Pagitt on labels

a label is meant for insiders to know how to understand themselves that those labels are not useful for outsiders to use. Outsiders need to use independent labels and not take the lead from the insider terminology because the insider language is seeking to do something other than categorize, it seeks to include and refine. So insider language is precise in a way that outsider language is not. Imagine a person who knows little about birds seeing a parrot and just calling a bird a parrot, while the insider to bird-world says, "no, that is a Brotogeris". It is important for the insider to have an entire language that help them understand the distinctions. While these distinctions would only confine and confuse the outsider. So in the story they were suggesting that the term evangelical is an insider term and when people try to use it for political purposes it doesn't work well. So there needs to be a different term for politics. Someone suggested - "socially conservative religious people" would be better to describe the right-wing than Evangelical. Any way, that all got me thinking about the term Emergent and how it seems to me a term that was meant for outsider use has been taken as insider validation. And this is a dangerous or more dangerous than a term meant for insider use being coopted by outsiders. When a number of us suggested that use that term Emergent, sometime in early 2001 (I think), it was clearly designed to be helpful to outsiders so they could have categories beyond Generation X and Postmodern when looking at what was going on. But we never intended for it to be insider language. As insiders we have talked about being people who live the dreams of God (or any of 50 other long worded descriptions that take us beyond Christian, which in itself may be a term for the outsider more than the insider). So when outsiders, CT, Christian Century, New York Times, ABC, etc., use the term it helps them to see some distinction in churches or Christians that they would not otherwise know to recognize. And that was it. But as insiders we are trouble when we begin to use those categories to define us, or if we try to use those descriptions to set the kinds of communities we are trying to become. In other words, outsider designed categories are not meant to be prescriptive. I think this sits at the center of the blog gripping about who is emergent and what is it really. The term, coined in a phone conference call originating in my basement, is not useful as definition or prescription for insiders. We need to interact with one another as peers and family who are collectively engaging in the aspirations of God. Not people who are trying to fit into some Emergent categories. I think we would do well to use the term for outsiders who do not have a basic understanding of the conversation, but we ought never use it as a test to determine the validity of our lives or communities. One could easily be "emergent" and not a participant in the life of God. Or a full participant in the hopes of God and not at all "emergent". Being emergent is not the goal. Life in harmony with God is. But for those who are doing web searches or writing articles or deciding on what book to buy, these quick reference labels are helpful.

Yum, now some Hauerwas

I breathe something anew with these guys, first Cornell, now Stanley Hauerwas "Most North American Christians assume that they have a right, if not an obligation, to read the Bible. I challenge that assumption. No task is more important than for the Church to take the Bible out of the hands of individual Christians in North America. Let us no longer give the Bible to all children when they enter the third grade or whenever their assumed rise to Christian maturity is marked, such as eighth-grade commencements. Let us rather tell them and their parents that they are possessed by habits far too corrupt for them to be encouraged to read the Bible on their own. North American Christians are trained to believe that they are capable of reading the Bible without spiritual and moral transformation. They read the Bible not as Christians, not as a people set apart, but as democratic citizens who think their 'common sense' is sufficient for 'understanding' the Scripture. They feel no need to stand under the authority of a truthful community to be told how to read. Instead they assume that they have all the 'religious experience' necessary to know what the Bible is about. As a result the Bible inherently becomes the ideology for a politics quite different from the politics of the Church." ~ Stanley Hauerwas, Unleashing the Scripture

