General Conference 2012 is currently going on, and as a 28 year-old commissioned elder in the Oklahoma Conference, I have been following General Conference largely from twitter via #gc2012. This is, of course, not the best way to follow General Conference. I don’t see the delegates talking, I’m not in the conversations, and I don’t experience the worship services. I read updates, opinions, and immediate reactions to events that happen that I don’t fully understand. (i.e. anything to do with Roberts Rules of Order, I don’t fully understand.) My experience of General Conference has largely been through a medium that lends itself to snarkiness and sarcasm instead of constructive criticism. Also the folks that are on twitter are overwhelming Americans, overwhelming white, and mostly young: characteristics that also define me.

As I read these tweets from people like me, I couldn’t help but think about one of my son’s favorite movies The Lion King and the song, “I Just Can’t Wait to be King.”

Image Courtesy of http://fanart.lionking.org/Artists/CubbieSimba/Roar.jpg

I’m gonna be the mane event

Like no king was before

I’m brushing up on looking down

I’m working on my roar

No one saying do this

No one saying be there

No one saying stop that

Free to run around all day

Free to do it all my way!

Young United Methodist clergy seem to be working on our roar. We want to be heard (important) and listened to (more important), and when we don’t feel we are heard, we will roar louder and longer by tweeting and retweeting. We just can’t wait to be Kings and Queens of Methodism or #Superbishop, when we can be free to do it all our way. Now I get it, there are issues that are incredibly important to me that affect me and other youth adults and changes I want to see, but the danger is that it becomes less about holy conversation and more about unholy entitlement. Simply because I am a young clergy or young adult (an endangered species in our denomination), you must listen to me is dangerous. Just as it is dangerous to take the advice of a retired clergy member, even if they were ineffective their last 20 years in ministry, simply because they have been there before.

So the question is how we can be listened to without merely “working on our roar.” You ready for this. Seriously, this is profound. Wait for it… Jesus and The Parable of the Talents to be more precise in Matthew 25. If you are reading this you probably know the story, so let me summarize. Master gives one slave 5 talents, another 2 talents, and another 1 talent. The one who got 5 made 5 more talents, the one who got 2 talents made 2 more, and the 1 who got 1 talent and buried it. The Master aka Jesus (sorry for the spoiler) tells the first 2 servants, “Well done, good and trustworthy slave; you have been trustworthy in a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master.”

If we want to be leaders in the denomination that we love, it is not about taking leadership that is “ours,” it is about being leaders that earn influence in the lives of others. If I want others to listen to me, then I must sincerely listen to others, but most importantly I need to be faithful to where God has led me to be. For me that means being a leader as the Pastor at Trinity UMC serving Muldrow and Roland, OK. Am I passionate about things in the local church that I am in the global church? Do I make disciples who transform the world? Am I innovative in ministry? Do I listen to the wisdom of others? Do I encourage others in their faith? Does my ministry bear fruit?

It continues in being a leader at a district and conference level. Do I go to committee meetings and speak up as I feel led in those? Do I initiate relationship with clergy that are around me regardless of their age or theological persuasion? Do I care about conference ministries and not just when I am headed on vacation and need someone to preach? Do I follow through with the commitments I make to my fellow clergy and home conference?

If I/We are faithful in these ways, then I believe that we will not just be heard because we are noisy, but we will be listened to because we are respected. We will not take leadership from the grasp of another, but we will be given leadership willingly by those who have faithfully served before us. We will not be Kings, but servants of the King of Kings.

1. Don’t trust Dick Vitale or Bob Knight for that matter.  They get paid to talk, not think.

2. Vegas knows more than you do. What 5-12 game has the lowest spread? Is there an 8-9 match that has a larger spread? Listen to them. There is a reason their lights are so bright, and their buildings so big.

3. Only once have all four number 1 seeds made the Final Four. Don’t put all four no. 1 seeds in the Final Four.  It will not happen this year.

4. A 16 has never beaten a 1.  There is a reason they are a 16 seed.

5. A 15 rarely beats a 2.  Don’t pick this unless you feel lucky or your alma-mater is playing.

6. A 14 or a 13 beats a 3 or a 4 seed practically ever year.  Take a shot with one of these, because if you get it right you are a genius or at least you can claim to be.

