(The people below are all very humble. It is not about numbers or popularity for them. I am just having fun acknowledging those friends of mine who have blessed and appropriately glorified God through their success.)
Most Famous Athletes:
Jay SchroederHe was my high school football coach.
Played in the NFL for the Raiders, Redskins, etc.
He is even on my TecmoBowl Nintendo game!
He is the only person i know who passes the google birthday test*
*if you google search someone's name like "Jay Schroeder birthday" and the birthday comes up instantly, you know the person is famous! :)*
Bay ForrestI attended his basketball camp and he spoke at my youth group.
Played in the NBA for the SuperSonics, Suns, etc.
Kingdom Building Ministry Speaker
He speaks around the US and world.
Most Famous Facebook Friends
Codey Holliday(over 1000 friends)
met at Indiana Wesleyan University
Just a friendly guy who gets a long with everybody
What is not to like about him?
Nate Kingsbury(almost 1500 friends)
Friends through IWU, friends, and the Wesleyan church.
Great youth minister whose fun enthusiastic personality is loved by all and has influenced many to accept Christ.
Most Famous Bloggers
Frank RitchieI work at Cession Community in NZ with him
He is a radio host for LifeFm and has a lot of influence here.
I struggle to get a 1 or two comments on a blog...
one of his recently posts had 52 comments!
Brandon BruceMy Brother-in-law
He is a connections fiend and has been apart of multiple churches and youth groups that want to keep up with his exciting life.
I have 30 or 40 people check my blog consistently while he has
150 to 200 views daily!!!
Most Famous Ministers:
Paul HontzPastor and friend from Central Wesleyan Church
Pastors a church of at least 3,000
My DadI am constantly amazed at how many people know my dad in all the places i have traveled. He is a well-known and respected pastor in different parts of the US.
Pastors a church of around 900
Joe Dongell My Dad's cousin
He is a professor at Asbury Seminary and has written multiple books in the scholarly realm including "Why i am not a Calvinist" and a commentary on the book of John
Every IWU Religion Professor! Includes: Keith Drury, Jim Lo, Charlie Alcock, Dave Smith, Wilbur WIlliams, Christ Bounds, Ken Schenk, etc.
Friends of my Dad who know i exist, but i personally don't know well
Jim Garlow, John Maxwell
16 comments:
Mate, I'm sure you're not into fame or numbers, but I still can't help but comment (you'll get used to me - I'm the opinionated one!).
These are all broken people, who sin, screw up, get things wrong, mess things up for others and get in the way of God's plans. They're just people.
Is your Dad a better man in God's eyes for pastoring a church of 900 than he would be for getting alongside 1 person?
Don't get caught up in the wrong way to judge success, I'm sure you're not, but it doesn't take much...
hey...get this...i have 360 degree leader (written by john maxwell) and he signed it.i met him two years ago...interesting character.too bad i'm not wesleyan,then maybe i would have been uber excited :)
Is there anyone missing? That should be there. Anyone at all?
Oh and world renown Brett Jones of course what was i thinking! boss, blogger, Rhema extrordinare!!
rachel for giving me a humble slapping, but i would have to disagree with you somewhat on this one. First off i just find fun and games amusing, so honestly this tangent was for my own self amusement rather than trying to establish myself as cool by association or by glorifying these people. Second, although we are all broken people here to play our part to glorify God(1 Cor 3:5-8), i don't think there is anything wrong with recognizing those who have lived their lives in a way to glorify they Lord. If i continue to only emphasize "special" or "important" people in my own eyes, please feel free to comment again, but i have no guilt praising any of these friends and people as amazing servants of God. Thirdly, if the word "famous" is what you are stuck on... depending on what you approach you take "Famous" throughout Proverbs and certain parts of the bible is often inferred as having a bad outcome or emphasis. I am neither trying to elevate nor belittle these people, i simple use "famous" to describe a person who is well-known and admired by a great number of people. Jesus was famous in this essence and although there was not his goal, it is okay to acknowledge him as such.
i meant to start that off with a "thanks rachel" as well.