More Cornell West

To be a Christian--a follower of Jesus Christ--is to love wisdom, love justice, and love freedom. This is the radical love in Christian freedom and the radical freedom in Christian love that embraces Socratic questioning, prophetic witness, and tragicomic hope. If Christians do not exemplify this love and freedom, then we side with the nihilists of the Roman empire (cowardly elite Romans and subjugated Jews) who put Jesus to a humiliating death. Instead of receiving his love in freedom as a life-enhancing gift of grace, we end up believing in the idols of the empire that nailed him to cross. I do not want to be numbered among those who sold their souls for a mess of pottage--who surrendered their democratic Christian identity for a comfortable place at the table of the American empire while, like Lazarus, the least of these cried out and I was too intoxicated with worldly power and might to hear, beckon, and heed their cries. To be a Christian is to live dangerously, honestly, freely--to step in the name of love as if you may land on nothing, yet to keep stepping because the something that sustains you no empire can give you and no empire can take away. This is the kind of vision and courage required to enable the renewal of prophetic, democratic Christian identity in the age of the American empire.

i like Cornell West

"We need a spirituality of genuine Socratic questioning and caring compassion." I myself have been accused of Socratic youth ministry.

this is like so 6 years ago

For Me My God you continue to give When I continue to not My life is winning at losing but I still get the honor of a second chance I have been given endless gifts that are all connected To the ultimate gift I rip through the reminders of your love as if I deserved them Not giving any time for me to breathe a thank you And you still continue to give.You win by losing too. But you lose more than win because we reject the beautiful work.

from Chris Erdman and Alan Roxburgh blog

The Lord (not international pressure) sets the prisoners free; The Lord (not Medicare) opens the eyes of the blind; The Lord (not military liberators) lifts up those who are bowed down; The Lord (not the Moral Majority) loves the righteous; The Lord (not the CIA) watches over the strangers; The Lord (not social programs) upholds the orphan and the widow; The Lord (not George Bush) brings the way of the wicked to ruin; The Lord (not the American Empire) will reign forever. Stay alert, friends! Praise the Lord! It is praise that empowers our service on behalf of the Kingdom, against every force that would demoralize us.

A 4.3 billion dollar industry

Christian Bookstores aren't really about getting the best Christian writings in your hands. Link

McLaren on liberal label

Liberalism "My senior pastor said that you are liberal. Is that true?" Thanks for checking. "Liberal" and "conservative" represent two ways of being Christians in the modern era, and since I believe we are moving beyond the modern era, I am not very excited about either label. I'm much more excited about a convergence that is beginning to occur - bringing post-liberal and post-conservative Christians together in exciting new ways. Sometimes, for conservatives who don't understand the postmodern transition that I write about in my books, anyone who isn't conservative (which means "good" to them) is automatically considered liberal (which means "bad" to them). My guess is that this is why your senior pastor said what he did. You can assure your senior pastor that I am a committed follower of Christ, deeply rooted in the Scriptures, engaging in mission and ministry, and that I am deeply grateful for my conservative Christian heritage. You could also let himknow that I love and respect both conservatives and liberals, and I know that each group has its own problems and challenges, and I do all I can to be of help and encouragement to each. I hope this will not leave me in a "bad" category for him, or for you.

Sovereignty

I am fairly certain that God isn't too worried about His sovereignty come tomorrow's election. I am also fairly certain, regardless of the outcome, that people will come down off of their 'sides' and go back to what they were doing before this political riggamaroll. I just wish others would grasp that God hasn't changed ever, and that He is still the ruler of all the nations. I do not believe God 'annoints' presidential candidates(he probably does show up in matters of justice in our country don't get me wrong) in this country, we aren't exactly dealing with axis of evil, no matter what side one falls on. The lines have been too blurred by man in the good ole U. S. of A. I love what Pagitt rants about in his blog here: "I think each candidate for president should be asked, “Given the fact that the other guy has the potential to be president, what do you think would be the upside to that? What benefits would we see if he wins? “ If the answer is “nothing”. Then that person should be out. If the candidate does not have the wisdom to see that even those he disagrees with is right on many things, then he ought not be president. "