7. A 12 will beat a 5, maybe 2 of them.  Pick one maybe two and feel good about your chances.

8. I hate the 6-11 game, because 6 seeds can made a deep run, they have enough talent, but they are inconsistent or else they would be a higher seed.  At least one 6 seed will made it to the Sweet Sixteen.  At least one 6 seed will lose in the opening round.  Good luck.

9. Both the 7-10 games and the 8-9 games are toss ups.  Never refer to a 9 beating an 8 an upset.  It isn’t an upset.  They are the same caliber of team.  The only people who call them an upsets are “experts” who are too chicken to pick an actual upset.  A 10 over a 7 just barely qualifies for an upset, you cannot brag about your 10 seed beating a 7 seed as your upset special.

10. At least one 1 seed will not made it to the Elite Eight, yet all the reporters will be shocked when this happens, you should not be.

11. At least one 2 seed will not make it to the Sweet Sixteen, yet again all the reporters will be shocked when this happens, you should not be.

12. In looking for an upset, never pick a lower seeded team that plays the same style as a higher seeded team.  What makes us think that a  full court press fast break team with marginal athletes beat one with stellar athletes.

13. Teams that play defense tend to win more games.   Especially look for defensive-minded teams playing not-so-defensive-minded teams.  It’s pretty simple but we forget about this.

14. Guard play wins in the tourney.  It is not that post players are not important, just that guards are more important.

15. If you pick a team to go to the Final Four, they need to have at least one player who will go to the NBA.

16. At least 3 of the Final Four teams will be top 3 seeds in their regions, and a top 3 seed will win the National Championship.

17. Find yourself a Cinderella and dance with her to the Sweet 16, take a 10 seed or a 12 seed to win their first 2 games, it makes the tourney more fun.  There seem to be two or three double digit seeds that make it to the Sweet 16 every year.

18. Location, location, location.  Is there a team that is playing 30 miles from home against a team that is playing 3000 miles from home.  Advantage closer team.  Especially pay attention to lower seeds that are significantly closer than their opponents.

19. Experience matters.  Looking for an upset special?  Try going with a team that has been to the Big Dance recently or has an experienced ball club.

20. Balance your head and your heart in choosing winners.   However, you know more about the teams you watch, use that knowledge, and you will also enjoy watching the game more if you pick your favorite team to win.

21. Pick a whole bracket on what you hope to have happen that way if everything works out, you can brag about your great bracket.

22. Don’t let your bracket ruin March Madness for you.  If your bracket is busted, get over it.  It doesn’t mean you are dumb, it means that March Madness is well, madness.

                So, why do we give up something for Lent? So, we can practice the principle of fasting. Fasting is about abstaining from something for a certain amount of time. This practice of self-denial forms us and teaches us and forms us as Christian disciples, and it reminds us of Jesus’ command in Luke 9:23, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me.” Denying ourselves is essential to following Jesus. And thus the point of any fast is Christ-following.  Let me say that again, the reason we fast from anything is so that we can be more Christ-like.

                The Christian principle for fasting is this: We give up something, so we can be like someone: Christ. So, before asking the question, “What to give up for Lent?” We should ask the question, where do I need to be more Christ-like? If we need to be more Christ-like in the words we say to others, then we should give up cussing or gossiping. If we need to be more Christ-like in how we take care of our body, then we should give up pop, dessert, or even add exercise. If we need to be more Christ-like in how we spend our free-time, then we should give up SportsCenter or Social Media. If we need to be more Christ-like with our money, then we should spend less on ourselves and give more to others. If we need to be more Christ-like and less selfish, then we should practice fasting once a week, so we can focus on Christ meeting our needs instead of us meeting our wants.

The hope from giving up something for Lent is that it changes us after Easter. We realize how we didn’t need to spend that much time on Facebook, buy that many clothes, or talk about other people, and we don’t return to the same people as we were before Ash Wednesday. So, before you merely give up something for Lent, spend some time in prayer asking God how you need to be more Christ-like and then be prepared to be transformed by the Holy Spirit.

