A walk in the park

Redirect

2009-02-14T08:49:00.000-08:00

The redirect is coming soon! This is officially the last post. So get your rss feeds switched, get your blogrolls updated, and get used to the knew location 'cause soon this is no more.

THE MOST IMPORTANT BLOG POST OF MY LIFE

2009-02-11T23:02:00.000-08:00

As you can tell by my subject line and my use of all caps (as a side note, do y'all have any of those people who email you in ALL CAPS? I hate that, I feel like they're yelling at me) this blog post IS VERY IMPORTANT. I would even venture to say that it's a MUST READ.
Because...in two days time...this blog will no longer exist! That's right folks I'm switching to wordpress! So switch over your rss readers, update your blog rolls, change your bookmarks 'cause this is happenin' baby. The new site is a work in progress for sure, but I'm ready to stop trying to divide my focus. I'll miss you blogger...

I've had so many posts that I've been wanting to write, but my blogging time has been spent trying to figure out html stuff, server stuff, and all sorts of other things I don't really care about but had to figure out. Here are some posts you can look forward to reading on my new page in the next week as I get them cranked out:

I heard Shane Claiborne speak last week and it was amazing. I can't wait to tell you more!
I want to tell you all about the church that Jess and I will be planting in 2011
Our new diet: the Yes We Can-dida diet
I would like to regale you with anecdotal stories about my childhood
A remember the good times post about my blogger blogging days

So here she is folks. Read and enjoy!

Ch-ch-ch-changes

2009-02-04T10:37:00.000-08:00

It's rare that a student goes beyond his teacher. It takes a very special student to do so. You know that principle right?
Whether we like it or not we are shaped by our parents choices and behaviors. Some value this, some ignore it, and still others fight against it. But regardless of your viewpoint the reality is that the choices your parents made affect the choices that you make today. I've got one friend whose parents made terrible choices while he was growing up and so his "rebellion" was to make really ridiculously responsible choices. I feel like I've been blessed to learn from my parents early-life poor choices with money because of their openness on the subject. But it doesn't usually end up like this. Anyone who has taken a psych class can tell stories of how alcoholism, sexual abuse, physical abuse, etc by parents all directly affect the next generation of children.
I say all that to say two very different things:

Introducing people to Jesus and serving as guides on their spiritual journey of following Christ is a hugely miraculous process. It's a miracle that it even happens. Because you're asking people to make new choices and practice new behaviors that they were never taught to do. And I'm not just talking about the "churchy" things like getting up on Sunday morning, reading your Bible, fasting, etc. (though those are all hard practices that should be learned) but I'm thinking more about "simple" things like talking to your wife respectfully even though in your home that was never modeled. I'm talking about relearning what is normal and what is abnormal, that maybe the experiences you had as a child are actually extremely abnormal and twisted but you just never knew it. I'm talking about not having sex unless you're married to the person. I'm talking about not getting wasted when you drink. I'm talking about not getting into debt and only spending money that you actually have. The list could go on and on. When Jesus asks us to live responsibly, to love endlessly, to rejoice always, and tells us that every person carries dignity it requires lots of changes that are often times completely contrary to what our core being "tells" us is right. I hope that all the exciting church planting happening around us will be marked not just by people giving their lives to Jesus for the first time but by lives of discipleship marked not by perfect behavior but by a journey that reflects growth and maturity and transformation. You know what we need? We need more godly mentors and disciplers!
And my second and completely unrelated point is...how can we expect Americans to not be completely and overwhelmingly in debt when they're simply doing what their "parents", the government have modeled to them? It takes a very disciplined and dedicated child to make choices that the parents won't make. God bless Dave Ramsey for helping people make those tough choices! And maybe one day we can hope (or vote) for a government that at the very least stops spending more than what they make.

Poker

2009-02-02T07:59:00.000-08:00

I played poker with some guys from our home community yesterday during the Superbowl (good game wasn't it!) and it's still making me laugh. First off let me say that I don't really play much. I mean I know how to play poker and I understand the gist of Texas Hold 'em, but I've played hold em like twice in my life.
It's just so funny to see how seriously people take it! If someone deals a card off the table or something you've got to redeal the whole hand. One guy accidentally dealt the dealer first and once realized, even though we had already started betting the hand had to be redealt and started over. There's all these code words like "blind", "double trouble", and "noodle wrap" that make no sense to me. Some wouldn't ever show their cards if they lost. They refused because it would give us an advantage to how they play or something like that. You have to try not to joke too much or talk too often, not that the guys I was playing with would get mad if I spoke. It's just an obvious faux pax to use words too often.
Don't even get me started on Texas Hold Em being on ESPN, that's just rediculous. Don't get me wrong, it was a lot of fun...it's just different...and funny.

Cool ad

2009-01-31T18:50:00.000-08:00

This add was rejected by NBC to run during the Superbowl. I understand their point. But it's a really good and simple add.

Some Letter Writing Details

2009-01-28T20:51:00.000-08:00

I thought I'd take a moment to give you a rundown on what I've down thus far in my 2009 fund raising efforts. I'd love to hear if you've got any input, ideas, criticisms, etc...
So far if you're on my list you've received:

An official fund raising letter
A stamped and addressed response postcard
A follow up phone call from myself or my calling team (though, lets be honest we left lots of messages!)A stamped and addressed envelope
A handwritten follow up card
A Christmas family photo
A stamped and addressed envelope
A typed up job description note included with previous mailer
A newsletter
A stamped and addressed communication postcard asking how I can best connect with you (email, texting, facebook, etc.)
And we've got our facebook group

Is that overkill? That's all since December of '08. I hope at the very least people realize that I'm really excited about the work that I'm able to do!

Top 12

2009-01-27T21:13:00.000-08:00

Here are some good resources for you. I don't use them all religiously but I recognize the usefulness/creativity of all of them.

1. This is a cool little scheduling webapp that's worth checking out.
http://www.rememberthemilk.com/

2. Diddo from number one.
http://www.nozbe.com/

3. I haven't gotten to play around with this one yet, but I can see its potential...and I think I like it.
http://www.empressr.com/

4. I'm working my way through Financial Peace University right now, so this webapp was quite intriguing. It's very easy to use and worth a peeksipoo.
http://www.mint.com/

5. Want to send out mass texts easily and without charges? This is the way to go. It's going to be a lifesaver for me.
http://3jam.com/

6. This is just for your churchy folks out there. But it's a very easy to use webapp, simple, and practical. It helps churches track important information and such.
http://www.churchmetrics.com/

7. I personally won't ever use this...I don't think. But if this fits your style of thinking it would be great. It definitely looks nice and seems fairly simple.
http://bubbl.us/

8. This one is fun. You must play.
http://www.mrpicassohead.com/

9. This webapp gives you piece of mind if you're a hardcore blogger.
http://www.bloggled.com/

10. I've got an account for this. I like it. It intruigs me. But I don't use it at all. We'll see where I end up with this one.
http://friendfeed.com/

11. Up until last week when facebook stopped updating my status via my phone this little guy was great. It updates your twitter feed through facebook.
http://twitterfeed.com/

12. Best news site ever. Period. I don't care if it's fair, balanced, or accurate. It's down right fun and that is no lie.
http://doodlebuzz.com/

Oh there are so many more I'd like to share. As I've learned from my friend Jonathan webapps are where it's at...especially a free one.

Simply Amazing.

2009-01-27T00:12:00.003-08:00

I'm sorry to post two videos in a row. But this touched me in a very deep way.

Goodbye Forever PJ

2009-01-26T15:06:00.000-08:00

I made this video to honor Paul and Julie as they left us for their church planting venture in Canada. Goodbye PJ. Sorry for the poor quality. In no way does the poor quality of this video reflect the manner in which I'm trying to wish Paul and Julie good riddance.

Dear Canada, please enjoy PJ. Please don't mess them up like you've messed everything else up that you've put your hands on...like health care.*

* Please note that I don't know what I'm talking about and I wrote it simply because it makes me laugh.

Strategy Lab

2009-01-21T23:18:00.000-08:00

I don't have much time to write much of anything. I'd tired. Real tired. The first two days of strategy lab have been wonderful so far. The dream that Jess and I have been talking about for over two years is starting to be put on paper for the first time and is transitioning from a dream to a vision (dreams have no plan to accomplish them while visions are a future reality).

I can't wait to share more. Most of what I'll share about strategy lab however will come through our newsletter...so...join my facebook group or sign up for email updates in the box on the bottom of the sidebar!

If you live in or near Vancouver make sure you come to the Kairos church planting event this Saturday at the Vancouver Church of Christ. There will be a presentation of seven different church plants that have been crafted this week. Some of them won't be launched for a couple of years, some have already begun in some stages, and others will be starting in the upcoming year. We are just on the edge of some seriously exciting times. I hope you're on board with what God's doing in church planting!!!

Peace.

Would you Rather

2009-01-17T14:42:00.001-08:00

First off, I can't stop typing "www". I know it's unnecessary but I just can't seem to stop!

On with the post! I've got a couple of hypothetical questions I've been mulling over in my head that I'd like to present to you.

Would you rather...

Watch someone die from stab wounds or eat McDonalds hamburgers for lunch every day of your life?
Be bald or have your favorite movie be Short Circuit?
Have razor blades in your home instead of carpet or have a live goose growing out of your chest?
constantly be picking your nose in public or be married to your mom?
Be married to your dad or breath coolaid instead of oxygen?
Speak Vietnamese or chop wood on the weekends?
Have your vision be as if you were always wearing binoculars or be attracted to eagles?
Be an armless lion tamer or squirt grape juice out of your eyes when you blink?
Be nicknamed the Chubby Keyboard or beat up a girl (if you're a girl insert your own random statement here)
Have your nose shaped like Texas or smell like Tuna?

The Butch Chicken

2009-01-16T09:15:00.000-08:00

Jess grew up on a fake farm. It wasn't a real farm where her summers consisted of waking up at 4:30 to milk the cows or something. But at different times she had chickens, goats, cows, pigs, turkeys, horses, etc. And she hated it. She hated feeding the animals. She feared the chickens because they'd chase her and try to attack her. The pigs stunk. Horses aren't fun to ride. Canning makes her hot. Cooking is a hassle. She just wasn't into the whole farming homemaker thing.

I didn't grow up on farm (though occasionally as a jr. high kid I'd go to Jess' house and torment the Turkeys so that their little turquoise blue neck dangly thing would grow until it hit the ground.) We did, however, always have chickens for whatever reason. I never liked them and tried to avoid them at all cost. Really my only memorable interaction with the chickens was when I got to cut the head off of one. I believe that the reason was that the "chicken" ended up being a rooster. You see, when chickens are just chicks its often easy to mistake a rooster for a hen. And then when they grow up and you realize that they're a rooster you've got to get rid of them in some way (because it's illegal to have a rooster within city limits).

With all that said...

Look at us now! What happened! We've got chickens in our back yard. Worms in our garage. Home made jellies and applesauce in our cupboard. What's next? We're becoming the dirty hippies that our parents always pretended that they weren't!

And to top it all off, one of our hens turned out to be a rooster...or at least we thought it was...until it laid eggs this week! Turns out it's just a butch chicken.

Books, books, and more books

2009-01-14T22:24:00.000-08:00

I'm in trouble. Today I decided to go through my book shelf and make a list of all the books I currently own that I want/intend to read or reread in 2009. This is not including the books that I really want to purchase or the books I've already finished this month. I'm in trouble because this list is way too long! I've got to get crackalackin. Here they are in no particular order and with no authors names because I'm too lazy. Want to add anything to this?

1. God’s politics
2. The Soul of politics
3. Moby Dick
4. 7 habits of Highly Effective People
5. Evangelism after Christendom
6. Jesus through middle eastern eyes
7. Organic Community
8. Divine Conspiracy
9. Connecting
10. Meet the Rabbis
11. Our Father Abraham
12. Ordering your private world
13. The Temple and the Churches Mission
14. Giving and Stewardship in an effective church
15. Overcoming the dark side of leadership
16. The gift of being yourself
17. The Necessity of Prayer E.M Bounds
18. Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
19. Seizing your divine moment
20. Boundaries
21. The E Myth Revisited
22. Creating a Healthier church
23. Jesus wants to save Christians
24. The Prophetic Imagination

Prayers for Jonesy

2009-01-13T15:52:00.000-08:00

Hey will you take a moment to pray for Jonesy? Both Jones and India have been sick on and off for the last two weeks. Ear infections, throwing up, not sleeping, etc. Fun stuff. It makes me remember how wonderful my wife is.
Anyway, Jones has had a fever now for 13 days and he's acting more sick now than he has the whole time. Today the doctors finally did a blood workup, urine analysis, and chest xray and found out that he has pneumonia in one lung. It's still strange though that he has had a fever for so long and...well, just pray that he gets better soon!

Thanks.

Awesome

2009-01-10T23:10:00.001-08:00

Hip Hip Violin And DJ - The best bloopers are a click away

The Compact, Folgers, and Jesus

2009-01-07T10:59:00.000-08:00

We're done! We did it! It's finished!
That's right folks, if you don't follow my twitter or facebook status updates then you won't know that Jessica and I completed our commitment to The Compact. If you haven't read what I've written about it in the past then just know that it was a commitment to not buy anything new for 2008 (there are a few exceptions like underwear and such).

I'll be honest and say that we broke the compact a couple of times. We've got some family members who would have found a used Christmas present offensive, we needed a few art/craft supplies to make some gifts, etc. But in general the biggest problem to this whole Compact thing for us was that we just forgot about it. After a while we got so out of the habit of going to stores or looking to purchase things that we forgot that it was even a commitment that we had made. It became a moot point really. Another problem was the amount of money that we spent at Goodwill. Goodwill is terrible if you go there looking for one specific item, but if you show up looking for a great deal it's amazing what you can find. Virtually all of Jones' Christmas pressents were from Goodwill and they were all amazing deals. Jeans at Goodwill are expensive, used Duplos are not.

If you are wanting a challenge for 2009 I highly suggest joining The Compact. It has changed Jessica and I. We are not the same. While we have had absolutly no discussion as to if we are going to continue the challenge over 2009 (sick kids have slowed down our discussion a bit) I have no doubt that The Compact has played a part in transforming how we view stuff, money, shopping, used things, giving, and gifts.

Through The Compact I feel that I've learned that I don't need things. Most of the things I "need" seem to fade away if I stop thinking about them for a week. I've learned that you can find nearly anything used or recycled if you're patient. I've learned that even if you don't buy your kids toys they can still have a playroom overrun with toys! I've learned to not throw things out as quickly. That scrap of wood from that broken desk could make a perfect...(fill in the blank)...I've learned that advertizing sucks. It teaches me to think that I'm unhappy and that your product will make me happy. Regarding that idea I'm still in the process of evaluating how that idea of advertizing has affected my view of Jesus. Isn't the gospel (good news) more than just a product to be advertized? Think about it, doesn't the general "Jesus pitch" go a little something like this:

You're life is incomplete. You're lacking purpose, hope, peace, etc. You've got a god-shaped hole in your life that only one thing can fill. And that one thing is the message of Jesus...etc. etc. etc.

Isn't that the same thing that Folgers tells me? Folgers says:

You had a terrible night. You couldn't sleep, you just tossed and turned all night. And now it's morning and the last thing you want to do is wake up. Work is going to be stressfull today and that terrible alarm won't leave you alone! Life is miserable! You're lacking energy, joy, and peace! You know what you need? You need that wonderful smell of Folgers coffee. The moment you smell that coffee you smile, get out of bed, see your wife downstairs holding a steaming cup of coffee and you know instantly that you've found what you're looking for.

I'm not sure what the answer is, but I'm uncomfortable with the observation!

One final thought...Renovatus is just starting up our first Financial Peace University course and we're going to have 30 people crammed in a little coffee shop on 164th! How awesome is that?!?!