From Len Sweet's new book

Out of the Question...Into the Mystery : Getting Lost in the GodLife Relationship Humans find it quite difficult to live with one another even during the best of times. Some of us aren?t emotionally wired for intimacy. Some of us have crippling flaws that make relationships difficult. In fact, some of history's greatest contributors have been relationship-challenged. As an adult, Isaac Newton shunned personal intimacy in all its forms, preferring his laboratory of the mind to living specimens. Henri Nouwen, who inspired many of us to move deeper into relationships with God and one another, had trouble himself developing intimacy with others. Relational disorders abound among creative people. During the Second World War, while they were both in Yugoslavia, English satirical novelist Evelyn Waugh and his friend Randolph Churchill (son of Winston) got in constant fights. Churchill one day exploded, "I thought you were supposed to be a Christian and a Catholic." To which Waugh replied, "And think how much worse I would be if I wasn't." But we live in a culture that makes relationships harder while stimulating the hunger for relationships. The more globally the market economy structures itself, the more relentless the assault on all nonmarket social relations. This makes the church's role in strengthening the social and ecological webs in which humans live all the more important. Unfortunately, the culture seems to be more aware of this than the church. The most highly visible people addressing the impoverishment of our relationship skills are "relationship ministers" such as Dr. Phil, Dr. Laura, Oprah, and (my favorite) Delilah.

Cookout2

Cookout2
Originally uploaded by Shoogerbear.

Just playing with flickr

Wrong Question: How Do We Do Church Better

Faced with diminishing returns on investment of money, time, and energy, church leaders have spent much of the last five decades trying to figure out how to do church better.......All of this activity anesthetizes the pain of loss. It offers a way to stay busy and preoccupied with methodological pursuits while not facing the hard truth: none of this seems to making much of a difference. Church activity is a poor substitute for genuine spirituality.

to truly choose

Agent Smith: The purpose of life Mr. Anderson is death. . .So why, Mr. Anderson? Why do you do it? Why get up? Why keep fighting? Do you believe you're fighting for something? For more that your survival? Can you tell me what it is? Do you even know? Is it freedom? Or truth? Perhaps peace? Yes? No? Could it be for love? Illusions, Mr. Anderson. Vagaries of perception. The temporary constructs of a feeble human intellect trying desperately to justify an existence that is without meaning or purpose. And all of them as artificial as the Matrix itself, although only a human mind could invent something as insipid as love. You must be able to see it, Mr. Anderson. You must know it by now. You can't win. It's pointless to keep fighting. Why, Mr. Anderson? Why? Why do you persist? Neo: Because I choose to faith is an open and honest expression of self and a choice. one chooses to be a follower of christ, one chooses to help, one chooses to love - it is not a "magic" tradition, but one of choice. i choose to love, to help, to care, to express - and others can either choose not to accept my choices, and they have that right. what i have found most interesting in my faith walk is that many claim to choose, but few have taken the steps to truly choose.

Jon Stewart on Crossfire

I came across this link through Tony Jones Blog this morning. If you would like to see Jon Stewart on Crossfire, and see a historical moment of putting people in their place, then please download this clip and watch it. Jon characterized exactly how I feel about politics in 10 minutes. I do not hold Stewart up by any means, his show is friggin hilarious, and he does put out a lot of truth that other news networks will not. Warning, if you lean way to the left, or way to the right, you may not find this amusing! to download, click the link below http://randomfoo.net/?p=2004_10_00_archive.inc#crossfire

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Mountains, Movies, and Mormons

Had a great trip last weekend to my home state of West Virginia. Perfect weather, and the leaves were just right. That is all I can really say about where I grew up, is that it's beautiful to live there. We watched "Saved!" last weekend. It is so in your face on so many levels. I really couldn't get our people in to a discussion about how wrong it was and how right it was. Depending on how you watch that movie, you can be offended. You can also see how an outside perspective of Christianity can be right on sometimes. These were stereotypes on steroids, and yea, we got the point. I plan on showing this movie again either this week, while we are gone to Indiana, or when we get back. I also have another surprise in that the two Mormon kids who came to my house last week, have been invited to our $2bill bible study. Pray that none of our folks move to Utah, but that the conversation is healthy and we all learn more from each other! Oh yea, Indiana, we are headed to Anderson this weekend for homecoming and a campus visit for some of my kids. Can't wait to see old friends!