More Facts: In Oklahoma since 1968, 24 churches have been chartered and 3 more are in the process of being planted.  So, less than 1 a year.  The population in Oklahoma in 1970 was 2,559,463, while the population in Oklahoma in 2010 is 3,751,351.  So for the 1.2 million new people in Oklahoma, we have 27 new United Methodist churches[1] for them.[2] These 22 charted churches (2 have since folded) include 7 of the 25 largest churches in the conference and represent an average worship attendance of 6300.  Even the great success of our new church starts has not created a UM church planting movement in Oklahoma.

Church planting should not just be to places that have received population growth (though that is incredibly important and more on that later), but it should be about going to where unchurched people are and being a church for them.  In my church setting, a church that averages about 100 located between 2 bedroom communities of Fort Smith, there are about 8000 people in a five mile radius, about 2000 of them are currently unchurched and about 1000 of those people identify themselves as Methodists. Is our church reaching these people?  Yes, we are a growing church, and I believe we have a lot to offer them, but I look at a non-denominatonal church plant in one of the communities that is 3 years old and averages well over 300 people, and I wonder could a Methodist church plant have reached them as well?  Since 1968 in Oklahoma, the Ardmore, Lawton, McAlester, Muskogee, and Stillwater districts have not had a new church successfully charter and continue existing.  The Bartlesville, Clinton, Enid, Lawton, and Woodward districts have each had 1 church successfully charter.  9 of our 12 districts have basically been non-existent in planting churches in the last 43 years![3]  Only the Tulsa District and the North and South Oklahoma City districts have planted multiple churches since 1968.

There are many towns in Oklahoma that are growing significantly.  Here is the list of Oklahoma communities with more than 3000 people who have grown 20% or more since 2000 and the respective increase of the worship attendance at the United Methodist Church in their community[4] in that time.[5]

• Blanchard 172.4% town growth, 25% church increase
• Jenks 77.1% town growth, -46% church decrease
• Piedmont UMC 56.8% town growth, 57.38% church increase
• Bixby 56.6% town growth, 3% church decrease
• Owasso 56.3% town growth, 27.49% church increase
• Hinton 46.9% town growth, -50% church decrease
• Mannford 46.8% town growth, -46% church decrease
• Newcastle 41.4% town growth, -11.3% decrease
• Tuttle 40.2% town growth, -12% church decrease
• Coweta 39.3% town growth, -34% church decrease
• Hominy 38.0% town growth, -32% church decrease
• Collinsville 27.5% town growth, 12.75% church increase
• Skiatook 37.1% town growth, 8.33% church increase
• Moore 33.9% town growth, 9% church increase
• Glenpool 33.1% town growth, no Methodist Church,
• Mustang 32.2% town growth, 5% church increase
• Broken Arrow 32% town growth 15% church increase
• Catoosa 31.2% town growth 30% church increase

I am not trying to be critical of any particular church or pastor.[6]  Only trying to show that even in our fast growing communities, our United Methodist churches are for the most part not keeping up with the growth in our communities.  Can churches do better to meet the needs of their growing communities? Sure they can.  However, our connectional nature should help us see that each particular church is not called to reach every person or people group in a community. And if the existing church is not willing to do what is needed to reach the new people in their community, then they should partner with the Conference to help plant a church in their own community.

At the risk of boring you with more facts, here is another list I have compiled.  These are the cities in Oklahoma with over 15,000 people and the number of Methodist churches for the people in the communities and the people per church number to help identify what communities could use a new United Methodist Church.[7]