Isaiah 61 Fund Raising,

2009-01-05T11:56:00.000-08:00

God is so funny. I mean, that should be a no brainer right? Anyone who comes up with boogers and naked mole rats has to have a sense of humor.
For me December was filled with fund raising work. Writing letters, calling people, addressing letters, folding letters, writing followup letters, etc. It's been tiring, stressful, and in some ways actually enjoyable. Right now we sit at a little over half of our desired $30,000 goal, which as far as I'm concerned is pretty good.
Here's the thing I want to share. The $15,000 in pledges we've received thus far didn't come from a couple of wealthy families who gave massive donations. Rather our support has come through dozens of people, poor people, pledging monthly amounts of 30, 50, and 75 bucks. We've had people who aren't followers of Jesus, people who are near broke, people who have never really practiced the discipline of giving before, young people, and piers all give generously to our work. It has been a blessing and incredibly humbling to see how people are sacrificing to support Jessica and I in our work with Renovatus and our preparation toward a daughter church plant.
God has chosen to make this fund raising a direct mirror of the ministry that we're raising money for!
Keep us in your prayers and please please please sign up on the right side of my blog if you'd like to begin receiving our monthly updates. Thank you to all of you who have given money, time, and prayer.

The List

2009-01-02T14:50:00.001-08:00

I'm making a list.

Checkin' it twice.

And soon I'll find out if I'm frugal or wise.

Tax season's comin' to town!

That's right folks, it's that time of the year again, the time that I wait for all year long. It's time to open up a word document titled "tax return wish list" where I get to list off everything that I can't afford to buy in normal life...but at tax season all of a sudden I've got some spending money. Don't get me wrong, paying off school loans, tithing, and saving are all a part of the list. But the list also includes things like a new vaccume, new printer, and maybe a used book or two. Usually we start pretty honestly. There are a few things, like me going to the dentist, that should be on the list. But by the time we make it to Karen's desk to do our taxes the list has grown to include new underwear, a new monitor, a zoo pass, among other things! Oh how I love tax season! As a matter of fact, I love tax season so much that I think I'll write a poem about it...

Tax season tax season I love you.

Tax season tax season you are so true.

True to your promise to bring me great joy.

True to your commitment to buy me new toys.

Pay off some bills, that I will do,

Buy me some crap might fit in too.

My shoebox full of reciepts is worth the trouble

When I'm done filling it's time for my fafsa on the double.

Double bubble, doublelicious

Double the trouble, double trouble, double double double double.

Doop didie doo doop dee dah doo.

A few good sites

2009-01-01T16:05:00.001-08:00

Here are some random website resources from a few creative non-profity types:

2009-01-01T09:25:00.001-08:00

Happy New Year!!!

PS how do you like my new layout?

Sympathy for Jesus

2008-12-27T15:43:00.000-08:00

I downloaded this song from Noisetrade and I was so intrigued by the words. Check 'em out...

I came stumbling into church with a hot gun in my hands

I was ready to talk to Jesus to tell him my demands

But Jesus ain’t no fool, he’s seen this kinda thing before

And He had a couple angels stop me at the front door

I said now come on that ain’t fair, you should be accessible to all

He said everybody gets a secretary even just to take their calls

So address me to my face if you think you’ve got the balls

But I ain’t playin around, boy, at all

This was not what I expected so I stiffened in my stance

And I tried hard to remember every single shitty circumstance

Then I quivered like a victim with his predator in sight

I was ready now to vindicate, I was ready to start a fight

Now you can stand right there and judge me,

shoot, you can send me straight to hell

I know you got the power, I know that fact full well

But before you do explain to me, Why suffering and why death?

And why did I pray all those years and waste all that good breath?

Hallelujah, Hallelujah

Well the angels sang it under their breath by the door

Hallelujah, Hallelujah

I give up, I can’t go on like this any more

Well I appreciate your kind, he said and then Jesus poured a drink

My face musta looked funny cause he said, It’s not like you think

I’m saddled with the job you know of interpreting my Dad

To a bunch of frightened people, frightened or just mad

And most of ‘em think they got it right and then he threw some ice cubes in

But most of ‘em are just dead wrong about life and death and sin

And then I got my fiancee, she’s 'sposed to speak my mind
But sometimes she’s just chicken and then she messes it up other times

Merry Christmas!

2008-12-25T10:45:00.000-08:00

I love Christmas music. I do! Don't get me wrong, I've got my rules. No xmas music before Thanksgiving, no crappy xmas music, and no over the top new renditions of classics. But give me a little Barenakedladies singing God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen, Avril Lavigne singing Oh Holy Night, and anything from Amy Grants Christmas album and I'm quite jolly.
Here's thing though, for me Christmas time is an excuse to celebrate the birth of Jesus, the beginning of God's inbreaking into the world in a new revolutionary way, and all that good stuff. So when I sing Christmas carols the reality is that most of the songs I sing reflect that story. Obviously there's the occasional Rudolph story or Frosty the Snowman, but in general most songs are about Jesus. I say all that simply to make the point that I've got an excuse for singing Christmas songs. Singing songs is a part of the Christian tradition. It's worship, it's a way to learn the story, remember purpose, ect. We do it every Sunday. But if we take away that excuse, or if you don't have that excuse, then can't we observe that Christmas music is a little wierd? Couldn't we say that it's just a little odd? What other holidays or occasions do we have a whole genre of music dedicated to it? Sure on our birthday we have one special traditional song that we sing, and on Halloween there are a few creepy or goofy halloween songs. But at christmas we have whole radio stations dedicated to it's glorious music. If it's not about worshiping Jesus one might argue that we actually just worshiping the holiday itself! (and worry not, I'm trying to argue that Christmas must be about Jesus and that all of you who do not follow Jesus are missing the 'reason for the season'. I actually believe that all we Christians are doing is reinterpreting a holiday season to give it purpose that has meaning for us. So I would not be inclined to be harsh towards others who want to reinterpret the Christmas season toward their own purposes).

Ok, I've gone on long enough. I just think that our infatuation with all things "christmasy" Santa, carols, the 'spirit of Christmas', elves, tinsle, etc. is kind of silly. Though I think most things that I/we do are silly if we really step back and look at thing with a Sienfeldesque eye.

I hope your Christmas was amazing!

Just What the Doctor Ordered

2008-12-23T00:45:00.000-08:00

The Christmas season is supposed to be about the things that are important. And yet I, like you, get so caught up in the busyness of the holiday season that I'm too busy to every reflect or enjoy the actual core important things that surround this season. So I think it has been just wonderful that we have been hemmed into our homes by a little snow storm here in the NW. It's forced me to slow down, sit around, play a game or two, and play more with my kids. Not only is snow amazing and beautiful, but it's also been emotionally refreshing...I'll give the credit for snow to Jesus.

Jesus, you da man.

Fantasy

2008-12-21T20:27:00.001-08:00

I generally try to avoid sports talk on my blog even though I love sports quite a bit. But I realize that it doesn't appeal to my general readership.
But I've got to sound off here real quick. Guess who, baring a miracle, will win both of his fantasy football leagues as of tomorrow?! Yep, that's right, I'm talking about myself. In one league I finished first and then carried my momentum straight into the playoffs where I dominated myself to a first place finish. In the other league I barely made the playoffs. In fact I was so bad that I decided to name my team Moxie Machine after my friend Jonathan's business (he happened to be in first place in this very league) hoping it would bring some success. Well, I made it into the playoffs and then proceeded to dominate my first place friend in the first round of the playoffs on my way to another championship!
I think it's obvious, but it must be said...this year...I'm the balls.
Three cheers for Moxie Machine...and...three cheers for Team Windex Firefox...hip hip hooray!

Truth

2008-12-18T10:24:00.000-08:00

Truth can be an annoying word can't it? So often it's something that's argued over, that's fought over, and must be defended. The truth! The truth is often defined as whatever it is that I believe that I must try to get you to believe. The truth is that Jesus is the only way and if you don't believe this then you're living in lies or falsehood. The truth is that I am rigth and you are wrong. Truth. Stephen Colbert has coined the word "truthiness" to mean something that people know to be true instinctively or from the gut. The famous line spoken by the Truth himself "know the truth, and the truth shall set you free." can often get misinterpreted as "knowing the right things, ideas, and concepts will bring freedom." Is that true? Is that accurate?
While much of that might be a good description of truth, it is incomplete. When Jesus was talking about being set free by the truth it was within the context of obedience, of action. "Knowing" the truth might be better said as "living out of the truth". The reality is that there are things that are true of you, of me, of our world, our or experience, of God, of sin, of...there are things that are true of all those things that we ignore (by choice or by ignorance) and instead live out of a lie. The truth is that God will provide all I need, but act as if God has promised to give me all I want. The truth is that I am a beautiful creation intended for creating more beauty in my world, but I act as if I was created for self fulfillment and for destroying the world around me. The reality is that having sex with multiple partners destroys the precious inner self we were created with, but we live as if temporary pleasure is all that matters. The truth is that we were created for community, but instead we try to isolate ourselves from others. The truth is that every single person is loved by God, but I act as if there are certain people whose choices are so twisted that they should not be loved by me or anyone else let alone God. There is so much truth that we need to not just choose to believe but choose to experience.
The truth doesn't necessarily need to be fought over, argued about, and defended but rather needs to be experienced, shared, given, lived out, and embraced.
Are you living out of the truth?

Lick my Ear

2008-12-17T09:06:00.001-08:00

I just got a grandma Cooper flashback...
I remember when we (me and my sisters) were little and we'd be at my grandma's house she'd always warn us about letting her dog (or any dog for that matter) lick our hands or face. "Dog's have very dirty mouths" she'd warn us. But do you know what her alternative was? She suggested, and she was not joking, that we allow dogs to like our ears. You don't touch your ears often, your ears won't share as many dog germs as your face or hands might, and you won't ingest as many germs if the dog only licks your ears. Your ears!?! Do you know how hard it is for a nine year old boy to get a dog to lick his ear? Do you realize how goofy that looks? Go ahead, try to get a dog (or any animal for that matter) to lick your ear right now. Go ahead. I'll wait...
Good ol' Grandma Cooper...so many good stories.

My Wifes Post

2008-12-14T21:56:00.000-08:00

I'd like to post a blog that my wife wrote and then covered up with another quick post. I think it's a great expression of her heart and inner struggle and I think it's of value for others to read. It's long, but I hope you can enjoy.

Lots of changes in all the plans that I have been making over the pat couple of months. I don't know if you remember the plans for the foster baby? Well, if you haven't guessed they are on hold. With Ryan intending to go back to school, we felt like adding another baby to the mix would be a little much. We were also advised by some past foster parents to maybe wait until our children get a few years older. I do know there will always be the need and really do look forward to when we will be able to care for a little baby until their parents become equipped and desire to do so. Moving on...

(Hey Ashtin, I tried to call you tonight. Do you not have an answering machine hooked up yet?)

I am sure, if you have been reading Ryan's blog at all you know we are in the middle of fund raising for this next year. i don't know what my deal is this year...usually things like fund raising make me excited and anticipating, watching what God will do and really expecting that He will do something great. But this year I have been quite the downer. I am anxious about the whole thing...strangely stressed and not really invested or wanting to hear updates or keep up with anything. And it seems as though instead of praying and seeking God, I am trying to figure out solutions on my own. How can I make money? Or thinking maybe we should look into different jobs. I have even found myself being angry with Ryan and wishing he would have just been a normal minister in a church that pays him, instead of after over three years of work, just having a one year long part time salary...that we had to raise. The problem with this anger is that (besides that fact that one should not be angry at their husbands...in general) WE chose this ministry, not just him. Anyway, I have been in a really down place about this all.

I have been trying to put a finger on what it is that is causing this shift. This frustration and general lack of faith. I have come up with a couple of possibilities. One might be that this last year was rough financially. Not like "my marriage and all of life is barely hanging on" rough, but more "living several thousand dollars below the poverty level in a expensive city is really hard" rough. The thing is that i think my family has actually been blessed through this and most of the time I don't even view myself as someone who is poor...I feel I make sacrifices, but never poor. I think we have gained a healthy view of materialism and finding happiness without having an excess of things (although we do have a lot). But at the same time I really do have pity parties and get in a place where I think..."seriously a girl sometimes would like anything new that fits or not have to feel guilty over spending $2 dollars on a coffee with a friend." Usually I do not dwell in this place long, because God humbles me and brings my heart around, reminding me that I have it SO much better than millions of other people. This time though I think I have been in this spot a little longer and maybe it's because I am looking at another year of this same very simplified living and maybe it is because of the season. It has been so much easier for me to stop wanting so much by just stopping to shop all together. But now with the Christmas shopping it reminds me of "what I don't have" or the fact that "my clothes are no longer in style". (this would be an interesting thing to explore deeper in the future...how, when we are not in a place to compare with others and their things, is everyone more happy? if we stopped putting ourselves in places that told us we want more, would we not want it anymore? i think so...) Isn't it interesting that something can bless us so much and be so hard at the same time. I wish that our nature wasn't such that we had to continually put our hearts in check. Wouldn't it be easier if we could just make a decision and have a conviction and stick to it without having to continuously rededicate. So this might be one reason.

Another reason is that I have ideas of how things should go. I really feel that I have good ideas and plans...wouldn't it be best if God would just align himself with them? \In the past I don't think I really grasped the extent of how God's plans are usually much different than ours. I have always know this, but this year in obedience to him i experienced it. Man it is hard sometimes...but would I have changed it? i think true faith that requires us to actually trust that God loves us more than we love ourselves and that he really does know and want better for us is so hard. I have discovered though that hard living in God's plan is peaceful and blessed and beautiful...living a little easier in the present, but not in God's will may seem easier to bare, but you miss out on so many blessings and your life can never be as truly beautiful. Even after saying all this and really believing it, I am at the place right now of having to follow what I believe even though i don't really want to. Hard.

Sorry if it feels as though I am dumping, i really think it is just refreshing when Christ followers will be real and open about the journey that faith actually takes and I always want to be honest with you.

Now, for today, we don't know what God has in store for us in 18 days, when our funding is essentially gone. We don't know where God is wanting Ryan to go to school or how we will pay for it. We are unsure where we will be living after February or weather or not i will be working. But I do now that the last sure thing we did know is His calling for us here working for renovatus. I know that he loves us and following Him will ultimately bring lives of beauty that we ourselves could not have composed. I know that God provides for and blesses his children in more ways then they can understand. And I am choosing to live out of that in faith...weather or not my heart feels up to the challenge. Pray for me that I will step out in faith again everyday.

Hadley

2008-12-12T09:32:00.000-08:00

So I just wrote a pretty decent post that now I need to bury because we just received word this morning that Hadley Fox has passed away.
Hadley was an amazing little 8 year old girl who has been fighting against a malignant brain tumor since she was 4. Her life was filled with different surgery's and treatments trying to save or prolong her life.
Amazingly she died the day before there was to be a "going away" party/fund raiser for her at Cascade College. Please, if you hadn't intended to come before, please make a point to set aside 2-4 tomorrow to celebrate Hadley's life and raise money to help with her medical bills through doing many of her favorite things.
For more info you can go to www.hadleyfox.com

Trancending

2008-12-12T09:06:00.000-08:00

Is it possible to be funny in a societal and relevant way for longer than a decade? Think about it, Robin Williams, Steve Martin, Jim Carey, Billy Crystal, Dana Carvey, and the list goes on and on. Some of you think these guys are still funny, but your the minority, society as a whole has decided that these guys are no longer funny. And if we were to be honest we could probably list anyone on the cast of Saturday Night Live from it's first fifteen years, anyone to ever star on In Living Color, and anyone with the name Chevy.
Why is this? Can no comedic actor transition with the humor of our culture? Is it that hard? Because I'm pretty sure I've been funny my whole life.
Please prove me wrong, who can we look to as a beacon of light as a transcendent figure of humor in our world? And please don't waste my time with guys like Bill Cosby. I know he's lovable, I know he's funny, but anytime you end up hosting Kids Say the Darndest Things you know you're no longer the cultural icon of humor that you once were.
Is this an impossible task?

