Book Review Two

So you are probably saying to yourself “Self, does anyone, including me, care even the slightest bit what Steve Conn is reading right now?” The answer is probably no, and you know that. But then again has anyone ever cared at all about anything I’ve written thus-far? No. And so this is no different from anything else found on this blog.

First reviewed here in the Danger Book club is Christian Reflections on The Leadership Challenge. Apparently there was an extensive study on leadership done by Kouzes and Posner. They then began making notes specific to Christians and compiling them in a smaller separate volume bearing the aforementioned title.

This is not a very good book. I don’t know what makes it “Christian” except for the fact that they understand you will be dealing with pastors and volunteers more often than CEO’s and fortune 500 execs.

But despite the fact that it was not life changing it is not without redemptive value. I will sum up for you some of the most important parts as they spoke to me.

The most important thing is not what you can do or what you can teach, but rather, who you can be. No matter what you think to be the case people will do as you do, and not as you say. It is therefore important to practice what you preach and to care more about who you are before you focus on where your ministry is going. And that is how you will get results. People don’t buy into your vision, they buy into you. The authors recommend five principles for “modeling the way”

1) Work on yourself before others
2) Work on yourself more than others
3) It is easer to teach what is right than to do what is right
4) People do what they see
5) The example of others profoundly impacts out lives.

Here are some experts that really spoke to me and to what I am struggling with currently. God has been pointing out an atrocious amount of pride in my life lately, and it makes me question what kind of leader I really am.

When I graduated from college, like so many other eager young people I wanted to change the world. Call it what you will, I was determined to make a difference, defy the conventional wisdom, confront the status quo, and challenge the process. At the time, I was sure that those lofty aspirations were noble. I was wrong. There were two big problems with my post-graduate zeal.
“First, I had no specific difference I wanted to make. And although that may not seem like a big deal, it masked a larger one: I was more interested in being recognized for having changed the world than anything else…But the only way to make a real difference is to do so humbly, without regard for recognition, ego, pride, even self-preservation” (71).

“The key to a servant leader’s heart is humility. People with humility don’t think less of themselves; they just think of themselves less” (104).

"Ego Stands for Edging God Out."

The book also discusses briefly the difference between a self serving leader and a servant leader. One leads to serve, one leads to define himself through his position. Humm, can’t say that I fall under the right category at all times.

I wont lie, this book didn’t change my life, but it had some good points and I hope you enjoyed them.

SPRING HAS SPRUNG

Yes it is absolutely true! Spring has Sprung indeed! You may now put on your shorts and bask in the joy of all that is blooming, shining, or causing hormonal teen-agers to pay even less attention than usual to school. The first official day of Spring this year was March 25th, and it coincided with Easter; which was entirely coincidental, but very fitting.

Spring has never fallen on Easter Sunday since I’ve been in charge of it, so this is an exciting occurrence that may not happen again any time soon. If you too felt “springy” last Sunday it’s because you were able to feel that certain vibe to which I am intimately attuned…That vibe that says “This is no thaw…This is SPRING!” And if you caught the obscure reference to The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe give yourself 10 Danger dollars (everyone keep track of your own).
To me spring means screwing around at track practice, getting 79 cent Chili dogs, going on runs, making excuses to not play ultimate Frisbee, staying up later than usual for no apparent reason, and acting like I’m gonna date some girl but then not really doing it; which usually ends not so well (I apologize to anyone who feels that the previous activity describes their relationship to me personally; if you believe I’m referring to you there’s a good chance I am). It also means sweet Spring-break road trips, increasingly frequent Handy runs, driving with my car-windows down blaring Journey as loud as it will go, and gearing up for summer.

Now that I have graduated, live nowhere near an A&W, in the hilliest area of the country, have no friends, go to work at 8:30 every day, know no girls, get no spring break, and am doing the same thing this summer as I am doing now…This spring I will be rolling down the windows of my car and listening to Journey. That is all.
But I’m still going to wear shorts!

BBQ

No, I haven't been to a BBQ lately. I just wanted to express my love for the BBQ in general. I have a large chicken BBQ fund-raiser for the church that I'm supposed to be in charge of coming up next Sunday, and I gotta say, not a fan. It's going to involve getting up at 5:00 in the morning, and I do NOT want to do that, but I suppose it's for the kids, and you know how I am. FTK all the way.

But when we were at Big Jim's the other day Dave said "BBQ burger, I wonder if that's

better than the regular burger?" Of course it is Dave, it's Barbecue! You could put the word barbecue in front of anything and it would make it better. If someone told me that I had to have a bacon barbecue colonoscopy with cheese, I wouldn't even mind. And I think this is something we need to investigate. (not my colon, the idea) I have not yet experienced the situation that isn't made better by the presence of BBQ flavor. I recommend that the next time you have bad news you should find a way to buffer it with BBQ .

