24459 Day 52

lincoln_brewster

today involved opening at sbux, a lot of time on the train, a short visit to the office, a flurry of work at home, a lot of listening to music and reading as a result of being on the train, hanging out with shane, and attending the reunion baptism event.

it was at this event that someone pointed out that i look like this guy. i've noticed (for reasons i can't explain) that people are always trying to place me. i've been told, at various points in my life, that i look like val kilmer, casey blake, jeremy camp (this is one is the big winner for number of mentions and direct questioning: are you jeremy camp?), and now lincoln brewster.

do i look like this guy?

24359 Day 51

sex_and_the_soul

shane gave this book to read last week...absolutely fascinating. i have a lot of thoughts about this book, but this guy has a pretty good summary. i'll share more when i finish it.

24259 Day 50

resource_team

i've written about this before, but we continue to be blown away by the generosity of our resource team. as we've begun generating support for our ministry, we created a team that would allow people to give and participate in our ministry in more creative ways than simply donating money on a monthly basis (although that is REALLY important to what we do!!!)

yesterday we got a wonderfully encouraging note, and yet another gift card! we are so blessed to have several people caring for us in a variety of creative expressions. the struggle continues to be to know how to receive these good gifts well and express our gratitude for them over and over again in genuine ways. thanks resource team!!

24159 Day 49

back_to_bird

most of you will know that i worked for bird street community center the past two summers, and during the 08-09 school year. amy and i have committed to maintaining that relationship, particularly with the kids.

i've been trying to get over to my old site on monday afternoons. it's been great to see ramel and isaiah (pictured) and the rest of the old crew, along with some new faces.

being a volunteer is a little weird after being the "boss". but it's amazing how quickly the authoritarian skills come back. most encouraging is that the kids still listen to me! that aside it is good to be present with them, even in a more limited fashion, and hopefully continue to build on some of the progress made over the last year.

24059 Day 48

october_snow

a picture is worth a thousand words. i don't care where you live...it shouldn't be snowing in october.

the end.

23959 Day 47

pete_carroll

as a northern california native it is sacrilegious to root for teams from southern california. so it is a little weird that i have developed such an affinity for USC Football. however, i have a couple of legitimate excuses:

1) my wife is an 'SC alum, and more importantly was a student athlete (a national championship winner to boot), so there is a lot of pride there and it is fun to get excited about things your spouse is excited about.

2) Pete Carroll is the coach of the Trojans and he is infinitely like able. he gets really excited, he has a lot of fun, he doesn't do the "coach scowl" or rip on his players. he used to coach for the 49ers (at the end of their run of greatness), and he is an alum of the best school in california, perhaps even the US.

i love watching the trojans mainly for pete...i hope that i have as much fun doing my job as he does!

(we watched sc defeat nd today with the new england usc alumni group...great game...great day too...quincy st kids, picked out paint for the apartment, slept in, good football game...nice little fall saturday)

23859 Day 46

meetings

sorry for the delay in posting...our connection was not functioning last night. today was a day of meeting and connecting with various people: phil with reunion, tim, a kid who is interested in transferring to BU, and caleb. i think meetings can be frustrating to people in ministry a lot of the time. they maybe don't feel so productive, but i found this time to be pretty enriching and fulfilling.

also, we found out today that we got the apartment that we wanted which is really good news! can't wait to move in!!!

23759 Day 45

campus_ministry

tonight i "interviewed" shane and celie (two undergrad students at Boston University). we talked about the spiritual climate at BU, the book sex and the soul, what the ideal campus ministry at BU would look like, our spiritual journeys, heavy Jesus and light Jesus, and whole bunch of other things. i LOVE these conversations. and this is why i love campus ministry.

23659 Day 44

crowder

close followers of the ID will notice that this is the second time this picture has made an appearance (take a close look at the fellow rapturously worshipping in the back ground). today a lot of stuff happened, and i didn't have my camera for most of it, and i need to go to bed so i don't have a lot of time either, and this post is easy.

been listening to the new crowder album a lot in the last week since i got it. it's great. as with everything the crowder band does, this album is highly intentioned and in no way a random scattering of songs. i can hear some people criticizing this effort as the culmination of their worst fear regarding the bands "descent" in to electronic music. but when you read about what they are doing and the thought process that goes in to their work and how it fits in to our culture, it is nothing less than brilliant.