Computer Case Head

2008-12-10T22:52:00.000-08:00

Ok, I'll admit it...I love the Sting, Bryan Adams, and Rod Stewart combo in One For All (and all for love) from the Three Musketeers movie. It makes me want to cry I love it so much. For some reason it stirs up in me a nostalgia that isn't actually there.
On a separate note, my son is super funny. He's decided that he wants to be a church planter. But not the kind of church planters that tell people about Jesus, no, he's the type of church planter who sets up and takes down all the church stuff. And when he turns into a man at the age of five he's going to marry his friend Audry. And he made up his own costume. It's called computer case head. Check him out if you'd like. I've got more pictures, but most of them show his naughty parts.

Gabriel and the Vagabond

2008-12-08T12:18:00.000-08:00

My brother-in-law Ben showed me this and you've got to watch this. Very powerful.

A Must-Read Blog

2008-12-05T19:04:00.000-08:00

This happened nearly a week ago, and it's long, but it's so worth your read. If you haven't received this email then you've got to read it. Stan Granberg spoke these prophetic words via email:

“Closing strikes blow to Pacific Northwest” is the lead article in the December The Christian Chronicle, On October 27 the Oklahoma Christian Board announced that Cascade College would close its doors on May 31, 2009. The Cascade College administration and board and the board of Oklahoma Christian worked with integrity as they made this decision—still—it is a sad one. Here are two quotes from the Cascade website (www.cascade.edu) that explain the closing:

“The college is closing because, after many years of effort, it has not been able to identify an academic operating model that is compelling and sustainable.”

“In addition, we have seen a significant decline (down 40%) over the last 5 years in enrollment of students from the college’s primary constituency—Churches of Christ.”

Cascade College began in the fall of 1994 on the campus of its predecessor Columbia Christian College, which was founded in 1956 and closed in 1992. There are many reasons that can explain the closing of these two in the Northwest United States. But for me, there is one compelling thought:

Cascade’s closing is a real life analogy that represents the health and well-being of the Churches of Christ on the west coast.

The two quotes above are really quite revealing. The first quote speaks of developing an “operating model that is compelling and sustainable.” Cascade College, like many of our colleges and state university campus ministries, began and operated on the premise of being a safe place for our children to explore their faith as they transitioned into adult life. Fair enough. I experienced that myself at Harding University and accepted that mission with joy when I taught at Cascade College. While that “closed-system” model worked in the 20th century, it does not seem a viable model for the 21st century.

Twentieth century America was a “Christian” century in our country. Christian faith and church was an active and vital piece of the social fabric. That’s why there was such an explosion of new churches across America following World War II, of which we benefitted dramatically. But in the 21st century Christianity is relegated to the outskirts of Western society. We’re no longer in a majority position, but a minority one.

Here’s what this means, we must see ourselves as a missionary force in our own country rather than a maintenance force. Our schools and our churches are challenged to shift from a stance of preservation to one of being salt and light, yeast and leaven, among God’s lost people. Our reason for existing is challenged to reorient itself from “maintaining our own” to serving others so they can experience the redemptive presence of God in their lives.

The great thing about this is that those of us who have jumped into this new, 21st century paradigm find the biblical relevance of such missional living amazing, almost intoxicatingly so. We are seeing the living hand of God active and engaged in people’s lives. He is showing himself in the most unexpected events, among the least expected people. We are seeing that God lives!

The second statement refers directly to our fellowship. The number of Cascade College students coming from Churches of Christ dropped 40% over the past 5 years. Why? I know of six congregations that closed in the Northwest in the last two years. We expect to hear of this in greater numbers and more rapidly in the next ten years. There is simply neither the numbers nor the will within our fellowship in the Northwest to sustain an institution like Cascade at this time. Will there ever? That’s one of the decisions we face.

“Hey, but Stan, that’s just the Northwest. We’re doing just fine here in our church.” Consider this. Since about 1985 Churches of Christ in America have been on a growth plateau—same number of churches (about 13,000), same number of members (about 1,300,000). Consider this though. In 1985 the US population was 238 million people. Today it is nearing 306 million people. That is roughly a 30% increase in number of people. That means for the past twenty-three years while we stayed at our 1985 size our impact on the people around us devalued by 30%. Did it hurt when you saw your 401K devalue by 20% this year? A 30% devaluing of our spiritual relevance ought to drive us to repentant tears.

Jim Collins in his brief volume “Good to Great: The Social Sectors” speaks of the need for organizations to “confront the brutal facts.” If the facts above did not speak clearly enough, let me do so now. As a fellowship we are at a watershed time. We are at the point to decide whether we will face the new world around us with the creative abilities with which God has so abundantly endowed our fellowship or we can choose to ignore the brutal facts and stay warm in our blanket of complacency. It’s our choice. This is the time. There are no tomorrows left to us.

And by the way, expect to read of more school closings. Am I being a rainy-day prophet? No, I just know the numbers. It’s time to make a change. The world lies before us; God walks among us; a great heritage lies behind us. Why wouldn’t we want to attempt good and great things for God?

What can you do? Kairos is working with over a dozen new churches with more in the planning stages. We have planter couples who have been assessed, who are moving into their respective mission fields, who are looking for churches to partner with them financially and physically to plant these new churches in new places for new people. Is your church ready to take on the missional role of a partner church to support these couples?

Would you, personally, be willing to support these couples financially? On their prayer teams? As a spiritual mentor to one of the men or one of the women?

Drop me a line at sgranberg@kairoschurchplanting.org if God is moving in your heart and you want to do something different. Become part of a growing movement of missional people and churches who have already made the decision to be 21st century Christians for 21st century America.

In Christ,

Stan Granberg
Kairos executive director

Can God Provide?

2008-12-03T16:40:00.000-08:00

Last year at this time Jessica and I were fund raising for a salary for 2008 so that we could work full time with Renovatus. God was gracious enough to not give us the amount of money we asked for and instead gave us some piddly little amount that, coupled with working two days a week at Outback, gave us enough to live off of for exactly one year. God is good.
But if you haven't noticed, 2008 is almost up. Yep, that means that we are right now in the middle of another fund raising push. This year our goal is to raise enough money to actually have a "normal" full time salary. Letters are out (you might have received one), calls are happening, money is being pledged. Two weeks from now I'll have some sort of clue as to what 2009 will look like. Will I be full time with Renovatus? Will I be full time with Burgerking? Will Jessica have to work? Will we be above or bellow the poverty line? Hmm, I wonder...so many possibilities, so much potential!
Today, however, a buddy and I were studying Philippians and we came to the realization that outcomes are up to God. I know that's probably said quite often from a podium or in a small group discussion. But that's the thing about the Bible, that's why it's called the living and active word of God at certain points, at the right moments it comes alive in just the right ways. So my "job" (according to the apostle Paul) is to grow in love, deepen in knowledge, and to continue in pursuing what is truly important.
Money will come if God so desires. The outcome is really up to him...but I hope his outcome includes enough for a brand new Wii for me!

Door Knocking

2008-12-02T11:47:00.000-08:00

I know it sounds bad, I know it's got a terrible reputation, I know Renovatus isn't that kind of church. But last Sunday we went...DOOR KNOCKING!!! (insert looming music here)
It goes like this. Every Christmas we partner in something you might be familiar with called the Advent Conspiracy. Pretty much it's all about putting Christ back in Christmas (insert appropriate laughter here for bad corny joke). The Advent Conspiracy is about spending less, being more purposeful, sacrifice, and remembering that Christmas is more than just about consumerism and Santa Clause. One of the ways that we practice the Advent Conspiracy is through a warm clothing/blanket drive that we invite our neighborhood to partner with us in. So, last Sunday we went door knocking and invited our neighbors to join in the Conspiracy with us. Last year was our first attempt at doing this, and after last year we realized that our neighborhood was hungry to partner with us. Granted you get the occasional jerk, but in general people are eager to give, eager to know why we're doing this, and eager to wish us success. As a way to empower our neighbors to engage in the Conspiracy in a greater way we also give them an advent calendar that we've created. On this calendar each day gives a different suggestion for how to live out the Christmas season with purpose and intentionality.
Next Sunday afternoon we'll go around and actually collect up all the clothes and blankets and such. It should be fun.
I know door knocking is a faux pax, I know it's old school, I know cool churches don't do it...but...well, we love our neighbors and our neighbors don't seem to have the same disdain for what we're doing as we do.
Maybe next week we'll hold a gospel meeting.

What makes my home community amazing.

2008-11-29T20:28:00.001-08:00

Let me tell you about my home community (small group). It's amazing. We're all completely different from each other, few of us should be friends let alone doing life together in a progressively more real way. It started nearly two years ago when Chris and Christie were a part of a spiritual discussion group that a friend and I started. Christie is a Seventh day Adventist and Chris was the dude who opened up the school for us on Sunday mornings. He was not into Christianity at all and he sometimes still isn't (it depends on the day). Well that group went well for a period of time and eventually morphed into what we have now. Christie and Chris were joined by Aaron and Brittany who I met at Outback a few years back. One day you'll read their life story in a book that is recommended on Oprah's book club. I'll have to blog about Aaron and Brittany another time, the story of how we met and grew together is to strange and funny. Just know that they are an intriguing and wonderful couple. The six of us were then joined by three other young couples who are all young and married and most often pregnant.

I couldn't tell you what makes the group work. I can't tell you how long it will work. This group is like a dangerous chemical compound that could react in an explosive and destructive manner or it could bond into something useful and amazing. At the very least, for the first time in our married life Jessica and I are beginning to feel like we have a circle of friends we can call our own.

So what makes my home community amazing:

Broad ownership. I don't know how this happened, but eventualy-finally-this group is not just my group but our group.
Food. The meal we eat together has turned into the most important thing that we do...hmm...I wonder if the Bible has anything to say about the value of "breaking bread" together...
Growing Common Purpose. The discussions are happening, the awareness is growing, and the concept of us having a common group identity is becoming tangible.
Honesty/authenticity. We're still not there yet. You know what "there" is-it's when honesty becomes so core to the group that whose people become the ones you can tell anything to, who you go to first when something happens, etc. We're getting there though.

Following and Aborted Babies

2008-11-24T12:26:00.000-08:00

Two things:

Read my wifes blog. She beat me to the post that I wanted to write.
If you read my blog please say so by clicking the "follow" link on the right. That way I can feel better about myself! I've got a stat counter folks, I know how many people read...and it's about time that y'all come out of the woodwork!

Mano Ray

2008-11-19T11:09:00.000-08:00

Check this out. This was a buddy of mine in Portugal. I actually helped teach him English!

Mano Ray: Don't be shy from uptown_studio on Vimeo.

Words Nearly Forgotten

2008-11-17T23:43:00.000-08:00

So I was going through some old journals the other day when I stumbled upon a journal from when I lived in Portugal. Jess and I had just started dating in January before I left for school and then Portugal in July. While we were in the middle of this two year long distance relationship I was trying to imagine what reuniting would look like, how we could grow so much as individuals and yet still be compatible as a couple after all of our unshared experiences. After all our travels would she still be mine? Out of this thought process I journaled these words...

Dear Journal,
Now that shes back in the atmosphere
With drops of jupiter in her hair
She acts like summer and walks like rain
Reminds me that theres time to change
Since the return from her stay on the moon
She listens like spring and she talks like june

Tell me did you sail across the sun
Did you make it to the milky way to see the lights all faded
And that heaven is overrated

Tell me, did you fall for a shooting star
One without a permanent scar
And did you miss me while you were looking at yourself out there

Now that shes back from that soul vacation
Tracing her way through the constellation
She checks out mozart while she does tae-bo
Reminds me that theres time to grow

Now that shes back in the atmosphere
Im afraid that she might think of me as plain ol jane
Told a story about a man who is too afraid to fly so he never did land

Tell me did the wind sweep you off your feet
Did you finally get the chance to dance along the light of day
And head back to the milky way
And tell me, did venus blow your mind
Was it everything you wanted to find
And did you miss me while you were looking for yourself out there

Can you imagine no love, pride, deep-fried chicken
Your best friend always sticking up for you even when I know youre wrong
Can you imagine no first dance, freeze dried romance five-hour phone
Conversation
The best soy latte that you ever had . . . and me

Tell me did the wind sweep you off your feet
Did you finally get the chance to dance along the light of day
And head back toward the milky way
Thank you for always listening dear journal
Signed- Ryan*

* Please note that a majority of this post is bs and must be disregarded as a random blog post thought up on a boring bus ride. While I do have a deep love for my wife, while our distance relationship in Portugal was miserable at times, and while it is about time to write a post about how wonderful she is...this is not that post.

The Compact Revisited

2008-11-15T21:05:00.000-08:00

If you didn't know, about six months ago Jessica and I joined "The Compact". We agreed to forgo purchasing anything new. Everything we buy, aside from a short list of duh things (medicine, underwear, etc.), must be used. It was kind of annoying and difficult at first. But the excitement of it and the challenge itself kind of drove us. We had to check ourselves after a month because we found that we were being too proactive in looking for used things on craigslist that we were nearly buying more stuff than we did before the compact. The last four months, however, have been much different. I've nearly forgotten that we are a part of the compact because we just stopped buying things all together. No seriously, we just don't shop. At all.

We sound pretty hard core right? Well, before you get too many ideas I must clarify that it hasn't been a completely free choice. We don't have any money. It's as simple as that. You can't buy stuff if you don't have money...oh wait, yes you can! It's called credit. Huh, I hadn't actually thought about that angle while writing this post...I think I've got to reorient myself...Let's change gears a bit...

Debt sucks. If you're in debt you know this. It drags you down, it wastes your money, it creates a mirage of prosperity that is actually just the beginning of financial demise (see: us government). So don't get in debt. And if you're already in debt you should get out of it. I know, I know, I know what you're thinking. "Obviously Ryan, if I could get out of debt I would." Well to that I would respond by telling you that Renovatus is hosting a 13 week course called Financial Peace University and you should come (if you live in Vancouver). It's only going to be $100 for the whole class and it will change your life...for the better. If you can't afford the $100 to come then you need to come. I promise you this: you will make back the $100 it costs to attend in one month of practising this stuff. So don't worry about the money that part is easy. See you there!

Well Done Chris...Well Done Jesus

2008-11-12T17:48:00.000-08:00

So my buddy Chris and I get together once a week to study the Bible. Chris is someone rediscovering faith and looking to move deeper into what it means to be a disciple of Jesus. So studying with him has been really fun and exciting.
We've been studying through the book of Philippians, using this letter as a pattern to help him know how to study other Biblical letters on his own. Our first task (which has taken over a month) was to read through the book together and identify information concerning the author, recipient, purpose, and situation. On Tuesday, after taking a week off, we got together and finally finished that first read through. After we finished I asked Chris to give me a summery of what we suppose to be the truth regarding who wrote it, why he wrote it, who the audience was, why they needed to hear this message, etc. Surprisingly Chris rattled off a pretty thorough rundown of the book and everything we'd talked about even five weeks back. After he rattled it off I opened up my really dry, boring, and very scholarly Word Biblical Commentary and read the theologians eight reasons for the writing of this book and low and behold they matched Chris' evaluation almost to a word! It was pretty cool. And I've got to make a point to say that I didn't really lead the study with him except to give him some tools that aid in understanding the type of literature he was studying. I also would give my perspective on things that we were reading, but in general this was Chris reading the Scripture, using a few simple tools, and thinking purposefully and he was able to understand and interpret Scripture on a basic scholarly level.
While I understand that there are certain things that we need commentaries and original language for, but the Bible...well, it's just really amazing. Well done Chris and well done Jesus.

