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Monday Morning Brief – March 30th

March 31, 2009 by Leave a Comment

It’s been a quiet week as I’ve been trying to catch up on a bunch of things

This Week I Enjoyed – 1. my pastor’s sermon on the deity of Christ yesterday.  He started a series on the new doctrinal statement that the EFCA updated last year (later this year, our church will vote whether to accept it or not).  2.  An area-wide youth worship service called Linked.  It included about 10 churches and their respective youth workers organizing the event.  The service focused on the theme of Christ’s mission that he called us to. Myself and two others were responsible for the prayer stations that were set up below the sanctuary.  The entire night turned out to be a beautiful experience for those gathered, including several of our own students. 

Reading – the same as last week and not enough. 

Lent Update – Have been pretty faithful in my vows thus far.  One of them (concerning people), I’ve missed a few moments but I’m trying to compensate and have been adjusting along the way.  

Listening to –  Love Drug’s Paper Scissors that I downloaded FREE (and so can you) from Noisetrade.  I like it.  It’s different from their first record and it has a slow dark side to it.  I’ve also been listening to some Relevant and Mars Hill podcasts and re-listening to some of the recordings of the Amidst the Powers Conference.  I hope to blog my thoughts on the Hauerwas lecture soon.  Keep an eye on Evan’s blog too.

Student Ministry Update – this week, we are taking a break from Kimball’s they Like Jesus but not the Church curriculum because we have our student leadership students running the night this week.  I always look forward to how they do it – it’s revealing in some ways and it’s inspiring in other ways.  There are some moments where we see our influence upon them and others moments when we see God working in them independent of anything we’ve done.

Looking forward to – iPhone 3.0 update  

What made me laugh this week – Pink Lights put Off Spotty Teenagers and this video below is funnier than the Office season (but it looks like Michael’s resignation is going to save the season).

Ignatius from travis hawkins on Vimeo.

Filed Under: Reflective

Reflecting on Out of Ur's Trouble Brewing

March 28, 2009 by 1 Comment

There’s a great discussion on the Out of Ur blog called Trouble Brewing concerning the alcohol consumption of church leaders.  One of the questions that was posted was if Jesus were here today, would he have changed the water into wine?

One of the key aspects in understanding Jesus turning the water into wine was that was an important thing at a Jewish wedding 2000 years ago. 

I believe that if Jesus was in our churches, he’d change what came out of those terrible 100 cup coffee peculators, and hand out fair-trade, French-pressed coffee.  Perhaps he would have also changed the Welch’s grape juice to wine for our communions. 

If Jesus were attending the Super Bowl and they ran out of water on the sidelines, I’m not sure he would have changed the water into wine.  He probably would have changed into Gatorade (or he would have cleared this American temple but I hope not because I love the NFL and hope God does too).

I speculate that if Jesus was walking through Africa, he may have changed the dirty water into pure water or if he were in Vancouver, he may have changed the soda into hot chocolate.

You can see that I’m not as quite committed to the wine but I do not want to dismiss it entirely either.  I think Jesus liked wine and it’s worth noting.   While not everyone needs to like or consume alcohol, it’s a topic that we should reflect on.

Below is what I posted on the Out of Ur post:

Worthy topic to discuss here. It’s hard to disassociate ourselves from our American-evangelical context (not that there’s anything wrong with that), but I think considering the worldwide Church community is helpful. Like some have already alluded to, drunkenness is condemned in Scriptures, not the consumption of alcohol. In light of the liberty described New Testament and the countless tragic stories many of us have experienced, we cannot be trite here. Indeed some have stumbled by the alcohol use of others, while some doors have been opened by the exact opposite. I know I’ve experienced both and again, this is why we should avoid being dogmatic about this. I think among the problems is that local congregations have been too one-sided favoring one side while demonizing the other. Conversations would be helpful here.

Filed Under: Christianity, Reflective

Reflecting on Walter Wink's Lecture at epiphaneia #ep09

March 27, 2009 by 3 Comments

Not knowing much about Walter Wink, I didn’t really know what to expect.  In the introduction, it was said that because of his health, it’s been difficult for him to attend these types of gatherings and it was special that he was able to come today.  That was affirmed by those around us with nodding heads, polite cheers and light clapping.

It’s cool to like the old guy whose spent decades writing and teaching ideas that inspire so many.  It’s similar to cheering for the MLB player who performed so well but never won that World Series (because he played in Boston.  Yes, I am talking about Wade Boggs, the first former Red Sox player that I saw with my own eyes as not having horns). Anyway, here I am a week later still cheering for this gentlemen.  He had a kind voice but despite his health, it wasn’t weak.  I appreciated his inflections as he read his lecture and you could sense the heart behind it.