• Oklahoma City-38 churches for 579,999 people= 1 church for 15,263 people
• Tulsa- 28 churches for 391,906=  1 church for every 13,996 people
• Norman-4 churches for 110,925= 1 church for every 27,732 people
• Broken Arrow 4 churches for 98,850= 1 church for every24,712 people
• Lawton-8 churches for 96,867= 1 church for every 12,108 people
• Edmond-6 churches for 81,405= 1 church for every 13,567 people
• Moore-3 churches for 55,081= 1 church for every 18,360 people
• Midwest City-3 churches for 54,371= 1 church for every 18123 people
• Enid-6 churches for 49,379= 1 church for every 8229 people
• Stillwater-3 churches for 45,688= 1 church for every 15,229 people
• Muskogee- 6 churches for 39,223= 1 church for every 6537 people
• Bartlesville- 4 churches for 35,750= 1 church for every 8937 people
• Shawnee- 5 churches for 29,857= 1 church for every 5871 people
• Owasso-1 church for 28,915
• Ponca City-4 churches for 25,387= 1 church for every 6346 people
• Ardmore-3 churches for 24,283= 1 church for every 8094 people
• Duncan-4 churches for 23,432= 1 church for every 5858 people
• Yukon- 2 churches for 22,709= 1 church for every 11354 people
• Del City-2 churches for 21,332= 1 church for every 10,666 people
• Bixby-1 church for 20,884
• Sapulpa-1 church for 20,544
• Altus-3 churches for 19,051= 1 church for every 6350 people
• Bethany-1 church for 19,051
• Sand Springs-1 church for 18,906
• Claremore-1 church for 18,581
• McAlester-2 churches for 18,383= 1 church for every 9191 people
• Mustang-1 church for 17,395
• Jenks-1 church for 16,924
• Ada-2 churches for 16,810= 1 church for every 8405 people
• El Reno-2 churches for 16,749= 1 church for every 8374 people
• Chickasha-1 church for 16,036
• Durant-1 church for 15,856
• Tahlequah-1 church for 15,753

Just by looking at this list, I see many, many places where the Methodist church could go to where the people are especially Norman, Broken Arrow, Moore[8], Midwest City, Owasso[9], Bixby, and Sapulpa whose Methodist churches have just 1 church for over 20,000 people.  In addition, these are the largest communities with no United Methodist Church: Glenpool 10,808, Slaughterville 4137, and Park Hill 3909.  So, there are 10 possible places where churches could be planted, but there are more.

What do I recommend? One, every D.S. should identify two potential communities in their district that could be best served by a new church start. Currently, we have the funding to plant one church a year in the conference that should be increased to at least two churches a year. We need to continue to identify potential church planters and train them to plant churches. In communities where we are not quite ready to plant a new church, congregations should look at starting a worship service that will reach a different demographic than what they are currently reaching. Most importantly, existing churches need to not fear the competition of a new church in their community, but instead embrace the enhancement of the Kingdom of God through new churches.

As previously mentioned, The Office is one of my favorite shows, and the main reason why is the characters. I have an emotional attachment to Michael (sad that he left the show), Jim, Pam, Kevin, Creed, and even Dwight. This attachment also lets me more fully enjoy the dialogue and interactions between characters. “Bears, beets, battlestar galactic” is not a funny line on paper. But say that line to a fan of The Office, and we cannot help but laugh out loud as we think about the peculiarness of Dwight, the humor of Jim, and the relationship between the two of them. In much the same way, all of us have probably used this line, “I guess you probably had to be there.” Jokes have the potentially to be funnier when the relationship is deeper.

Similarly, a word of truth can be powerful, “When peace, like a river, attendeth my way, when sorrows like sea billows roll; whatever my lot, thou hast taught me to say, It is well, it is well with my soul.” That is a powerful testimony about God’s steadfast love. However, this song takes a more profound turn when you learn that the song’s writer Horatio Spafford wrote those lines on a boat crossing the Atlantic on the way to meet his grieving wife who survived a terrible boat crash that claimed the life of their four daughters. Because we know this story, we feel those words even more.

Take a high school football game. How much better is it to watch this amateur event when you know someone on the field? It’s more entertaining. You are more emotionally involved (maybe too much, but that’s another story). You are more impacted by what happens to that person. We care more when we have a sense of connection to what is happening in front of us. Preachers must take this to heart. We cannot become merely spouts of the Word of God, but we must be instruments through which people can more wonderfully hear God’s song of grace in the Word. Doing that requires us being a character in our own sermons. One famous definition of preaching is this, “Truth revealed through personality.” One of the great gifts of being a preacher is using your personality to communicate God’s Word! God has called and chosen me: the sports loving, new Daddy, bacon-loving me to communicate His word. God does not ask us to be someone we are not, instead the best preaching is done when we are fully our God-created-selves in the pulpit.