B-Mac and D-Mill

2008-11-10T23:51:00.000-08:00

Last weekend I got to go on a very interesting and experiential weekend up in Seattle with a few other church planters.
While up there we were lead in worship by Brenton Brown who wrote such songs as Hallelujah (your love is amazing), Everlasting God, Lord Reign in me, Hosanna (praise is rising), and pretty much every other song we sing in and around Renovatus. The coolest part was that he seemed so oblivious to the fact that the rest of us were there worshiping with him. He was just joyfully singing to God.
We also had the chance to hear D-Mill (others call him Donald Miller, but I just call him D-Mill 'cause we're pretty close like that) speak a few times. D-Mill had a lot of great things to say, but the best was probably when he would say things like "A few weeks ago when my friend Tony and I were talking over a couple pints of...umm...coffee..." it was a generally mainstream and potentially traditional crowd there listening to him but they all thought it was pretty funny.
I'd tell you more about the weekend but you're probably not interested. It was powerful and weird, motivating and exhausting, boring and exciting all at once.

Time

2008-11-06T10:33:00.001-08:00

If you read my blog much you will have noticed something. I tend to give many disclaimers. "I don't really know what I'm talking about...but..." or "I'm not the most creative person but..." or something like that. It's pretty pathetic really. I was evaluating this the other day and wondering why I did this. And I think what it comes down to is that it frees me from a sense of obligation or a need for excellence or accountability. If there's a disclaimer present then you've got the freedom to write whatever you want without worry that you're saying something ridiculous or completely wrong. I think I'd like to get away from this. I think I want to start stepping up and measuring my words more carefully. This probably will not look any different to you. My grammar won't change and neither will my poor use of the semicolon; but I hope that it leads to me being more intentional in what I write or at the very least to be more intentional when I share my views and perspectives on important things.
Honestly, I think it's a matter of growing up a bit. It's time.

Potatoes and Water

2008-11-04T13:55:00.000-08:00

It's strange how certain things are. I'm pretty sure there isn't a good reason for it, thats just how it is supposed to be.
When you think of a refreshing drink do you think of a cold drink or a hot drink? You think of a cool drink right? Nobody says "mmm, I need a warm refreshing glass of water." Maybe a middle eastern dude does, but I'm pretty sure that the oil's gotten to their head. When you think of going swimming the hot tub doesn't sound refreshing, it sounds relaxing. Swimming in cool water (not frigid) normally sounds more refreshing. But when it comes to cleanliness the roles are slightly reversed. Warm communicates clean doesn't it? A cold shower doesn't leave you feeling clean, and neither does washing your dishes with cold water. For me, the goal when washing my dishes is to wash with water that is as close to scalding hot as I can stand. It feels more clean.
In a somewhat similar fashion potatoes are quite fickle. You fry a potato in stick form and it goes well with catchup. If you fry those same potatoes even more it would be wrong to eat with catchup right? I mean, only little kids dip their chips in catchup. A good bean dip might work better in this situation. If instead of frying those potatoes you smashed them up into a big pile you serve them with a gravy and some butter. You wouldn't think of pouring gravy on your Lay's would you? If you bake that potato instead of frying or mashing it, it gets neither catchup, bean dip, or gravy. Instead it gets cheese, sour cream, and chives (among other things). There are more ways to cook potatoes and more oddities about how and what their served with. Strange isn't it?

Just a couple of random observations about potatoes and water.

Screwing a Waiter in the Name of Obama

2008-11-02T21:23:00.000-08:00

I found this on a fellow blogger's post. Enjoy. Oh, and tell me what you think.

Last Thursday while walking to lunch on the corner of Market and East Bay, I passed what appeared to be a homeless man standing on the corner of Wentworth and East Bay holding a hand-made sign that read, “Vote Obama, I need the money.”, I laughed to myself and admired the man for his misplaced, albeit blatant honesty.

Once inside one of my favorite restaurants, I noticed that my waiter was wearing a bright blue ,“Obama 08” tie; again I laughed to myself as he boldly and proudly advertised his political preference for all the world, and his customers, to see -- just imagine the odds of encountering two such 1st Amendment harbingers of change in less than 10-minutes.

When the check finally came I decided not to tip my waiter and explained to him that I was going to implement a practical application of Obama's Redistribution of Wealth concept as my own personal socialistic experiment. He stood there in stoic disbelief as I explained to him that I was going to redistribute his rightfully earned $10 tip to someone who I deemed more in need...a homeless fellow standing a few blocks north in front of the Harris Teeter parking lot. The waiter stammered a few "Why practice on me? I’m just a local college student!" retorts and then angrily stormed away from the table in a steaming huff of progressive self-righteous indignation.
Apparently, after experiencing firsthand the application of such socialistic governance from the perspective of the rightful wage earner, my young liberal-minded waiter was quickly convinced that income redistribution was much easier to support as a noble, magnanimous social policy than when his own hard-earned income was about to be redistributed, against his will, to another I deemed more needy.

I went outside, walked back up to Wentworth, gave the homeless guy a $10 bill, and asked him to walk down to the restaurant on the corner and thank the waiter there who was wearing the “Obama 08” tie as I've decided he could use the money more than my waiter who had actually earned the $10. The homeless fellow smiled in grateful disbelief, tossed his sign in the hedge, and promptly bounded for the liquor store across the street.

At the end of this impromptu and rather unscientific income redistribution experiment I realized the homeless fellow was truly grateful for the money that he had not exerted any effort to earn, but my liberal-minded waiter was highly indignant that I would take from him and then give to another the honest wages that he had worked hard to earn even though the homeless recipient needed the money more.

As I walked back to my office, I began thinking about the heavy burden of corporate ownership and the endless frustration from beating my head against the wall of increasing bureaucracy year-after-year. I also thought of the majority of this year’s hard-earned profits that I had planned to reinvest in a few new employees, annual raises to reward loyalty and hard work, Christmas bonuses for extraordinary effort, and year-end corporate donations to the SC Aquarium, Coastal Conservation League, and the Historic Charleston Foundation.

After reconsidering my apparent politically incorrect capitalistic beliefs, the needs of my hard-working, albeit financially struggling, middle-class staff, and the six-figure salaries of the three non-profits’ directors sitting in the big stately, well-maintained buildings that each called home, I decided then and there to give every last penny of this year’s profit directly to Charleston’s Homeless Shelter, layoff all my staff, close our company, retire early, and depend upon the largesse of Obama’s promised Redistribution of Wealth for my every need!

In that brief instance, I too became a practicing socialist!

Changes

2008-10-29T18:40:00.000-07:00

The churches of Christ in the NW are going through some major changes. While there have already been many, I believe we are just in the beginning stages and over the next few years we will look very different than we have for the last who knows how many years.
First off I've got to be honest when I say that I don't really know what I'm talking about. Here are two reasons why I'm the wrong person to write this post. 1. being a part of a partially blackballed church means that I don't necessarily have my finger on the pulse of the churches of Christ at large. 2. I'm not very observant.
I'm glad I got that out of the way. Here are some of the major changes up here that I'm noticing.

Camp Yamhill was one of the unifying and identifying places over the last however many years. It always felt like home to me. We could often do as we pleased, call it our own, use it as we pleased, etc. But the Camp has changed (probably for the better). In order to stay afloat and to be used more it has become much more "corporate" (for lack of a better word). It's being run less family-like and more business-like. It's no longer "our" camp (the CofC) but it's being used pretty much every weekend of the whole year mainly by non church of Christ groups.
Cascade College which is closing in May has functioned in the way that larger churches have functioned in other parts of the states. It's brought in conferences, unifying events, and teaching opportunities for local churches. It's also kept that elusive college age presence in our local churches, it's sent out missionaries, it's equipped ministers, teachers, and lots of Applebee's servers. The professors at Cascade have staffed many of our churches, provided leadership, and given us a more global perspective when it comes to church and mission. So with Cascade closing all of a sudden we'll feel that void of 20-somethings in our churches, we'll lose quality teachers, elders, and ministers, and I could go on but I think its obvious.
Church planting is changing the face of the churches of Christ in the NW*. In just the last three years there have been five churches planted (and one more that is on the verge of opening in Sherwood) in Oregon and Washington alone. Kairos Church Planting Support operates out of Vancouver and is having a national impact (international if you actually count Vancouver, British Columbia as a foreign country...which I don't). This movement of planting new churches is causing "classic" churches to think about things that they haven't had to think about for a long time. It's bringing up new questions that have long remained dormant...which brings me to my next bullet point...
A new focus on the unchurched is ruining much of the things we've held dear for so long. For a long time the Churches of Christ have lacked growth from evangelism. We just haven't been bringing people to Jesus statistically. Our emphasis has been on our own family to the detriment of those outside the family. But now we are being forced to remember that the great commission applies not just to the foreign mission field but to the mission field that is our workplace, our neighborhood, and our friendships. And when you put an emphasis on reaching new people you are forced to give up on things that all of a sudden don't seem quite as important. It's a major value change that affects everything...and that is painful.
For some reason, I think because it's been a major identifier of how we're different from the "denominations", our accapella worship has come to be our primary core value. Say what you want about other values that we hold, but when you get down to hills that people are willing to fight and die over, you'll often find that it is accapella worship that is defended to the death more than anything else. I'm not hear to argue between instrumental and accapella music, rather I believe that this goofy "battlefield" is changing. For better or worse there are more and more Churches of Christ in the NW that are choosing not to fight in this worship war (I'd say for the better but that's just my opinion). And this shift will be a major one for our fellowship these next few years.

Please remember what I said before my bullet points that I'm completely unqualified to make any of these observations. Regardless I think that we're on the edge of something big. I think that as the churches of Christ redefine who we are, what we look like, and what we do over these next however many years we will come to an exciting place where we are on the forefront of sharing the good news of JC with the immediate world around us. With Cascade gone we'll reengage in campus ministry. Camp Yamhill will be a reminder that we're not completely cut off from the world but journeying toward the end with it. Church planting will open the doors to new communities and to new seekers that our current "classic" churches would never connect with. Recommitting to sharing Jesus with those who don't know him will create a whole new next generation of new believers who carry with them a passion that is more natural, more felt, and more urgent in sharing the gospel. And redefining what is important in our heritage will provide a healthier focus on Jesus rather than on peripheral things.
Things are changing. The church is continuing its restoration process and I'm excited to play my part in it...whatever it may be.

*The missional church stuff should be added in here but I just don't know enough about it to write anything coherent...though that hasn't stopped me thus far!

Cascade

2008-10-27T21:01:00.000-07:00

I think there are quite a bit of people blogging about this, but my nourishing mother Cascade College has announced that they're closing their doors at the end of the school year (May). While I wasn't a Cascade junkie like a lot of people I know, I am overwhelmed at the thought of the impact of losing Cascade's presence in the NW. Not only do a lot of my friends work there, but many of the churches around here are staffed by quality professors that get the bulk of their pay from Cascade. Also, Cascade has served as a resource in hosting and planning area wide gatherings and such. I could go on and on about how this is going to impact us locally here, I mean, even the loss of the students at many of our churches (I'm thinking of Renovatus and Agape) around here will be painful.
Please pray for who/what God raises up to equip, send, and draw people to ministry in the NW. Cascade will be missed.

2008-10-21T20:59:00.000-07:00

Don't forget the blog below that I just posted tonight. But I felt the need to say that I'm going to give this new "stalkers" thing a shot. You'll notice on the righ that there's a picture of big john. Well apparently there's this "new" thing (I put it in quotation marks because it's not all that new, I'm a bit behind). For those of you who don't know, what it does is it shows who follows your blog. I'll write later on how to join it, or someone can comment about it, because actually I'm not sure. Anyway, if you figure it out I'd love to have others join John!

Peace.

Happy Birthday Jess

2008-10-21T14:02:00.001-07:00

Jess' birthday was at the beginning of October, but we didn't celebrate it until a couple of days ago. We had a 70's retro party and it was lots of fun. We crammed 35ish people into our tiny house, gave away giant pickles, and ate gluten free cheesecake. It was great. Happy birthday Jess!!

PS We didn't get pictures of everyone's costumes! Trudy came in authentic clothes from the 70's...or should I say, from her closet. It was most impressive. Also, if you weren't invited to the party it's not because we don't like you but rather it's because I planned the party and I'm a dude...and using common dude sense, the fact that I remembered to invite anyone is to be applauded. So don't feel bad if you were forgotten.

Jones' Theology

2008-10-15T18:33:00.000-07:00

Here are three things that Jones said at different times today. It's great that he's asking such deep theological questions at such a young age...3...hopefully by the time he's a little bit older we'll lose him while visiting family in Lubbock only to find that he was studying the Bible with the preachers from the local congregations. And then, when we scold him for not staying with us he'll say some smart allec comment like "mom, dad, what else would I do but study at the meeting location of my fathers autonomous church?"
I won't take time to try to recreate the whole conversation that took place, but here was each initial query:

Jones: Dad, why does God need heaven?
Jones: But how does Jesus take our souls to heaven?
Ryan: "Kiddo, did you know that Jesus loves you very very much? He thinks you're so special!" Jones: "God loves me, but God doesn't love me because I kill bugs. It makes God sad when I kill his creation."

So, in conclusion, I think Jones would want to ask you what the purpose and function of heaven is, and why would God even create it. And if he has, indeed, created it, how are we able to be a part of it? And finally, how can a loving God desire relationship with those of us who make poor choices to damage the beauty which he has entrusted us with?

Try answering that to your three year old!

The Runaway Daughter*

2008-10-12T21:30:00.000-07:00

This is a letter that I read at Renovatus a few weeks back. It's long, but it's worth reading I think. Enjoy...

