no ranting, just raving

I'm realizing that much of what I "blog" about is often my little soapboxes and things that quasi set me off. But not tonight. Not because everything is just going so well--we still have no power and I still don't have my teaching for tomorrow night all together--oh well. The reason, not tonight, is because I have been given the coolest gift ever...my daughter. I've included another pic, as if you haven't seen any before. Two quick anecdotes and then I'll shut up. She was in her little contraption/toy thing we put her in to stand and have sensory overload just hanging out and having a good ol' time. Then I came home from work and once I started talking, even though she couldn't see me, Heather said she just started going crazy, smiling and kicking her little legs. I'm a sap. Anecdote number two. Similar theme. Heather and I are leaving for "date night" and Sydnie is playing on the floor and as Heather is saying good bye to her parents she is just following Heather's every move. I guess I'm just amazed at how aware she is already. Granted, she doesn't cry when we leave, so she must not really miss us all that much. Oh well. There's my comment for the day. Good night. May the peace of the Lord be with you.

Hurricane Jeanne

Camping out at the Kroen's in preparation for hurricane number three. What in the world? Oh well. I'll keep you all posted. I'm lobbying for another "hurricane newscast" but my wiser-half says that may not be the smartest thing to do in 100 mph winds. She's probably right. I'm an idiot. Talk to you all later!

best baby purchase ever

By my own admission, I have not been the most excited with purchasing baby paraphernalia. Not to say I'm not excited about my little Sydnie (she's the best), but I have left the buying to others. However, all that changed today. In preparation for our jaunt to the beautiful mountains of Boone, North Carolina next week I got to buy the Kelty Kid Pack! Hiking with the baby! Can't wait. Fall colors. Cool weather. Family. Not only that, Sydnie absolutely loved being paraded around Travel Country Outdoors as were trying this thing out. Our little granola baby in the making! Sweet.

Real Community v. Suburban Community

There is a place, literally on the "other side of the tracks" in Winter Park that is referred to as the Hannibal Square district. The surrounding area is almost exclusively black/African-American (not sure which is the pc thing to say these days). Drive through the area and you see people grilling out, hanging with their neighbors, sitting on the front porch, or walking to the non-chain grocery store. It's real community. There is real belonging. People are known. This picture would seem a beautiful thing, except for the fact that "Winter Park Whitey" wants to destroy it. Case in point.

One used to be able to drive past the little park in the area and see old, black men sitting, chatting, smoking their pipes and playing checkers. It was their place. That is until the white community realized that the old building across from the park were prime real estate. So in the name of "progress", restaurants and shops were put in, and in order to keep everything looking nice the park was remodeled. It was billed as beneficial to all--"all" apparently meaning the white people. The tables were taken away--apparently too much loitering with the tables. Yeah, you'd hate to have people just hanging out in the park. So now the old guys have no place to play checkers. Now when I drive by, I see rich white people sipping their wine at their outdoor cafe' overlooking the park. To my chagrin, but the satisfaction of many, no more old black guys in the park. Contrast that type of community which exists, but is in danger of being destroyed with what I came across the other day in "suburban land".

Driving down the street, a street not too far from my home, is a rather familiar sight, with a slight exception. At the end of the driveway is the big, green city garbage can. However, the proud owner of this particular garbage can had taken the time to spray paint in big white letters, DO NOT LEAVE IN THE MIDDLE OF THE DRIVEWAY. What in the world? Who the heck has time to spray paint their freakin' garbage cans? A better question is why did they spray paint their garbage can? Here's my cynical answer...if the garbage can is left in the driveway then Mr. or Mrs. Suburbia may actually have to get out of their Suburban SUV without being able to sneak quickly into their garage. They may actually have to run the risk of seeing one of their neighbors. They may actually have to talk. They may have to take some time that isn't programmed into their PDA. What a tragedy that would be. To actually have to talk. To actually have to engage with those in the neighborhood.