I want this on the back of my business card! 

WARNING, THIS IS A RANT = REPEAT = THIS IS A RANT I am big on moving forward. I do not like to stay in one place. The casual observer may see me as one that doesn't budge, or one who doesn't make any sense. I like that I am an enigma to many, but I don't like when one thinks they can sum me up. Back to moving forward. I hate politics. There is nothing in politics that proves to me that moving forward is important. Now I am thankful that slavery was abolished, and of all the rights and freedoms I have, but I cannot take listening to politicians, but they aren't the reason of progress. I honestly think God has His hand in moving this country forward. Man that is as patriotic as you'll ever get me. I only had to watch the VP debate tonite for 10 minutes to see people talking in circles, and one side accusing the other of flipflopping, well isn't flipflopping the main criteria for one to be in politics. I will also say this, as I do every time its election time. I have no patience for people getting passionate about their beliefs and party's, only when it is time to choose the right guy to be put in office. Welp, see ya in 4 years when you actually will care again. I am not one to be categorized, so it is impossible for me to leave my 'independent' status. Oh yea, get your God is not a Democrat or Republican sticker.

What we call ?church? is too often a gathering of strangers who see the church as yet another ?helping institution? to gratify further their individual desires. One of the reasons some church members are so mean-spirited with their pastor, particularly when the pastor urges them to look at God, is that they feel deceived by such pastoral invitations to look beyond themselves. They have come to church for ?strokes,? to have their personal needs met. What we call church is often a conspiracy of cordiality. Pastors learn to pacify rather than preach to their Ananiases and Sapphiras. We say we do it out of ?love.? Usually, we do it as a means of keeping everyone as distant from everyone else as possible. You don?t get into my life and I will not get into yours. Stanley Hauerwas I am seeing some truth to what Hauerwas is relaying. I pastor at a place where we are trying to point to Jesus in everything we do. We currently are at a point where we are having a vote of confidence for our lead pastor this Sunday, because there is a faction of confusers in this church, who want nothing more but church the way they want it. (oh yea, we are in Alabama, where they only want to be married & buried, with some good ole' preachin') I think McManus's bucket analogy is so wrapped up in laity, in our context. Another way to look at the situation here at the Sixth Avenue Service Station, is the Parable of Dirt. What we are essentially trying to do at this place is to see if the seeds that we are throwing, are landing on good soil, where we can see growth, or if they are landing on concrete, where they will just die.