I grew up in a good home. And I’m not just saying that, but it really was a loving environment where both my parents cared for me, told me that they loved me often. As a little girl I was especially close to my dad. We would go on dates together, just he and I; he’d take me shopping at the mall even though he hated shopping. He said it made his wallet and his ankles hurt. Sometimes we’d just go out for ice cream and he’d dare me to get the biggest ice cream sunday they had, you know the one with 10 scoops that comes in a trough. We’d talk a lot over ice cream, and he’d always end the date by looking me straight in the eyes and saying that he loved me. My dad was something special.
But something changed my senior year. I shouldn’t say “something”, but I should say I changed. My dad was still loving toward me and my family was still near perfect, but I started making some bad choices. I got a boyfriend who was quite a bit older than me. He was 25 and I was only 17. My friends at school said it was a pretty cool thing to date a guy so mature, but my parents and my friends in the youth group told me it was a bad idea. I really liked Alex, that was my boy friend, and it infuriated me that my parents didn’t want us to be together. We loved each other…I thought. The moment that Alex and I started dating a chasm began to separate my parents and I. The relationship that was so close between my dad and me earlier on in my life became a distant memory. My dad still told me that he loved me but I would just scream back at him “if you really loved me than you’d let me and Alex be together!” I was really angry. Alex introduced me to a lot of new things that I had never tried before. I lost my virginity to him. We’d go to parties and get wasted on alcohol I’d never even heard of. Alex always laughed at how innocent I was. At those parties I smoked weed for the first time, they all told me it wasn’t a big deal, but I knew that if my dad found out he’d be really upset.
Right around the time I turned eighteen my family all went up to the cabin like we did every year. I said I didn’t want to go, that I was too old for that and had better things to do. Right before they left I lifted my dad’s credit and debit cards from his wallet and while they were gone I moved into Alex’ apartment. By the time my family got back I had withdrawn a bunch of money and maxed out a few of his credit cards. I don’t remember what I bought with it. Crap probably.
Things with Alex went well at first, but after a few months I got pregnant. I was kind of freaked out and excited all at once, but he was furious. How could I even think of keeping the baby? He called me a lot of names and hit me for the first time. I’ll never forget terminating that pregnancy, each time I got an abortion after that it got easier and easier to do it. The substance abuse also got worse. I don’t remember a whole lot over the next five years. I remember that I hated myself. I was so addicted to different substances that I couldn’t even function in society. Alex and I didn’t last too long, but because of my addictions I had to find someone else to support me. I couldn’t keep a job but I had to keep up with my drug use so I ended up getting together with another guy, Josh. Like I said, I don’t remember a whole lot during this time, but I do remember that Josh was pretty nasty. He got me into stripping so that I could do my part. He’d have a lot of girls stay over, but he always told me that I was his first choice. He told me that I needed him, that the only reason I got a job stripping was because he knew the club owner. Josh said I was ugly and that I couldn’t get a job a gas station let alone at a club if it wasn’t for him. Eventually he had me sleeping with different buddies of his. It got him some extra money for whiskey he said. I felt pretty ugly both inside and out. So I got even deeper into substance abuse to forget even more.
The next solid thing I remember in my story is kind of strange. I was completely high but from somewhere deep inside, maybe it was God, I gained some remnant of my dignity. I told Josh that I wasn’t going to sleep with his friends anymore; I told him I was better than that. Saying that set Josh off and he beat me so bad that you couldn’t recognize me.
Once my face healed up a little bit, I found that I didn’t have anywhere to sleep ‘cause Josh had kicked me out, I didn’t have any income ‘cause who wants to watch a scared up woman dance, and so I didn’t have any way to feed my addictions. My past was like a mirage, I could barely even see it anymore. I hadn’t seen my family in years, and I knew that they must hate me completely. But the only idea I had was to call my parents and ask for some money. There was no other option. So I called my parents…three times. And each time I got the answering machine. The third time I left a message, I remember that message like it was yesterday. “Dad, mom, it’s me. I was wondering about maybe coming home for a little bit. I need to borrow some money and I’m catching a bus your way. My bus comes in at midnight next Friday. If you’re not there, I understand, and I’ll just stay on the bus until it hits Canada.” That message, it still haunts me. As I left it I just kept thinking they hate me, they hate me. I know they do. I hate me, so why wouldn’t they? Everything I had done to damage their little girl began running through my head. Everything, like a movie, a really really bad movie began running through my head. I’m screwed wasn’t exactly what I said, but that’s about the only word I can use here.
But I had no other option, so I got on the bus and headed home. I think by the time the bus ride ended I didn’t have any finger nails left I was so nervous. I spent the whole time rehearsing what I was going to say, “Look dad, I know you’re disappointed in me and I’m a complete screw up. All I need is a few hundred bucks and then I’ll never bother you again.” It was my mantra, I kept saying it over and over again and in each scenario my dad had a different response some which ended in me killing myself, others ended in my dad strangling me, others ended with lots of shame, guilt, and me running away again.
As I neared the bus depot I put on my game face. “Look dad, I know you’re disappointed in me and I’m a complete screw up. All I need is a few hundred bucks and then I’ll never bother you again.” I was ready. I was ready for a fight. As the bus stopped I mustered my courage and walked off the bus. “Look dad, I know you’re disappointed in me and I’m a complete screw up. All I need is a few hundred bucks and then I’ll never bother you again.” But as my foot hit the ground outside the bus I saw my dad. Then my mom, then my old youth minister, my cousin with my aunt. There were nearly 30 people there to greet me. They were holding signs and banners. “Welcome home” “We love you” They all had goofy party hats on and those obnoxious noise makers. They were waving and screaming and as I walked off the bus my dad ran toward me and hugged me like I hadn’t been hugged in ten years. We were both sobbing uncontrollably. I did manage to sputter out the words “Look dad, I know you’re disappointed in me and I’m a complete screw up. All I need is…” “I love you” he whispered into my ear interrupting my well prepared request. So I started again, “Look dad, I know you’re disappointed in…” “Shh, let’s not waste too much time here; you’ll be late for the big party back at the house.”

* This is a modernized version of Jesus' story that we call the Prodigal Son

Yes We Can

2008-10-10T19:59:00.001-07:00

Why has no one else picked up on this yet? Listen to the theme song of Bob the Builder below and tell me if it seems as though Barak has been watching a few to many cartoons.

Funny

2008-10-08T21:30:00.000-07:00

I'm not sure if this video is as funny as I'm making it out to be...but it makes me laugh just to think about it.
The first minute isn't so funny, but after that it's a riot.

I want

2008-10-08T20:36:00.000-07:00

I want to be funny.
I want to have an accent that I can turn on and off as I wish.
I want to crave kale instead of pbc's.
I want to be a minority...just for the jokes.
I want to make more money.
I want to need less sleep.
I want my house to always be clean.
I want to watch the A-team.
I want to cut my hair like Mr. T.
My wife wants direction.
I want my nickname to be either "The Tax" or "Tussin O'Malley"
I want to write better blog posts.

Discovery Lab in Review

2008-10-03T21:01:00.001-07:00

There's no way to summarize the five days of discovery lab in one quick blog. It was an amazing week, a transformational week. In some ways it was absolutely nothing that I expected and in other ways it was exactly what I anticipated. I laughed more this week than I have in a long time. Seriously, I've got more good inside jokes from those five days than I've got from the last few years. Everyone just connected on a deep and enjoyable level. And it wasn't only fun but it was a deeply spiritual and inspirational time.
What can I say? After getting grilled in direct interviews for 7ish hours, after leading the community in worship, after planing and presenting a proposal for a new church plant (that we had to create as a team in 6ish hours), after doing a ropes course, and lots of other things...all the while having the assessors standing behind us taking notes...it came down to our final interview on Thursday morning. Our interview was last, and as we watched each interviewee leave their interview (if they left the room at all!) in a more solemn fashion than we'd seen all week Jess and I began to get quite nervous.
While I can't really tell you everything from the exit interview, because that would be awkward, I'll give you the gist of it. They said all sorts of good and great things about us, but when it came down to it here's the real prognosis (which happened to exactly match what Jessica and I came in thinking they would say): If we planted a church now we'd have, according to them, a moderate chance of success. But if we pursue their suggestions we'll have a very high probability of success. They said that I've got to put myself into more situations where I'm being challenged on a deeper level. More or less they said that I've excelled at every level I've been at, but the problem is that I need to find situations where I'm not able to easily excel. Their interpretation of what that would look like was a.) more school (being around smart guys) and b.) spend time working at a very successful church that is further down the road than Renovatus (being around successful guys). They also said that my wife is the bomb (they didn't say "bomb" per se, but they really did stress that Jessica is amazing and talented).
I was relieved and disapointed all at once to not have any surprises in the exit interview. The worst part about the whole process is that while we went in anticipating their exact response, we also anticipated leaving the week with a more clear view of what the next couple of years would look like. As it is the future is more wide open and unplanned right now than it's been in a very long time.

...pictures to come...and I'm pretty sure that they'll be good ones.

It is Finished!

2008-09-26T17:05:00.000-07:00

It's official! I've finally got my bachelors degree! Ok, I actually graduated quite a few years ago, but up until today I had yet to receive my diploma. There was some mix up and my diploma got lost. They said I needed to pay $5 to order a new one. I said that I already paid for my diploma and I didn't want to pay for another. And so the stalemate has sat...for three years...until today. Today I gathered the cash together and bought my diploma back.
So now, for the first time, I've got my diploma in my hand.
Anyone want to throw me a party?

(the great irony is as I'm writing this email I realized that I still haven't opened the envelope to look at my diploma. For all I know it's written out to Melvin Buckmeyer or Popeye Straws)

Burnt heads

2008-09-25T16:49:00.000-07:00

I don't think I've ever heard any parent say "well, jonny's head, hands, and feet got burnt off, but at least his chest is still in tact."
THANKS NONFLAMMABLE PAJAMAS!

Church Thoughts

2008-09-21T16:36:00.000-07:00

In my last post Sarah D. Said

Sometimes when I try to really stop and think about what we're actually supposed to be about as Christ followers it boggles my mind. I literally don't know what to do with how very different I'm afraid it is from what we have been doing. At this point it's too big for my brain but I keep coming back to it and maybe one of these times I will have some idea of what to do. Christopher has me reading a book called "Revolution in World Missions" by K.P. Yohannan that has me going even further down the rabbit hole of realizing we've got it wrong. What to do?!

I'm not wanting to try to answer any of Sarah's thoughts or questions, but I thought it was an interesting comment and figured that I'd write my thoughts about it.

What are we to do about the seemingly large dichotomy between what Christ-Followers are supposed to look like and what churches seem to produce. And if we realize that we seem to have gotten thing wrong, what are we supposed to do about it?

The church will never look like it is supposed to really because people are imperfect and the church is filled with imperfect people. Even the early church, which we have tried so hard to emulate, was pretty darn screwed up. The main problem isn't that the church doesn't look like it's supposed to, the problem is that the intentions and purposes of the church often are so far off the priority that we read about in the Bible. If we aren't even shooting in the right direction, how are we supposed to look even close to the God that we're following? Luckily we have a gracious God right?
My biggest beef isn't with the churches that have missed the point (I'm pretty sure Renovatus has missed the point in some way and I hope and pray that if/when we find out what it is we'll have the humility and faith to make that change) my biggest beef is with the people who know better and choose to reject the church altogether. You know who you are. You're the ones who say the church is supposed to look like this or that and you get pissed because the church is so far from what you think it should be (which is probably right) but instead of being an agent of change you use that as an excuse to stop being connected to a faith community. You think that because you've got a group of friends you hang out with who feel the same way that you don't need the church. How is the church ever to change if all the people with a bigger vision just quit it?
So what should we do? We've got to learn to be missional in our own personal lives. We can't expect the church to do things that we aren't willing to do. Start a home community and invite your friends from work. Start taking food to a homeless dude in downtown. Live in intentional community with other people. Think creatively and purposefully. How can we be missional in the current place that we live, that's the big question.

This post wasn't everything I hoped it would be...but I just got my balls snipped alright?! Give me a flippin' break!

Christianity

2008-09-19T09:25:00.000-07:00

And we wonder why Christianity has a developed a bad image in our culture:

Actually though my guess is that those videos are not the reason Christianity has garnered a bad name, but rather they are an extension of a greater problem. I'm not sure if I'm gifted enough to be able to clearly and adequately state that problem in one or two lines, but pretty much its that the church stopped trying to live out the kingdom message. We started trying to create our own comfortable subculture instead of being architects of Christs alternative culture that is supposed to be actively changing our world (think of Jesus' stories about the mustard seed and leaven).

Point Made

2008-09-18T17:13:00.000-07:00

Thanks Jason, I about cried when I watched this.
(for everyone else, Jason went to great lengths to prove the point I was trying to make two posts ago about Greendays song Good Riddance/Time of your life)

The Smell of Burning Flesh

2008-09-17T17:43:00.000-07:00

This is a post that not everybody will want to read. I'll keep the details to a minimum as best I can...

I've had a bloody nose before. I've sprained my ankle pretty severely. I've had my wisdom teeth removed. But my first surgery was today.
I found myself strangely calm after I got into the waiting room. My heart wasn't racing, I felt quite comfortable, and not too generally worried at this point. My nurse had only been working in urology for a month, she's just filling in because they were short staffed. Normally she works with colons and other lower end parts. The whole time she prepared everything and washed my body she looked as though she was going to vomit. I'm not sure why, but that was my perception. Feeling very comfortable I asked her many questions, "how did you get into urology", "do you have any good stories" etc. I talked to her about my brother-in-law Ben who had a horrific experience, I talked about my aunt Tina who works in urology too. We talked quite a bit...all while she scrubbed my "body".
When it came time for the surgery the doctor about killed me when he pulled out a (I'm being very literal here) syringe with a needle that was 2.5 inches long and that was probably a quarter inch thick. The doctor looked over and saw his mistake and said "Oh, I'm sorry. We're not supposed to let you see this. We're not doing a very good job are we?" I just laughed uncomfortably. After drawing some fluids into the syringe he pulled off the needle and put on a much more appropriate smaller one. I was quite relieved. The most painful part was getting injected with the numbing stuff, which felt about as painful as any other needle prick (I hate needles in general). After that it was just a strange sensation of pulling and pressure. He did make me jump at one point when he accidentally pinched a part that wasn't numbed, but besides that there was no pain.
The worst part was not hearing the sizzle of him cauterizing my flesh, the worst part was the smell of my burnt flesh that permeated the room.
All in all, it was quick, easy, and worth the end results. At the end of the procedure I got back in my clothes and they wheeled me out to my car where my wife was waiting. It felt a little strange getting wheeled through the lobby in a wheelchair, everybody knowing what I had just done. It felt even more strange because I felt perfectly capable of walking out of the hospital on my own. I commented to the nurse "is this really necessary or is it just to make the guys feel good?" to which she responded "It's just precautionary." which I took as-no, it's not necessary, men are just babies when it comes to those parts and we're trying to baby them a little.
Now it's just ice packs, Tylenol, and rest. Wish me luck, and in a few months I'll actually know if I'm sterile!
Oh, one last note that only the males should read...the doctor began to leave the room, but then poked his head back in and said (and I quote) "Ryan Woods, your body is most impressive. Your wife must be very happy."*

*This may or may not have been a day dream caused by the medicine, I'm currently uncertain, though I believe it to have happened.

The Good Riddance Theory

2008-09-16T14:34:00.000-07:00

I've got a theory. My theory is that you can put any set of pictures or video clips to Greenday's Good Riddance (Time of your life) song and it will feel tearfully sentimental. Go ahead. Try it. Put some pictures to the song. No matter what the pictures are they will leave you sentimental and downright misty eyed. I would have proved my point by making a couple of odd slide shows, but as it turns out I don't own this song!
Here are two examples:

Am I Ready to Plant a Church

2008-09-15T09:39:00.000-07:00

Kristi said this:

I'm interested in your thoughts on your readiness in planting a new church.

Honestly I'm uncertain as to what the "right" answer to this question is. I can say that the older I get and the deeper into church planting ministry I get, the more ill prepared I feel that I am. If you would have asked me three years ago I would have told you that in three years I'd be planting a church, that I had lots of growing and maturing to do, but that I felt like I was generally ready start. I blame that on the ignorance that generally comes with our 20's. These days I tend to think more along the lines of, if one ever feels confident in their ability and readiness to plant a church then they're probably not quite ready yet.
Also, any time line that we've ever made connected to Renovatus or a daughter church plant has always been way off...by about two years actually. The reality that we've had to come to grips with is that we don't know much about church planting and what we do know (now) is that success in church planting comes from God alone (at least the kind of success that we seek).
So with all that said, am I ready to plant a church? Only God knows. My prayer is that discovery lab will be a tool for God to make things more clear and begin to better outline his plan rather than mine.
If I was to take a guess as to when I'll be planting a church and how ready I am here's my thoughts...Right now I feel as though there is still a lot of work I need to do with Renovatus before God is ready to move me on to another church. Also I feel like there are still a few specific things I need to learn and work on before I should lead a church. Also, I don't think its time yet because for the type of church I believe God is cultivating we are in need of more partners. People who are willing and open to doing life together in a deeper and more experimental way (don't get dirty on me here).
So there you go Kristi, a very brief piece of my thoughts. All in all what it comes down to is that I'm learning to let God do what he wants with me. I'll probably never be ready to plant a church, but one day when I'm just weak enough to let God do his thing without me getting in the way then it'll be time...and that day could be tomorrow, next year, or never. It's really up to him.

V-Day

2008-09-12T16:47:00.000-07:00

That's right folks, my time has come. The supposed six month waiting list that Kaiser has for a vasectomy has ended up being only one for me. I was surprised, I was shocked, and I was ecstatic to find out today that my appointment is for September 17th! Yeah, you probably figured it out, that's only a few days from now.
I don't have anything good to say really...except that I'm a big ball of excitement and nervousness all at once. My time has come and yet I do not feel adequately prepared emotionally.
Wish me luck folks. Buy me gifts. Don't touch my junk if you can stand it.

Discovery Lab

2008-09-10T13:35:00.000-07:00

So I'm a church planter. I don't know if you know that, but I am. Right now I'm the connections minister at Renovatus but I'm also holding two other roles in addition to that. One is that I'm the embedded church planter at Renovatus (which just means that I'm going to plant a daughter church), and two is that I'm a Kairos intern. All three of these really come together to mean the exact same thing. It means that right now I'm working as hard as I can to grow the Renovatus community, but it is all done while in the background a future church in downtown Vancouver is stewing.
The next big step in our apprenticeship is Kairos' Discovery Lab. Discovery Lab is an intensive four day interview process where they assess your readiness for planting a church.
Here's where you come in. It costs $900.00 to attend the lab, this is a lot of money but it is incredibly worth it! So far Jess and I have $550.00, which leaves us $350 short. If you'll look to your right you'll see that there is a "donate" button through Google Checkout. Would you want to help us get that last $350? All donations are tax deductible and go straight into Renovatus' account. Interested? Want to know more (you can email me at ryan@renovatus.com)? We are so excited about what God is doing and would love for you to be a part.
Peace out yo.