Frank, Jacob & I just had an interesting chat about this one - don't worry, I got a slapping, which by the way wasn't what I was giving you. There's some cultural differences at play big time here.
I still think there's a message being portrayed here (quite unintentionally) that I find uncomfortable.
Welcome to the world of tall poppy syndrome ;)
Don't worry - my conversation with F & J is making me think a little about the whole concept of grace, and perhaps my need for a little more.
Like I said, you'll get used to my opinionated little self!
(oh, and not stuck on 'famous' by any means, just aware that you have an audience that could be influenced to think that numbers / popularity are somehow part of how God judges people). Like I said, cultural differences at play.
And if you're really talking about numbers, you should have my wife on your blogger list (she far outstrips Frank in visitor numbers) and of course FilmGuide..... hehehehehe
You thought I meant me? I'm shocked. But now that I'm here just let me say: "I won't ever forget the little people." That means you Jacob...
Rachel - of course Frank tried to talk you round - he appears here as a famous person!
But best of all Brent you are nearly in double figures with comments - soon you'll be here in your own right!
Just for you - double figure comments.
thanks, for the thoughts, it is fun to be pushed and questioned, and please always feel free to be open to share. Totally intriguing and i think you are correct in their being cultural differences at play here, but i don't understand them fully, so i am just going to describe my thoughts more fully.
I haven't deeply studied this, but just looking from the Bible i see both sides: Jesus refuses to be called "good", "teacher", and chastises the "Pharisees" for titles and a pompous approach, but other times he acknowledges himself as Christ, lets the people praise him with palm branches, calls John one of the greatest men of history up until that point, etc. I think it was the book, "Why Men Hate Going to Church" that just recently pointed out something interesting to me... When the disciples are in tension over the mom's request for her sons to be great, Jesus decides not to ACTUALLY CONDEMN them for the request which would seem the logical response to pursuing greatness, instead he channels this desire into servanthood and selflessness(Matthew 20:25-28). Recognizing greatness to me is okay as long as it ends in emphasizing God and others in the end(John 3:21). Human heroes and examples are okay here.
I share more from this side simply to give you more that you may not have thought about.
And just for future reference, some people give a lot of time and consideration into every blog they post. This is not the case for me. so please don't assume everything i write and its repercussions have been thoroughly thought through.
Interesting thoughts. And I'm with you on not putting a lot of thought into every post - you only need to skim my blog to realise that!
The dummy's guide to cultural differences (Rachel's revised version) - American: Ok to talk about the good in yourself & others, Kiwi: stick your head up and it'll get cut off.
There's a Rachel's revised version on most things... my old blog was 'the gospel according to Rachel'. But it's ok, Cession is knocking some sense into me, slowly!
Brent, just so you know, I won't chastise you for having me on your list ;) Feel free to add me to any such list.
Hey Jones! [Brett, not Rachel ;-)]
Who are you calling 'little'?! Is it the hairy hobbit toes?! Or maybe I'm not projecting enough height when we hang out...
;-P
thanks guys for making my day... i think we just tripled my comment total for the last year and i don't think i have ever been so entertained by reading the comments! i officially got the dummy's guide to NZ/US cultural differences, new short jokes, a new experience at sew-funky, and a pat on the butt from Frank. I have never felt so much love as i do at cession. (ooo..that's good... Brett we should quote that and put it on a cession brochure or something!?)
Having been at Skyline for eons, I do personally know both John Maxwell and Jim Garlow. They are both great people! I haven't seen Pastor Maxwell in a while, but see Pastor Garlow every week. One day Pastor Maxwell came into the Family store I worked at and decided he would just sign EVERY book we had of his. I love how Pastor Garlow isn't afraid to take a stand and put himself out there.
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