no qualifications

this is fantastic!

hobby of mine

i liked to watch the reds, and it appears it is infecting my kids. she is beginning to recite the many local commercials that air during a reds game. just before the game she said, "dad, we like watching the reds, don't we?"

she might not be a reds fan, quite the way i am, but that is ok. i am having fun sharing my hobby with her, and i hope she remembers these times.

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i am almost through "everything must change." it has been very informative on a lot of different fronts. i am looking forward to reading "dissident discipleship" next.

looking forward to a short work week. we plan on moving baby j into kylie's room this weekend. should be interesting. praying j makes a smooth transition into kylie's room. something tells me, he is not going to be the problem!

firefox

just downloaded firefox. if you aren't using this web browser, why not? it is noticeably faster than internet explorer and has some cool features.

check it out - it is free to download.

wednesday class

tonight's class was one of those where we only had 4 guys, and from the beginning you got the sense there wasn't going to be much structure. it was nice to sit and talk about some of jesus' teachings and how each of us wrestle with them in our own lives.

we started off talking about the good samaritan and ended with the parable of the "older brother" or prodigal son. i was again reminded of the layers upon layers of truth packed into these stories and the amazing way jesus "trusts" us to "chew on 'em" to get at that truth. we will often times fail, and make them say things they don't, but he was willing to take the chance. and as the story of the older brother reminded us tonight, he is also willing to "give us our inheritance" even though it would destroy us, and then welcome us back without shame or guilt.

this story is more about god than it is about either of the brothers. he bore the shame of the sons behavior, and the shame of "running to his son" after he came back. this is the god we serve. this is the god who treats us infinitely better than we ever deserve to be treated, and this is the god who calls us to be like him!

letter from kylie

kylie was doodling on a piece of paper today, and then she brought it to me. she climbed up in my lap and said "daddy, can i read to you what i wrote?" below is what she claims it said:

i love my mommy and daddy very much. i won't plan to hurt my mommy and daddy, and i will come to them when they call me. they are so thankful to me, and i love them. that is why i jump in the pool with them, and they love others on vacation. i will be really sweet and behave. i will do it! i love my mommy and daddy they are very great to see me."

even though the sentences are not well constructed and it doesn't make sense in parts, i accepted it for what it was - an expression of her love for us.

at the end of it i told her how much it meant to me, and the expression on her face was priceless. she was so excited to have made me happy with her words.

"let the little children come to me"
"unless you become like a child you cannot enter the kingdom of god"

lots of good blogging going on

there has been lots of good blogging going on the past couple of weeks. not my own, mind you, but those i have been reading. i have read excellent blogs ranging from politics, to gas prices, to book reviews, to defenses of open theism. i don't know how many who read this blog, actually have fully engaged the blogosphere, but there is much to take in. it seems the internet has become a "hot bed" for new theological ideas and discussions. it makes me wonder even more, if these thoughts were ever expressed in any form, prior to this outlet. oh well, i for one enjoy reading different perspectives and insights into our daily lives as followers of jesus. it keeps me "thinking" and "searching" for "the way" in my daily life. christ and his teachings are just as relevant today as they have ever been. if you don't believe that, then there is a serious problem. loving enemies, praying for those that persecute us, sharing our possessions and storing up treasures in heaven couldn't be more counter cultural than they are in our western culture. i didn't even mention - greed, lust, slander and debauchery......

so as we process the endless ways to spend our money, time and the decisions we face every day, may the holy spirit guide our thoughts, minds and attitudes.

it's been a while

it has been a little while since i wrote anything. we were in cincinnati this past weekend, and then i flew to milwaukee for a meeting monday. got back in town last night, so i was pretty exhausted.

we had a great time in cincinnati. got to see two reds games. they lost both, but both were special in their own ways. saturday - jason and his little boy hunter, and i went to the game. it was very excited and we left pretty pumped. they lost in the bottom of the tenth, but i got to share some good times with my brother and nephew. sunday, jason, josh, dad and myself went to the game on father's day. again it ended in a disappointing reds loss, but how often does a guy get to go to a game with his dad and brothers? i would guess, not very often at my age. it was a blessed time watching a "not so blessed" team.

starting reading "everything must change" by brian mclaren last night. his premise for the book is the teachings of christ "do" actually have something to say about our world's deepest crises, or issues. in large part, he asserts, western christianity has only preached "jesus as a personal savior" and not the god who is reconciling the world, and advancing his kingdom now.

i have come to believe there is a big difference in believing in god's kingdom opening up and moving in our very midst; rather than a god who "takes care of the sin problem" and then leaves us with no alternative for our existence on this earth. we believe in a god who has opened up heaven to us, and set us free to live transformed inspired lives.

i am convinced there is going to be people in heaven, we never thought would be, and people in hell we surely didn't expect!

what say ye?

interesting video. does it say anything about "western christianity?" click here to watch.

what was jesus known for when he lived among us? we have ripped him out of the 1st century jewish context and planted him directly into ours. so now jesus means to us, what we want him to mean to us. we can more easily "follow jesus" and look exactly like the surrounding world - except we can judge and condemn them for not "following jesus." that, i am afraid, is how our culture views "christianity."

doesn't make sense to me.

where do we go from here?

met with our good friends george and ann earlier today. they were in town celebrating their 46th wedding anniversary. we had a very enjoyable time, and i miss them both greatly.

both of our families have experienced a sort of "exodus" (from chURch) in the past several years. and after a couple of hours of conversation it all seemed to boil down to the question: "where do we go from here?" the short answer to this question is "i have no idea." but i wanted to offer up a couple of trail markers to look for along the way:

1. become more and more reliant on the holy spirit's work in our lives. i do not possess within me, the ability to discern god's will. i have TRIED and TRIED. so it is time to give up! prayer: "god reveal your will for my life and show me the things necessary to perfectly incarnate those things in my life, and then give me the power to carry them out."

2. become satisfied with the journey and stop living for the destination. there is some good theology in the phrase motocyclist use frequently "it is all about the journey, not the destination." god has begun a good work in us, that are trusting him for our salvation, and he WILL bring it to completion. he has led us this far, it would be foolish to not trust him with our future. this is where i find myself at the moment. i am filled with doubt and questions. not so much about the truth as revealed in jesus, but my part in that - my part in the story of god's work in human history.

so those are my trail markers. those are the two thoughts i can look at to tell if i am on the trail, or if i have wondered off the map. there are many more, but these seem to be significant to me at the moment - where i am on the "jesus road."

thanks george and ann for your friendship, and willingness to allow me and my family to be a part of your lives.

good monday

family is all feeling good, after a tough week battling a stomach bug. it was nice to come home to a healthy wife and kids. it had been a while.

i am re-reading "simply christian" by n.t. wright. i am finding it fascinating the second time around. i think it was one of those books i rushed through in my first reading. i am taking time to slow down to not only read it, but contemplate the words/ideas as well. he has an amazing way of communicating the story of israel as told in the bible, and the climax of that story, which is jesus christ and his kingdom come! he ties the story well with the "echoes of a voice" he describes in the first 4 chapters which include - justice, spirituality, beauty and relationship.

what about those reds? i will not say much here, because the last time i did, they went on a 5 game skid. but if you don't know what they are doing, you can click the link on the right to get some details.

god bless you in the upcoming week. my our lives be soaked in the reality our relationship with christ. may it permeate our every thought, action and feeling.