The lecture opened with he and his wife reading a fable about being citizens that the king has commanded to slay the beast and bring back a claw.  The citizens represented by Walter says that the king is a liar, the beast has no claws and cannot be killed, thus he killed the king.  But when he did that, the beast was still among them.  They put a doll on the throne but still the beast was there. 

That became the theme of the lecture.  The beast is in the powers and the powers must be redeemed.  For we all deal with the powers (and are a part of them).

I’ve been thinking about this most of the week – what would the powers redeemed look like?  My mind immediately goes to the utopias that movies have created.  Sci-fi movies like Star Wars come to mind, but of course, movies like the Matrix have sober me from those images.  One of my favorite parts Walter warned was, “…to focus on redeeming them leads to utopian disillusionment, their transformation takes place in the limits of their fallen natures”.  I’ve been thinking about that.

Of course, I’ve also been thinking about what this would look like in the Church.  (This post could get long).  While I know the Church can never be perfect, what would it look like if we allow ourselves to be led by the Spirit in the hopes of redeeming it alongside our collective fallen natures?  Indeed, indeed, many have been pursuing this.  However there are times when I feel that some have interpreted the church’s mission as an island they are trying to get off, throwing as many people on the lifeboat as possible, picking up a few of the drowning along the way, and waiting for the divine coast guard to bring them aboard.  Meanwhile the boat that crashed on the island can be repaired.  It won’t be as perfect as it was when it was new, but certainly more effective than a lifeboat.  (Yes, this illustration is the product of 5 seasons of Lost). 

Seriously, what if we did try to fix the boat?  Doing so while knowing though we have God’s calling and strength, we could not restore to its original wholeness.  Has God not saved others like this before?  Thinking about how the redemption of the powers in the Church can redeem society and the individuals and institutions contained within has been a worthy and motivating idea to reflect on.  I hope to do more.  Til then, I’ve updated the notes that Evan and I too here.

Filed Under: Christianity, Conferences/Events, Missional Tagged With: , ,

Monday Morning Brief – 3.23.09

March 23, 2009 by Leave a Comment

Context and Highlights –  1. Just got back from the Amidst the Powers Conference with homeboy Evan Curry.  2.  This was a great weekend for me.  I was grateful that my wife encouraged me to go to the conference guilt-free.  Further, I was also grateful that so much youth ministry happened without me this weekend.  Jr. High retreat, Sr. High dinner and movie night, and Sunday schools.  Though I do go on vacations and mission trips and leaders cover for me, there’s usually not as much happening and

Reading – everything from last week and Exploring the Old Testament – A Guide to the Prophets by J. Gordon McConville.

Listening to –  nothing new.   Which is a shame but it was good to drive and listen to some Wilco, Bob Dylan, Death Cab and whatever Evan was playing.  Looking forward to getting the new Decemberists. 

Laughed about – using the Canadian expression of “eh” incorrectly.  It seem that they say it after everything but they insist they don’t.  I am sorry of taking the typical American posture of misinterpreting other cultures but that’s what it really seemed – eh  Evan thinks that is the sound of the end of the sentence period eh  2.  Jack White started a new band.  We need to get him planting churches or something.  3.  That Michael quit the Office.  You know it’s been a tough season when the boss quits the show. Will the cameras still follow Michael?  Well, I’m tuning in.

Youth Ministry Update –  While I don’t know if it’s the best time we’ve ever had, it’s been a pretty good one.  I’m always grateful when our students are truly connecting with what we’re discussing.  2. As mentioned in the Highlights/Context, Tim Nye took our Jr. Highers went on their Winter Retreat trip Camp Monadock (yes we know it’s technically spring) but it’s pretty much always winter in New Hampsire.  3.  Our fantastic sr. high leaders held the fort down without me for our “Stimulus Night” (everyone else is using the word out of context, we thought we’d be sarcastic about it too).  It was a dinner and movie night and it was free (so while not actually adding money to the economy or giving to our students, we were stimulating their souls with ziti and Nacho Libre).  Win-win. 