In other news (real news) I have recently beaten Donkey Kong 64. The reason that this is important is two-fold. One, I have made a solemn vow to not buy any video games this spring/summer until I beat all the games that I own and haven't already beaten yet. I have had Donkey King 64 for almost 8 years, but I haven't been able to beat it in the past. Why? because there are a million things to collect and I have OCD and I can't stand getting 99 % of collectable items. I must have them all. And if I can't get them all I will just stop playing. It took 8 years, 5 different tries and who knows how many hours, but I finally got all 4,000 bananas in that stupid game. Now I'm going to hit it with a shovel and never think about it again.

Lyceum

Ok I have big news today. I was invited by my uncle Tom to take part in what appears to be a super secret society. The Holmes County Lyceum. The upper echelon of learning in Holmes County have banded together to stave off the oncoming tides of darkness with light, learning, and culture. I moved that they should rename lyceum "knowledge is power, league of the learned, no girls allowed, Brainy McBrainersons, or the National Rifle Association, they said they just weren't ready for a change. It's a really secretive cloak and dagger thing. I don't really know what that means but at least one guy was wearing a cloak, and at one point during the night I had a knife at my ribs. I can't tell you much about it or they will activate the chip they implanted in my brain. But here's what I can tell you.

A group of middle aged to old guys sitting in the oldest house (literally) in Holmes County discussing what are perhaps the most boring topics known to man. Yesterday I sat through two hours of lecture on the topic of "Walden" by Henry David Thoreau (I learned that his name should be pronounced to rhyme with "furrow"). Now despite my sarcasm I must admit that I really enjoyed lyceum and I intend to go back. There is nothing more amusing then men taking themselves too seriously, ESPECIALLY when they invite you to join in. And these guys really are smart. There are a few doctors, a few lawyers, a psychiatrist, and some pastors, and one mysterious looking guy they just call "your honor."

For real though, it was fun because I learned things. I don't really learn much now that I've graduated Taylor so it's good to have semi-boring older guys lecture me again. I really enjoy it. They are lecturing on Cuba next month, and I know nothing about Cuba, so that's convenient for me. If you want to know more about what a Lyceum is check the Wikipedia article, it's interesting. And if you want to know more about "Walden" .....I'll be surprised.

Big Jim's

I have so many thoughts to share with all of you right now, it's going to be difficult to calm down and decide what to include. What a Whirlwind week we’ve witnessed! (How about that alliteration egh?)

The first thing that I would like to address is that we officially have one reader! This is exciting news for us here at the Danger Zone because it has always been a personal goal to write things that people want to read. Unfortunately that just lead me to writing for the school newspaper (shudders). Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy having my picture at the top of a column of text, but dang made me write news. Who reads news? News is like someone said “shoot, we ran out of history” but they were still committed to keeping me bored. But I digress

We have ONE READER! She even admitted it to me too. Now granted she is in a foreign country where they are a little light on entertainment in her language (English) so she was a bit desperate I’m assuming. But who knows, we were at zero readers last week and now our numbers have EXPLODED from nothing to ONE. That’s an infinity percent increase. If this rate continues we will have an infinite amount of readers by this time next week. (If you question my calculations let me remind you that I have taken Math 120 at Taylor University; or as we affectionately refer to it “Math one-o-dumb” We talked about levels of infinity, and even though I don’t remember what was said I was certainly present for some “intelligent” discussion.)

Unrelated to that I just went to the happiest (non T.U.) place on earth. Big Jim’s Diner. Simple menu, simple restaurant, no style, unhealthy, delicious. I ordered the “Big Jim” burger, the biggest “small” fry ever, and a Cherry Coke. It cost under 6$. And I’m not talking about a fast food burger. This food was easily BW3 quality for a fraction of the cost. This is the type of restaurant I would own if I were the luckiest man alive. But I will be content just to eat there. So if you are a man it is your duty to go to Big Jim’s in New Philly and eat until it hurts. If you are not a man, think of a man you know that deserves to be treated like a king…then take him to Big Jim’s instead.

Back again

So this wekend I went back to visit good old Taylor University. You want to know something? I love it now more than ever. And I used to love it a lot. I have no language to express to you how much I love Taylor University. I could not love a human baby as much as I love that school. I honestly hope that that is something that changes about me when i have a kid.

The other day I had a conversation with some girls from IWU and you will never believe what happend. They actually convinced me that they PREFERRED going to IWU. It was as if convicts tried to convince you that they really prefered jail becuase they enjoyed wearing orange jumpsuits. Well, you know if you LIKE it....whatever.