I hope this last vestige of real community in Winter Park, being the "black" neighborhood on the wrong side of the tracks is not destroyed in the name of white progress. We could learn much from how they live. How they connect. How they belong.

back from Michigan

Howdy to whoever it is that actually reads these here incessant ramblings--though my ego is boosted everytime I check the "site usage" stats--do people really like me or are people just really bored? I have to wonder. Anyway, I have several "blogs" in the works, but have been away from my trusty mac for a few days as we were in Michigan for my cousin's wedding. Blogs are forthcoming. In the meantime, if you're bored, you can check out the following link to view pics of the trip. http://digitalcakeproductions.com/sydniesnapshots.html

ramblings concerning the past week

So I had this great, or seemingly great blog written the other night, and then being the moron that I am, I closed the window without saving it first. Yeah, I'm an idiot. Oh well. So I've got some definite catching up to do. I'm not sure how far back to go...I guess I'll start with last wednesday night.

Wednesday night @ The Grove with the high school students was great! Kirsten and Brian were Barista's extraordinaire--Ryan did a great job with worship--Earl and Eamon are getting more and more plugged in and are kicking off their small groups soonp--yahoo! I really feel like we've had a great start to the school year. I am excited about many things and feel blessed in many regards. One of those great blessings has been to have Jenn on staff as our new Female Student Ministries Director. Jenn spoke on Wednesday and shared her story--it was quite powerful! The students were very responsive to what she had to say. All in all a very good night. Plus, my wonderful wife Heather was there being her great self and hanging out with the students. All good.

Saturday was a fun, yet exhausting night as we took 50+ middle schoolers to Rock the Universe. The positives...the students had a great time and it was fun hanging out with them. The Mummy was quite cool--Hannah was right! But man, I've got some serious issues that come to the surface when I am in the environment that is the "Christian sub-culture." It's freaky. Bad Christian t-shirts--2 of my favorite/worst...I Love Shane & Shane but...I Love Jesus More. Ugh. The other was...Looking For a Good Christian Guy...might have been funny if a guy was wearing it, but it was being worn by many a desperate girl. Then there's Toby Mac--white, Christian, rapper extraordinaire. If I hear his backup singers sing "Toby, Toby" one more time I think I'm going to shoot myself. Oh well. I have definite issues. The real kicker was that I didn't get to see the David Crowder Band--the only one's I wanted to see, and the venue was full.

Sunday night...OCM @ the DMAC. Turned out to be a really enjoyable night. God was very good--trite, overused Christian phrase, but it is true. We were late getting started. Couldn't get the sound system in on time, and had to just go acoustic. Had a much smaller group than two weeks ago--stupid Frances. These were the things I was getting hung up on and yet God worked despite those things. Worship was great. Just being able to circle up, with fellow believers/journeyers and sing praises to God in an upstairs theatre in downtown Orlando was awesome. It was great to be able to spend some time in the coffeehouse afterwards with those that came out--if you weren't there you missed free latte's! Better luck next time. I am optimistic that this new ministry will flourish--not because of anything I can do, but because I feel like God is at work.

That's all for now. Thanks for reading.

Download hurricane_frances_medium.mov

In honor of all those reporters who seemingly "risk" their lives to bring us the latest hurricane news, we have added our own little "hurricane report." You will need the Quicktime player to view it, which is availabe as a free download at http://apple.com/quicktime/download

Enjoy!

yet another hurricane

So I've got way too much time on my hands with the approaching hurricane making its way ever so slowly towards Orlando. Nothing too exciting to report, other than the fact that the fam is all here, just enduring this together. To be honest this whole thing is a serious pain in the rear. The first hurricane gave me a certain level of morbid excitement, but this one is just plain annoying. Packing everything up again. Deliberating what to do, where to go. Not knowing if we should stay at our house and try to "protect" our belongings or head over to Heather's parents house. So we're at Heather's parents house. We chose comfort and relative safety over "protecting" our material things. Which I guess is what they are. But to be perfectly honest, I really don't want to lose my stuff. I know that sounds shallow and materialistic, but oh well. Stupid hurricane.

