Chinese New Year Celebration
We went to a Chinese New Year Celebration on Saturday night with some great friends, Ed and Ansie Marquette. They are always so generous and so kind. They are also great people.
We took the whole family and had a great time. It was more of a performance celebrating the new year as the Chinese often do. The Chinese New Year is celebrated like Christmas is here in the States. There were a lot of dances and songs, great outfits and of course a little martial arts. Highlights from the kids were the butterfly dance (Kate), the lion dance (Meg), the Shaolin Shadow Boxing (Jahred) and the Sword demonstration (Isaiah).
There were some funny kid moments - Jahred leaned over and whispered to me that he had seen someone who "looked like they have Billy Bob teeth in"... but those were real teeth. To which I responded, "thanks for not saying that out loud... and thanks for telling me!"
Monday, February 26, 2007
Raging Bhull
I'm trying a change of names to the old blog. Not a particularly good reason, just feel like it.
Some of my co-workers at NYI thought that this would be a good title to my memoirs one day. Pretty funny if you ask me. This one's for you RJ!
I'm trying a change of names to the old blog. Not a particularly good reason, just feel like it.
Some of my co-workers at NYI thought that this would be a good title to my memoirs one day. Pretty funny if you ask me. This one's for you RJ!
Sunday, February 25, 2007
M7
We had a great week at M7... making friends, telling stories, throwing parties and giving gifts.
Making Friends... it was just overwhelming to see the turnout at all of our emergent workshops and to meet so many great people who are also Nazarenes and are also on this journey of asking missionary questions in their culture. From my new friends in Canada, to the west coast, to the east coast and everywhere in between, it was great to meet you and spend time thinking and talking and eating together (you've gotta eat right??) I also want to thank all the presenters - Jim Wicks, Sean Heston, Tim Conder, Tim Keel, Mike King, and Jon Middendorf. Thanks for being you!
Telling Stories... over food, over coffee and of course during the in-between sessions and workshops time. Good people are doing great things all over!
I also had the privilege of sharing some stories of Jesus at our party Monday night. I talked about Jesus two miracles of feeding - 5000 and 4000, with special attention to the location of these miracles and the number of baskets left (land of the 12- 12 baskets; land of the 7 - 7 baskets). I also told the story of Jesus quiting the storm in the context of the things we fear the most. The theme of the stories was "calling" and what Jesus has called us to in following Him.
Throwing Parties... We threw two distinctly different parties both geared for college aged students (props to the 700+ college students there). Both nights we had the Jacob's Well band perform and both nights we were in Grace and Holy Trinity church in downtown KC. What an awesome space!! (another post on that to come I'm sure) Monday night was more of a church service, very similar to what goes on at Jacob's Well on a typical Sunday. Tuesday night was a prayer service and was lead by various people including some folks from the 24-7 prayer movement. It was also a great time.
Giving Gifts... we did give a few gifts, but we also recieved some great gifts like...
- people's participation - the emergent workshops were the best attended of all the workshops at M7. This clearly says that people are hungry for more information and more conversation.
- people's voices - not only were the workshops well attended, but people were so engaged. The conversation was rich!
- graciousness - we had several guests including Tim Keel, Tim Conder and Mike King and they were graciously recieved
- visitors - the conference was open to one and all and we had several who were form no tribe or different tribes than us Nazbos there and we are better for your presence
If you were there please drop a comment on your experience. We missed some of you quite a bit who couldn't be there.
We had a great week at M7... making friends, telling stories, throwing parties and giving gifts.
Making Friends... it was just overwhelming to see the turnout at all of our emergent workshops and to meet so many great people who are also Nazarenes and are also on this journey of asking missionary questions in their culture. From my new friends in Canada, to the west coast, to the east coast and everywhere in between, it was great to meet you and spend time thinking and talking and eating together (you've gotta eat right??) I also want to thank all the presenters - Jim Wicks, Sean Heston, Tim Conder, Tim Keel, Mike King, and Jon Middendorf. Thanks for being you!
Telling Stories... over food, over coffee and of course during the in-between sessions and workshops time. Good people are doing great things all over!
I also had the privilege of sharing some stories of Jesus at our party Monday night. I talked about Jesus two miracles of feeding - 5000 and 4000, with special attention to the location of these miracles and the number of baskets left (land of the 12- 12 baskets; land of the 7 - 7 baskets). I also told the story of Jesus quiting the storm in the context of the things we fear the most. The theme of the stories was "calling" and what Jesus has called us to in following Him.
