Goodbye to 40, Hello to 41

January 17, 2012 by [Fight Pastor]

Yesterday, I turned 41. My 40th birthday was pretty epic. Yesterday was but a blip on the radar. I have been told that 41-49 are fairly anti-climactic. If not unmemorable.  Fortunately, as a blogger, I can’t reflect and record, for posterity sake, my memories from these years. Starting another tradition, every year, the day after my birthday, I am going to look back on the previous year and highlight my top ten memories.

The challenge will be to find 10 highlights from each year. Lets see how I do. These are in no particular order.

  1. Israel.  I have always wanted to take a trip to the Holy Land. For many reasons, money, time, political unrest, I haven’t had a genuine opportunity until this year. It was especially awesome because I was able to share the experience with my wife.
  2. Vacation with Di to Hawaii. Both Di and I turned 40 in 2011. For her 40th birthday I surprised her with a trip to Hawaii. I had arranged everything all the way down to childcare for the kids. Since I only gave Di a week notice it took her several hours to mentally adjust to leaving so soon (and trusting I had really take care of all the details). Everything worked out and it was a blast.
  3. Hawaii (again) with the kids. Di and I had such a great time when we went, we decided to go again a few months later with the kids. In preparation for the trip I watched Lost with the kids. They became Lost fanatics. Besides spending hours at the pool, their favorite past time was visiting all the different Lost sights. Another cool part of the trip is that my parents decided to join us at the last second.
  4. UFC 126 and The Super Bowl in Las Vegas. My brother-in-law and I started a tradition a couple years ago where we take a bunch of guys to the Super Bowl in Vegas. The UFC always has an amazing fight card that weekend too. It is always an incredible experience. In 2011 we went with a great group of guys. It was an awesome time. They say a picture says a 1000 words. I don’t know what this says but it sure reminds me of Vegas.
  5. The New Building. Our church had outgrown our building. We were in desperate need of a place to have services until we were able to complete our construction project on Highway 9. Unfortunately that project was going to take about 4 years. We were out of options. God provided an AMAZING solution. The building by Boeing is a miracle.  
  6. Ream and Run Surgery. If you pain even a remote amount of attention to my blogs or my Facebook you are well aware that I had my shoulder replaced in November.
  7. Advanced Coaching with Church Leader Insights. In October, I began my third year of “coaching” with Church Leader Insights. The previous two years I flew out to New York once a month. This final part takes place in Orlando. The coaching network has made a profound impact on my life and my church.
  8. Cage Fighting in the USA. Several times throughout the year, a film crew from Current TV flew up and interviewed me. They spent several weekends taping our services and talking with fighters I chaplain. In December the episode aired. I have had an average of 5 contacts a day since from people watching the program. It was the most positive portrayal of our church and our Fight Pastor ministry yet. I was very encouraged!  
  9. My daughter made the high school soccer team. I can’t believe that my baby girl is in high school. She has grown up into an amazing young gal (I couldn’t say woman. It was too much.) This year she tried out for her high school soccer team and made the JV squad. She started every game at outside mid. I was so proud. Now I need the years to start slowing down before she goes away to college.  
  10. Travis Kerwin aka Kermit got engaged. I have known Travis since he was in junior high. He turned 30 this year. Travis has been a part of every ministry I have led. He has been a huge part of Fight Pastor. The only thing missing from Travis’s life was Mrs. Kermit. Finally, God moved several mountains and brought Rebecca into his life. I haven’t seen him since. Be careful what you pray for.  
  11. Took Elijah to his first UFC fight. My 11 year old son, Elijah, is just as obsessed with MMA as I am. He watches every fight with me. He knows every fighter. He has been begging me to take him to a fight for a long time. Since Vegas is no place for children he had to wait until the UFC finally came to Seattle. They did this year. Elijah was able to sit ringside!  

I tried to keep it at 10 but couldn’t get it below 11. Having 11 highlights in one year is pretty amazing. Turning 40 has been great. A great year for me, my family, and my church.