Big Barrel of Blogs

2008-09-09T10:49:00.001-07:00

I am actually functioning right now as a blog ghostwriter for Jason. He doesn't really know it at this point, but it seemed as though he needed some help cranking out blog posts.
As the summer winds down I sure am looking forward to two of my favorite things, riding the flanks of Mt. St. Helens and playing with my dog in the snow. That dog sure is great. You know what else is great? Building tree houses with Ryan Woods' uncle Greg. There's something special about a man and his really ridiculously amazing and incredibly large tree house. It's great to know that I can climb up there and read a great book about running marathons and leading worship at Faith Quest...that is...if I ever finished the tree house. As of right now I can't seem to remember if I ever finished that darn thing.
Well, its running late and I've got to go eat a pitcher of fruit with my wife who does indeed exist.
-Jason

Apocacentric

2008-09-08T07:57:00.000-07:00

Just stop. Stop it. Stop. Stop. STOP! Does it drive any of you crazy when people say that the world is going to end on such and such a date? Don't you just want to scream "Stop it!" The only thing I know for certain is that it will not happen on whatever date it is that you pick. Whatever you do when talking about the end of the world as we know it don't pick a date. Stop. It's just ridiculous. People keep trying to do it and so far, as much as I'm aware, nobody has ever been right.

And concerning the "end times"...I've heard and read a few different places where people talked about Barack Obama in terms of ushering in more of the end times or something. I'm not sure why Obamas playing a part, but I'm fairly certain I've heard people say the same about GW. Regardless I'd like to introduce a word here (not in reference directly to Barack or GW) "Apocacentric".

-Apocacentric-
People often speak about the end times. It is normal I guess. I'm not going to go into my theology of the end times. And if I knew more about history I might be able to talk more about the end times in the context of Medieval, Greco-roman culture, or other periods in time. But my general understanding is that people often and continuously try to identify when the end times have begun and what the next stages are. Here's the goofiest part though, we all seem to view the end times in the context of our current culture or world view. The Jews/Christians thought that the end times were upon us, that Jesus would be coming back because of the destruction of the Jewish temple and of Jerusalem. They were looking to the sky waiting for Christs return, and why shouldn't they, everything they knew regarding God's nation was destroyed.
Similarly Americans view the end times within the context of America. People oddly point to Barack or GW as possible players in the end times chronicles as if the end times are obviously connected to America. (we are Gods chosen nation you know*) The corruption of Americas values, the decay of the church-going mentality, and the growing trouble in the world all cause people to identify the end times occurences as happening now.
Really? Do the end times really have to be connected to America? Are we that totally awesome? Really, do we really think things are so bad in the world now, in our lifetime, that it must be the end of all things? Apocacentric. I mean, things aren't great now in the world by any means. There is massive poverty, the AIDS crisis in Africa, human traficing, the acceptance of murdering children (abortion), wars, genosides, etc. There is bad stuff in the world...but is it the first time this has happened? Duh, no. What about when God's chosen people (Israel, not America) were sacrificing their children on alters? That's pretty flippin' bad. What about when the most advanced and dominating power in the world (Rome, not America) murdered and tortured people for sport (at least America finds a very twisted way to justify our torturing). That was pretty bad too right? Let's talk about todays times being terrible once McCain is sacrificing one of his seven kids at the Lincoln Memorial. And I'm sure you history buffs could tell more stories. So stop, all of you, trying to identify all the end times signs and all that crap. Does it matter? If you find out and realize that it's not the end times are you then going to take a back seat in showing Jesus to people? Yeah, sure, you lose a great motivator in brining people to Jesus: fear. But if you want to use fear as a motivator there are always other ways. The reality is that people need Jesus regardless of whether or not it's the coming end of the world. The reality is that we need to be eager, anticipitory, and ready for Christs' return not because we've identified when it is, but because you could get hit by a truck at any single moment and you'll be meeting him face to face in an instant.
So there you go. Apocacentric, where the end of times is all about me, my country, and my experiences in the world.

* I'm pretty sure I've got this one right when I say that God's chosen people are those who choose him and his alternative kingdom way. That is, the church. I hope and pray that America grows more and more into a group of people who are living out Jesus' kingdom here on earth, but regardless, America is not God's chosen nation. If my understanding of scripture is right God chooses to send rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. Or, in other words, God chooses to take care of both the good and bad people/countries. So maybe America isn't blessed because we're so holy but because God is.

Black or White

2008-09-06T20:33:00.000-07:00

Am I wrong or is Barack Obama white? Right? If his mom is white and his dad is african (black) then doesn't that mean that he's as much white as he is black?
That's all I've got. I'm real confused about the political horizon right now, when I'm being lied to, pandered to, manipulated, etc. I've got no idea who I'm voting for. I think I'll just write in for Jesus.

The New VP

2008-09-05T07:16:00.001-07:00

Really? Is that the best McCain can do for a VP? I mean, I understand that she's funny, a woman, a successful writer and actor, but isn't there some other candidate that would be more qualified? Don't get me wrong, I know it's worked for the Republican party before: The Governator, Sonny Bono, Ronald Reagan, and Jesus were all Republican candidates who had successful acting careers.
But I'm pretty sure that Tina Fey isn't even a Republican! How in the world did she get the nod as the new VP? Weird.

Chrome and Missing the Gospel

2008-09-03T16:03:00.000-07:00

You may not care about either of these two things I'm blogging about...deal with it in which ever way you deem appropriate.

First off, I'd like to announce that I'm writing this post in Google's new web browser Chrome. My general belief is that anything Google does turns to gold, and I'm waiting to be proved wrong.

Secondly, I received this email from Wilson, a fellow church planter in the NW. It's pretty self explanatory so I won't say more except to note that I edited some of Wilsons email just to simplify a bit.

So…I’m reading this article by Terry Eastland about the “Forum” recently hosted by Rick Warren where both major-party presidential candidates were interviewed by this influential church-planting pastor.

Don’t know Terry Eastland. Don’t know if he is a man of faith—it was a political article in a political publication.

What caught my attention was the last page, where Eastland—much to my very pleasant surprise—talks about the sermon Warren preached that Sunday after forum.
----------------------------------------

On the Sunday morning after the forum, in the same worship center in which it was held, Warren preached on "The Kind of Leadership America Needs." Noting that the two men he had interviewed were "very different in personality, in philosophy, in direction, in goals and in vision, and there's nothing wrong with that," Warren asked the congregation to look not just at where the candidates stood on issues but at their character. He had three points: God blesses leaders who "live with integrity," "serve with humility," and "share with generosity." As is customary for Warren, the message came laden with citations from Scripture, 21 in all--13 from Proverbs and two from the Psalms; three from the Gospels, two from James, and one from Philippians. He used the verses to lend support to his points.

Notably absent from the message, however, was the distinctive content of the Christian faith, even though this was a worship service. Warren didn't discuss the verses he used in the context of the Bible's overall redemptive message. Had he done that, he would have made it to the Good News of Jesus Christ. Even when citing a text explicitly mentioning Jesus, Warren didn't go into what it was actually about. "When Jesus saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd" (Matthew 9:36) is fundamentally not about how leaders need to be compassionate, though they do, but about how Jesus the shepherd has come for his lost sheep.

You don't have to be a Christian to accept the essence of Warren's message. We all tend to agree on the need for integrity, humility, and compassion in our leaders. A non-Christian might pass on Warren's closing exhortation to pray for God's guidance in deciding whom to vote for on November 4. But to his other exhortations--to study what the candidates stand for, to register to vote, and then to vote on Election Day--who can say no?

Plenty of pastors mine the Bible for moral teachings and character lessons. Warren's approach to Scripture on this particular Sunday was hardly unusual. And taken as a civics lesson, his message was fine. But as a sermon for a church, it left something to be desired.
The irony of Saddleback is that one of the two candidates--it was not McCain, but Obama, in his remarks about Christ dying for his sins and redeeming him--actually said more about the Christian faith in the civil forum than America's most influential pastor did in his message on Sunday to his congregation. Such are the oddities that attend the present moment, in which our faith-involved politics carries on, triumphant.

Thoughts about camping

2008-09-01T23:27:00.001-07:00

Just got back from camping in Lincoln City today. It was fun...kind of stressful, but fun. There was some rain, some sun, and lots of cold weather. Jones got to spend lots of time with his cousin which is a good and a bad thing. They're both oldest with very strong personalities and he's nearly three years older than Jones. So camping was fun, but at times I felt like all I was doing was yelling at my son. It sucks when it gets like that and it made Jess and I try to step back to figure out better ways of dealing with the stress between the two boys vying for power and control over each other.
Anyway, being out there got me thinking about camping in general and I'd like to share my thoughts.
The point of camping, if I'm not mistaken, is to get away and relax/spend time with family. In other situations and with other people one might add the purpose of getting completely plastered on that list (this is not my experience, but the reality of the world around me that I am aware of). But the way in which we "get away" is so strange isn't it? To get away from our homes, our lives, the city, city living, etc. what do we do? We go out and purchase all sorts of cool gadgets that are intended to make us feel like we're at home. We pack in fake houses (tents), stoves, giant queen sized beds, chairs, cooking utensils, showers (I'm personally very much against this one), and other cool handy dandy items. We then often setup our campsite at campgrounds. At these campgrounds there is running water, garbage cans, chopped up wood for you to buy, and other amenities ranging from putt putt golf (thank you KOA's) to built in bbq's. Many of the "good" campgrounds advertise being close to the beach, to quaint local shops, swimming pools, parks, etc.
Does all that seem a little goofy? Have you gone to REI lately? I can't even go there anymore because they've got so much cool crap that I need...that I never even knew existed.
I love camping so much and I love that in order to get away from my everyday life I pack my minivan chalk full of stuff that's all intended to make me feel like I'm still back at home. Silly isn't it?

I'm not whining about camping, just observing that I...you...we are really odd...right?

The Ever Elusive Small Group

2008-08-27T21:33:00.000-07:00

I'm very excited about what's happening at Renovatus right now. We've got somewhere between 13-15 home communities starting up in mid September focusing anywhere from intense Bible study to game nights. This is a big step for us considering that before our communities went on break before the summer we only had 5ish.
As the connections minister it has been my primary role to get these up and running in a healthy and fairly natural way with structures in place to maintain them well...hopefully.

Sorry this blog is pretty dry at this point. But I'm getting to a question here that I'd like your help with. I very much believe that home communities will help to create disciples (or grow already committed followers) hence the reason I'm spending my time trying to cultivate new groups but good, functioning small groups seem very hard to come by. I don't say that purely based on my own experience or the experience of Renovatus. I'm basing that observation on conversations I've had with people, books, and, yes, some of my own experiences. So have you ever been a part of a really good small group? In your eyes what made it work?

Why People Ruin Church

2008-08-25T13:27:00.000-07:00

Starting a church is much easier in theory than it is in reality. Duh. You see the greatest problem with starting a church, or doing any sort of ministry, is people. People just get in the way a whole lot! I'm not kidding. You get these great plans, these good ideas, a great vision, mission statement, nice new sound systems, chairs, etc. and everything is going to be just perfect...and then comes the people. They want to do things differently, they say they don't show up to your perfect planned events, they aren't as passionate about your mission as you are, they are messed up, sinful, and broken. Why can't we just do ministry with healthy, loving people, who once they hear the good news message that Jesus offers and that we preach they immediately turn their lives around, leave their sinful ways, go to seminary, and plant a church of their own?!? That would be perfect wouldn't it?
While I'm saying most of that tongue in cheek, there really and sadly is truth to that. I really do sometimes get frustrated or overwhelmed with some of the messiness in my life and in the people God sends to Renovatus. I often truly do think it would be better if God would just send more healthy, deeply spiritual, and mature Christ followers my way (and obviously is quite a bit of truth to that). But I read something interesting today. Here's what Jesus said:

A man loaned money to two people- 500 denarii (a days wage) to one and 50 to the other. But neither of them could repay him, so he kindly forgave them both, canceling their debts. Who do you suppose loved him more after that?
...
I tell you, her sins (the woman whos actions instigated Jesus' words), and they are many, have been forgiven, so she has showm me much love. But a person who is forgiven little shows only a little love.

It makes me want to pray a prayer that truly terrify me- Father, send Renovatus some really damaged people

Hair Today Gone Tomorrow

2008-08-23T21:47:00.000-07:00

You like the new layout?
Or more importantly, do you like my new hair? Sure, I look like a prepubescent little boy, but at least now I won't have to ask my wife to help me with my hair every single day! Don't worry ladies, I'll grow it out again, be patient, it'll come.
On a slight side note, I was Arwen's first real head to cut hair on. Needless to say she did a great job. Three cheers for R1...

Are you up for it?

2008-08-22T14:05:00.000-07:00

Blog Action Day 2008 Poverty from Blog Action Day on Vimeo.

2008-08-19T10:33:00.000-07:00

I've been learning a lot lately about peace making. Here are a couple of interesting things that I'd love for you to give your thoughts about. I've still got a lot to learn, but much of it resonates quite a bit with me.
Bit number uno:

Violence can never stop violence because its very success leads others to imitate it

Bit numero two:

Pacifism takes balls. No seriously, anyone can strike someone back when attacked. But it takes some serious courage and faith to purposefully choose not to hit back but to instead make an active stand for peace. Take some time if you can and google some stories of what peacemakers have done. It is ballsy. It is courageous. And it is anything but a gutless way out!

Bit number three:

Supposedly Gandhi would prefer a brave violent man over a peaceful coward. A violent man can be taught the ways of peacemaking, but a coward cannot be taught anything. This resonated with me while thinking about being a father of a son. Because in this line of thought my first priority is to encourage my son to be brave and courageous in standing up against evil. If my first priority is to create a peace loving son the end result might be a fearful and cowardly one. Courage must come before being a peacemaker. Otherwise you teach caving to fear, and that is not what Jesus calls us to.

"Blessed are the Peacemakers for they will be called sons of God"
- Jesus

CSI Vancouver

2008-08-16T07:20:00.000-07:00

Before I go into the facts I must say that we don't use our mini back yard. We tend to reside in the house, the front yard, and parks. So our backyard is in bad shape. And one side particularly is overgrown with grassy weeds. With that said lets move on to the mystery at hand.
Here are the facts:

Two boards were physically ripped off our locked back gate thus creating a hole big enough for someone to squeeze through.
A worn down path was made in the weeds from the broken gate to our patio cement slab
Near the fence and connected to the worn down path was a bigger matted down area in the weeds
Next to the cement slab there were two nearly brand new New Balance shoes carefully placed side by side as if displayed at a store.

Additional potentially pertinent info:

We live next to a train yard
We live in meth central
There is a small kids wading pool in our back yard
This whole week we spent a majority of our time at my parents house because of Tara, Eric, and Malak

So what's your guess? Come on all you CSI wanna be's, figure out how scared my family should be!

low tops and short skirts

2008-08-14T11:35:00.000-07:00

I watched Disturbia last night. Pretty good movie. Kind of scary for the wife (especially considering we just discovered that we probably had a bum sleeping in our backyard!). Anyway, it got me thinking about something, something that strangely enough I find disturbing.
Here's the strange thing. I've known a few guys who openly and flauntingly gawk at women as they pass by. Checking out their every feature and imaginatively disrespecting them in a way that they had better not do to my wife. While I've known a few guys who do that, in general it's kind of a faux pax (is that how you spell it?) to completely check out a woman in public isn't it? At the very least it can be said that it's completely and in every way wrong for a grown adult man to check out a high school girl right? And yet movies (and I could list a whole lot here) proudly display teenage girls as eye candy for adult grown men. And it is totally acceptable in our culture for me to watch, drool, and enjoy watching these films that display these under age and under dressed girls. Is that strange?
I don't go to the movie rental stores that often anymore. They've become quite expensive and I always end up walking around for 45 minutes wihtout much luck in finding that one right movie that I'd like to watch that night. I remember when I was younger and we'd go to many rental places and they all had those back rooms that were blocked with a black curtain. I was told not to go in there, that they have bad movies in there for adults only. As I grew up I found out that those back rooms were filled with porn. So as places like Blockbuster and Hollywood video began to pop up those back rooms filled with smut became something from the past.
Well I was shocked yesterday by how much quasai porn stuff there was at Blockbuster! I mean like every other movie is a poorly done boob-filled movie. Have you noticed? You must have! It's like every other movie, no joke!