We had a great comfort eagle photoshoot and the pictures will be appearing online soon so as Dave D'Angelo would say "lookit." Also, my dad finished Ender's Game recently. If you haven't read it yet what is your excuse?

Les Miserables

Lucky you! I know that there could not possibly be anything more interesting to you than what I think about the books I read. Therefore this is my first of many book reviews. You will note I have a list of books I've read in 2008. These books are ranked in order of how much i like them, not the order in which I read them. Also just so you know, it's become my goal to read all the books that I've bought in the past but never had the gumption to finish. So recently I've been reading a lot of the "classics" that have been cluttering my shelves for a few years. It makes me seem smarter than I really am.

Les Miserables translates most literally into "the miserable" but I believe the intent is to be translated as "the poor." It is sent in Paris during the French Revolution. The book is entirely about the poor, the lives they live, the people they love, the dreams they dream, the republics they build, and the deaths they die. That and the life of one man, Jean Val Jean, who is exceedingly wealthy, but honestly lives his life as if people were more important than money. He is an escaped convict who has tried his whole life to live in such a way that he can redeem himself for his past transgressions and become worthy of the confidence placed in him by an old priest full of pity.

Les Mis was made into a play and several different movie renditions. The latest movie was stars Liem Neison and it is awesome. I recommend it to anyone in ministry or who leads a small group because in only the first 10 minutes there is a great illustration in which the old priest (Christ figure) forgives a convict for robbing him and buys him his freedom. It's good stuff.

Anyway, the reason that I liked the book i that it is sad and beautiful, an in a crooked and depraved generation a few sterling characters shine forth with inspiring character. That and the fact that I need to have a bigger heart for the poor. I have recently been challenged by my friend Cortney to see Jesus in the disenfranchised and those different from me. I'm so caught up in my world that I rarely think, care, or pray for any other one. This book painted a picture of it for me. Les miserables you will always have with you. And what will you do with them?

Also, I've been dealing a lot lately with how I see myself. My blog is not the place to discuss all that but I will include two quotes from the book that spoke to me as I read them, and I hope that you find something in them too. Be honest.

After he had fully determined that the young man was at the bottom of this state of affairs, he, Jean Valjean, the regenerated man, the man who had laboured so much upon his soul, the man who had made so many efforts to resolve all life, all misery, and all misfortune into love, looked within himself, and there he saw hatred (493).

It is terrible thing to be happy! How pleased we are with it! How self-sufficient we think it! How, being in possession of the false aim of life, happiness, we forget the true aim..." (617)

I know no one will ever read this book on my recommendation. But watch the movie. seriously.

Come from the land of the ice and snow

Hello again. Let me tell you something, weather is a harsh mistres. My mother was snowed in work in Wooster for almost three days and all I have to say about that is DANG.

For those of you who don't know, I, the Chevalier Sir Steven M Danger C Conn Esq have taken it upon myself to be the "champion of spring" and for the last eight years I have been the one who fearlessly declares when spring has officially started. Upon declaring the beginning of Spring we are obligated to wear nothing but shorts (or short pants as I like to call them) until I offically declare it winter. I'm not really a fan of fall so we skip it.

Now you might be wondering to yourself "self, how is Steve the champion of Spring? Do we get to just claim these things? Is this like the time that Justin Timberlake took it upon himself to bring sexy back?" Well if you are asking these questions good for you! An inquisitive mind is to be encouraged, but in this instance it will not be rewarded.

I tell you all this to inform you of one thing. That I almost declared it spring four days ago and I am glad that I did not. I have been "shame-faced" like this in the past. Sophemore year the first day of spring was March first. It snowed. And I looked like an idiot. And my legs were cold. But I have made that mistake too many times to make it again. No this time it's still winter.

Allthough we changed time? Daylight savings is rediculous, it just recently got light enough that I wasn't depressed to wake up in the morning. Guess that's over.

Screw weather

Let me point out to all of you just how glad I am that I didn't declare it spring yesterday like I almost did.  Why?  Because first of all I would have to wear shorts every day until I declared it winter again  (I don't believe in fall) and second of all because I would have looked like a fool because we are currently under a level two snow emergency here in Holmes Country.  

For those of you who have never been under a level two snow emergency it means that police are actually pulling over whatever cars they see and telling them to get off the road because only emergency vehicles are supposed to drive.

My mother is a nurse and is near the end of a twelve hour shift.  However she may need to stay and work another twelve hour shift because she can't leave the hospital and the night nurses can't get to the hospital.  

Also, some of my favorite people were coming to visit me.  Liz, Hugh, and the Krist(i/e)ns  were going to be halfway to my house by now.  But instead I am twiddling my thumbs and singing "afternoon delight" to myself as the world passes me by.