Throwing Parties... We threw two distinctly different parties both geared for college aged students (props to the 700+ college students there). Both nights we had the Jacob's Well band perform and both nights we were in Grace and Holy Trinity church in downtown KC. What an awesome space!! (another post on that to come I'm sure) Monday night was more of a church service, very similar to what goes on at Jacob's Well on a typical Sunday. Tuesday night was a prayer service and was lead by various people including some folks from the 24-7 prayer movement. It was also a great time.
Giving Gifts... we did give a few gifts, but we also recieved some great gifts like...
- people's participation - the emergent workshops were the best attended of all the workshops at M7. This clearly says that people are hungry for more information and more conversation.
- people's voices - not only were the workshops well attended, but people were so engaged. The conversation was rich!
- graciousness - we had several guests including Tim Keel, Tim Conder and Mike King and they were graciously recieved
- visitors - the conference was open to one and all and we had several who were form no tribe or different tribes than us Nazbos there and we are better for your presence
If you were there please drop a comment on your experience. We missed some of you quite a bit who couldn't be there.
M7
We had a great week at M7... making friends, telling stories, throwing parties and giving gifts.
Making Friends... it was just overwhelming to see the turnout at all of our emergent workshops and to meet so many great people who are also Nazarenes and are also on this journey of asking missionary questions in their culture. From my new friends in Canada, to the west coast, to the east coast and everywhere in between, it was great to meet you and spend time thinking and talking and eating together (you've gotta eat right??) I also want to thank all the presenters - Jim Wicks, Sean Heston, Tim Conder, Tim Keel, Mike King, and Jon Middendorf. Thanks for being you!
Telling Stories... over food, over coffee and of course during the in-between sessions and workshops time. Good people are doing great things all over!
I also had the privilege of sharing some stories of Jesus at our party Monday night. I talked about Jesus two miracles of feeding - 5000 and 4000, with special attention to the location of these miracles and the number of baskets left (land of the 12- 12 baskets; land of the 7 - 7 baskets). I also told the story of Jesus quiting the storm in the context of the things we fear the most. The theme of the stories was "calling" and what Jesus has called us to in following Him.
Throwing Parties... We threw two distinctly different parties both geared for college aged students (props to the 700+ college students there). Both nights we had the Jacob's Well band perform and both nights we were in Grace and Holy Trinity church in downtown KC. What an awesome space!! (another post on that to come I'm sure) Monday night was more of a church service, very similar to what goes on at Jacob's Well on a typical Sunday. Tuesday night was a prayer service and was lead by various people including some folks from the 24-7 prayer movement. It was also a great time.
Giving Gifts... we did give a few gifts, but we also recieved some great gifts like...
- people's participation - the emergent workshops were the best attended of all the workshops at M7. This clearly says that people are hungry for more information and more conversation.
- people's voices - not only were the workshops well attended, but people were so engaged. The conversation was rich!
- graciousness - we had several guests including Tim Keel, Tim Conder and Mike King and they were graciously recieved
- visitors - the conference was open to one and all and we had several who were form no tribe or different tribes than us Nazbos there and we are better for your presence
If you were there please drop a comment on your experience. We missed some of you quite a bit who couldn't be there.
We had a great week at M7... making friends, telling stories, throwing parties and giving gifts.
Making Friends... it was just overwhelming to see the turnout at all of our emergent workshops and to meet so many great people who are also Nazarenes and are also on this journey of asking missionary questions in their culture. From my new friends in Canada, to the west coast, to the east coast and everywhere in between, it was great to meet you and spend time thinking and talking and eating together (you've gotta eat right??) I also want to thank all the presenters - Jim Wicks, Sean Heston, Tim Conder, Tim Keel, Mike King, and Jon Middendorf. Thanks for being you!
Telling Stories... over food, over coffee and of course during the in-between sessions and workshops time. Good people are doing great things all over!
I also had the privilege of sharing some stories of Jesus at our party Monday night. I talked about Jesus two miracles of feeding - 5000 and 4000, with special attention to the location of these miracles and the number of baskets left (land of the 12- 12 baskets; land of the 7 - 7 baskets). I also told the story of Jesus quiting the storm in the context of the things we fear the most. The theme of the stories was "calling" and what Jesus has called us to in following Him.