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Cage Fighting In The USA

December 19, 2011 by [Fight Pastor]

Just finished watching the special, Cage Fighting in the USA, on Current TV. I wanted to take a moment and share my thoughts. I have to be honest and say I was nervous how my church was going to be presented when I saw the trailer. I was blown away by how positively they presented our church and our MMA ministry. So quickly my thoughts…

It was awesome. I loved seeing our worship pastor lead worship on national television. I loved seeing clips of all the fighters who are a part of our church. I loved the footage of Tim getting baptized. I loved that my dad was shown wearing a referee jersey.

Most of all, I love the way Jesus was represented. Our mission with Fight Pastor has always been to make Jesus look good. I think that happened.

I know the camera puts on 10lbs but after seeing that, I need to lose 20….

Also wanted to mention that Emma also attends our church. For whatever reason that was not shown in the special.

I want to thank Mariana van Zeller and Alex Simmons for presenting me and my church in a fair manner.

In case you missed it, here is the link.

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Fight Pastor Insider

December 19, 2011 by [Fight Pastor]

Tonight in about an hour a special called Cage Fighting in the USA will air. It is an hour long special about how MMA is becoming a mainstream sport in America. I was interviewed multiple times for this special. With all the media attention our Fight Pastor ministry has received over the years I have come to understand the misconceptions that arise. I figured I would address them before I have even seen the special.

To be honest, I have no clue how they are going to present me, our MMA ministry, or our church. In anticipation here is an inside glimpse at Canyon Creek Church, Fight Pastor, and me.

Relationship with Current TV:

This past summer I was approached by Current TV about a special that was going to focus on faith and mixed martial arts. They wanted to focus on our local ministry and some fighters that were in our church. This request came right after the fighters in the picture above got baptized. I agreed to do the interview.

The film crew flew out and spent the weekend interviewing several fighters who attend my church. They also filmed our church service and then interviewed me after church. Several months later they came back and filmed at our church again. After that service they interviewed me along with one of our fighters. At that particular time the fighter shared with me some news about a life altering decision he was making. I had no previous knowledge of his decision, which I still believe is a very bad idea. His decision was sprung on me while the cameras were rolling.

I love Tim. I ignored the cameras and ministered to him as I would have had they not been in the room. I was very candid. I have no clue how that will be portrayed. Just be aware that Tim and I met for about an hour. I love Tim. I believe in Tim. I also believe there is a battle going on for his life. As his pastor I will fight for him, just as I would for anyone else in my church. I hope that is accurately portrayed.

What about turning the other cheek?

After any interview I get bombarded by people who are shocked that I am involved in MMA. They quote Matthew 5:39 and say Jesus said to turn the other cheek.

I believe in the principle of turning the other cheek. If someone wrongs you. Don’t return evil with evil. Don’t wrong them back. If someone lies about you. Don’t respond by lying about them. If someone offends you. Don’t offend them back. Be the bigger person. Turn the other cheek.

This has NOTHING to do with MMA. MMA is a sport! It has regulations. It has rules. It is a combat sport. I have no issue with an MMA fight within the confines of a sanctioned event. I am not for professionally trained MMA fighters getting into a fight outside of a sanctioned event. Just as I am not for an NFL player getting into a fight in a bar. Or a hockey player picking on someone outside of a shopping mall.

MMA is a sport. A combat sport but a sport. I grew up loving boxing. My loved for boxing has evolved into a love for MMA. I grew up loving watching Mike Tyson fight. I still have the Kid Dynamite Sports Illustrated issue. I now love watching Anderson Silva fight.

Are you a fighter?

This is the biggest misconception people have about our Fight Pastor ministry. They think I am a pastor who fights. No, I am a pastor who ministers to fighters. I do not, nor will I ever compete in Mixed Martial Arts. I am a 40 year old man with 3 kids and a bad shoulder. My opportunity to compete passed by me long before the first UFC event.

So I am a pastor who enjoys watching MMA and loves people. My love for people and MMA has allowed me to minister to a great number of fighters. I am their pastor.