Seminary Update – Last week we finished Preaching Christ through the Old Testament with Pete Enns.  Though I didn’t wow Enns with my papers, it really was one of the better classes I’ve taken and not just because of the prof.  For instance, the Christopher Wright book, Knowing Jesus Through the Old Testament was brilliant. Now in Dave Lamb’s  Prophecy and Contemporary Ministry and looking forward to appreciating more on the prophets.  One of my life-long goals is to find Haggai in less than 10 minutes.  Last week I clocked in just under 12 so I’m making progress ;-)

Looking forward to – UNC winning it all and saving my bracket.

Filed Under: Reflective

Stanley Hauerwas at Amidst the Powers Conference #ep09

March 21, 2009 by Leave a Comment

Just like the last post, these are just rough notes taken at the Amidst the Powers Conference.  I hope to reflect on them later.  Here’s the twitter feed if you are interested.

Stanley Hauerwas at #ep09

War is a moral practice.

By no means am I saying it is a good thing.

(Rightly suggests that such powers are perversions …)

If war is not just, what is it?  Let’s call it slaughter.

For many war is a great profit…

Everyone professes that war is horrible but we continue to have war.

Sometimes we must be willing to go to war, it’s when you know you are in the midst of a power.

We cannot get rid of war because it has captured the habits of our imagination.

When was the last time you went to see a movie about peace?

War is a power that inhabits our lives making it impossible to imagine a world without war.

What would the pacifists do if they got a world in which they wanted?

Pacifisms and non-violence are inadequate positions in the Christian life.

Peace is a deeper reality than violence but if it’s true, we need to locate the peaceful practices in our lives. 

William James : if it is to be abolished we need to find a moral equivalent to war

            His position is inadequate.  There are virtues of war …

The Christian unease of war is liturgical.

War is the alternative church.  (TG – I wish he would have spoken more about this).

If Christians are serious, we are the alternative to war.

Christians believe that the cross is the end of sacrifice.

The enduring attraction to war is this – it can give us what we long for purpose meaning for living.

Trivia dominates our conversation and airways, war is a great elixir.

It gives us a reason to be honorable.

“One bloody death – Christ – must be accompanied by others like it.”

Southerners were so desperate to kill, they even did it in WW1 for the Yankees.

If you want to know what being controlled by a power looks like, it’s revealed in this statement, “I now belong to the flag”.

The more sacrifice is made, the more sacrifices that must be made – that is the moral logic of war.

It also requires that we sacrifice our normal desire to kill.

Grossman noted that some soldiers have more intimacy with each other after killing than they do with their wives.

Killing is more intimate than sex.

War is about killing others …

The language of war helps us deny what war is really about and helps us make it morally palpable

Soldiers need to be re-entered into society.  They need to be told they did the right thing (the practice of doing the right thing)

Return to some kind of normality.

Veterans seldom want to talk about war. 

No sacrifice is more dramatic than the sacrifice of those being sent to war.

That is the sacrifice of asking them to kill.  Even more, those who have killed being asked to return to normalcy.

If you want to know why modern, industrialized Christianity is declining, it’s not because of Darwinism, the rise of science, it’s because we don’t die for what we believe.

The Christian alternative to war is worship.

Christians called to non-violent not because it’s a strategy to end wars but instead we are called to be non-violent because we cannot imagine being anything other and that may make the world more violent.

We were not created to kill one another, we were created to commune with each other.

Even when we kill in a just war, our bodies rebel.

Those who kill being reconciled with those that they killed.

The sacrifices of war are no longer necessary.

Christians must be free of killing from where the powers rely

Because of the cross of Christ, war was abolished.  

Filed Under: Christianity, Conferences/Events Tagged With: ,

Walter Wink at the Amidst the Powers Conference #ep09

March 21, 2009 by Leave a Comment

Hey friends, these are just rough notes taken at the Epiphaneia’s Amidst the Powers Conference.  I hope to reflect on them later.  Here’s the twitter feed if you are interested.

Evan and I took the following notes.  Keep an eye on his blog in the coming days for his thoughts about the conference.

Walter Wink

Power is more than people – it is institutions and structures we make for ourselves, for good or for ill

the Powers also include the spiritual dimensions at the core to these systems and institutions.

The powers can hurt, destroy, manipulate, target, exploit,

However sometimes they can help. 

The powers are not always evil, some people enjoy their jobs, provide good, provide life-enhancing products/services.

They do both good and evil – a complex web …

Powers shape our present and dictate our future

please don’t find the next minister without discovering [your local church’s] angel (based on Rev. 2-3)

Nations, cities have angels,

If the demonic comes from loss of vocation – we can’t exorcise the demon; we must bring the angel back to its vocation

Everything has a physical and spiritual aspect.  If we went to the change the systems, we need not only to the outer forms but their inner souls as well.  Everything has a core.  Everything is answerable to God. [we think of this quality generally only in individuals but rarely as institutions.  It may help us from demonizing so many social structures in the forms of governments, agencies, companies, etc.).