I am not in the mood to append a previous post on here, where i was stating how difficult a month Shannon and I were having. I thought I would just open this up, and start typing. This may sound out of sorts, but having a week away to focus on my Dad's health and mentally disconnect from Alabama, has done wonders for me. Granted, I would take back my dad's heart attack in a second, so he wouldn't have had to go through so much. But even my dad would tell you that the knowledge he has of what is going on in his heart, will only add years to his life. As for me, not being weighed down mentally by the stress of this church, for a matter of a week, has opened my eyes in a lot of ways. I don't want to talk percentages or the what if's, when it comes to my future in Alabama, because that is really not my decision. I do know that my view of what the church means to Andy, is so different from what it used to be, and I hope I never forget this time in my life. Lets be more concise . . . . The church I am currently at, is not a church. It is a service station. I recently shared with a few friends, that church in our culture was a lot like the grocery store visit(Pagitt thought, not mine), you go there like once or twice a week, you get what you need, the relationships are like"hi, how are things? Good, see ya later!" and thats it. But you could go as far as what its like to get your car worked on, because we don't even go there with a mechanic, we just want our mode of transportation to be fixed, so we can go where want to go. We just want our souls to be tuned up enough so that we can turn the key and go when its time. That is where I work. The Sixth Avenue Service Station, where people want nothing more but to be serviced. This makes my heart cry out . . . When I was in NC, with my mom&dad, and dad was in CCU, for a whole week, we were bombarded by my parents bible fellowship friends. My parents were so looked after and cared for, it made me so jealous of my parents. These were people who were sacrificing their lives for my parents. This one lady Pam, she had like 3 other major medical things going on in her family, at the same time, and she sat with us in the Cath lab waiting room for like 3 hours. She even went and got Shannon's prescription, while we were in CCU. Don't get me wrong, I KNOW this is what church really is. But I have been on another planet for 3.5 years. What goes on at our house on thursday nights is church too, we even have kid that calls it church. It's a place where a group of 16-20 somethings feel open to share their lives and listen to each other's stories. It's not perfect, it's not structured, it's just there, and God is working in some hearts. I had nothing to do with it, and that is what I am intoxicated by the most, that God used a random act of people gathering, to work. This is why people are calling for my job, because they want those same kids to sit in 3 services a week, to be preached at, to be serviced. Pagitt used the term "post-protestant" in trying to illustrate what his church was creatively doing. The early church reformers realized that the way people operated in faith, wasn't working, and that the gospel was not reaching the hearts of men. I cannot sit quietly when it comes to some of the church I see today, especially in my current environment, and not proclaim that THIS ISN'T WORKING!!! I pray that God continues to reveal himself, as He always has, but I also pray that we never stop being creative, no matter who tries to stifle it. More later . . .

From Doug Pagitt's book, (which I am in the thick of) Reimagining Spiritual Formation: A Week in the Life of an Experimental Church "Will we do the hard and costly work of hand-crafting faith in our day, or will we be content living off the antiques of previous generations and fill in with cheap imitations of our own to "freshen up" the old stuff? Are we willing to become artisans of new expressions of faith so that our grandchildren will see as their legacy the quality that came before them, so they will be stirred thereby to craft newer, more beautiful, more meaningful expressions in their own day?"

There is a Christian music festival in the United Kingdom called Greenbelt. Anyhoo, I would love to attend this event, before I die that is. So I was on their website and clicked on their Blogsite, and someone had posted this prayer for their event. If you lead events, here is a great way to pray for them . . . At Greenbelt ..............Help us remember that the idiot who cut us up in trafficis a single Mother who has worked nine hours that dayand is rushing to Greenbelt to cook a meal and settle the kids downso they can have a good first day at the festivaland spend a few precious moments with her friendswho have saved hard to get to Greenbelt. Help us to remember that the pierced, tattooed, disinterested young manwho can't handle his change correctlyis a worried YMCA Hostel resident who is behind in his rentand cannot afford the cheapest hotdog on site.At the same time balancing his apprehension over his fearof not getting on well with the group he came with. Remind us Lord, that the scary looking young womanrolling her eyes and cannot stop moving her body,is a recovering slave to addictionsthat we can only imagine in our worst nightmares. Remind us that the scars of the self harming woman,scarred for life,is just like me with my scarsthat and hinder and equip at the same time.And remember that we, maybe,can just hide ours better. Help us to remember that the old couplewalking annoyingly slow through the festival siteand blocking our processare savouring this moment,knowing that, based on the biopsy report she got back last week,this will be the last year that they will be at Greenbelt together. Creator God, remind us each day that, of all the gifts you give us,the greatest gift is love.That it is not enough to share that love with those we hold dear.But those for who,on first impressions,make us shudder, or sigh or grunt with irritability. Open our soul and press your finger tip right on that part,the part to raise your love to the surface.So it touches the practical.The proactive.The love department. Make our Greenbelt an act of love.