23559 Day 43

part_time_jobs

sometimes getting up at 4:40 am to go to work at a job that is not the most fulfilling seems pointless in the grand scheme of things (I am a CAMPUS MINISTER after all...oohs and ahhs for the fancy title please). but then here's the weird thing...i get into at least one amazingly deep philosophical/spiritual discussion with ramon every week...i get to try to explain things like campus ministry, fund raising, and intentionally living in dorchester to folks who don't have a lot of, if any, experience with that, which helps me scrub out the christianese from my vocabulary. and i get invited to parties (like the one tonight) where these relationships get to grow outside of work. which is all pretty cool. and so sometimes i am actually grateful for this silly part-time job.

23459 Day 42

regrouping_and_moving_on

here is what i know must be important in our lives right now:

1) continuing to work on our marriage: protecting and cultivating our covenant is what i wrote in my journal. amy and i have had two "normal" months of marriage, if that. we had a roommate for a year, have hosted friends and family in the meantime, and are currently living with generous friends until moving in to our next place. having some space for the two of us, though it feels selfish, is a huge priority.

2) getting established in our careers: this also feels selfish, but this is a big year for us vocationally. i am getting started with sojourn and amy is intensely preparing this next year to enter the work force. getting our ministry established and amy through her final year of school well are priorities.

3) fund raising. establishing a strong base of support so that i can focus on ministry full-time is a priority.

losing this house has been a lot of things. it seems (too) neat and tidy to call it God saving us from a project too big (although that may be part of it). while we many not know what to "call" this chapter in our story, it does feel a lot like an exercise in priorities...in deciding what we will say yes and no to. unfortunately, a house remodel/rehab does not fit in to the top three, and in fact would probably have undermined those priorities. (ps. there are other priorities that go in and around and above the three listed, like growing in love for God and others). saying yes and no to things is so hard for me, i like maybes and perhapses better. but a big part of my character transformation is learning how to do this commitment thing, this yes and no thing, better.

23359 Day 41

red sox eliminated

i'll never know what boston was like in the days of the curse. i'm sure that a day like today would have been much worse. that being said it was a pretty somber day in the city. amy and i watched the game in an irish pub downtown and it was pretty quiet at the end. but it also felt like, "hey, on to the next thing," not the live and die mentality boston fans are known for. that being said, if the phillies don't beat the rockies, this is shaping up to be a grim MLB postseason for me.

23259 Day 40

brothers

i ate an extraordinary amount of breakfast food at this joint today. i dined with riis, a cool kid i met through manny (see his blog to the left...we know each other from camp). riis is a senior at umass and passionate about college students. we had some good discussions about "diversity" in church, girls, and family. good stuff!

23159 Day 39

week_end

what a strange week. bizarre. we saw a bunny tonight in the nelson's yard. seemed symbolic. we lost "our" house. we found an apartment (probably). an old friend is interested in coming on staff with sojourn. we're both emotionally wiped out. i don't know what else to say. what is a bunny doing in the inner city?

23059 Day 38

back_to_fields_corner???

the weirdness of the home buying adventure continues on...we were granted a commitment date extension by the seller, but the time we were granted was not long enough for the bank to get all the information it needed to become satisfied...so is this the owner's backwards of telling us no? who knows...time to move on.

amy and i looked at two apartments and liked both of them. we are pursuing one near our old stomping grounds of fields corner, or the "fc" as i like to call it. it also looks like we have a real good shot at it and there are a lot of reasons to be exited about this development (more on that soon).

22959 Day 37

vision_and_stuff

i read this book, visioneering, much earlier in the year. i thought it would be a throwaway read (i read a book before by andy stanley and i didn't like it, plus i don't usually like leadership books not written by erwin mcmanus). humbly, i must admit that this booked gave me a lot to think about. and it continues to do so.

so, andy talks about at least three "tests" (i don't like the word test because i think christian's generally abuse this idea) or challenges (a superior word) to a leader's vision. i'm paraphrasing, but the three challenges look like this:

a) criticism from opponents

b) circumstances that seemingly thwart the execution of the vision

c) challenges that test (that darn word again) the character of the leader

consider our present situation with this house:

a) some people have questioned (criticized) our ability to raise funds, finish grad school, start a ministry, and buy and rehab an old house, all in the same year (they do have a good point...but these are challenges that can be met)

b) various circumstances have attempted to thwart our progress on this project: finding a place in our price range that could accommodate our vision, communicating between three or more parties, delays, extensions of deadlines, the finagling and haggling over numbers on quote sheets, the ending of leases and finding interim housing, the saving and budgeting of funds, i could go on and on with this category...

c) lying to the bank about income that may or may not magically appear in our bank account in the near future.

as you can see, category C is a little different than the other ones. could i really live for ten years in a house that i acquired based on a lie? my answer to that is no.

andy would say that the challenges in categories a and b could be met in various ways, but if you don't pass category c, well then you don't have a whole lot to offer as a leader. moral authority, he calls it. don't do anything to sacrifice it, no matter the price (and i can give you a dollar amount).

this is a difficult lesson to learn.

