So what was the best part of yesterday?

Was it getting to preach from the middle of a boxing ring again? That was good, but not the best.

Was it being led in praise and worship by the band, choir, and brass sections of the Good Shepherd music ministry? That was good, but not the best.

Was it going to the Y right after the 3rd service for my traditional-bordering-on-obsessive after church workout? That was good, but not the best.

I think the best was part was leading a small group of 4th & 5th graders in our Sunday evening ministry called The Bridge. That particular program bridges the gap between children's ministry and our BigHouse youth ministry.

I had five kids in my group. They were full of energy, mischief, laughter, and . . . insight. We contrasted what the world sees as a "winner" with the ways in which Jesus was and is history's ultimate winner. His victory didn't come through bling, fame, or fortune. It came through sacrificial love.

And I think the Bridge kids got it. I might have gotten it, too.

In any event, it was a good reminder of what -- and who -- is truly important in the course of a pastor's Sunday.

Here's what Wikidepia says about a Standing Eight Count:

A standing eight count, also known as a protection count, is a boxing judgment call made by a referee during a bout. When invoked, the referee stops the action and counts to eight. A boxer can take 3 standing eight counts in a round. During that time the referee will determine if the boxer can continue.

It was designed to protect boxers by allowing the referee to step in and give an overwhelmed fighter an eight-second respite. Standing eight counts by the referee are scored the same as a knockdown, whether the boxer was knocked down or not.

So it happens when a boxer is "overwhelmed" -- dazed, paralyzed, but not out of the fight altogether.

In other words, the way a lot of us adults get when we are around our parents.

The ways that parent-child relationships evolve when the child becomes an adult are fascinating indeed.

Especially when the "child" has to care for the parent in life's last days.

We'll explore some of those challenges and blessings this Sunday as The Fight Of Your Life continues.

Ringside seats available.

8:30. 10. 11:30.

On Saturday morning, I went to a seminar that our church hosted called Class Matters.

Led by Paul Hanneman of the Urban Ministry Center and Wanda Anderson of Crisis Assistance Ministry, the seminar gave a framework for understanding the vastly different mindsets of people living in chronic poverty and those who are comfortably middle class. We wanted the people of Good Shepherd -- especially those who will work with Room In The Inn this winter -- to have an awareness of these issues.

I came away with more than awareness. Some of the best new insights:

• When middle class people think of food, they ask, "will it be good?" When people in poverty think of food, they ask, "will there be enough?"
• People in the middle class take hygeine for granted. Yet we pay a great deal for cleanliness: water, a place to have privacy, all the items needed to clean our clothes and our bodies. People in chronic poverty often do not have access to those items we deem essential.
• Morality is abstract. Survival is concrete. Chronic poverty is about survival.
• The role of men in poverty: lover & fighter. Not provider. The role of women in poverty: martry & rescuer.
• People in the middle class look to achievement as a measure of success or happiness. People in chronic poverty look to relationships instead.

Class matters. It really was a class that mattered.

On most Sundays, I like to have one element that will make people do a double take.

The kind of thing that will make them say to themselves, "I can't believe they're doing that in church!"

For example, our Fight Of Your Life series started with the band playing Survivor's "Eye Of The Tiger" while clips from Rocky flashed on the screen. Not what you'd expect at a Methodist church.

In fact, I found out that a woman in attendance last Sunday called her husband during "Eye Of The Tiger" (um, I normally discourage cell phone use during the service, but this was cool!), so that he could hear what he was missing over the cell phone.

It's an unorthodox way of inviting someone to church, but I'll take it.

Because when you do the unexpected, you can expect an impact.

We've got a couple of "I can't believe . . . " moments coming this Sunday as well.

Make sure no one has to call you to let you in on the surprise.