October is Heating Up

Three great opportunities to connect this month with some great conversations and great people:

- Emergent Gathering - Oct. 9-12, Glorietta, NM - a gathering of folks from around the US and Canada to journey together and spend time doing the talking we always do between the sessions at every other conference. Great things always come out of this time.

- Gospel and our Culture Network Conference - Oct. 19-21, Kansas City - they've got a new website (finally, but nicely redone) and the thinkers there continue to put out great stuff. If you're in a congregation looking to connect around missional thinking - this would be a great place to be.

- Missional Leaders in the Emerging Culture Conversation - Oct. 24-26 at Nazarene Theological Seminary in Kansas City. I'm involved a little in this one and am excited to see our Nazarene Church and Seminary take some formal steps into this conversation. If you're a Nazarene and interested in the Emergent conversation, this would be a great place to connect, participate and build some generative friendships.

SAVDRU

Saw this license plate today and wondered, among other things, what I would have on my license plate if I had it personalized. I thought back to my younger days when my brother and I would fight each other for the license plate in the Honey Comb box. (the problem being that Honey Comb had some of the largest boxes of cereal known to man at the time so eating through two boxes so we both could have 1 never worked) There were some great ones like...

GO 4 IT
SPEED
MOV IT

I'm hereby taking suggestions for cool license plates that might fit me. Please keep the vulgarities to a minimum.

Words Matter... plain and simple. It seems to me that words are taken for granted more and more, but yet the weight they carry is increasing. In the North American, United States, context, words are thrown around like bird shot out of a shotgun. We don't necessarily think we'll hit the target right on, we don't even think we'll get super close, we just hope that we're pointed in the general direction and it works out. Words are easy to come by (blogs alone are multiplying daily) but our abuse of it is rampant.

Words are important. I think many that have grown up in evangelicalism have realized this in our gut for many years and have reacted strongly to those places and cases where the language has been misused or in some cases not used. We are very good at diagnosing this problem.

I think we are in a new place. A place where we must be able to put some words - well thought out and prayed over words - to where we are and what we are experiencing and this faith journey that we are on and inviting others to. I will agree here with a friend that these words and language must come out of relationships, rather than into relationships. It seems to me though that as we "harvest" this langauge and these words out of relationships, we need to be sharing them with others, to be telling these stories.

These are generative and very important conversations. There are many who are desperate for the poets to emerge to chart the course for what they are feeling, experiencing and intuitavely knowing about the changes in culture and the shortcomings of the language in explaining the gospel.

So what's your story? What language do you use? Your words matter.

Life of Brian

We had a great time with some friends who were over tonight... our next door neighbors - Brian and Corey and some other friends - Brian and Kara. It was hilarious whenever someone called out "Brian", we would all look or respond. I think it must be like that at George Foreman's house because all his kids are named Geroge too. Except they're a lot bigger and his house is probably a lot bigger.

Friends and Squirrels

Our good friend Josh Kleinfeld is visiting with us right now. He's in town taking a class at seminary. It's been great for me to have him here! Lots of fun and good conversations.

He's taking an evangelism class... yeah... and I just happened to come across this method of sharing the gospel and had to share! If you've been following my blog the last few days, then I'll officially weigh in that this would not be MY choice for faith language. Enjoy...

Is your Church looking for exciting fun packed to double or triple

your Week-night Service by attracting non-members?

If yes Please let me introduce you to:

Animal Alley Ministriesgoes into the local public schools performing an 1/2 hour Secular Character Building Presentation using the exotic animals at no charge to the school. We advice the audience that we will be at your church that evening if they wish to see and learn more. The church will normally hand out flyers about that evening event and their location. Animal Alley Ministries will then do a Gospel Message that evening at your church again using the animals as examples of God's Love and His Creation.

Animal Alley Ministries is a nationally known ministry that travels coast-to-coast witnessing at hundreds of churches, Christian Schools , Colleges, Churches, Camps, VBS, Retreats, Christian Radio and television programs, etc. each year using live exotic animals to demonstrate examples of Godly Character, Gods Love and Creation. Animal Alley Ministries does messages for a single day, multiple day events and weeklong camps and events. Animal Alley Ministries messages are directed at the age of the audience, ages range from pre-k through adult.

Animal Alley Ministries will you be your area soon and has limited dates available.

We would welcome the opportunity to visit you and present our ministry.

For further information, Contact:

Animal Alley Ministries

443 Stanton Corners Road

Ferndale, NY 12734

Phone: (845) 292-7680

Website: www.animalalley.net