22859 Day 36

dream_deferred?

well, this was bound to happen...how do you post a nice, tidy paragraph about a day that was neither nice or tidy? this story is by no means over, but it is looking very much like our house deal is not going to go down. which leads to the all important question...now what? and that is where the story ends today...

...stay tuned.

22759 Day 35

the_post_no_one_will_care_about

i won my fantasy baseball league. there you go. actually, i'm experiencing a weird trend with this game: i won in '05, came in second in '06, won again in '07, second in '08, victory in '09. see a pattern? maybe i should just not play next year...

yeah right

22659 Day 34

tyrone_use_somebody

great cover...enjoy!

today: reunion, office, get stuff done, hang out with friends...also today is the end of the regular season (baseball). let the playoffs begin!

22559 Day 33

saturday

today was full of many events...leadership community. a potluck with friends. usc ripped cal. an epic game of catch phrase. my sister did a triathlon. you know, your typical saturday. of course i forgot (or was unable) to capture any of this on film. instead i ended up with a weird, highly edited picture of kaitlin (our potluck host and amazing friend). what to do? i know, i'll use an old picture of a good sunset. brilliant.

22459 Day 32

tyrone_wells

the fun event of the evening today (believe me, we don't spend every night going to baseball games and concerts) was going to see tyrone wells live. i was going to upload a video of an awesome cover, but that will have to wait until i get a faster internet connection.

anyway, tonight was exemplary of our life right now. we rushed around all afternoon to get ready to go by five (it takes a while to get places from our present location). we get in to the train station only to discover that we had forgotten the tickets (even though they had been carefully laid out on the desk)! we still made it in time, but man was it a crazy 45 minutes trying to make that happen! i think this is one of the hardest parts about not being in your home...i hate complaining about this because the nelsons have been so good to us...but, anyway, when you are not in your home and don't have that normalcy and structure in place it is remarkably easy to forget important things (like not to park the car in certain places on certain days) or the tickets for the concert you are about to go to. soon though, this should be over!

22359 Day 31

the_good_and_the_suck

the good: october baseball! ok, not really october baseball in the playoff sense, but it was a baseball game in october. the sox won, which makes me and amy 4-0 on the season. well done us. plus, we had our first experience from atop the Green Monster, which was way cool.

the suck: our car got towed today and that cost a small fortune in time and money getting it back. lesson learned!

22259 Day 30

amos

we are studying amos in our dorchester based community group. i'm really excited about this as it has been about 5 years since i've seriously studied this text. in our context this should ignite some fun debates, conversations, and hopefully more than a few ideas and next steps as well!

also, i've made it through the first month of project 365. only 11 to go...

22159 Day 29

flickering_pixels

here's another interesting book i'm reading. quick summary...using mcluhan's communication theory (the medium is the message) he (shane hipps) makes the compelling point that truth and reality are not merely communicated through technology they are shaped and framed by technology...which has obvious implications for how we view our faith. (as an aside, this book is pretty similar to stuff that eugene peterson and, especially, wendell berry have written. in fact, i find it somewhat amazing that he doesn't make mention of this at all).

he says that human's started out as an oral culture (tribal), transitioned to a print culture (individualistic), and are now in an electronic culture (a tribe of individuals). he argues that each phase has positives and negatives, but our current situation creates some interesting paradoxes, and one of them i have been contemplating quite a bit. in this electronic world the "near have become far, and the far have become near...our electronic experience creates a kind of empathy at a distance...[which], if unchecked leads to numbness and undermines our ability to extend compassion to those in our own city, neighborhood, or even homes."

he then says: "prioritizing those who are physically present can have a transforming effect on us when so many are digitally absent...the task of recalibrating our psyche and reigniting compassion must being with local relationships."

there are numerous thoughts i have in response to this, but i'll just share this one angle. as a campus minister who lives in the inner-city, i am struck deeply by these words. college students right now are more "wired" (or "wirelessed") than ever before. they are also as interested in serving and engaging compassion as any previous generation (maybe more).

furthermore, i sense that a lot of times people (young people) are drawn to the inner city because they are bored...or restless...or are searching for a better story (to borrow donald miller's words). none of those reason are bad, per se. believe me, i want to connect students with opportunities to serve, and i will definitely be recruiting students to live with us in our new house.

but, hipps points out that: "ninety percent of communal living experiments fail." whoa! "people so thoroughly shaped by individualism are simply not prepared to withstand the emotionally invasive experience of tribal living."

i won't tell you what his conclusion is...nor will i tell you mine (still working on that one), but i think that this has some large implications for the why and the how when it comes to inviting people in to our home(s) and our neighborhood(s).

