Finally.

It’s been a long time coming. His two good seasons, including his single-season rushing record 2006, were behind one of the greatest offensive lines in history. He no longer runs with any passion or toughness. His off-the-field antics have just gotten to be too much.

While it’s possible that he lands somewhere else, I don’t care. I applaud Scott Pioli and Todd Haley for getting rid of him. There are others in the locker room who are not happy, but none of them are a complete embarrassment to the organization like Johnson has been over the past several seasons. There are some who think he was just getting what he wanted. I think that we’ll find that all he got was the opportunity to go be someone else’s problem.

He’s not a Chief anymore.

And that makes me glad.

The theme was “Give Your All” and the focus scripture came from the 12th chapter of Mark — the story of the widow’s mite. And while I love that story, it was used enough in the service (including in my children’s focus moment right before my sermon). I wanted to bring something a little different.

So I talked a little about Gary Vaynerchuk’s new book, Crush It!: Why NOW Is the Time to Cash In on Your Passion. I met Gary at Big Omaha and we had a fun interchange during his Q&A. His passionate approach to business got me thinking about what a passionate approach to God might look like.

I guess that’s enough of an intro.

I will say this, however. For the five years that I’ve run this blog, I’ve never actually posted video of myself giving a sermon. I’ve posted partial contents before and I’ve given a bunch of sermons at different congregations, but never actual video. This is kind of a momentous. So please be nice.

You can view it at Vimeo, too.

The changing of the leaves.
Baseball isn’t on TV anymore.
Football still is.
College Basketball is almost upon us in full force.

But 75 degrees in November isn’t fall.

I’m ready for jeans and sweaters and scarves.
I’m ready to snuggle up under the covers.
I’m ready for real fall.

Sure, it looks like fall out there. But this just isn’t right.

Bring on the cold.

For some great pictures of what fall looks like, check out my friend Ramsey’s Fall in Kansas City – 2009 set on Flickr.

The theme is “Give Your All.”

Among the things I may talk about are the following:

• Gary Vaynerchuk’s Crush It!
• Jason Mraz
• King David’s “underwear-dancing joy”

Larry Johnson’s Twitter tirade and subsequent suspension caused an uproar on the web and in the media.

And rightfully so.

The Chiefs suspended him for a game, so he loses a crapload of money. His reputation as a homophobe (something that was already pretty well-known) was cemented.

Is it enough? Is it too much? I read an interesting perspective from former NFL GM Charlie Casserly today.

One thing is sure. Chiefs fans have had enough. Me too. Johnson has fallen apart now that the offensive line isn’t made up of perennial Pro Bowlers like Willie Roaf and Will Shields who opened gigantic holes for him to run through. He doesn’t run with any toughness anymore, falling down as soon as a linebacker touches him. So much of his tirade focused around how great his dad is as a coach. Frankly, I’d take his dad on the field as an alternative to his 2.7 yards-per-carry average.

But even more offensive than his awful on-the-field play is his off-the-field activities, whether it be the latest incident or him spitting in women’s faces or throwing them against walls. He’s a despicable human being and his play on the field no longer justifies any sort of loyalty by the Chiefs. We’re on the hook for his salary anyway…let’s just toss him aside in the same way that he’s single-handedly trashed his career.

Maybe that’s harsh. I don’t care. He’s a terrible football player.

Get rid of him and don’t let him get the Chiefs’ all-time rushing record.

Religion in the United States has seemingly never been more polarizing. Christians have gotten a bad rap and in some ways it is deserved.

There are some big personalities speaking for Christians in America. Joel Osteen. Rick Warren. Pat Robertson. Glenn Beck? It’s just like different versions of the same voice.

There’s one voice that I wish was speaking a little louder.

Rob Bell.

From the Mars Hill site:

Rob Bell is the Founding Pastor of Mars Hill Bible Church. He graduated from Wheaton College in Wheaton, Illinois, and Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, California.

He is the author of Velvet Elvis and Sex God, and is a coauthor of Jesus Wants to Save Christians. He is also featured in the first series of spiritual short films called NOOMA.

I was introduced to Rob Bell through his NOOMA videos and I’ve been listening to him since. Velvet Elvis is one of the best books on Christianity that I’ve read, not because it is cool, but because it is true.

He puts scripture into context (and man, is he ever versed in scripture), he uses wonderful analogies to make points and he challenges his audience to think critically about their faith. I like that.