3 Funerals, a wedding, a birth, a baptism, its been an interesting 3 weeks. I could throw in some more stats, but it would only make your brain fry. Could September be the month of normalcy, I seriously doubt it. But who wants things to be normal, I guess some sort of peace and understanding would be nice, but why ask for so much? I could use some canteloupe ice cream right about now.

He will wash you white as snow, and make you sparkle or downy soft

Welcome 

I will not be one of those guys who will call for the head of an artist, who at one time, did a lame movie, but this blew me out of the water. I haven't even seen The Village, but I know I will like it! Check this out though! From Doug Pagitt's blog! M Night Shyamalan and Stuart Little A few nights ago, after watching The Village, a few of us (and I can not remember who – thus the reason for this post) were talking about M Night Shyamalan.I made mention that I liked some of his stuff (sixth sense especially) but questioned his “picker” because of his participation with Stuart Little – one of the most insulting movies ever, especially to those who adopt real children. This comment was met with “he had nothing to do with Stuart Little!” To which I replied, “yes he did – he was the screen writer”. At that point I was completely disregarded – but I stand vindicated.

This weekend we are headed to Promises Keepers in Atlanta. I cannot wait to hear McManus! I heard from a friend who went 2 weeks ago in Memphis, that McManus was speaking on passion. I have started a new Blog for our thursday night bible studies. This is by invitation only, but if you would like to get in on our discussions, then email me, and I will send you an invitation to join. Oh and you can see it without joining, but to Blog, you have to join. $2billBS http://twodollarbill.blogspot.com/

Just got back from vacation, only to wake up at 2 a.m. with food poisoning (let's just say I am very familiar with my toilet) A lot has happened the past month, and I just want to, via the Web, put in some highlights.  If you would like to see some pictures, I will have them up on the Dailey Photoblog. IYC 2004 was pretty incredible as far as God speaking, and we are still riding that wave.  The one person that fascinated me the most was Rob Bell.  I had never heard him speak, and now I cannot get enough of this guy.  The best way to show you how cool this guy is, is to preview or buy some of his video work.  Go to www.nooma.com  this is where you can get a hold of his short films. Never go to the Six Flags Water Park in Atlanta, its a waste of space, and too crowded. Oh yea, I have been hooked by Lemony Snicket and totally am reading his 10 children books.  If you want to read a cozy, enchanting, happy little children's book series, then do NOT pick up these books!  Read the first sentence of the 1st book.  They are great though! I am headed to PK in Atlanta in 2 weeks, and cannot wait to hear McManus.

This is Andy's blog on the eve of his birthday, his 28th birthday! It has been a good 28 years, I am in ministry, I am in love, I am healthy, I am a college graduate, I am getting good at BBQing things, um, I am in love, I am still seeking God, still worshipping Him, still have those questions. My wife brought music to my life in so may ways, and in a corny way, she brought music back to me on my 28th birthday with a Dell MP3 player, corny huh, but i totally love it. And I love her. She is honestly a dream come true, and I love waking up everyday next to her, and spending my days with her! And laughing. And crying. And watching her. And listening to all the things she wants to do. She really is the most fascinating person I know. I just had to write this and say that I am so full of God's blessing, and even though my saying that makes my stupid mind think, 'just wait' BUT He isn't going anywhere. 'So amazing, you're unchanging . . . . Revolutionary Love , my least favorite DCB song on Illuminate, but hey it's playing while I type this! Has anyone out there ever eaten a Blood Burger? be God's

I have found recently, that when things start to really get tough, especially in ministry, I find refuge in words. Life right now is pretty muddled and difficult, to the point where my worship and prayer time is always garnished with tears. I always have found comfort in someone's thoughts in written form, and honestly they could be talking about anything, I can find peace through their words. I guess it is just comforting,touching even, that someone has such poignant thoughts and ideas, that they need to share them. That comfort comes and cause me to think that, "hey, I have meaningful thoughts too, does anyone care to read from my journey?" The muddled and difficult days are the #1 enemy of my sharing me. . . . . . Brownies are burnin!

