Jesse Caro’s Blog
ENCOUNTER ~ REAL. RELEVANT. CHURCH

Sparrows are not a very valuable bird… at least not in man’s eyes. But I am struck with what Jesus says in the Sermon on the Mount. Talking about worry, trust and faith in God, He says that we should not concern over this or that. Why? Because God cares about Sparrows! And, if He cares for sparrows, certainly He cares, protects and prvides for us!

Kelly is phobic of birds. Petrified of them. Taking care of birds is not a concept she considers. “They are insignificant and can find another place to live other than our porch.”  Fair enough. God, on the other hand, is actually concerned for those very birds… those exact robins… those lice infested, invading, fluttering and diseased birds. So, why worry about the details of our life? He is in control. Why not give to Him? He will provide if we are faithful. Because God cares about sparrows.

The Gospel of Luke says that one could buy 2 sparrows for a penny. Apparently on a bargain day you could buy 5 for 2 pennies. That is a “buy 4 get 1 free” special. Luke also even says that God watches over Ravens (significantly less attractive than sparrows).  When it is all said and done, it is clear that the heart of God is interested in the most insignificant and undesireable of His creation. In the economy of Heaven, God has deep love for all His creatures. And, I am so thankful and comforted today with the reality that God loves me and protects me. Because God cares about sparrows.

I was at our Barnes and Noble yesterday. I had a gift card and had been looking for a good book to buy. Of course I was in the religion section minding my own business when… I hear this couple in the next religion aisle over.

“Yeah, I read that article in the paper. I was so inspired to read a positive article about a church that is serving the community”, said one college age girl.

“Oh yeah, I have been on the website and it looks interesting”, responded a slightly older lady.

“I even noticed their yard signs in the article… something about no perfect people allowed. That caught my attention”.

I realized immediately that I was eaves dropping on a conversation about a church I’m privileged to pastor. So, I politely peek around the corner with a simple: “sorry to interupt your conversation, but I wanted to introduce myself as the pastor of the church you are talking about”. These three people (a young couple and marginally older lady) were so blown away at the coincidence (or “God thing”, depending on your perspective). I explained where we were located and how honored we would be to have them be our guest.

I am pretty excited about the story. I’m excited because our church is beginning to sink in with people. It’s different in two ways: 1) you don’t have to pretend to be one thing or another to come and 2) we are a church that wants to reach out and serve the community around us. Simple. That basically defines our differences from other churches. We do alot the same, hopefully, as other churches: preach the Bible, stand on truth, love one another and Jesus, etc. Our differences, however, is what we want people to understand. That part of our vision is being made clear, and I am excited.

Sidestory: I didn’t buy a book that day. By the time I went to share this story with Kelly (who was in the kids book area with the kiddos) she had noticed Addison’s diapers had leaked… brown liquid. Yep, major diarrhea blowout. We quickly, but discretely, exited the building to clean the pungently smelly and drippy mess. That’s really another story!

Last night we saw The Proposal (Sandra Bullock/Ryan Reynolds).

I’m a fan of romantic comedies. But, as a genre, there aren’t many that I like. Here are the top romantic comedies ever (and in this order): Serendipity (John Cusack and Kate Beckinsale), As Good as it Gets (John Nicholson and Helen Hunt), You’ve Got Mail (Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan), and Something’s Gotta Give (Jack Nicholson and Diane Keaton). Really, in my mind, these are the only romantic comedies worth re-watching. Serendipity (great sound, track by the way), for example, is so funny and wonderful you could watch it two times in one day. As Good as it Get’s brings me to copious tears at the end… every time. After seeing that film I want to be Jack Nicholson. And, who does not love Tom and Meg (the chemistry!)?! These movies stand heads and shoulders above all others.

So, we go to see The Proposal and I’m expecting to be disappointed (like the other long line of terrible disappointments). I wasn’t! It was good. Great laughs, good chemistry, nice story, romantic in every way …complete with copious but subtle tears at the end. All the ingredients you need. Sure, it was not perfect… there were some things that could have improved it. But all in all it was terrific. Let me whet your appetite: the hillarious male exotic dancer scene is classic!

