eggs looked fine. My fish was better than expected, but not great. It was served with coleslaw that was all white, and fermented (think cold sauerkraut). Is this a Buffalo thing? I like my coleslaw fresh and heavy on the mayo.

Dessert was tapioca pudding or jello. Both had good whipped cream on top, which made up for their serving lame desserts.

Overall: Three stars. I will return, but not with anybody I want to impress.

As for the casino: Next time somebody says that there is no money in Buffalo, I will refer them to the people standing four deep in line to put money into a vending machine that dispenses its product (the same money that was put into it) inconsistently, unfairly, and always in less quantities than it came in. Greed and/or desperation can really make us stupid.

I haven't posted sermons in a while, but Mr. Deadlier asked, so here it is.

PS. I got away from my notes, so this is just an approximation of what I wanted to say. You gotta show up for the real deal!

Ooh, that reminds me: Two people visited us last Sunday. (Maybe a gay couple, but I'll feel bad if I assumed that and was wrong). Estrippers, by chance? If so, speak up, so I can justify posting from the office!



Luke 9:51-62

51When the days drew near for him to be taken up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem. 52And he sent messengers ahead of him. On their way they entered a village of the Samaritans to make ready for him; 53but they did not receive him, because his face was set toward Jerusalem. 54When his disciples James and John saw it, they said, "Lord, do you want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them?" 55But he turned and rebuked them. 56Then they went on to another village.

57As they were going along the road, someone said to him, "I will follow you wherever you go." 58And Jesus said to him, "Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head." 59To another he said, "Follow me." But he said, "Lord, first let me go and bury my father." 60But Jesus said to him, "Let the dead bury their own dead; but as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God." 61Another said, "I will follow you, Lord; but let me first say farewell to those at my home." 62Jesus said to him, "No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God."



Can you imagine a business person with a great idea, that they are sure will make money, who has no collateral except for her house? Every business venture has risk, and she knows she could lose her house. But she believes in her idea, so she quits her current job and mortgages her house, putting all she has into her new product. If she succeeds, she will be wealthy. If she fails, she will not only be broke, she may have no place to live.

Can you imagine somebody loving an idea enough to risk their house?

How about this. A fire fighter gets a call to burning building. It's bad, which means two things.

1. Time is of the essence--every second he delays, the more likely it is that people will die.

2. There is a very good chance that he could lose his life in this fire.

He knows that he might die, but because time means everything in this moment, he cannot pause--he rushes out to fight the fire, not even taking time to say good-bye to his family.

Can you imagine somebody acting with such urgency that he cannot stop for his family?

What about Martin Luther King, Jr. Here's a Christian man, that knew that he was putting his own life at risk. But did you know that his house, where his wife and daughters were, had been bombed? His activities led to THEIR lives being threatened.

Martin Luther King had to not only consider risking his own life for his mission, but he also had to be honest about the possibility of losing his family.

Can you imagine somebody doing something so important that it risks the lives of the people they love the most?

So maybe we do understand this shocking gospel reading a little bit more.

In this reading, Jesus tells us that following him might lead to homelessness. Following Jesus might lead to cut ties with your family. Following Jesus might even mean no chance to say goodbye.

This is a high price.

However, as we've discovered, somethings are worth a high price.

Friends, the call to follow Christ is not any less than the call to invest in a great idea. Nor is it any less that the call to save lives, or to fight for justice.

In fact, the call to follow Christ IS a great idea. It saves lives, and it brings justice.

And so it requires radical commitment.

This is different than the standard message that churches usually give. What we usually here is something like this.

God wants you in church on Sunday morning for an hour, maybe two. And then he would like it if you did one more thing with the church, during the week. If you don't lie, cheat or steal and you give us four hours, and ten percent of your income, then you are a good person.

There's a value to that message. If each of us gave 10%, and spent four hours here, we would get a lot more done, and have plenty of money for God's mission. We would be an amazing church, at least by most standards.

But does Jesus say "Give me four hours and 10%?"

No.

He asks for you lives. 24/7. 100%.