It has been a while I know. But we are moving in to our new house this week! Wow, it feels good to type that. One thing that I am super excited about with this house, besides having a place to eat at a real table, (Unfinished Furniture Megamart), is that we can actually start doing in house bible studies with our Sr. High, and whoever else. No offense to the church(building) but I know it will be a lot more cohesive to dig deep in to His word for some, in a home setting. Shannon is officially a Dailey. And weird as it may sound, it just hit me, that she changed her name, like, for good, and its my name. We have been married almost four months now, but we just received her Social Security card in the mail. Next month, is all about the BBQ. Shannon's dad and brother, along with Shannon and myself, are headed for Memphis. That's right, the Super Bowl of Swine, as they like to call it. Check it out, Memphis in May

Today I attended a Child Safety Conference, thanks to the local government here in good ole' Alabama. I was actually dreading it at first, the main reason we attended was to gather more information about covering our local church as well as state churches through different liability cases and issues. Yadda Yadda Yadda, the main speaker was the lead FBI special agent on the Elizabeth Smart abduction case, how cool is that. I came home with so much info. on child abduction, internet safety, and child pornography, plus official FBI hand books on all that stuff. It was cool jive! Now I must take this new found knowledge, and shape it in to the church's role! This should be a no-brainer, but if you have any children 18 and under, then you need to know EVERYTHING about their internet use. Oh yea, no computers in their rooms either, put them in the center of the house. If they have something they want to hide or make private, then that could very well be an open door to chaos. Don't agree with me, then let me sit down with you for a minute and show you how many teens get abducted a year via the internet. I sound so adult in this BLOG! Here are some cool sites for you to reference. A Parent's Guide to Internet Safety NetsSmartz Relevant quote of the day.... "A church trying to teach about the crucifixion of Jesus performed an Easter show with actors whipping the Easter bunny and breaking eggs, upsetting several parents and young children. People who attended Saturday's performance at the Pa. church, quoted performers as saying, "There is no Easter bunny," and described the show as being a demonstration of how Jesus was crucified. Um, there has got to be a better way than that of portraying Easter ..."

We have a new house. Too bad we can't be in it for 3 weeks. Must remove the depressing wallpaper, any takers? Hey Relevant made FOX News, click here I had the opportunity to speak Monday night of Holy Week on John 15. That passage makes our Christian faith so solid and full of purpose, ughhhh I can't believe I just said purpose! in my BLOG. Last weekend we had a blast by the way . . . I think I enjoyed Traveling Mercies more than anything. If you ever need a drama crew for an event go with these 5 talented folks http://themercies.com/home.html all for now . . .

Would it be contrary to say, I am looking forward to a weekend with some Middle Schoolers, so I can get some rest? I have a mental flaw in that my thoughts spin like a Roledex from one responsibility to another, and I usually don't have any peace, until that responsibility is fulfilled. I need mental Yoga! I am off to Atlanta tomorrow with the MS'ers and I really am looking forward to it. http://www.jrhighbelieve.com Well I am off to church to work on the Prayer Path!

So in 24 hours, Shannon may have a new job, and the Dailey's may have a house to move in to. I hate days like these. Where is the excitement? It left on the train to Perfect, ya know, where Walgreens is located! Faith is being sure of what we hope for, but that only exists in God, I have no faith in the retail world, or the "sure come on by, we'll show you the house" world. There is always a catch and some sort of disappointment. God will provide for us either way, but the days of getting my hopes up are long gone. As if I needed to be more cynical. I would like to move in to that house though! DOLT!?!?

Being married and in to the thick of ministry, and I haven't blogged at all! So here it goes. My brain and nonconformist personality has been produced in to a magazine, well, i had nothing to do with it, but my thoughts and ideas are very much at home at this website and within this magazine. PLEASE check it out, and subscribe. I think you can handle 6 issues at $10.00 http://www.relevantmagazine.com/