The preacher as character does not mean that we are someone that we are not, but instead demands that we are more fully ourselves, and we become self-revelatory in our sermons. Again, people care more, listen better, and respond more urgently when they are connected to the preacher even if that is through relatively light-hearted ways. Because I have expressed my love for bacon on multiple occasions on Sunday morning, not only are my bacon jokes funnier to the congregation, but also they have a better understanding of who I am, and so currently in my wall of my office I have bacon floss hanging up. Let me be clear, we need to be purposeful about our self-revelations. Just because I like the 49ers does not mean every sermon has to include an ode to Jerry Rice. Or that I should become overly transparent, but hopefully if you asked my congregation to tell me some things Aaron like they would be able to give you multiple things that I have purposely revealed to them including some of my stumbles.

Let me sum it up in this way. The preacher as character is self-chosen personal revelations that give people insight into the pastor as a human being. They help with the content of a sermon by providing opportunities for humor or illustration that build on previous revelations. While this can be easily overdone, when done in the right amount people have a greater understanding of who you a, and thus they care more about you and ultimately, and most importantly, what God has given you to say to them.

As Christians, it is right to ask about what we should feel when our enemies have been conquered and killed.  Here are a few things I know about Osama Bin Laden.  He was created by the same God that created you and me.  God loves him. He is a sinner, who needs atonement for his sins.  God’s grace is greater than all his many, many sins.  If he truly and earnestly sought forgiveness, he would have received it.  Now, I have absolutely no reason to believe that Bin Laden did seek forgiveness, but I believe Jesus died for him as well as me.

The question that became apparent on Facebook last night was this, should a Christian rejoice in the death of an evil man?  Jesus said plainly in the Sermon on the Mount, “But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” Matthew 5:44-48.  And because of that I must confess that I did not pray for Bin Laden, our enemy.  And because of this I do not think that we should rejoice in the death of a man, no matter how awful he was.

At the same time, we must rejoice in the defeat of evil.  Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a preacher, opposed the Nazi regime, participated in an assassination plot against Hitler, and was killed for that participation.  He made the decision to participate in the assassination plot because he lived Galatians 6:10, “Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people.”  In order to do the most good for all people, than Hitler needed to be killed.  In the same manner, Bin Laden needed to be stopped, and because he would not turn himself in, his death was the best choice for stopping that evil.  Like us all, he will experience final judgment not from men, but from the Almighty God who though He loves Bin Laden, hates his sin.  As Christians, we believe that those who have not reached out to God and confessed their sin and righted their relationship with God, have chosen Hell and will be separated from the loving God.

This month we are talking about forgiveness on Sunday mornings, and that includes us forgiving Osama Bin Laden.  This Sunday, May 8^th, I will be addressing how we can forgive this man whose sins are many, and how we can forgive each other for the sins we have committed.  I pray that you would join us, and I hope that each of us spend some additional time in prayer this week praying for our military, our government, and especially our enemies. Because our only hope for true peace is through Jesus Christ, the Redeemer of the World.

Make no mistake that greed is driving the conversation on both sides of the table, and both sides have fault.  I’m not an expert on the issues and there are plenty of places and people who you can read who will detail the situation.  The biggest breakdown came not in the issue of player safety, health benefits, the 18-game season, or the rookie wage-scale.  The issue was financial statements.  Seriously, financial statements.  Greed at its worst.

As often is the case, the owners and players are too wrapped up in their own issues that they fail to see the full consequences of their actions.  And of course there are plenty.  The New York Jets have placed mandatory unpaid one-week-a-month vacation for their 158 employees. Imagine losing 1/4 of your income for some unknown amount of time.  Other teams have cut jobs or reduced salaries for their employees because of the lockout.