Unjust systems perpetuate themselves through violence

Sometimes the social institution becomes evil and in an attempt to reform it becomes doomed. 

How can we overcome evil without doing evil and without becoming evil ourselves?

            + consistent non-violence

            + can massive institutions be reformed?

Businesses exist to serve the general welfare, profit is a means to an end. (according to 18th century capitalist philosopher Adam Smith)

It is up to church and prophets to remind the businesses that profit is not the bottom line. 

We are not to cast out the demons but to recast the angels to its divine task. 

He used an example of a trip to Chile to observe the powers, he became so angry with the oppressors, oppressed, physically ill and overwhelmed by despair.

He had gone to observe the powers found he became their captive. 

In his despair he wondered how the NT writers could insist that Christ, in the midst of the evil was still sovereign over all the powers.  He wrestled with this assertion.

What he found was a thin thread of hope that he clung to but it could not be crushed. 

But then something gave him energy to unmask the powers and that’s when he began to write, write, write.

From that beginning a whole new sense of Biblical understanding of the powers.

It’s a neglected emphasis in Biblical study. 

Quoting Romans 8:38 – “I am convinced that neither death nor life, nor angels nor demons, nor future nor powers …”

How can we overcome evil without being evil ourselves?

How can the institution ever be saved?

What chance do we have to take the beast and reform them for how God desires to use them?

Madoff, just one man, hurt so many.  We can put him in jail but the beast is still there.

Nixon had it

Bush is no longer in office but the beast is still there.

Can the powers be redeemed?

Are the powers intrinsically evil?

The powers are good

The powers are fallen

The powers (can and) must be redeemed

            + these statements must be held together

The powers are a part of God’s creation.

            But to focus on redeeming them leads to utopian disillusionment, their transformation takes place in the limits of their fallen natures.

South Africa

+ Nelson Mandela, Desmond Tutu, and other Christian leaders brought reconciliation to the region so much so that they are now seen as some of the most significant humans of our time

+ the resilience of the powers continues since the powers are simultaneously good, fallen, and redeemed

The solvers must put the others’ interests above their own.

no matter how greedy or idolatrous a system becomes, it cannot escape the care and judgment of whom for it was made

Fallen = not depraved (as our Calvinist friends say), but none of us are who we are meant to be

            + the situation is not without hope

We must be careful not to demonize those who do evil

            + some “isms” like Nazism or sexism can only be reformed by being abandoned

            + powers are created in and for the humanizing purposes of God

+ it doesn’t God endorses certain systems, but humans need a way to be in society with one another

+ God wills that sub-systems would serve human need

Recognizing this (the powers are good, fallen, need to be redeemed), frees us that we do not have to demonize the powers (institutions, people).

We must be careful here, God did not create capitalism or socialism.

Humans must be socialized – there’s no helping it – at some point we must become ourselves. 

People need economic structure, we need government, we need society.

God-willing there be sub-systems to serve people.

God can liberate us from the powers

Also can liberate powers from their demonic focus as well.

We aren’t liberated by striking back at the powers that bring evil upon us but by dying out from under its command.

We must die to the domination system in order to live justly.

Why does Scripture speak of dying as breaking away from the powers?

Rebirth is not just an inward moment, but we must also die to the domination system in order to live authentically (e.g., those born in poverty may miss life by never feeling human at all)

Personal redemption cannot take place apart from the redemption of our social structures

            + cf. Rev. 21

The Gospel then is not … but about redeem an entire world right down to its basic structures. 

The powers are good, the powers are fallen, the powers can be redeemed – this means that within the limits of our fallen world fundamental change is possible – hope that another world is possible, a city of God = God’s domination-free order.

—-

Filed Under: Christianity, Conferences/Events Tagged With: ,

At the "Amidst the Powers Conference" #ep09

March 20, 2009 by 1 Comment

Well, Evan and I made it to Toronto.

Don’t know if there will be wifi at the Meeting House tomorrow but hope to blog about it.

You can follow the twitter hash here

Filed Under: Conferences/Events Tagged With:

Regarding the Coming Evangelical Collapse

March 20, 2009 by 1 Comment

First, well done Mr. Spencer, your post, The Coming Evangelical Collapse was a very interesting post. I had bookmarked Internet Monk but I now regret not adding it to my RSS feeder. I will remedy that. It is not my intention to refute his post, just adding to the conversation. Also check out Evan Curry’s post, “Dear Mom, the Evangelical Collapse is Coming”.