Maybe it's just me. But right now I'm disgusted by my gender.

A Post for Lori Clark

2008-08-09T12:54:00.000-07:00

Lori says that my blog is boring and that I need to start posting more interesting things. Ouch. Thanks Lori for the motivation...I'd like to show you my gratitude by writing you a poem:

Lori Clark seems quite nice
She's Agape's newly appointed women's minister sans lice
She's happy
She's joyful
She's really great.
She once taught my dear niece
And now that niece is eight
She hates my blog and reads nonetheless
Like a fly to a bug zapper heading to its death
The olympics are in China
So is Yao Ming
Lori's married to Ron and its much more than a fling
He's really good lookin' with an earring and all
His traveling days will be over come this fall.
This poem reminds me of my blog
pointless and random
possibly funny and possibly, as Lori would put it, boring.
Thanks Lori.

A New Post

2008-08-07T21:44:00.001-07:00

I feel obligated to post something new tonight. That last post was pretty worthless and not very thought out.
so...
I already went there with this post, so lets go ahead and go there again...

Tara and I went to a home taught geometry class together once a week. And I'm pretty sure that as Tara drove me there we would sing old hyms. We might have even switched some of the words in the songs with the word "Geom" which is what we lovingly called geometry.
Jen and I have all of the My Little Buttercup dance from Three Amigos memorized and we have performed it many a times at camp.
The main thing hindering my relationship with my brother-in-law Ben is that Jen committed dancing adultery with him and did the Buttercup dance with him instead of me as her partner. As of today I still have not forgiven him of the hurt it caused to my heart.
(WARNING: I may have posted this thought before) As a kid I found brushing my teeth depressing in every way. You see, brushing your teeth is not something you can ever accomplish, you've got to do it two or three times every day for. the. rest. of. your. life. life. life. Talk about depressing!
Up until I was like in Jr. High every time I went through a tunnel I'd hold my breath and wish for wisdom.
Up until fifth grade or so I always asked my parents for a new Michael W. Smith cassette tape for Christmas...and, no, I'm not proud of this one.
Up until recently I've always dreamed of getting some disease or disfiguring amputation where I could persevere through it faith still in tact and be a great example of faith in Jesus amidst suffering. More recently, however, I've decided that faith is overrated and I'd just like to live a quite, people free, money filled life (please know that I'm being very sarcastic. You see, Jess and I have decided to go into a field of ministry where you may or may not get paid for your work, where you have an 75ish% chance of failure, and where you are spending your time dealing with the messiness of life...God help us...no seriously.)
Jess voiced it today and I think I agree: my blog needs some sprucing up. It's a little bland don't you think?
When I was like 10 Tara and I buried a time capsule with our allowance and a few other trinkets as well as a metal box with some old antique records that my grandma had given us. We marked it with a stick and left it for posterity sake. Two weeks later when we went to dig it up, the stick had disappeared and we were unable to find our treasure. Amazingly enough four years ago Tara and I went and knocked on the door of our old house and asked its current owners if we could dig a whole in their yard to find out treasure. Surprisingly they said yes. And even more surprisingly we found our records! They were disgusting and moldy and we promptly through them away.

That's all I've got for now. Peace out yo.

Documentaries

2008-08-04T08:22:00.000-07:00

Jess and I went through a phase where we loved watching documentaries. Don't get me wrong, I still love them, but I just don't make time to watch them any more really. As much as I love documentaries, however, I am becoming more and more annoyed with the accepted ways that documentaries are made.
Granted, most documentaries are biased. Generally the whole idea is that they are trying to convince you of something that they believe to be true. But I'm getting increasingly more agitated at the type of evidence used to promote a message. In any Michael Moore video you'll see him doing classy stuff like approaching someone on the spot in their home and then making them look bad when they don't make time for him. Or in Bill Maher's new one called Religulous where to prove that religion is ridiculous (I haven't actually seen the film and I'm basing this off their promotion trailers) they interview fanatical or goofy religious people. Even that new Ben Stein documentary about intelegent design Expelled they were not honest with many that they interviewed and therefore were able to take some things out from their original context.

I guess the idea isn't often to provide facts but to sell tickets. Can't falt them for that can we? Ok, my son keeps interupting me and I'm not able to continue my thought process. Do you see where I'm going with this? No? I'll try to spruce this blog up later.

Jones' Birthday

2008-07-28T14:14:00.000-07:00

Here's what Jones says he wants for his birthday (in his own words):

A pink block (just like the one he's holding in his hand)
A blue block (just like the one he's pointing to on the ground)
A ball
A new fan
Some sneakers
A pink strawberry swirl cake
A pink slinky
Another block, this time a red one
A red bag with gold on it (which just happens to be like his "treasure bag" that he's staring at across the room right now)

And, no, he doesn't want anyone to come to his party because he doesn't want to share his cake.

Organics

2008-07-28T13:27:00.000-07:00

We spend so much money on stuff don't we? How full is your garage? How many boxes do you have in the attic of stuff that you haven't touched in two years? How many times do you eat out a week? How many computers or televisions do you have in your home? Do you eat all your leftovers? How many movies do you see at the theater? How many different sets of dishes do you have (we've got Christmas ones, plastic ones, regular ones, fun red ones, ones we painted, etc.)...I could go on and on couldn't I?
We find lots of ways to spend money...except on healthy food right? I've said it so many times and heard it just as many "I can't afford to eat healthy" or "I can't afford organic food" or...you fill in the blank.
Well finally Jess and I got tired of hearing ourselves saying that and we decided to cut back on other things so that we could take care of God's temple (our body!).
If you want fresh (much of it is picked the morning you get it), cheap, organic, local, and really ridiculously good tasting produce you should join Organics To You. Here are some pictures of $60 worth of fresh organic produce that we left at our doorstep...

Home School

2008-07-24T10:14:00.000-07:00

Just a funny thing I thought of today. When I was in high school my sister and I (remember, we were home schooled) would fight to sit on the big couch to do our work. In the end we'd always end up sharing the couch...and the same afghan blanket...
Is that kind of strange? I spent most of my high school study time sharing a couch and a blanket with my sister? And sometimes we'd drink and eat our lunch out of bowls like dogs...when we were sixteen...or six, I don't really remember.
We're such home school nerds.

Tidy Batman

2008-07-23T10:11:00.000-07:00

I don't see many movies at the theater. They're expensive and they give you the impression that you're spending quality time with the friend who attends the movie with you when in reality you're simple sitting near eachother while staring at a screen. Nevertheless I could not resist seeing the new installment of Batman. And good golly I was impressed (along with millions of others around the world). Heath Ledger was amazing. Aaron Eckhart was amazing (though his face did look a little Terminator/Mummyish at the end). I loved the way they were able to capture evil in the character of Joker without showing him sawing guys heads off, raping and torturing women and children, or anything else horribly graphic. While other movies may have had more creepy villains, the way that Ledger played the Joker was so perfect that it did not even necessitate showing much graphic evilness (for lack of a better word).
But here's the best part about Batman that I was reminded of when I saw Dark Knight...Batman is so tidy! Didn't you notice? He keeps all of his homemade gadgets in nice little cases all cleaned up and shiny. Everything has its place and is always put away. His little bat shaped throwing star things are kept each in their own individually shaped spot on a nice velvet covered box. His suit is always hung up and clean. I'd like to give credit to Alfred except for the fact that we often see Bruce putting away his little throwing bat-stars in their little case. Good for you Bruce! Way to stay nice and tidy. I love organization and I love a clean work area...and that's why I love Batman...and, yes, I do feel a little awkward after writing all this.

Faith is overrated

2008-07-22T09:31:00.000-07:00

I was praying this morning and telling God some of my frustrations. I'm frustrated about money stuff. At the end of October Jess and I have no more funding with Renovatus. Last month my parents "salary" check was $2000 short. Last month Renovatus barely had enough money to pay the bills. We might need to cancel what was to be our second annual neighborhood block party partially due to lack of funds. God why do we have all these crappy money problems? And then I was frustrated that our church isn't growing as we thought it would. This summer is going to be a painful one with regard to numbers. Anyway, I had a whole list of things I was moaning to God about. And it's this strange balance, because I know and believe that God will be faithful. He's always come through in the past. But where I get worried is that I'm not convinced that God won't let us go through a whole pile of crap in order to get to his destination. I just want things to be simple. I don't want more faith. I just want to sit right where I'm at with no further opportunities to grow my faith in any way. God just bring some positive answers to prayers easily and quickly and without any faith whatsoever...that's all I need...
...if only God worked like that!
To get to the point of my story, as I'm reading some scripture this morning I come across these words:

Don't worry about anything: instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. If you do this, you will experience God's peace, which is far more wonderful than the human mind can understand. his peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.
- Philippians 4:6-7

Hmm...do I want peace that transcends what my mind can conceive? Yes. So to get such peace one must pray, share my needs with him, thank him for what he's done, and chill? Yes. Interesting.
I've read that passage before, but today it really stuck out. God so you're saying that you want me to just keep praying, sharing my needs with you, remembering how you've worked in the past, and then let it go? I guess I'll give it a shot, but I won't be happy about it(-:

*That was my first parenthesis-dash-colon smiley face I've ever done! You can pat me on the back later.

Random Thoughts and Obersvations

2008-07-15T08:30:00.000-07:00

If Jack Johnson asked me if I liked his song "flake" I'd tell him maybe. (you've got to think about this one)
I don't do practical jokes. They're usually only funny for the person doing the joke, which I think by definition would say you're just mean. But I've always wanted to buy 25 smelly car trees, pull off the plastic wrappers, and then tape them to hidden places all over someones car.
In my inmost being consistency is my underlying core value.
There are two things that drive me crazy about people. 1.) inconsistency or being flaky. 2.) Ignorant people who are also arrogant. It's a killer combo.
I like pretty much everyone and like to consider myself pretty likable...though, that doesn't mean much coming from me...I mean, if I like pretty much everybody why wouldn't I look at myself and think "who wouldn't like this guy?!"
For years I've dreamed of peeing my pants in public on purpose. A few years back I saw Will Ferrell do it on SNL and it made me sad because that was my joke. There was one point when a friend of mine and I ran home from school so we could both pee our pants on our front porch. I don't remember what happened, but I know it didn't include urine.
Everyday I'm learning more and more that blogs and email are terrible and potentially destructive ways to communicate.
Often my family is very busy and quite lonely.
We don't have a tv, but lately we've gotten hooked on watching such shows online as Flight of the Conchords, Arrested Development, The Colbert Report, and as always Southpark.
If you're familiar with N.T. Wright and Tony Campolo you've got to go to the Colbert Reports website and watch his interviews with them.
If I could be any television character it would be Gob from Arrested Development
My family eats vegetarian (and has for over a month now) I ride my bike more now than I have in 10 years and rarely drive...and yet I keep gaining weight! It's not like I care that much, it's just baffling that's all. And trust me, it's not added weight from added muscle. My mysterious muscle mass is still waiting to be found.
I grew my mustache out a while back. I looked good.

18 and older only please

2008-07-10T09:04:00.001-07:00

The following link is not a joke and is not intended for children.
http://www.cb-2000.com
what do you think? I read an article about it from xxxChurch and the people selling this decided to do it because he was tired of seeing his married coworkers screw around on business trips.

Foolishness and Prayer

2008-07-09T14:15:00.001-07:00

Sometimes I just don't understand my choices.
Let me be honest with you, I feel as though this year God has been giving very clear direction in a lot of ways to my family and to my work with Renovatus. I feel like he's provided us the opportunity to step out in faith in a few big areas. And I feel good about that. There's something internally rewarding about confidently choosing to do something out of faith rather than simple logic, impulse, or just personal desire (not that there is anything inherently wrong with those things obviously). But here's where the foolishness comes into play. Stepping out in faith is one thing. Trusting in God is one thing. But choosing to step out in faith and then attempting to accomplish it on my own is something completely different...foolishness.
I pray. I do. I pray out of routine, I pray out of necessity, I pray out of need, etc. But if I'm going to do things that put my family in potential "danger" (living in the American version of poverty isn't all that dangerous really...but that's another blog), if I'm going to expect huge things from my work with Renovatus, if I'm going to dream big dreams about a daughter church plant that I pastor, if I'm going to do anything "risky" in the kingdom I better be humble and centered enough to know that success (the kind of success that I truly want) only comes by God's hand and not by mine. Psalms 127 talks about how unless the Lord builds the house the laborers labor in vain, I can work my ass off, but if I want success I'll look to the Lord as the builder. And the great thing is that the Psalm is followed by a promise that if he's the builder we'll rest. What a scary thought it is to think of engaging battle with the enemy (think: devil. Not: axis of evil) and then trying to fight on my own. Foolishness!
So what am I saying? I'm pretty much reverting back to the elementary message of...I've got to be all about prayer. And I'm not talking necessarily about asking God for success, for healing, for stuff, etc. I'm talking about dedicating myself to conversation with the creator so that out of that relationship he is freed to do his thang in my life.

Mythbusting Suffering

2008-07-07T09:19:00.001-07:00

I don't know if Paulie and I should be ashamed of this or proud of this. If it helps, there was a miscommunication and we had to create, film, and edit this video in one afternoon. We're playing one of these each week during our series here at Renovatus. Enjoy.

P.A.P.A. Pictures

2008-07-05T10:09:00.000-07:00

Sorry I don't have more and better pictures. It was an intense weekend with two kids, so photos were harder to keep on top of...enjoy.

Our little pilgrim girl. "J"- that "j" was from Jones.

Our beautiful family minus me.

Jones' favorite thing was the drumming classes!

Here's the kids area. It was very well done and my kids had a great time.

Here's the best shot I could get of the camping area. It doesn't look like as many tents as it was.

Lots of sweaty hippies listening to Tony Campolo talk to us over the phone.

Jones can find a good stick anywhere he goes. He also picked out his own sun hat when we were in Wyoming. Like it?

Me with our wonderful tent.

India did great at Papa fest. This is where she'd take her naps.

I don't remember what Shane was doing up on stage here. I just wanted to get a good shot of the crowd.

More camping stuff.

The stage and the band getting ready for worship.

NoiseTrade Widget

2008-07-03T09:58:00.001-07:00

You've got to check this out. It's pretty new I think, but I'm fairly certain it's going to change me forever. And it's not just about D-webb, as of right now there are around 10 artists or so that aren't too bad. Check em out.

P.A.P.A Fest

2008-07-01T08:35:00.000-07:00

Wow, comments have been few and far between lately. Oh well, I won't hold it against you my dearest hidden blogmunity.
So let me share with you as much as I can about our PAPAfest experience...

