Brooke moved to Rapid City at the tail end of August last year. Upon arriving, one of the first things that we shared together was an eight week ballroom dancing class. Though this was new to both of us, it was a blast! Each Monday night we gathered together with our instructor and eight to ten other couples in a local gymnasium. Three of the other couples were in our age category, whereas the majority were a little farther along in years.

I spent most of week 1 getting used to the look of our instructor; he just wasn’t what I had expected. His appearance reminded me of the bigger guy from Of Mice and Men. He wore suspenders, dusty old shoes, definitely on the pudgy side, and looked like he just finished a day of hard labor moving straw with a pitchfork. The more I learned about this guy, the more intriguing he became. At one point his wife recounted the story to us of how Ritchie had gone from an evening janitor to a dance instructor. Upon her prodding he realized that would be a much more enjoyable way to make an extra buck. Later still I found out that this seemingly simple looking fellow was a vocal leader for the local Democratic Party. As it pertained to me, the key aspect of Ritchie’s wide-ranging abilities was that he was an incredible dance teacher. He was very clear and very patient.

Speaking of patience, this was something I needed a good dose of. When it comes to dance, it turns out that Brooke is not someone who is predisposed to following someone else’s lead! As we two-stepped our way around the dance floor, Brooke was pushing and pulling and doing everything except following. There were moments where I thought our first night of dancing together would be our last. However, about halfway through the evening something must have clicked. She started leaving the subtle nudges and guiding up to me.

Week 2 was the night that will be remembered as the time I almost decked Brooke. We were really getting into the jitterbug and enjoying learning some new turns and spins. Well the first time we attempted a behind-the-back-spinny-crossover-thing my elbow was a bit too far up and out and pretty much jacked her right on the forehead! So I got to give her a hard time for not following too well while she got to give me a hard time for attempting to knock her out!

In addition to the two-step and the jitterbug, we went on to learn some basic steps and turns of the waltz, east coast swing, salsa, rumba, and cowboy cha-cha. We took our skills public one weekend. We joined several dozen middle-aged to elderly folks in dancing at the local Viking Hall at the Canyon Lake Senior Citizens Center. It was hard to keep up with some of them, but I think we held our own.

I have come to learn that dancing has a number of upsides that are worth considering: physical fitness, meeting people & making new friends, enjoying quality time with a special someone, and simply enjoying yourselves doing something active.

In 1 Corinthians Paul makes it clear that we are to follow Christ, not this leader or that teacher. However, there is no question that certain teachers spur us on in following Christ more than others. I suppose we all have favorites, and for now here's mine: Rob Bell. Whether you're a long time Bell fan or you've never heard of him you should go check out Mars Hill Bible Church's website because they just launched a new site. It looks great and navigates very well.

After having listened to almost every Rob Bell message over the last two years via their website, read his book Velvet Elvis, and watched every Nooma video, here are my thoughts.

• Rob is both fresh and ancient.
• He makes the ancient world (READ: the world that our Scriptures were written in) come alive.
• Even so, he is incredibly relevant and leads us to life change.
• Everything is in the context of God's story of redemption, which we are invited into.
• Everything is in the context of community.
• He's funny ;-)
• Rob is an incredible communicator. I find myself not only learning about the Scriptures and God's call on my life, but also about how to effectively communicate.
• Rob is bold . . . simply check out "Calling All Peacemakers: Part 2" to see what I mean.
• Rob envisions a church that sees needs and meets them as a natural outflow of what it looks like to follow Christ.
• Rob is Christ honoring - as Christians our lives are about putting the risen Christ on display.

And you? Who are your favorite teachers? Who should I be podcasting that I might not even know about?

Labels: ChurchLife

My prediction two weeks ago was a 27-17 Colts victory. Actual score: 29-17 Colts. Even better! I couldn't be happier! What a ride!

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