Indeed change is in the air. I agree with the consensus, it’s coming but I don’t think the “collapse” will happen within the next 10 years. My main reason is the Boomer Generation is not yet old enough and they still have enough money.

Consequently, I see the following happening within the next 30 years: “Collapse” is too overstated, I see it more as a evolutionary, and we’ll look back and cal it the “Renaissance of Evangelicalism”.

I mean no offense by this, though there is a strong attraction to the Roman Catholic, Orthodox, and Anglican faiths, their current approach to family ministries will not be relevant enough to the children of young X’ers and Millennials. This will result in the aforementioned evolution of evangelicalism.

Agreed, there will be a drop off political ideology in the evangelical world. Meaning, there will be less and less of an assumption that evangelicals are republicans.

Agreed that the mega-church will stick around in the coming years. There will be fewer and fewer mid-size churches (600+) There will be fewer and fewer of the less than 100 people churches in their traditional role. They will more likely be house churches, or cell churches.

Agreed that we will not be speaking about the “emergent church” but not because it failed but as so many have pointed out, it was a segue to different conversations that did not create their own brand or denomination (praise God).

Filed Under: Christianity, Ministry, Reflective Tagged With:

Reflecting on Kris Anne's post, "Sex and Seminary"

March 18, 2009 by 1 Comment

My friend Kris Anne had an interesting post called “Sex and Seminary”  (great title for a spin-off of Sex and the City.  I can totally see Charlotte enrolling here in Hatfield).  Anyway,  my comment was getting too long so it’s now a post here.

Hey sister, I know what you mean.  I say this knowing full well that I am a lust-trap myself.  I’ve noticed  when I lead the congregation in prayer, there are many women that don’t close their eyes.  Of course, it’s to look at me a little more.  Like the Lord told Peter (in a translation that does not exist yet), “Everything I made is good”.  (Yes, I’m kidding).  

I’ve been thinking about how to appropriately make a comment here without sounding chauvinistic but I’m trying too hard and thus, doomed to fail. So here we go.

Certainly, I believe that we should all strive for purity in our thoughts, actions, words, etc.  Also, I believe we should all dress with a sense of modesty but that’s obviously a relative scale.  Certainly, we should consider where we will be and who we will be with when we put on our clothes but only to an appropriate extent.   

Wear your up, wear your hair down, but wear it how you felt like it.  Feeling like dressing up a little bit more today, like the comment you get from your husband when you wear that sweater (not because it’s sexy but because he likes how the color looks on you.  Or because your spouse thinks the former), then go ahead.  But I think you know all that and that’s not really what you’re saying.

The part that I really want to get into is what you wear and what you should wear “at church” (ie worship service).  I understand and appreciate that many women do not wear things that are inappropriate in a worship service (whether they will be on the platform or in the pew in front of me).  However at some point, we as men (and young men), need to put forth the necessary diligence and allow the Spirit to form us when it comes to the areas of things like our purity.  We cannot discriminate against women being in front of the church because they’re too beautiful! 

If I could put myself out there – I was at an event where there were probably 10 people leading us in worship. There were a lot of lights, screens, instruments, and spit flying through the air. It was pretty energetic and everyone was bouncing up and down.  One of the singers was a pretty twenty-something.  Her top was fitted but not in the “going clubbing” sense. Here are a couple of thoughts in reflection of sexy and seminary and sexy and on stage:

1. Do we really need to only have unattractive women in our church (or on our platforms)?  Because that just sounds ridiculous.  I can hear it now.  A woman is asked to sing on the praise team and is relieved that she wasn’t too beautiful to serve.  

2. Should she have put something baggier on?

            A.  I don’t think that’s really the issue

            B.  And I leave it up to her.

3. Should we never play music that makes us bounce or show the physicality of our bodies?  That too sounds lame.  Sometimes good music makes you jump.  Sometimes the Lord does too.

4.  I don’t feel guilty about these thoughts. They were not sinful nor lustful.  Thinking about our sexuality is a healthy thing, even in a worship service  (In a worship context we have a tendency of sounding legalistic and I don’t see worship being an “on-off” switch). In a sense it reminded me that I tend to look too much at those leading me in worship as opposed to who am I supposed to be worshipping and it caused me to deeply examine this part of my heart.

5. Depending on you as a reader, you are probably assuming a couple things at this point.

            A. Wow, this guy is a pastor?   And he talks about other women?  He must not be married.  Oh he is??  He must not be happily married.