Throwing Parties... We threw two distinctly different parties both geared for college aged students (props to the 700+ college students there). Both nights we had the Jacob's Well band perform and both nights we were in Grace and Holy Trinity church in downtown KC. What an awesome space!! (another post on that to come I'm sure) Monday night was more of a church service, very similar to what goes on at Jacob's Well on a typical Sunday. Tuesday night was a prayer service and was lead by various people including some folks from the 24-7 prayer movement. It was also a great time.
Giving Gifts... we did give a few gifts, but we also recieved some great gifts like...
- people's participation - the emergent workshops were the best attended of all the workshops at M7. This clearly says that people are hungry for more information and more conversation.
- people's voices - not only were the workshops well attended, but people were so engaged. The conversation was rich!
- graciousness - we had several guests including Tim Keel, Tim Conder and Mike King and they were graciously recieved
- visitors - the conference was open to one and all and we had several who were form no tribe or different tribes than us Nazbos there and we are better for your presence
If you were there please drop a comment on your experience. We missed some of you quite a bit who couldn't be there.
Saturday, February 17, 2007
M7
I've been getting geared up for M7 which is Monday - Wednesday. It's a Millenial conference (whatever that means) and is basically a chance to get Nazbo's together during the lull between the quadrennial General Assemblies. It happens to be here in Kansas City this year.
OK, now let me tell you what's going to be interesting. There are 200+ workshops over 2 days offered and among them will be some "Emerging Church" workshops that we are hosting. I'm really excited about some of the folks we've invited and who'll be joining us: Tim Keel (Jacob's Well), Tim Conder (Emmaeus Way), and Mike King (YouthFront) will all be joining us. We also have some great youth workshops that we are doing. Put that together with the 700+ college kids that are coming and two late night worship experiences that we are helping pull together (Mike Crawford & Jacob's Well worship folks!!!) and we should have for some late nights, good conversations, new friends, stories told and general chaos.
If you are going to be there be sure to try to look me up. If you are a blogger and going to be there be sure to drop me a comment here and we can connect stories throughout.
I've been getting geared up for M7 which is Monday - Wednesday. It's a Millenial conference (whatever that means) and is basically a chance to get Nazbo's together during the lull between the quadrennial General Assemblies. It happens to be here in Kansas City this year.
OK, now let me tell you what's going to be interesting. There are 200+ workshops over 2 days offered and among them will be some "Emerging Church" workshops that we are hosting. I'm really excited about some of the folks we've invited and who'll be joining us: Tim Keel (Jacob's Well), Tim Conder (Emmaeus Way), and Mike King (YouthFront) will all be joining us. We also have some great youth workshops that we are doing. Put that together with the 700+ college kids that are coming and two late night worship experiences that we are helping pull together (Mike Crawford & Jacob's Well worship folks!!!) and we should have for some late nights, good conversations, new friends, stories told and general chaos.
If you are going to be there be sure to try to look me up. If you are a blogger and going to be there be sure to drop me a comment here and we can connect stories throughout.
Monday, February 05, 2007
...faith, hope and love... the kingdom of God...
It seems to me that we oftentimes sell ourselves short. We talk so often about what we are going to give up, surrender, confess, release. But we forget that for most of us, in order to let go of the rope that we so desperately (and sometimes foolishly) cling to, we have to be jumping for something else that we can hold on to.
It seems to me that forgiveness often works this way. We can't let go of the anger, fear, and pain we feel about someone, unless we are able to begin to live into a new kind of relationship with them that we can picture, can dream (if only distantly); a relationship of forgiveness, redemption, hope and love. This is the beauty in the words and life of Christ. He didn't come just to free us from darkness. He came to be light. If we live into this life of Christ, we too become light.
To begin with, this way of Jesus is more than just things we DO NOT do or be. The way of Jesus is not an absentee way, a way of void, a way of nothing - no laughter, no fun, no pain, no joy, no sorrow, no weakness, no desire, no mystery, no action. The way of Jesus is in fact a way... and I would argue that it is the best way... to live life full of laughter, fun, pain, joy, sorrow, weakness, desire, mystery, action and more. It's more than just letting go of the things that are "bad".