Do you have fights at your church?

No, we do not have live, actual fights at our church. We could never insure such an event. We do, on occasion, pay for the licensing rights and show a pay-per-view UFC event on a Saturday night for the community. We haven’t done this for awhile though. Our next scheduled event is in January.

So what is Fight Pastor then?

Fight Pastor is our chaplaincy ministry to mixed martial artists. Fighters have coaches, managers, promoters, and trainers. Those individuals do a great job training the fighter and managing his career. But who helps with their spiritual life? Who helps them when they are struggling with something in their life? Who steps in when they are having marriage issues? That is where we come in. We have no desire to manage or promote fighters. We are simply here to support fighters. We are here to meet the spiritual needs of fighters.

We attend their fights. Pray for them before their fights. We support them win, lose, or draw after their fights.

So you have a church of fighters?

No! We have a church with fighters in it. Most of those fighters are married and work other jobs. They attend our church along with 800 other people. I consider it one of the greatest privileges of my life to pastor Canyon Creek Church. Our church has many different ministries to our community, our MMA ministry is just one of them.

Final Thought:

I am not sure how you feel about MMA. I am not sure how you feel about a pastor being involved in MMA. If you have a personal conviction to the contrary, I don’t have a problem with that. I unapologetically enjoy MMA. I unapologetically love people. Those two passions have grown into a pretty cool ministry for me. We call that Fight Pastor.

Here are a couple other blogs I have written that might interest you:

Fighters Who Love Jesus

Breaking the Silence

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Never Back Down 2

October 25, 2011 by [Kermit]

I recently rented the movie Never Back Down 2 The Beat Down from the Red Box. There are very few things that I would ever complain about paying $1 for, such as tap water, candy bars, chewing gum, stamps and now this movie.

I bought the first Never Back Down movie for $4 in a back alley flea market in Central Mexico; I liked it because it was a Mixed Martial Arts version of The Karate Kid. My expectations and excitement levels were as high as Lindsay Lohan on the freeway.

The first thing that drew me to this awful movie was the director/actor Michael Jai White. Most people would think of the guy who played Spawn in the movie from 1997, not me. My mind flashed back twenty years and I got him confused with Jaleel White, the kid who played Urkel in the show Family Matters.

Once I realized I wasn’t going to watch Urkel catch someone with a flying knee-bar, the movie went down hill faster than the Georgian Luge team.

*************Spoiler Alert**************

Four strapping young lads all wind up training under Case, a former World Champion who now lives in a motor home in a lumber yard, or maybe a garbage dump, or shipping yard, it wasn’t important. Each of these young men share a difficult past, as well as a lack of body hair. There is Mike, a former All-State wrestler who is angry at his dad for leaving his mom for another man. Word of this gets out and he often  gets picked on about it which causes him to fight angry. Zack is a former boxer who is forced out of the sport due to partially detached retinas, so he decides to train for an underground, unsanctioned MMA tournament as a safe alternative. Justin is a long haired, dorky kid who works at a comic book store. One night he is walking home when he is attacked by three bullies. After they stab him, he stumbles across Case’ “training camp” which is a pull-up bar, a punching bag, and a section of carpet set up next to his RV. Justin has all the anger issues of being picked on his whole life and does not know how to channel that energy so he lashes out. He is later kicked out of the dojo for brutally attacking those hooligans who beat him up in the beginning of the movie. The last fighter we meet is Tim, or Ted, who cares, his name isn’t important. He is played by former UFC fighter Todd Duffee. He is the giant with the heart of gold. One night while waiting for his mom to get off her shift at the strip club, he stops a fight and is offered a job as the security chief on the spot. He agrees to take the job as long as the boss fires his mom so she doesn’t have to work there anymore. I’m not really sure why that scene was in the movie.  I met Todd Duffee in Las Vegas before his fight with Mike Russow. I asked him to say “Hi this it Todd Duffee, check out FightPastor.com” into a camera. He looked at me, looked at the camera and said “NO!” Come to think of it, Rampage did the exact same thing to me. After I wiped the big boy tears away I went out and got plenty of other fighters to talk to the camera and make me feel validated as a man.