22059 Day 28

where's_waldo?

jon graduated from Boston University last year. he thought about joining the peace corps. he thought about going to africa. these are noble thoughts. but tim and bobby talked him in to sticking around and interning with sojourn. what a big win for us! jon has been a big supremely helpful in getting sojourn registered as a student organization. he knows the university well. he understands the culture of the school. and he is crafting a cool vision for what the expression of sojourn on the BU campus could look like. i appreciate jon very much...keep up the good work, bud!

21959 Day 27

women's_retreat

hello! this is amy, today's guest blogger.

i had the privilege of spending this weekend at a beach house in gloucester, with some cool women from our church. we had a great time resting, connecting, and sharing stories. it took some encouraging from my husband to go on this retreat at first, and i'm glad i eventually heeded his good advice. kait came too, which was great!

21859 Day 26

life_as_a_house

sometime i really freak out and think that what we are doing is way too preposterous. changing jobs and careers while one spouse is still in school...raising and living off of financial support...moving at the beginning and the middle of an important and busy semester...buying a house...all in year two of marriage. i can't wait until five or so years from now when i can look back and decide if what we did was really stupid or a really big step of faith.

in particular, i've been concerned about the house over the last 24 hours. we got some news yesterday from the mortgage company that was not bad, but not exciting either. some numbers have changed a little and not in our favor. in moments like that i waver between seeing it as another challenge to over come or a way to back out before we get too far over our heads. so, feeling discouraged i decided to go to the house today.

i prayed. i wrote a friend a letter. i read psalms 68 which says in verse 6, God sets the lonely in families, which is a verse that seems to keep coming up all the time and has become the "mission statement" for what amy and i hope this house will be. then i rode my bike home.

we got a note today in the mail from amy's mom that just happened to talk about the house and the "daunting" mortgage progress (even in the best of times...i like that line). funny how that happens, eh. most of what she said had to do with maintaining a vision for our home...for the people who will live there with us, the memories we will make, and the stories we will tell. what an encouragement...thanks!

21759 Day 25

c_nelson001

today caleb and i delivered the newspaper (mass-media) to all parts of the UMASS campus. we explored some of the more interesting and secluded areas far off the beaten path. like this place. we also collaborated a little on vision for the sojourn-UMASS group and even started the student organization process on-line. which is all fine and good but hanging out in places you probably shouldn't be is always kind of cool!

21659 Day 24

generosity

amy and i have been blown away by the response to our fund raising requests. it's a weird thing asking for money. but it's also an amazing process to watch God provide. as we've made these asks we've also created a team called the "resource" or "advocate" team. we wanted to do something that would allow for a bigger circle of potential partners and also give people the liberty to be creative. yesterday we got a $100 gift card to Stop and Shop (boston's Safeway). last week someone got a new battery for the laptop. we've been provided with red sox tickets and date money. we got treated to a weekend at a new hampshire bed and breakfast. i found out today that some one is taking our support letter to their church's prayer meeting...who knows what that might lead to. i could go on, but this is, i think, a picture of the Kingdom of God at work. i quoted from donald miller a few days ago and i keep thinking about this concept of crafting beautiful stories with our lives. one of the "under the radar" blessings of fund raising is that we get to invite other people in to our stories, and, at the same time, provide an opportunity for them to create their own beautiful story. pretty cool, eh!

21559 Day 23

BU_student_organization

sorry for using a repeat picture, but today was a huge day for sojourn. we attained student organization status today at Boston University! this is big for a couple of reasons...one, there is some history at BU with evangelical groups (too long of a back story for this post so ask me about it if you want), so to be approved (and to be approved this smoothly) is significant...two, this means that we as an organization will have more access on campus and i, individually, will have some fun doors open up once i complete the "campus minister" paperwork. this is really exciting stuff and a major answer to prayer!