There is no doubt that for all of us we have parts of our way of life that are "bad". Perhaps these are addictions, reactions, bad habits, open wounds of the soul that we desperately try to protect. Whatever they may be they are certainly things that don't help us or those we love. These are not things that might bring us closer and more deeply into the mystery and love of God. We all have them. We all know that they are "bad". I can name mine (at least the ones I notice right now, perhaps my wife given the chance could enlighten us all further
If I might borrow from the Biblical story, I'd argue that we are back to Adam. We are back to the beginning. And that's only IF we could on our own stop doing those things, let go of them completely. But as in the case of Adam and Eve, even IF we did let go of these things, we would choose to go back to them or another thing that would center our lives solely on ourselves, harming others, disrupting our souls, separating us from the things that are lovely, good and pure.
To simply let go of something is not enough. We must begin to live into the kingdom of God. This means that when I do give my "sin" (those things that separate me from others and God) to God because I cannot get rid of it on my own, that I have to keep going and begin to live into this way of Jesus.
What is this "way of Jesus", this "kingdom of God" that you are talking about? While I cannot describe it fully here, I can tell that it involves love for yourself, for others, for all of creation and for God in ways that are beyond us. And this love is not just a "down in my heart" kind of love. It is a love of action, of movement, of concern, of desperation, of help, of presence. It is a love that none of us have fully in us. It is a love that we begin to experience as we try out this way of Jesus, but also one that we LIVE INTO as we practice this way.
The thing is... we cannot do this alone. We can't live into this life separated from everyone else. We have to be connected to not just God, but to each other, to our neighbor next door, our neighbor half a world away, our brother, our sister, our enemy, our friend.
This is the kind of life that I'm trying to "live into". It is a life that I fully believe is worth living. It is a life like no other.
So join me in
letting go... and picking up;
walking away from something... and towards another;
breathing out... and breathing in
dying to self... and living into the Way of Christ.
To close I offer an invitation from Shakespeare, "Come take hands with me and let us shake the ground whereupon these sleepers be."
Sunday, February 04, 2007
Seen it all
As I mentioned last week, I was in Louisville for the entire week at the Religious Conference and Meetings Association Conference. It is about as complicated and odd as it sounds. There are indeed some useful seminars amidst the glut of others, but that's not what I want to share with you about.
To give an example of the oddness of this conference, let me share this story. For the opening ceremony, the room grew dark, the stage colorfully lit on a relatively plainly curtained stage. Out come singer/dancers dressed in glittery costumes singing their original song about RCMA's 35 years. It would have been great... in 1974 (the year I was born). Jenny who was sitting next to me, said, "is it always like this?" Then she asked me if would be rude to take a picture with her phone to send to a friend. I told her they would take it as a compliment. But I digress...
To continue to paint a picture of the crowd and style of the conference, I should point out the "night of entertainment" artist. Before I tell you this year's choice, let me reveal the last two years performers: Shirley Jones and last year, Ben Vereen. This year in a decided move to the youth they brought in Wayne Newton. Rumor has it that they got him at half his going rate (which is also rumored at over $100,000) because he "can't really sing anymore". But again I digress...
I consider myself to be quite fortunate in that I've been able to see a lot in my life. I've seen big spectacles and little ones. I've been able to travel to almost all parts of this fine country and several others. But none of this prepared me for what I witnessed at the grand gala on Thursday night of RCMA. And while I thought I had seen it all, I consider my boss to have seen more (including I HAVE to add, Twister Sister Christmas Concert at Disney... a sure sign of the apocalypse). But none of his life had prepared him for this night either.
I will humbly try to describe the scene to you. Out comes a Mariachi style band. They wore the leather jackets with fringes on the sleeves, the sombreros and the tight leather pants. They were all from the same family. They started with a festive Mexican sounding song or two including some odd but slightly amusing crowd participation. They continued on into a set of German beer drinking music - getting odder. Then they broke out into an Irish, "Lord of the Dance" type routine - getting odder. They proceeded to do some Italian songs, a "stomp" dance routine, they threw in a patriotic set including "God Bless America" and then pushed into some kind of football helmet wearing, marching band, something. If this picture seems hard to describe and harder even to comprehend, then I'm probably getting you close to a taste of the show. Bizarre is a word to use. Bad is another. I finally settled on distrurbing as the word to use.
As I believe I mentioned the oddness of the RCMA crowd, I'll give them some credit. Once the German music hit a good third bolted immediately. Another third of us stayed in shock in awe not able to tear our eyes away from the carnage. Another third would be like the gentleman sitting next to me, gleefully awaiting the next preposterous change in music or dance, mesmerized by the "skills" of this group (the person who booked this musical group undoubtedly fell into this type of people). It was an oddly fitting cap to the week at RCMA.
