Where the hell is Matt?

Anthony Williamson in Song

The following videos feature the Rev. Anthony Williamson, one of my former student from Atlantic College. Enjoy!

"Lamb of God"

"Until Then"

Have Job, Will Travel

Since becoming a missionary, I've found that I do a lot more traveling than I ever did prior to becoming a missionary. This is partly due to work related travel such as deputation, conferences, and training. But also because for the first time in my life my wife and I both have full-time salaries (and frequent flyer miles) that allow us to go places that simply were out of the question back when we were students.

On a recent plane trip, I tore the maps out of the back of American Way magazine and checked off every U.S. state, Canadian province, and foreign country that I have visited during my lifetime. I've posted the results of that exercise below. The only criterion for including a location on the list as that I have actually, physically, been within the geographical boundaries of the stated state, province, or country in question. Places where I've actually resided are marked with an asterisk (*) and places where I have never gotten outside of the airport are marked with a number sign (#). I've also attempted to note the approximate date of my first visit to each location and, where possible, subsequent dates. For places I've been numerous times, I've simply used the designation "multiple visits." A date followed by a number sign indicates that the visit was an airport layover. Dates followed by an asterisk indicate dates of residence. As I continue to travel, I will make it a point to update this post on a regular basis.

U.S. States

1. Colorado* (1969-1993*, 1998-2000*, 2005-06*)
   
2. Wyoming (early 1970s, multiple visits)
   
3. Idaho (early 1970s, multiple visits)
   
4. Utah (early 1970s#, multiple visits)
   
5. California (1980, multiple visits)
   
6. Tennessee (1982#, 2002)
   
7. Washington, D.C. (1982, 1990, 1991, 2007)
   
8. Virginia (1982, D.C. area, multiple visits)
   
9. Texas (1982#, numerous layovers in Dallas-Fort Worth, 2009 Houston)
   
10. Nevada (1982, multiple visits)
    
11. Arizona (1982, multiple visits)
    
12. New Mexico (1982, multiple visits)
    
13. Hawaii (1985#)
    
14. New York (1990# layover in NYC, 2005 Rochester area)
    
15. Nebraska (1990, multiple visits)
    
16. Iowa (1990, multiple visits)
    
17. Illiniois (1990, multiple visits)
    
18. Wisconsin (1990, 2000, 2005 Green Lake Conference Center)
    
19. Minnesota (1990, multiple visits)
    
20. South Dakota (1990, multiple visits)
    
21. Ohio (1991#, 2005 Huntington, WV area)
    
22. Kansas (1993, multiple visits)
    
23. Missouri (1993, 2007)
    
24. New Jersey (1999, multiple visits)
    
25. Pennsylvania (1999, multiple visits)
    
26. Florida (2000, multiple visits)
    
27. Maryland (2004)
    
28. Massachusetts (2005)
    
29. Oregon (2005, Portland area, Vale area)
    
30. North Carolina (2005#, 2007# layovers on U.S. airways)
    
31. West Virginia (2005, 2007)
    
32. Georgia (2006)
    
33. Kentucky (2007)
    

Canadian Provinces

1. Quebec (2005, 2008)
2. British Columbia (2008)
   

Foreign Countries

1. New Zealand (1985)
   
2. Mexico (1987-88)
   
3. Dominican Republic* (1993-95*, multiple visits)
   
4. Haiti (1993)
   
5. Puerto Rico* (1993#, 1994, 1995-1998*, numerous layovers in San Juan)
   
6. Bahamas* (2000-2004, 2006-present)
7. Canada (2005, 2008)
   
8. Antigua (2007)
   
9. Jamaica (2008)
10. United Kingdom (2009#, overnight layover at London Heathrow Airport)
11. Italy (2009)
    

I've been tagged!

I was tagged by Observations of Africa.

The rules are:
1. The rules of the game get posted at the beginning.
2. Each player answers the questions about himself or herself.
3. At the end of the post, the player then tags five people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know they’ve been tagged and asking them to read your blog.

What was I doing 10 years ago:
Teaching English as a second language at ICPR Junior College in Mayagüez, Puerto Rico.

Five things on my To Do List today:
1. Get a repair estimate from the auto body shop.
2. Clear last semester's clutter out of my office to make way for incoming summer session clutter.
3. Write and send our April missionary newsletter.
4. Attend Tuesday evening Bible study at Emmaus Baptist Church.
5. Develop my listening comprehension by spending twenty minutes listening to the Bible on cassette in Haitian Creole.

Things I would do if I were a billionaire:
1. Set up endowed funds to finance Christian peacemaking efforts and cross-cultural missions efforts around the world.
2. Send my nieces and nephews to college.
3. Attempt to live simply so that others might simply live.

Three of my bad habits:
1. Country Music
2. Progressive Talk Radio
3. U.S. Presidential Politics

Five places I’ve lived:
1. Denver, Colorado
2. Durango, Colorado
3. La Romana, Dominican Republic
4. San Germán, Puerto Rico
5. Nassau, Bahamas

Five jobs I’ve had:
1. Fish Cleaner
2. Painter
3. Homeless Shelter Counselor
4. English as a second language instructor
5. Theology professor

Five books I’ve recently read (or am currently reading):
1. Michael Craton, Pindling: The Life and Times of the First Prime Minister of The Bahamas, (Oxford: Macmillan Caribbean, 2002).
2. Ray Bakke, The Urban Christian, (Downers Grove, IL: IVP, 1987).
3. Justo L. González, Three Months with the Spirit, (Nashville: Abingdon, 2003).
4. C. Eric Lincoln and Lawrence H. Mamiya, The Black Church in the African American Experience, (Durham, NC: Duke, 1990).
5. Harvie M. Conn and Manuel Ortiz, Urban Ministry: The Kingdom, the City & the People of God, (Downers Grove, IL: IVP, 2001).

The five I tagged:
1. Earth as it is in Heaven
2. Mental Slavery
3. Christ My Righteousness
4. Blogworld
5. Ponderings on a Faith Journey

So this is why only one person reads my blog . . .

ACME Hair Grower

Ever wonder if a product like this actually works?

ACME Hair Grower is guaranteed make short hair long in a flash.

Let's give it a try . . .

The instructions say we must begin by applying the entire bottle to a dry, clean scalp.

Then we wait for five minutes and . . .

By golly, it works! It really works!

For more information about this or other ACME products, click here.