About Me
I am first a person whose journey with God and others is the orienting center of my life. I seek to share openly of this halting, faltering discovery of the story of God in everyday living.
I can be contacted personally at earthlytents@comml.imap.cc
After 22 1/2 years as a pastor of a Philadelphia area church, and almost two years in New Zealand at Laidlaw College in Auckland, New Zealand, I am located in Dallas, Texas, as the International Director of ALARM (African Leadership and Reconciliation Ministries). ALARM is an organization that seeks to restore communities that have been devastated by tribalism and warfare.
My wife, Naomi, is an amazing person with whom I share my journey. I am blessed with two special children whom I love and admire--Ben, a web designer living in San Francisco Rebekah, our daughter, a singer/actress in Texas.
My passions: reading, popcorn, writing, photography, walking, time with friends and family, thinking about the problem of evil and suffering, peace building and reconciliation, living out the gospel in a postmodern world.
I love basketball, and watched a lot of the pro games when I was in high school and college (I watch college ball mostly now). I remember when Manute first came to the NBA, he was, for lack of a better word, a spectacle, much the way Yao Ming was a few years after that and the way Wilt and Kareem were before that. The plight of the big man.
The NBA has had many players who knew how to use their bodies to get their point across... Charles Barkley, Shaquille O'Neal, etc. ... but none were more notorious than Bill Laimbeer of the Detroit Pistons. He was by far the bully of the league which was a shame because the only thing that exceeded his point scoring and rebounding were his fouls and cheap shots. My first glimpse of Manute Bol was a game against the Pistons where he proceeded to pound Laimbeer into the ground like a railroad spike after receiving a particularly cheap shot that the refs did not see. A very tall and bulky guy, Laimbeer had finally gotten on the wrong side of somebody bigger and learned a valuable lesson about the effect of gravity on two very large arms coming down from above you. Laimbeer played a clean game the rest of the game and did not get in Manute's face ever again.
On top of his heart for people far exceeding his height and his numerous humanitarian causes, he also knew how to deal with bullies. Because of his humanitarian causes, he will join the likes of Roberto Clemente for his aid to Nicaragua and Yao Ming for his helping China after their recent earthquake. Bol went a step further in his efforts to raise money for Sudanese refugees going so far as to accept celebrity appearances that were degrading (boxing William "The Refrigerator" Perry... and winning) or silly (suiting up as a jockey for a horse race or playing one game as a minor-league hockey player even though he couldn't ice skate) just so the publicity he could generate for the event would raise money for his charitable foundation. In an era of sports figures behaving badly, it's good to know that Manute will be remembered for far more than blocking shots.