A couple things going on…
Eric Silz, my long-time good friend, is kicking some serious boot lately. We grew up doing stupid crap together. We wrestled together in school, we rode dirt bikes all over the place, we broke bones together, we committed crimes together, we hung out constantly, and we even got chased out of his house after eating 4lbs of frozen cream puffs that belonged to his dad…who was prone to cussing…at us…a lot.
Eric decided that he wanted to go after something big recently. For whatever reason, Eric wanted to fight, and so he started training in a Mixed Martial Arts setting. And then he found out that he was pretty good at it. And then he went ahead and got himself put onto a ticket for an actual MMA fight.
I had the opportunity to attend that MMA fight and it was a serious adrenaline rush. Check out these pics…Eric is the one standing up beating his opponent:
He ended up winning his first fight by way of tap-out submission in the second round.
Eric fought his second MMA fight this past Saturday night and a few of us got to see him destroy his second opponent. We were so hyped up about it because it’s like watching the culmination of his dedication in action. To say a great friend of mine has won two MMA fights in a row feels pretty stinking awesome.
AND NOW FOR SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT…
Steve Fuller, a man whom I hardly know but have grown to respect greatly, is doing an experiment. He found himself fed-up with church and was dangerously close to giving up on it entirely. He wasn’t interested in walking away from his faith, but the church itself seemed to be getting in the way of that faith.
So Steve set out on an experiment. He’s challenged himself to visit 52 different churches in 52 weeks to re-define what church/God/Christianity means to him. The really cool part is that he’s going to churches that are “non-Christian” along the way. He’s created a blog that is an account of each weekly experience. You should check it out at http://churchexperiment.blogspot.com/
It was pretty exciting for us to see Steve come into Vineyard Westside this week because we knew he wouldn’t hold back on describing his experience. We’re always looking for honest feedback on how we’re doing as a church…well…at least as far as weekend gatherings go.
Here’s the thing though…you need to read this. Yes, it’s mostly about churches in Cincinnati, and yes…you might not even go to church, and that’s okay…but I guarantee that you’ll glean something deeper than you would expect. Your church will benefit from this blog —–> READ IT.