Don’t bother arguing my top four list above. There are few things over which I have been as convinced! But, I am now in the awkward position of rethinking the list and possibly making it a top 5. I could be convinced to shuffle the order about and shake it up, maybe even shuffle You’ve Got Mail down a notch or two. It might be the easiest thing to do. Two things, however, are certain: 1) Serendipity is safe as the undisputed, top romantic comedy ever and 2) Sandra Bullock may just have taken Meg Ryan’s place as the most charming, witty and warm actress for the romantic comedy genre.

I was surprised (and sad)  today to read that Billy Mays (of  Oxiclean fame) passed away in his sleep last night. Kelly and I have been watching faithfully “Pitchmen” on Discovery Channel this season.  This was his program where he and Anthony Sullivan would banter back and forth and agree to pitch someone’s product. It is, in our minds, one of the more funny and interesting programs on tv. If you have not watched it, you ought to.

Now, I was a bit sad when Michael Jackson passed a few days back. I was not a fan but respected the contribution he made to pop culture. Still, he had his terrible and dark side. Now, he consumes all media coverage today… despite the passing of others who have contributed to society… others who did not leave a legacy of hurt with minors/children. Billy Mays may not have impacted society like Jackson, but I’m saddened much more for his passing. Apparently he was a great man, good husband and philanthropist (and had a darn good show). Never met him. Never bought a product (except OxiClean). But, he lived a good life. Jackson on the other hand….

I will be off in a bit to buy some OxiClean and maybe watch a re-run of Pitchmen.  In the meantime prayers and blessings to the family!

Nationalized Healthcare? Seriously? I have a couple thoughts on this un-funny joke:

1) How could adding 40 million un-insured people save tax payer dollars. I mean, if the government is going to cover all un-insured people, how in the name of all things holy can they possibly make the case that we will save money. Even if the government went against their normal operating procedure of screwing things up… even if they streamlined the system, the addition of all those people will cost me more money than I am paying now. I did not get a math degree, but this one is too simple. Anyone (including the President) who tells you otherwise is taking you for an idiot.

2) Related to Point #1…how can we assume that the government would get nationalized health care right when their limited attempts at healthcare (namely Medicare and Medicaid) have been running deep red in debt for decades. If they ran that in to debt and mismanaged it, how could we trust them to do better with my healthcare. No way… they need to saty away from my healthcare. Listen, governement, if you can fix Medicare then maybe we could discuss healthcare. Until then, I will trust my doctors and the free market economy with my heart’s care.

3) If the senator’s of my state and the United States will sign on to the plan for healthcare that they propose… if they say are willing to give up their private plan, then  I might listen. If it is good enough for me, then the plan that they may or may not read should be good enough for them. If they are nervous about it for their health and their family’s well-being, then you should run the other way.

Anyone reading this blog ought to run as far from this as possible. Call your senators and complain. I would laugh if it were not so serious.

This Friday Kelly and I will have been married 10 years. As I understand it, John and Kate (”plus eight”) are getting divorced after 10 years. But here Kel and Jess (plus tres) have no such plans (you may be glad to know).

Indeed, marriage has been, in most cases, a ten year pleasure cruise (with a thrill ride here and there). In a way time has flown by and in other ways it has stood still. And, in some ways life has not changed much. I am thinking that we both still look 18ish… both are relatively the same size… we still enjoy one another’s company… and still like the same tv shows. Differences: 3 kids, more bills, a little wiser, more bills, have lived the last half of our marriage with just one car (ministry!)… yet more bills. But, in balance everything is good, I have a great life, great spouse, great kids, great health. So, Friday is a celebration of all things great (most of which has come because of my dear wife, Kelly). Happy Anniversary, us.

Well, after a couple weeks break (from blogging mostly) I am back. We got back from Myrtle Beach and I am juiced and ready to go, get back to work, change the world.

Myrtle Beach was just awesome. The kids had a great time as we all soaked up the sun, waves and sandy beaches. We got no less than 7 hours of beach/pool time everyday and have all come back with wonderful tans. Cool! Great food met us there as well, with a few pounds to show for it. But, for me it was a mental break and re-charging. On that front, mission accomplished. I was intrenched in a great book that spoke to me. It was exactly what I needed.