If any games are lost, the job loss would be tremendous.  There are about 3800 people who work at each game. That’s 3800 people, some who have others jobs, some who are employed full-time, and some who may just do this for fun who will be sitting at their homes on Sunday afternoon without even football to comfort them.  This figure does not include the hotel employees, the servers at restaurants, or the people who park cars around the stadium.  Of course, these are not just 3800 people, but these are moms paying their kids medical bills, college students paying for classes, and dads paying off a mortgage.  These are people who may not be able to understand the financial statement of an NFL team, but they understand that the money they see spent at one NFL games is more than they will ever spend in their lifetime.

So, I don’t feel sorry for the players.  I don’t feel sorry for the owners.  No, I feel awful for the hot dog vendor, the lady at the ticket booth, and the server across the street, whose money that should go in their pocket will instead go into the hand of the lawyers who know that the longer this lockout goes: the more money they make.

We are trying to conserve our green and be green in this tight economy, so we thought we would do a Christmas Card Blog.  Hope you enjoy, and please pass the link along!

It has been quite a year for the Tigers!  We had a bittersweet departure from Kentucky this May.  Aaron graduated with his Masters of Divinity from Asbury Seminary and our 3 year adventure was over.  We loved our time in the Bluegrass state and made some amazing and very dear friends, whom we miss like crazy!  Micah’s very first friends, Connor and Eben, are often a topic in the house.  We don’t know what we would do without Facebook and Skype, which we need to use more often!  Our homecoming to Oklahoma was wonderful!  We missed our friends and family and are so grateful to be near them again.  The grandparents are especially happy to have Micah in Oklahoma!

Aaron was appointed to the communities of Roland and Muldrow and is the Senior Pastor of Trinity United Methodist Church.  We are enjoying our new church family immensely and learning the ins and outs of being a clergy family.  We have been blessed with a nice parsonage and are still in the process of making it our own.  Aaron is truly living out his calling and has quickly stepped in to his new role and is loving every minute of it!  The church is exploring who God is calling Trinity to be and celebrating all the good we currently do.  Since we have been there, 21 people have become new members, and average attendance has risen from around 70 to almost 100!  God is good and we are looking forward to all He has in store!

The transition to a new town and journey has been a little more difficult for me, but I am listening for God’s voice and looking for His guidance.  I have made a few new friends, but know that is always a process!  I am still lucky enough to stay home with Micah and enjoy watching him explore new things every day.  I have been looking for a job, but have not had much success yet!  I have substituted once for 7th graders at Muldrow Middle School, and had a few silly boys growl at me when I introduced myself as Mrs. Tiger.  Boys will be boys!  I am also considering applying to the Masters program for Creative Writing at Oklahoma City University, our Alma Mater.  We’ll see what the New Year brings!

Micah is growing, growing, growing.  We adore him so much and he is a constant source of joy, laughter, and love.  Sometimes he exhibits his stubborn streak and asserts his developing independence.  We won’t tell who he gets that from!  Micah started walking at the end of nine months and hasn’t slowed down since.  He is running these days, even if he still has some balance issues!  We celebrated his 1st birthday October 5th.  He was a blessed little boy who got two parties; one at Trinity with his own little cake, and his monkey-themed party at Owasso FUMC.  He played in their Pumpkin Patch, had lots of presents, and enjoyed having so many family and friends there.  We enjoyed watching him glow in the attention!  He is quite the people person.  One of his favorite things is to entertain with tricks and then make sure everyone claps!  Micah loves to talk, and talk, even if we don’t always know what he’s saying.  He can say quite a few words, like Daddy, Mama, done, dog, okay, yeah, no, Beau, and amen!  He loves to sign ‘thank you’ and we are working on a version of  ‘love you.’  His favorite “sign” is one I taught him; Touchdown!  He holds his arms up like he has gone to ref school.  His daddy is very proud of this trick!  Micah is a very happy boy and we thank God for him every day.

We are looking forward to seeing where our journey goes in 2011 and hope to see you all along the way!