The think I did not like about the movie, besides not having Urkel, is that they only show 3 angry kids with troubled pasts training for an underground unsanctioned fight.

Real MMA takes a lot more training and discipline than these movies are willing to show.  Some of the best fighters in the world are college educated family men who don’t live to fight but rather they fight to live. I believe the Warrior had the best depiction of a true MMA fighter who  is played by Joel Edgerton, a teacher with a wife and kids who is fighting to keep his house. Movies like Never Back Down make MMA look like human cock-fighting which is one of the main reasons it has taken so long to become what it is today. The only good thing about the movie, besides the 2 minute scene with Not-Urkel practicing Karate with Lyoto Machida for no reason at all, is the fact that Eddie Bravo was brought in to help with the jiu jitsu to make it look more believable. There were some great submissions in the movie.

If you are looking for a movie to watch and feel great about yourself, watch the Care Bears movie because Never Back Down 2 left me wanting less.

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Nuff Hotels Already

June 23, 2011 by [Fight Pastor]

Whenever anyone at my church or any of my friends hear I am going to Oahu they inevitably encourage me to visit two iconic Oahu locations. Both of these locations happen to be on the North Shore around the town of Haleiwa. If you have ever been to Oahu you have likely made the trek to one or both of these historic North Shore landmarks.

Your friends have likely told you that no trip to the North Shore is complete without a pitstop at Matsumoto’s for their world famous shave ice. People make it sound like, in the entire world,  you can only buy shave ice at this one place. The first comment my kids made about their shave ice experience was that it was a snow cone. While these are better than a snow cone, I am not sure if I was staying in Honolulu if this would be worth the hour and a half drive. There are also about a dozen shave ice places in the small town of Haleiwa. You almost have to wonder why they don’t get any street credibility!

Though I don’t find Matsumoto’s shave ice terribly exciting, I find myself there at least once every time I am in Oahu. It is a historic landmark. You have to experience it.

The other historic location is the famous Ted’s Bakery. Everyone says they have the best donuts. “Their coffee is amazing!” “I stop there every morning!” “You have to try their world famous chocolate haupia cream pie!” So, of course, every time I stay at Turtle Bay I have to stop off at Ted’s a few times during the trip. In reality, the coffee is OK. The donuts are about as good as what you can find at Albertsons. (I suppose they taste better because you ARE in Hawaii. Everything seems to be much more glorious there.) This past trip I tried the chocolate haupia cream pie. It was good.

If Ted’s was in Seattle, it probably wouldn’t stay open for longer than a month but you HAVE to stop by there if you are staying on the North Shore. I couldn’t imagine a trip not going there.

I would like to add a third North Shore iconic stop. The famous “Nuff Hotels Already” sign. I have stayed at the Turtle Bay Resort three different times. Each time I anticipate seeing the hand-painted landmark that lets me know I am almost to my “vacation home.” Since some time, someone, somewhere decided Ted’s was a place you have to stop to get coffee and Matsumoto’s shave ice is a required refreshment. So they started telling their friends, their friends started telling their friends and so on… Until finally, these little hole-in-the-wall dives became as prominent to some visiting Oahu as the Pearl Harbor Memorial or the Dole Pineapple factory.

I would like to start the “NUFF HOTELS ALREADY” photo opportunity trend! So next time you travel to Oahu and make the drive up the Kamehameha Highway to the North Shore, be sure to pull over and get a quick photo at the “NUFF HOTELS ALREADY” sign. Just like Matsumoto’s has the greatest shave ice, Ted’s has the greatest pie, this is the greatest photo opp sign EVER! You can find it just a few miles north of Ted’s Bakery.

Your Kamehameha Highway expedition should not only include stops at Matsumoto’s and Ted’s but also “NUFF HOTELS ALREADY.”

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