But that's ok.  Because as always I Live Comfort Eagle.  Also, I got to talk to Janessa Cole over the phone, and she made my life have meaning again because she reminded me about our cheese-less loveless relationship.  So everything is better again.  But I hope that Jess Johnson doesn't read this because Janessa also reminded me that Jess and I are madly in love (how could I forget?) and I don't want her to get jealous.

Also, if Kristin had come she wouldn't have been able to get al her hours in practicing the piano.  So that would have been a disaster as well.  

I apologize that the Comfort Eagle website is still a little bare, but we are busy working on it.  I'm regularly submitting text to my editor, he still has to decide what to do with it.

enjoy the weather. 

TWO COOKIES

Yesterday I got two cookies with my subway meal. Dave wasn't sure if you're usually supposed to get two cookies or if the subway girl was flirting with me. We were debating the issue when we noticed that "someone" had written his/her phone number on my sub with honey mustard. Unfortunately I ordered a six inch, and the numbers got a little squished towards the end and I couldn't read them.

This is why I'm going to die alone eating cold ravioli out of a can. Because I always order the wrong size of sub. Seriously, I can't even tell you how many times I have been unlucky in love becuase I order the wrong size of sub. That and I am terrified of commitment.

Seriously though, yesterday I saw a representative of Jews for Jesus come in and give a demonstration of a Cedar dinner. This was good for me for a lot of reasons. The first being that I haven't "learned" anything in the academic sense (unless you count the school of hard knocks) since I've graduated college, but I deffinately learned a lot from this guy, which I enjoy. The second reason is that to be honest I have a very hard heart that does not break for the poor or the lost. I pray often that God will change me in this capacity.

Early this year I was moved when I listened to a Jewish Rabbi discussing the faith of his people in America today. You want to know something? These people are very lost. My knowledge of the Jewish faith came almost exclusively from the Old Testament, and I had this vision of a people that are kinda like Christians except they are still waiting for the messiah. And that they were probably very legalistic and literal in terms of their interpretation of scripture.

The Rabbi started off by telling us that he didn't really think the Torah (first five books of the Bible) was literal. For example he wasn't sure, nor did he care if Moses was a real guy. In the same way "that I would hope your faith wouldn't suffer if you found out that Jesus was never really real." My heart broke becuase these people were rejecting Christanity when honestly they didn't know the first thing about it.

he also told me that Jews don't believe in Heaven or Hell, they are forbidden to share their faith, they don't read the Old Testament, they read commentaries. The more recent a commentairy the more athoritative it is. This would be the Christian equivelent of saying that if Rob Bell disagreed with the Bible we would be pbligated to agree with Rob.

But this guy is taking the Gospel to Jews all around the world, including Isreal. And he talked about their work in Germany. Jews and Germans proclaiming the Gospel of Jesus together. I like that.

Just so you guys know, I think that Cedar dinners are very interesting. There is a lot of Christian symbolism in the passover and the rituals of the Jews. As usual God was crafty enough to hide types of Christ in the Old Testament. When Jewish people celebrate their past they are really celebrating our shared Messiah. This is where the Christian tradition of communion comes from. The unleavened bread and the cup of redemption.

I want to do a Cedar dinner with my family, I will report more on this later. I'm not going to explain the whole thing here but I honestly reccomend that you learn about it yourself becuase it is fascinating.

Also, I've decided not to declare it spring yet. More on that later too

Day two

Ok so I just got offered a three month extension on my internship. Which is surprising to me because I was previously told on no uncertain terms that I had better find "summer work" becase they weren't going to need me.

But I've learned that through a combination of hard work and making your boss laugh really hard you can make people think that you are indispensable. I need to emphasize the laughing part becuase until I became funny at work I would have more accurately described my role at NPCC as "dispensable." I think it was my superman lunchbox that finally endeared me to the staff. That and sometimes they need me to make an even number for basketball.

Yes you read that right, I Steven M Danger C Conn play basketball at church. And I don't mean in a video game. I mean physically. I PLAY. Now, I suppose that might be a liberal usage of the word PLAY, like in the same sense that I sometimes "dance" or that rap is "music" but more or less I'm a moving body on the court that does slightly less harm than good. Which makes me more desirable than Larry Hughs.

Oh yes and if anyone from Newpointe ever reads this blog don't worry, I really DO work. I'm actually kinda useful, my wicked sick balling skillz are just icing on the cake for my employers.

My First Post

This is my first post, and I doubt that anyone will find this blog interesting yet...or perhaps ever. But in case you accidentally find your way here, I hope you enjoy it. I'll probably add content when I figure out how the heck this thing works.