Thank you to all our wonderful family and friends who mean so much to us.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Growing up I would play Madden year after year, and needless to say I led the 49ers to a few championships in my time.  I remember all the hours that I would spend getting my team ready for the Super Bowl, and after winning the Super Bowl they would have a brief celebration on screen and that was it.   All those hours for a few seconds of reward, and you couldn’t talk to anybody and brag about it, because nobody cared.  Winning a Fantasy Football Championship is just a little bit better.  Basically the other people in the league care a little bit, but only because they want you to care when they win.  So, what do you do with all this excitement and joy that you have from winning?  My suggestion is that every community should have a designated celebration place, so that champions from all over town can go and celebrate together and talk about how your plan of picking up “whatever defense was playing the Rams” led to your victory.

Nevertheless onto the Running Blog.  I am blogging live from my house.  Micah is asleep.  My wife is reading, and we are watching 24 season 3.  So, spoiler alert.

9:05: Just got into the draft room.

9:07: Jack needs a 20 on Tony Almeida.

9:09: Five in the house so far.  We have a 10 team league, keep any 4 players from last year’s roster (my four Payton Manning, Chris Johnson, Frank Gore, and Larry Fitzgerald, people I didn’t keep Joseph Addai, Felix Jones, Vernon Davis, Giants Steve Smith, and Calvin Johnson)  My team was loaded.  Worst keeper: Rinky Dinks keeping Nate Kaeding, who I might have selected in the 17^th Round.

9:13: Just received a text from league commish Keith reminding us all that draft is in 17 minute, because everyone needs a 17 minute reminder.

9:15: Making some popcorn for me and the Misses, and accepting congratulations from the fellow league owners on my championship last year.

9:19: Question of the day by Keith on the chat board, “more of tomorrow night: interceptions by Favre or fumbles by Peterson?”

9:20: 3 votes Favre 1 vote Peterson

9:23: Jack Bauer is saving the world, again.

9:24: Some folks chatting about how late the draft is 9:30 Central Time.  Makes me feel like the young guy in the league.

9:26: Best line of the day, “Crunk’n Fresh: I think the Trinity Tigers are the best-managed team in league history.”

9:27: I had just told people that any good quotes would go in the blog.

9:29: Wizards of Windsor are going to start.  He is not with us, as he is going to Vegas tomorrow morning.  What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas, but what happens in our fantasy football draft appears on the blog.

9:30 Wizards select Calvin Johnson, Austin Miles goes to the truth, and then wait for it… Brett Favre goes to the Rinky Dinks, breaking Keith’s heart, who would always draft him two rounds before anyone else.  The Rinky Dinks had a tough decision on whether or not to keep Big Ben, which they did.  I think I would have, but that’s a tough one.

9:31- Only 2 picks before mine, and I am hoping 49ers WR Michael Crabtree falls to me.  I think he’ll have a huge year.

9:31- This is awful.  My dad who owns the Tuff Tigers selects Michael Crabtree and then the Mile High Maniacs select Vernon Davis TE of the 49ers.  2 Niners right before I pick.  I had selected Vernon Davis the past 3 years 2 rounds too earlier.  This year I don’t even get that chance.

9:32: I pick the Giants Steve Smith is my first pick and then Dwayne Bowe.  Feel pretty good about my top 6: Manning, Johnson, Gore, Fitzgerald, Smith, and Bowe.

9:33: Long time before I select again.

9:34: We are moving right along, pretty quick and nothing to awful.

9:35: Just had the Best pick in the draft: Jahvid.

9:36: the truth is taking his time with his selections, which is nice for me lets me catch up on the blog.  He selects Joseph Addai.  So, the truth is addai (say it aloud, and it almost sounds like “a lie”)  Maybe it is getting late

9:38: Well this is the last time I give my Dad tips before the draft.  I tell him I like Crabtree, he drafts him right before me.  I tell him I like Mike Wallace, and he drafts him right before me.

9:38: And T.O. is off the board.  T.O. has been on my do-not-draft-under-any-circumstances-based-on-my-personal-feelings-list since he left the 49ers.  My pick is Dez Bryant the former and current Cowboy.  Emphasis for me on the former.

9:41: The Blues select Donald Driver.  Keith picking a Packer: shocking.