It was an amazing weekend. In every way it was confirming and inspiring. Many people around us questioned our journey there, questioned whether or not we were going to get sucked up into something other than the simple message of Jesus, whether this was some cultic hippie fest similar to Woodstock, and many similar objections.
Don't get me wrong, I'm sure there were some unhealthy things that happened there, but speaking just from my personal experience (the things I saw, heard, and came in contact with) this weekend was all about gathering a group of people together who desperatlly and passionatly desire to take the words of Jesus seriously. So when he speaks of being a peacemaker, when he talks of taking care of the poor, when he talks of sharing our money, when he talks of dispensing love, when he talks about moral purity, etc., they are choosing to ask the question "what does that look like today?" I can't go into too much detail about the classes, music, and conversations right now. I'm still holding a lot of it tight to my chest while I process and pray over what next step God is taking us toward. But here are a few of the highlights, once again, bullet point style:

We attended learning sessions concerning converting your car to run on old restaurant oil, the relational tithe, Jesus for President, communal living, prayer and quiet time with God, bike repair, african drumming (this one was actually for the kids and it was awesome), spiritual leprosy, and a few more.
Jones picked a fight with Shane Claiborne...kind of...Shane was teaching the kids how to use circus tricks (magic, juggling, etc.) to bring peace and to be joyful and have fun as Jesus intended. And before they started Jones stole one of their juggling pins. Shane approached Jones and asked nicely for it back and Jones responded as two year olds usually do with an emphatic "no!". Shane tried two more times with no more luck. Finally he tried to just carefully grab it from Jones, which lead to a small squeal and him bolting from the front row to the second row. It was at this point that Shane gave up and I and another juggler intervened and got him to give up the pin. It's not much of a story really, but I sounds so good to say Jones fought with Shane.
In between the different music sets they would call different spiritual mentors on a cell phone and have them give an exhortation of sorts as they held the phone up to the microphone. Some of these calls included Tony Campolo, Brian McClaren, and Ched Meyers. These were very challenging an inspirational (for lack of a better term). They challenged us to be people of prayer, of meditation, to be into the Word, and other good things that i've got written down in my journal.
It was hot. It was really hot. And we were all camping in a big empty field...with no shade cover. On the coolest day by far I saw that it was 90 degrees with pretty high humidity.

That's all I'll say for now. Overall I felt like God confirmed a lot of things he was already leading us to believe. It was nice to be around people who had similar interests and hopes as us.

I'd just like to leave you with some of the prayers I left PAPA fest with...

We're praying for our future church plant in downtown Vancouver. How does God plan on incorporating these ideas of deeper, purposeful, and intimate community into this church.
We're praying for more people around us to begin to share some of our same passion for justice, community, and faith sharing. It's hard not having that "one couple" to bounce things off of or to partner with in this.
We're praying about our finances more than ever.
Peace

On the way

2008-06-25T16:01:00.001-07:00

Sorry, there won't be pictures yet. I'm waiting to post some pics when we get home. Here's a quick synopsis of our adventures on the way there...bullet point style...

We made day number one our longest driving day (wise choice). After driving for over twelve hours we arrived at our KOA stop in Brigham city, UT after hours only to discover that the cabin I had a reservation for was for the wrong night! So there we were at the camp sight with no cabin to sleep in and no KOA employee to help us out. So what did we do? We fished out our tent and set it up in the dark as quick we could. It went better than expected...that is, until our allergies hit. Whatever those beautiful smelling trees were surrounding us they wreaked havoc on all our allergies. The most painful was our children who wheezed and coughed all night...none of us really slept. The next morning we left before the campground opened so that we wouldn't have to deal with paying for an extra camp sight or trying to explain the situation so as to hopefully change the reservation after the fact.

Oh, I forgot to say that we paid 4.33 for gas in eastern Oregon...ouch.

Day two was easy. It was our short day, only 7 hours. We arrived at our Cheyenne destination with enough time to eat some Taco Johns, go swimming, and relax at our cabin. It was nice. And jones decided that he'd rather stay here than go to PAPA fest.

Day three. We saw a giraffe and a camel while driving through Nebraska. There they were just chillin' at a local farm. It was strange.

Paid 3.73 for gas in Iowa...nice

Things were going fine and dandy driving through Iowa. We stopped at some little Podunk town called Walnut to get some gas, it was 60 miles from anything of significance. After refueling, the car wouldn't start. When we'd turn the key it'd just click, like a dead battery. The gauges were twitching like they had a tick or something and all the lights on the dash would come on and off as they pleased. The strangest thing was that whenever the key was out there was a loud buzzing sound under the steering wheel. I was worried it was some sort of electrical short or something. We were able to jump the car, but if we turned it off it wouldn't start back up. New battery? Alternator? Starter? Lucky for us there was a man there who knew a guy and who seemed to have the impression like we were really poor and needed help (are we really that obvious?). So he called around and within an hour we had a mechanic take us to his shop where he proceeded to diagnose the problem. One dirty battery terminal later and $0.00 in fees we were off and running. The amazing thing in all of this is that neither Jess or I were stressed. We both felt an overwhelming sense of the peace of Christ. We knew that we were only on this trip because we felt urged by God to do so and we both are convinced that our vehicle belongs to him. So we just sat back and let God do his thing.
Jess made this trip easy. Not to mention all the great snacks and healthy meals she planned out ahead of time. But she also put together a large amount of prize bags for the kids. These bags ranged from little homemade activities, to a leap pad, to books, to some out of the ordinary toys that we purchased ahead of time at Goodwill. She's amazing and creative and even hot too boot!
On our last day of travel going from Des Moines to Tiskilwa (a 4.5 hour drive) we woke up incredibly late. Crap! We wanted to arrive as early as possible at PAPA fest because we didn't know what to expect and we wanted to have time to adjust on the fly with our kids. The opening ceremonies were at 1:00 and we didn't leave until 7:45. And to make things worse was that we hit some traffic that set us behind even more.
We passed over the Mississippi river without having time to stop. We refueled at the largest truckstop in the world (3.83 a gallon). We saw some of the effects of the flooding. And we arrived at PAPA fest at 12:30. Right in time.
When we pulled into the mowed down farm field for parking and instructions a girl sprayed our car with a supersoaker and I was immediately overwhelmed with the number of people I saw with dreads (over half of those currently visible). A girl with long hair under her arms and on her legs gave us the rules for the weekend and told us where to park. Everyone was incredibly nice and strange looking. It was going to be a very interesting weekend.

Update numero one

2008-06-22T12:26:00.000-07:00

We're in Oklahoma now.
The weekend was amazing.
I'll try to spend the next few blogs telling you bits and pieces of our journey.
For now, I'll just tell you that the focus of the weekend was all about what it looks like for a movement of people to take the words of Jesus seriously. The whole weekend was centered on a deep love and desire to follow Jesus.
Jones got in a fight with Shane Claiborne.

Here we go!

2008-06-16T01:03:00.000-07:00

It's past one AM and we're leaving in four hours...or so we planned. Pray for us! If you haven't seen the two videos that are inspiring our trip check them out here...

And...

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Update Time

2008-06-10T14:57:00.000-07:00

I've had so many ideas for blogs to write, but I just keep running out of time! So real quick here let me give an update blog for y'all:

First, and most importantly, if you didn't already check out my sisters blog, you need to. They've got little Malak and I get to see him in two weeks!
On Monday we are leaving for PAPA Fest (people against poverty and apathy) outside of Chicago. I am so flippin' excited and kind of nervous too. We'll be driving the whole way...to Chicago...then to Oklahoma...then home...with a two year old...and an eight month old...and yes, we chose to do this. The strange thing is that what I'm most nervous about isn't the trip. I'm actually most nervous that I'll be the most normal person at papa fest. And that everything I do will be look down on for not being radical enough. I'll be using my little camping lantern and someone will come up to me and be like "now you do realize that a little child in China died to provide you the propane for that lantern? I hope you enjoy the light sucka." or something like that.
This Sunday will be the final installment of Renovatus' four week Parenting with Love and Logic series that we're hosting for the school. It's been amazing and I'm learning how to be a better parent. It's also allowed us to bless the school and people in the neighborhood quite a bit.
I apologize, this post is quite rushed and not thought out very thoroughly.
I think Jess and I are going vegetarian. Or at the very least the only meat we'll eat is the healthy, organically grown, well treated animals that my inlaws have grown. Even still meat is kind of gross...and yes, I still work at Outback.
I've just nearly finished our Renovatus summer calendar. And unless you give me better suggestions it's going to be called Renovatus' Summervatus...so get suggesting!
India is walking
Jones is drawing amazing pictures. At the age of two he's now drawing pictures that you can identify.
Jones has reverted back to using a pacifier...a pink one...it's driving me crazy.
On the Compact front (not buying anything new for a year) we're doing quite well. The hardest thing is not buying too much stuff from craigslist or goodwill. I don't really miss Wallmart and have felt no compulsion to purchase anything new really.
India can climb anything. She smiles all the time. She's more strong willed than Jones ever was. And I'm very nervous.
Renovatus is rockin. I am loving working nearly full time there and only wish that statistically we looked like a raging and overwhelming success story. Instead we recite the mantra "this is God's church not ours. We can water and plant but growth only comes from him."
I love my wife...a lot.
One of our garden boxes is thriving and amazing. We've already eaten some spinach from it. While the other garden box is nearly empty. I think a slug ravaged it or something. Tomatoes, bell peppers, onions, and all but one cucumber are gone. Completely gone.

Talk to y'all later!

Application

2008-05-31T08:20:00.000-07:00

How do you reconcile great men with their despicable deeds? For example, how do you reconcile Martin Luther King Jr., the civil rights activist, the reverend/preacher with the fact that he was having an illicit extra marital affair up until his death? Or Gandhi, who allowed his wife to die because he refused to give her a shot or who abandoned his children while in pursuit of his great causes. Or Martin Luther who was despicably antisemitic (look up some of his quotes and it's shocking). I mean you could even delve into biblical characters. Moses and David were murderers. Peter chopped off peoples ears. Abraham whored out his wife. And the list could go on.
Generally, as I'm sure you know, we use these stories to talk about how God uses ordinary messed up people to do great things. We talk about how he can use you even though you're messed up...or something like that.
But let's get real here. Lets be realists. If you had a leader in your church who was having an affair, who wanted to kill Jews (or insert any people group here), who had murdered someone who had pissed him off, who gave his wife away to be a sex toy in order to get more friends, who allowed his wife to die instead of giving her an insulin shot, and who randomly took a swipe at your ear with his sword...would you preach the same message? Would you say..."Brother So and So here murdered Jack last week, and I'm here to tell you something important. I'm here to tell you that even though So and So is a murderer God is still using him to lead our youth in amazing ways. And God can use you too!..."
Sermons are great and all that, but the reality is that application is not just a good story at the end of the preachers message. Application is rough. Application is messy. Application is dangerous.
I believe that God loves each and every person...but man, when you start talking about the application of that belief...talk about messy!*

* Obviously there are consequences for actions and all that jazz. But lets not ruin a good post by opening up a whole other can of worms...which by the way are thriving in my garage. Yep, I've got worms in my garage. I converted a Rubbermaid tub into a worm bin and I feed them all my leftover vegetable scraps every Friday. I love my worms and they treat me well.

Jonesyboy

2008-05-30T05:56:00.000-07:00

We got up at 5:30 this morning and we're about to leave to take Jones to have surgery. He's having ear tubes put in for the second time (he had them when he was about 8 months) and they're taking out his adenoids. The surgery's aren't major in any way. But please keep him in your prayers today.

Memorial Day

2008-05-26T23:56:00.001-07:00

I met Lyman tonight on the way home from work. I missed my bus by ten seconds tonight after leaving Outback. So I naturally tried to catch it down the street a ways, but as it turns out it was a bit longer of a ride (on my bike) than I had anticipated. So instead I sat there on the side of the road and played with my phone while I waited the thirty minutes for the 11:20 bus. While I was waiting a drunk guy walked up and started talking to me. His name was Lyman. He was a vet. He told me that every memorial day he gets drunk and walks around making a fool of himself. I told him that he didn't seem to be acting too foolish right now aside from sitting too far out into the street (at my suggestion he moved more onto the sidewalk at this point). He clarified by saying that he didn't do too much stupid stuff, just cried a lot. Lyman went on to tell me all about the twelve guys that he spent a few years with in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia. They were rangers. He showed me his Southeast Asia tattoo on his arm. I asked him if he would do it all over again which lead to us talking about the war in Iraq and how if he was 20 years old right now he'd enlist in the army and go over to Iraq and shoot every mother f#$%@& with a gun. That's how you win wars, not by fudging around and going in...well, just fill in a whole handful of dirty and nasty words here...He told me about how they were supposed to get information from people. How are you supposed to get people to talk, he asked me. He answered his own question when he began telling me of different torture techniques they'd use to get people to talk. Of the twelve he went with only three returned to the States. The other two, Carl and John, both committed suicide within the first two years of being home. Prior to their suicide they told Lyman that they couldn't handle things, that it was too much to have on their conscience. He retorted back that they just did their jobs. They did what they were supposed to do!
He asked if I had a smoke. I apologized and told him I didn't, but that there were a few people smoking up at the bar across the street. Lyman began to head over there and then paused to turn around and tell me that I'd probably never meet him again. His pancreatic cancer came back and would probably kill him this time around. So I shook his hand and asked if I could pray for him. He didn't tell me no, just kind of gave me an awkward look and walked away. I prayed for him silently instead. I wasn't sure what to pray for. Grace I guess.

Who knows how much of his story has been colored by his big gulp filled with whiskey, by years of stress and storytelling. It doesn't really matter. It makes me sad that we send people over there to wrap wet towels around peoples heads until they talk. It makes me sad that we send people to warfare that so damages them that it is better to take their own life than to live with their memories. I know plenty of people come away from war just fine, but the reality is that if you're a vet (and we're not just talking old crazy vets, because the highest suicide rates among vets is the 20-24 year olds who have served in the war on terror) you're twice as likely to commit suicide than the average American. In 2005 an average of 17 vets committed suicide every day. If only we had a statistic for how many vets wander the streets nursing a whiskey and water out of a Slurpee cup while crying on strangers shoulders. How many vets hold signs on street corners asking for money? Where are those stats?

I hate war. War sucks.
Hey, if you have a second, in honor of Memorial Day (which as I'm finishing this post was actually yesterday) pray for Lyman. Pray for peace. Pray for the grace, love, and peace of Jesus be more evident through his church and in the world...'cause the world desperately needs it. We don't need a presidential candidate that brings change, or hope, or a candidate that we can trust in because they've proven to be strong or courageous. Rather our hope and our future and our trust should be in the strength and change that only comes through the transforming power of Jesus' love and peace. That's why Lyman needs. That's what our world needs.
Happy Memorial Day.

The "Old" Testament

2008-05-23T09:53:00.000-07:00

Is that offensive? Is it offensive that we've dubbed the first portion of our Bible as the Old Testament? To Jesus and to Paul and to the early church wasn't the Old Testament simply the Scriptures. When they talked about the Bible (not that they used the term 'bible' of course) they were referring to the Old Testament. Doesn't that make the New Testament primarily an exposition of the Old Testament? And yet I remember a time when my church's public statement was something about being a New Testament church as if we dare not try to associate ourselves with the Old Testament! OK, sorry, I can't stand it anymore, from this point on in my blog the OT will simply be summed up as the Hebrew Scriptures. Cool?
Don't get me wrong, the Hebrew Scriptures at times completely baffle me and confuse me and raise more questions than they answer. The perspective and world view underlying the Hebrew Scriptures is so foreign to how my logical mind works. But the reality is that the New Testament is simply a continuation of the Hebrew Scriptures. We could sit down and work through a pile of New Testament passages to try to prove that Jesus' intention was not to do away with his Bible but to live out and show it's true identity and purpose. But that would be an even more boring post than this one. Why is it that I've graduated with a Bible degree and yet the only classes on the Hebrew Scriptures was a fourth grade level survey of the Old Testament where I learned to spell the books correctly, and a class on the book of Psalms. That's it. I realize that there are lots of books and only a few classes, but doesn't it make sense that if Jesus preached from it, if Paul based his theology on it, if Peter lived by it, if God wrote it, then it must be crucial for us to understand. Isn't it foolishness to think that we could understand the words of a Jewish rabbi (Jesus) apart from a growing knowledge of the Jewish Scriptures?! Lucky for us the word of God is living and active, it grows with us, it transforms us even through and despite our lack of knowledge. Because no matter what the Bible (both the Hebrew and the NT) are simply a reflection of the God who stands behind them. That is very reassuring to me.