I have vowed to never again utter the phrase, "just when you've seen everything", because frankly I'm sure now that I haven't.
As I mentioned last week, I was in Louisville for the entire week at the Religious Conference and Meetings Association Conference. It is about as complicated and odd as it sounds. There are indeed some useful seminars amidst the glut of others, but that's not what I want to share with you about.
To give an example of the oddness of this conference, let me share this story. For the opening ceremony, the room grew dark, the stage colorfully lit on a relatively plainly curtained stage. Out come singer/dancers dressed in glittery costumes singing their original song about RCMA's 35 years. It would have been great... in 1974 (the year I was born). Jenny who was sitting next to me, said, "is it always like this?" Then she asked me if would be rude to take a picture with her phone to send to a friend. I told her they would take it as a compliment. But I digress...
To continue to paint a picture of the crowd and style of the conference, I should point out the "night of entertainment" artist. Before I tell you this year's choice, let me reveal the last two years performers: Shirley Jones and last year, Ben Vereen. This year in a decided move to the youth they brought in Wayne Newton. Rumor has it that they got him at half his going rate (which is also rumored at over $100,000) because he "can't really sing anymore". But again I digress...
I consider myself to be quite fortunate in that I've been able to see a lot in my life. I've seen big spectacles and little ones. I've been able to travel to almost all parts of this fine country and several others. But none of this prepared me for what I witnessed at the grand gala on Thursday night of RCMA. And while I thought I had seen it all, I consider my boss to have seen more (including I HAVE to add, Twister Sister Christmas Concert at Disney... a sure sign of the apocalypse). But none of his life had prepared him for this night either.
I will humbly try to describe the scene to you. Out comes a Mariachi style band. They wore the leather jackets with fringes on the sleeves, the sombreros and the tight leather pants. They were all from the same family. They started with a festive Mexican sounding song or two including some odd but slightly amusing crowd participation. They continued on into a set of German beer drinking music - getting odder. Then they broke out into an Irish, "Lord of the Dance" type routine - getting odder. They proceeded to do some Italian songs, a "stomp" dance routine, they threw in a patriotic set including "God Bless America" and then pushed into some kind of football helmet wearing, marching band, something. If this picture seems hard to describe and harder even to comprehend, then I'm probably getting you close to a taste of the show. Bizarre is a word to use. Bad is another. I finally settled on distrurbing as the word to use.
As I believe I mentioned the oddness of the RCMA crowd, I'll give them some credit. Once the German music hit a good third bolted immediately. Another third of us stayed in shock in awe not able to tear our eyes away from the carnage. Another third would be like the gentleman sitting next to me, gleefully awaiting the next preposterous change in music or dance, mesmerized by the "skills" of this group (the person who booked this musical group undoubtedly fell into this type of people). It was an oddly fitting cap to the week at RCMA.
I have vowed to never again utter the phrase, "just when you've seen everything", because frankly I'm sure now that I haven't.
"Crappage"
We are trying to help our kids think about the words they use (I know, "why the departure for your children Brian?"). Anyway, Isaiah has been saying "crap" lately to refer to things he doesn't like. Carol has told him to stop saying that word. So the other day she asked him to get some trash from downstairs and bring it up. He referred to it as "crappage". Carol asked, "what did you just say." "Crappage, mom. I did not say crap." We believe this to be a combination of "crap" and "garbage".
While I'll admit I should be a bit embarrassed or something, there is no doubt a bit of pride in his creativity of language at such an early age. It is true that I will someday probably regret my joy at this moment, but for now that's a bunch of crappage.
We are trying to help our kids think about the words they use (I know, "why the departure for your children Brian?"). Anyway, Isaiah has been saying "crap" lately to refer to things he doesn't like. Carol has told him to stop saying that word. So the other day she asked him to get some trash from downstairs and bring it up. He referred to it as "crappage". Carol asked, "what did you just say." "Crappage, mom. I did not say crap." We believe this to be a combination of "crap" and "garbage".
While I'll admit I should be a bit embarrassed or something, there is no doubt a bit of pride in his creativity of language at such an early age. It is true that I will someday probably regret my joy at this moment, but for now that's a bunch of crappage.
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