For now, I am back. Look for a great summer.

The family saw Pixars’ newest Up yesterday. I have to say that it was really good. It may be the most “adult” story of the Pixar franchise, in terms of it’s complexity. A 10 year old, certainly 6 or 7 year olds,  just will not understand the real drive behind the film in it’s theme of moving beyond loss. On the other hand, the movie was full of action and great chacracters that give the medium for kids of all ages to enjoy. The visuals were stunning as always.

The movie highlights for me a question I have had for years: how is it that Pixar films are always consistently great, while other production firms (Dreamworks) put out movies that are hit or miss? Why can’t they just put out quality films like Pixar? While I don’t know the answer, I suppose it has something to do with the time invested in making the films (as I understand it, Pixar films are worked on for years). Quality inevitably results.

Up is an example of a quality film. I tear jerker of sorts and a must see. Squirrel!!!!!!!!

My brother-in-law (Lane Holbrook) graduated today from medical school. He has been at the West Virginia School of Osteopathic Medicine in Lewisburg, West Virginia. Consequently, as we learned today, US News and World Report has acclaimed the school as one of the top schools in terms of training primary care physicians! So it was quite an honor to be a part of the celebration today. “Proud” doesn’t quite cut it.

Lane started this journey 4 years ago at the age of 35. Now, as long as I have known Lane he has followed the Lord with zeal. In fact (and I mean this very sincerely), he is one of the godliest people I know… certainly one of the people I respect the most. And, this process has deepened my (and Kelly’s) tremendous admiration for him. He was, 4 years ago, at a bit of a crossroads, aware that God was moving his life in different directions. As it turned out medical school would be the next path to tread. I imagine that it was not an easy decision, but when you follow Jesus you have peace for the journey, and in the end you just jump…. follow… dare to tread.

Doctor Holbrook will be a great doctor, of this there is no doubt. I can imagine  his personality and soft spoken-ness will lend to an excellent bedside manner. His bent to do things with excellence will make him a wise technician. His love for people will show up in an empathy uncommon among doctors.  And, when the day comes that he is practicing medicine in Lewisburg… when he is impacting the lives of hundreds of people…  Lewisburg will be poised to be the happiest and healthiest small town in America. Wait and see!!!

Lane, many, many congratulations for the marvelous accomplishment. May God grant you the opportunity to be an effective instrument to heal both the body and soul. Blessings always.

So here goes…

I saw the movie last night with some guys from the church. To cut to the chase, I thought that the movie was excellent. In fact, I would go so far as to say it was perhaps the  best sci-fi movie I have ever seen (Star Wars excluded). The visuals, of course, were terrific and the story even better. It was full of comedy, nostalgia, plenty of great back story and character development. The casting was unbelievably well cast and the Leonard Nemoy appearance was, to me, priceless. The dialogue was just fantastic, as well, full of memorable lines to please the fans.

Now, I am not a huge Star Trek fan (my allegeances will forever lie with the Rebellion not the Federation). Notwithstanding, I loved the original movie franchise (I-VI) though I stayed in the margins with the recent decade’s series’ (most notably TNG and DS9). But, I have always loved the original movies. The Wrath of Kahn, if you are a bright fan, is the best movie to date. I mean, I have tremendous portions of TWK memorized. But, this movie might very well take the taco. It was that good. In fairness, it is hard to be an impartial judge because the technology in both films have so much distance in between them (it’s like looking at the original Star Wars and the newer prequels).  But, take technology out of the equation (again, hard to do) and you still have a pretty tight race. At any rate, they are the two best Star Trek movies. Period.

The sad note for me is that last night I watched the best movie of the summer. Everything else is doomed to be a let down, and that is with a busy Summer season, full of promise, ahead of us (GIJOE anyone!). But, sadly, I will have to be content with ok movies (in comparison) from here moving forward. Positive note: with such huge support for the Star Trek movie, we will see part 2 in the not too distant future. And, the DVD release date will be an exciting day.