There are two quotes/stories that are good reminders for me. The first is from the incredibly spiritual film Fight Club--"the stuff you own ends up owning you." I really don't want that to be true, but it probably is more than I care to admit. The second is from an incredible short story by Leo Tolstoy, which you should all read. It's entitled, "How Much Land Does a Man Need?" I won't ruin it for you, but I highly recommend taking a half hour out of your day to digest this great short story. The moral of the story is a great reminder in times like this. That's all I've got for now. Thanks for reading.

Read your Bible, it will scare the HELL out of you

Aaaah yes, this was the most recent message posted on a church sign I pass everyday. These signs are becoming the bane of my existence. I drive by and want to swerve my truck into the sign, feeling this would do a great service to the community. I obviously have anger issues, but seriously, what is up with these signs? I have vowed to never work at a church that has "marquee" messages. Do these messages really help the kingdom? I definitely have issues. Alright, enough about the church sign, but what about the message?

This particular message promotes an idea of "salvation" that is nothing more than fire insurance. I've got my "Jesus ticket" and now I'm in and don't have to go to the bad place. Is this really what Jesus was promoting? Read your Bible, believe in Him, and Hell will be scared out of you? I think what Jesus is offering is slightly bigger. Our world does not need to hear a message centered around the thought of not going to hell. Not that I'm espousing going to Hell--it really is a bad place, or so I've heard from the voices in my head. The world needs to hear a message of redemption and recreation not just rescue from the really hot place. To be saved from hell is great, but it is not a wholistic view of salvation. Salvation is so much bigger. What Jesus offers to us is so much bigger. He invites us into Kingdom living. To live in the way of Jesus (to steal the words of Rob Bell). To be saved daily by the Gospel. To know that my eternal life is now. To know that I have the opportunity to bring redemption to a hurting world through the message of Jesus is an amazing thing. People want to be made whole, they don't just want to be saved from hell. Jesus makes us whole. Amen.

If you want to read some really intriguing stuff about the "Hebrew mindset" check out this site http://followtherabbi.com

wednesday night @ the grove

So our town is ready to be destroyed and there is much work to be done, but I am feeling quite good about my evening. We had our second Wednesday night gathering of the new school year for high school students and it was a thoroughly enjoyable night. Had fun making latte's in the new cafe', students seemed excited about being there, had several first time visitors as well as some students that hadn't been out in awhile. God was very good to us. Worship was great, and though I was rather "longwinded" I had some good conversations with students afterwards--I think God was at work in their hearts which was very encouraging. Sometimes student ministry is incredibly frustrating, but tonight was one of those nights where I felt I belonged here. It was a good feeling. Next week will probably...well I won't go there for now and just enjoy the evening. Hope everyone survives the big storm. Thanks for reading and good night.

Glad to be at Orangewood

Read this quote today..."When we serve others in a culture that is so self-centered, that service will stand out. It's about intentional acts of kindness toward the people in our lives, saying, 'How do I authentically serve you?' as opposed to, 'How do I convince you that Christ is the Messiah?"

I love this quote and it makes my heart sing that I have the privilege of serving at a church that is beginning to grasp this concept. I am beginning to grasp this concept. It reminds me of our need for community and how truth is understood in the context of community. That's all for now.

so I'm a feminist and a guy...go figure

So i'm sitting in my most recent class endeavor at Reformed Theological Seminary entitled The History of Christianity. In the introductory notes a discussion breaks out about the historical support for women as deaconess' in the early church. So it makes me think. Women really do get shafted alot in the church. It's unfortunate to say the least. Women seemingly do as much in the church as men and yet it is rare to find women as paid staff of the church. I'm not saying they should be ordained, or even serve as elders, but isn't it ridiculous that women can usually only fulfill the role of volunteer? What is up with that? The disparity is huge. We are so behind the times as the church, that it's not even funny. I'm not sure what to do about this. I'm not sure what kind of difference I can actually make. It just doesn't seem right. I am not sounding as impassioned as I want to right now--I'm a little tired. I just really wonder why women are usually only on staff as children's workers and maybe youth workers. What about a full-time woman to minister to the adult woman of the church? This is my random soapbox of the day. Let me know your thoughts.