            B.  Wow, this guy has done too much thinking about this.  This is what the devil does – distract us from what is truly important.

           C.  If these are your thoughts, re-read point 5 – You are part of the problem.  (No offense, it’s ok, I am too but please keep reading).

6.  As a Church, we have no problem with putting obese men in these spotlights.  I know I have sat in a worship setting and thought things like, “Wow, that guy is big.”  I don’t remember ever thinking he shouldn’t be up front because of it.

7.  If we are being honest, I think it’s somewhat normal for most of us to take inventory of the person speaking, or the performer, or the bride, or the barista, or whoever.  We tend to do that and we get used to it.  We can do this in church settings too.

8.  What I am not saying:

           A.  That people should dress inappropriately and allow the audience to just deal with it.

           B.  That people who are not perfect should be given any more or any less preference.  (I’m                   saying it doesn’t really matter).  

9.  That day at the event, I realized that we don’t have women in front of us in church enough.  As a result, people like Kris Ann feels the way she does.

10.  God has given us so many gifts from singing to hospitality.  I’m grateful for all who are in the Church.

Filed Under: Reflective

Monday Morning Brief – 3.16.09

March 16, 2009 by Leave a Comment

It’s been a real fast week.  Haven’t had a chance to post or catch up on my blog friends since last Monday.  I’ll try to catch up on some of my thoughts (and yours) in the next few weeks.  

Highlights of the Week … 1. All is well with our little family.  Nathan gave us high-fives for the first time this week and he just started clapping.  2.  Emergent cohort meeting with Thomas Turner, Scott Kent Jones, Scott Lenger and for the first time ever, Tim Nye.  Good times.  Looking forward to next month when we discuss Augustine’s City of God 

Disappointments of the Week … 1. No new Lost episode.  2. the new Office episode with the Willy Wonka Michael inserting 5 golden pieces of paper in the paper boxes.  I’m not trying to be the cool guy who who likes to be critical but it wasn’t that great.  I like the Office, I want to like the Office again, but I’m watching and not really laughing.  And where’s Stanely?  I think he gave one eye roll last week and we hardly heard from the miserable guy.  They’re not using their cast this season.    

Reading … Three Views on the New Testament use of the Old Testament, Still reading Cross-Shattered Christ by Stanely Hauerwas, The Hauerwas Reader (which I’ll finish when the Cubs win the world series), flipped through The Great Giveaway by David Fitch.  Handful of magazines too like the new Relevant Magazine, the new Youth Worker Journal and flipped through the new Group magazine.  I love magazines, they require little from me.  

Listening to … a little less of No Line on the Horizon but I’m still loving it and so is the rest of the nation.  Debuting no. 1. on the billboards was an easy prediction but doubling the sales of the previous highest selling record of the year, Springstein’s Working on a Dream, is pretty impressive.  You can read a little more here.  2.  Fiction Family (with Jon Foreman and Sean Watkins from Nickel Creek) is pretty good.  Jon always sounds good.  Even when he’s not rocking out with Switchfoot (who are supposed to release a new album soon with their new label).  They’re is a hint of Dylan especially from Jon (he’s been doing this on his EP’s too), even some PFR which is pretty cool.   The new Fray is pretty good too.  Though overplayed and unpopular to admit, I like the Fray.  While I like the new album and I think they are good guys, I have a hard time telling which songs are from the old album and which are from the new album.  I can only imagine that an artist would be frustrated to hear that, but I can’t tell.  So I liked the first album, obviously I like this one too but was looking for a little more.  

Student Ministry ... is going well.  1. Yep still loving Dan Kimball’s They Like Jesus but Not the Church.  We’re doing the video curriculum and this past week was part one of, “Is the Church homophobic?”.  The discussions run far deeper than the initial question but as everyone knows, this is a topic that we discuss so much more out of the church than in it.  Happy with the start of it. 2. We had our first Summer Missions Team meeting.  We talked about many things, including a better team name.   

Looking forward to ... Amidst the powers Conference with Evan this weekend!

Laughed … with America at Jon Stewart’s fight with CNBC’s Jim Cramer from Mad Money.  Stewart is cool but I can’t watch this show … uhh …daily.  Anyway, nice work Jon, I appreciate you saying the things that need to be said.  Don’t be selective now, there’s a lot more to say my friend.  You can read the NY Times’ article about it here.

Watch it here.

Filed Under: Reflective Tagged With: , , , , ,