9:42: Best player on the board by far is Beanie Wells.  Can’t believe he is still there.  We are 80 picks in including our keepers.

9:44:  Tony is not very happy with Jack, as he is willing to trade his wife Michelle to Saunders the crazy lunatic mass murder.  Why then do I have this strange trust in Jack Bauer?

9:45: Gostkowski for the Pats has just been picked.  Is that the TE or the Kicker?

9:46: My pick is up and although I have three really good RBs, I’m selecting Beanie Wells.  My friend Bill would be proud.

9:47: And with my other pick, I select Robert Meachem because well I tackled him in High School, and anybody that is good enough to be tackled by me is playing in the league he should be on my team.

9:50: After I make a comment about the lack of chatting on the draft board.  We have this exchange.  “Tuff Tigers: It is hard for me to chat because I have yo look at the keys when I type.”  “Rinky Dinks: may want to look a little closer! Spell check!”

9:51: My wife just said, “Jack you are a terrible shot.”  Amazing how the hero’s accuracy is directly dependent on the drama needed.

9:54: I don’t know if I told my dad, that I liked Jacoby Jones, but he selected him nonetheless.

9:57: And the man with no contract: Vincent Jackson is of the board.

10:01: Jack Bauer has a tough decision to make.  Glad it’s him and not me.  I wonder if in a few years we will be making Jack Bauer jokes instead of Chuck Norris jokes.

10:02: For the record, I tackled Robert Meachem because I had man to man coverage on him in the slot.  (Advantage Meachem), and he caught the ball in front of me (didn’t get beat deep!) and fell to the ground (and I was the closest one.)

10:03: I’m going to pick Alex Smith.  This is how much I believe in Alex Smith for the Niners.  I’m drafting him.  Even if he never plays because Manning will start every game.

10:05: Must be late for people, as the draft room is quite quiet.  Blues select Sidney Rice.  So, he has both Rice and Santonio Holmes.  At least one of those two should pan out in the second half of the season.

10:07: Nice move Jack Bauer.

10:07: Blues select Sam Bradford.  For the record Sam goes between Rian Lindell and Josh Scobee.

10:12: The Sanchize is off the board.

10:12: The final round, and I get Mr. Irrelevant and I am going with a Kicker, as it should be.

10:13: Laurent Robinson, I have no idea who this guy is.  Should I?

10:15: Poor Tony.  He was just trying to save the life of his wife.  He was not committing Treason.

10:15: It is my final selection, and I am holding off so people can say their goodbyes.  Always enjoy the Fantasy Draft.

10:16: For the record there was no Darrius Heyward-Bay selection.  And barely any Raiders for that matter.

10:20: I can’t stand Sherry Palmer.

10:23: And the annual post-draft conversation with my Dad.  Good times.  I’m hopeful to repeat and whether I do or don’t, you probably won’t care anyway.

1. Use a scoreboard clock that counts down the allotted time for each report with a loud buzzer marking the end of the report, whether or not they were done or not.

2. Understand that those at the conference can read.  So if you do not have anything to add to the written report, then just sit down.

3. All tweets marked #okumc are immediately posted on the screen for all to read.

4. Each report should be graded on a scale of 1-10 and if any presenter receives an average score of 5 or less should not be allowed to report the next year.

5. Anybody ever play the clothe-pins game with a youth group, where everyone has 5 clothe-pins and tries to get rid of them without getting caught by the person they are putting them on.  We can play this at Annual Conference, so those that fall asleep during the Annual Conference will be seen clearly with the numerous clothe-pins on them.

6. Have a Design your own sarcastic button contest that pokes fun at the slogans and acronyms of our connection.

7. Gridiron should begin earlier in the day, even though their jokes won’t be quite as funny when people are more awake.

8. Bishop Hayes should teach a “How to have an awesome preaching voice like me” class.

9. Have a Welch’s Grape Juice sponsored Conference Drinking game with drinks being taken with lines such as “financial crisis,” “the plan,” and “I know we are running late, but.”

10. My personal favorite, everyone who is able should participate in Dr. Mouzon Biggs hair day.