This week, I listened to the audiobook Jesus Wants to Save Christians, the terrific book he wrote with his friend Don Golden. How can you go wrong with chapters named “Swollen Bellied Black Babies” and “There’s Blood on the Doorposts of the Universe”?

Bell is a voice of Christianity that is tolerant and aware, but also extremely well-versed. He uses scripture in a relevant way that puts it into the context of the age in which it was written to help us understand it and apply it today. Some of the voices I listed at the beginning of this post can be a bit extreme and some of the best intentions can get lost and they can drown out people like Rob, who really need to be heard.

A not awesome sidebar from our trip to Lamoni over the weekend was something that happened to my car. We pulled into the Pizza Shack on the way out of town with a trailer full of Alli’s paintings.

When we came out to the car, I saw that the driver’s side window of my car (as in my side) had slid down. I tried rolling it back up.

Not so much.

I realized it had fallen off the track in some way and I didn’t have my automotive tools with me. Duct tape to the rescue!

Now, I have to make sure and thank Varsity Drug in Lamoni (stores in Lamoni don’t really have websites, or I’d link it) for actually having duct tape since there wasn’t a hardware store readily available. (FYI, there is a hardware store in Lamoni, but it wasn’t open. At noon. On a Saturday.)

So the Durango is starting to fall apart. It’s got almost 150,000 miles on it now and it’s got a good 50-75,000 more (at the least). For now, I’m planning to rock the ghetto duct tape look (although it does make it difficult to roll down the window and get the mail) and I’ll probably head to Anderson Automotive to get it fixed.

But for now, that’s why my window looks ridiculous.

In that town are maybe 6 places to eat, but everyone in the town knows of the Pizza Shack.

Named the Best Pizza in Iowa (in 1981), the Shack, as it is affectionately known has been owned and run by the same family, the Hamptons, for a few decades now. The Shack was there when my parents were at Graceland in the late ’60s and it is still there now, ten years after I graduated.

I worked there during my freshman, sophomore and junior years at Graceland and during those lunch shifts, I met and got to know the woman who would become my wife. I was a cook and she worked the front of the house. We got to spend a lot of time laughing and talking as we would get ready for lunch service.

I lived next door to the Shack for a year too. That was the year that Alli and I started dating. Coincidence? Probably. I remember how I used to come back from work smelling of pizza. I never tired of that smell of dough and sauce and pepperoni. The old oven, the linoleum floor, the stop light and jukebox and the old decorations all are a part of the wonderful experience and make the memory all that much richer.

If you’re ever on I-35, headed from Kansas City through Des Moines, be sure to stop in Lamoni. Just watch out for the Amish people.

I went in with an open mind. Despite his questionable legal history and lifestyle choices, you cannot deny his musical genius and I was interested in seeing the behind-the-scenes look as he prepared for what would be his swan song, a 50-night engagement at the O2 in London, completely sold out.

My dad was lucky enough to see Michael Jackson in Wembley Stadium during the Bad tour. I remember him bringing back the official program, glossy in red and black and white with Jackson in black leather and looking as tough as he could look with that crazy perm.

When I was eight years old, my brother and our close friends Gabe and Shannan put on a breakdancing show with The Jacksons Victory album as our soundtrack. Ridiculous, I know. But we were kids.

The footage that makes up This Is It was intended for Michael’s personal use only; with his passing, it’s the last glimpse we get of a brilliant performer, a quintessential entertainer and a musical talent we are unlikely to see again in our lifetime. We see him rehearsing the iconic songs he became known for over a career that spanned four decades.

Personally, I was always a fan of Michael’s music, but not like with other artists. Michael’s music was just always there, a part of the thread of our culture, and just about everything he did was totally brilliant.

Watching this 50-year-old man sing and dance and prepare to perform a 50-night engagement was fascinating. He was lucid and involved and inspiring to those surrounding him — dancers, backup singers, band, crew. In fact, watching the reactions of those around him as he rehearsed was one of my favorite parts of the movie. Hearing the dancers explain that they had no idea where their careers could go. This was the pinnacle for them. How could it get better?

The thing that really bummed me out was that this tour never happened. It looked EPIC in rehearsals. They also showed many of the extras filmed just for the concert — a new 3-D intro to “Thriller”, an awesome multiplying green screen effect for “They Don’t Really Care About Us” and others. But I left the theater feeling a bit unsatisfied if only that I couldn’t see the finished product. Michael Jackson was a rare combination of accomplished musician and enthralling entertainer.

While this is a nice documentary and great insight into what it was like to collaborate with such a genius, it really just left me wanting more.