Which means that we don't give ourselves to our homes. Or our families. Every ounce of our energy is lived toward God. 24 hours a day. 7 days a week. 100% of our income. 100% of our time. 100% of our energy. 100% of our thoughts.

I've spend a lot of time in youth ministry. Talk to youth ministers and do you know what they will tell you is the number one enemy of the church in the USA?

Soccer practice. Soccer practice, and band practice, and homework, and all of those other things that kids say when you ask them if they can go to church.

Can you imagine the soccer practice kid in this story of Jesus. Jesus says, "Come follow me." And the kid says, "I'll be right there, after soccer practice."

"Ok--I'll hold the reconciliation of humankind with the divine until after you are done with your practice."

Doesn't sound very likely, does it.

But soccer is good, right? School is good, right? family is good, right?

yes. at least most of the time. and being in church is good almost all of the time (although there's more to following God than showing up here, this is a good place to start!)

But none of those things are the best thing.

Following Jesus is the best thing.

And how do we follow Jesus?

We trust his Spirit, which is in us and among us.

So we can be loyal to Jesus over soccer, but guess what, Jesus might lead us to soccer, because soccer players need Jesus. Jesus most likely will lead us to care for our families, and to care for our homes. But Jesus comes first.

Which sounds harsh, putting Jesus absolutely first, but it really is freeing, because when we follow Jesus, the Spirit guides us.

And the Spirit guides us through the hard questions that we face.

Our radical loyalty to Christ is incredibly freeing, because it becomes a guide for all that we do. When we exercise, sleep, or eat, that is part of our mission, building up our bodies to follow Christ.

When we read, listen to music, or take in the sights and smells of the natural world, we are refreshing our spirits, so that we may follow Christ in this world.

When we make beautiful music, or paint paintings, or write stories, we are illustrating the way the world is, and how God is working in it, and thus following Christ in bringing others into God's mission in this world.

When you are guided by the spirit, School becomes the place where you live your mission. So does soccer practice, so does work. so does home, even vacation is your chance to become refreshed for God's mission!

We don't follow Jesus with the time we have left over. We follow Jesus all the time: to soccer practice, to work, to school, to our families.

And we do this because of the wonderful gift of Holy Spirit takes us there.

It's all consuming. Listen to these last words from Paul, using Eugene Peterson's translation:

Since this is the kind of life we have chosen, the life of the Spirit, let us make sure that we do not just hold it as an idea in our heads or a sentiment in our hearts, but work out its implications in every detail of our lives.

Which is why we are going to practice the spiritual discipline of eating today. Eating isn't just something we do. It defines who we are. If I eat nothing but donuts, I will look one way, if I eat fruit and vegetables, I will look another way.

When we eat this bread and drink this cup, we welcome Jesus to be a part of us. All of us. Just as this bread and juice travels into every last cell of our body, so do we, invite Christ to permeate our entire being. You know what we'd look like if we ate donuts. you know what we'd look like if we ate vegetables. Today, I invite you to imagine what we look like when we are nourished by Jesus Christ himself.

Some pics:
Mom and Dad at the falls:



Brother in gift shop with moose:


Doesn't this house look nice? We just had it painted.



More falls:

Pretty wife at the falls:


Pretty Lights at Night


Rain gear is because we did "journey behind the falls." Not worth the money, but Dad was buying. Shoulda done "Cave of the Winds," in USA which is what I remembered. "Journey" was a bad choice ("Anyway you like it . . .")

Pics were taken with camera phone. If anybody wants to buy me a real camera, feel free.

I played ultimate today. I am too old and too out of shape to play ultimate, but hopefully I won't be as out of shape soon. Right now, however, everything hurts.

So, I don't really feel like posting, but I will anyway, because its been a while.

In other news, the painters started on our house. It's becoming yellow (and blue and brown). Our neighbors seem to appreciate it--it was pretty crappy looking before. Funny side note: our neighbor (well, the guy that spends way too much time in our neighbors yard) asked the painters for money. I think I know why we got our house for such a good price. I suppose I should thank the guy, but I don't think I will.

Free tickets to the Bisons game this Saturday. No strings. We have enough to give away many. Let me know and I will hook you up.