21459 Day 22

a_million_miles

i'm reading way too many books right now. but the one that has most captured my attention is donald miller's a million miles in a thousand years: what i learned while i edited my life. i was starting to wonder if maybe donald miller was a one-trick pony, crushed under the weight of the success of blue like jazz. turns out that is almost what happened. this effort, though, is mature, beautiful, and heartbreaking. i can't stop thinking about it. there are numerous quotes i'd love to pull, but here's a taste...if i learned anything from thinking about my father, it's that there is a force in the world that doesn't want us to live good stories. it doesn't want us to face our issues, to face our fear and bring something beautiful into the world. i guess what i am saying is, i believe God wants us to create beautiful stories, and whatever it is that isn't God wants us to create meaningless stories, teaching the people around us that life isn't worth living.

i hope that's what amy and i are doing with this little adventure we're on...creating a beautiful story...something with meaning...

21359 Day 21

BU_and_the_glorious_fall

we continue to have incredible, wonderful fall weather. most of my time at BU today was spent outdoors. in this first picture we have a shot of the "BU beach" where students flock when the weather is nice. in the second shot we see the charles river in all its afternoon glory. in a few months it will be nice to look back on these pics and reminisce about 78 degree afternoons and shorts and flip flops. yeah, i think i'm just going to enjoy this and not worry about the winter yet.

21259 Day 20

elements_of_a_great_sunday

waking up at 8 am. reading a good book. drinking great coffee. riding the T. connecting with people. tasty guitar solos. the other side cafe for lunch. nice weather. eating outdoors. twice. down time. writing letters. listening to music. playing tetherball. sucking at tetherball. laughing a lot. hamburgers. good conversation. wise married people. prayer. old tv shows. sleep.

21159 Day 19

exploring

something amy and i like to do on our day off is to go exploring things around the city. somehow in our year plus here we have not yet been to the arnold arboretum. today we took our bikes over and went for a ride! it was a crisp, fall day, perfect for exploration and we had a great time. we are still not good at sabbath (mostly me) but these kinds of moments are helping us get better.

21059 Day 18

drops_like_stars

sojourn took us all out to see rob bell on his "drops like stars" tour. it was excellent. i read the book about a month ago and i really enjoyed the concept and the way they put the book together. however, i wasn't super excited about hearing him talk about it...until about ten minutes in. he had me completely after that.

i think the best part was not the content (which was great) but watching a master teacher do his thing. having read the book i knew what he was going to say all night, but he still had me at the edge of my seat. a brilliant communicator to say the least.

20959 Day 17

summer_reflections

today i attended a meeting debriefing the summer with all the directors from the summer camps who go to hale reservation. we had a rough summer in some respects and so i was a little apprehensive that this meeting might turn in to an "all the ways that bird street sucks" kind of event. it wasn't that at all. in fact, it was kind of affirming to hear some of the trials and tribulations that other camps had and to hear some similar complaints and feedback from other directors.

i think it will be a long time before i am able to fully process all that went on this summer. sometimes it feels like the most colossal waste of my time, and other times, like when i look back at pics like this one, it seems so fun and i get very nostalgic. i suppose the truth is somewhere in the middle of that.

20859 Day 16

a_million_little_churches

there are at least 10-15 churches on our "temporary home" street. (this picture is actually a bad picture because this is not one of those churches, it is a school that's associated with one of the churches, but i do like it because its architecture captures the essence of these buildings). if you continue northwest from norfolk on to washington street you'll see another 15 or so churches. all on in about a one mile span.

i have completely mixed emotions and thoughts concerning this reality. on the one hand i understand why there are so many: they meet the specific needs of "niche" groups...you'll have your pentecostal-french-speaking-haitian church, and one block over your baptist-spanish-speaking-dominican church, and a million more examples. i also love the idea of small communities meeting all over the city (sounds familiar)...smallness has many advantages. and yet, everyday as i walk home from the train station i can't help but feel like something is not quite right about this.

thoughts?

20759 Day 15

bike_ride

i made a deal with myself today. we are experiencing some beautiful late summer/early fall weather here in boston. the best weather we've had in a long time actually. a "must be outside" kind of day. so i said, "self, get your work done quick and then go for a bike ride." amy and i recently invested some money in fixing up some bikes and i used mine almost every day during camp, but haven't had much of a rhythm with it since that ended. it felt really good to get back on this today...

...i discovered via a handy "bike map of boston" amy acquired at some free event on campus that it is very easy to get from the Nelson's to the infamous dorchester bike path that i've heard so much about but never biked on before...

what a cool trail! not hard in any sense, but it kind of reminded me of durango...

...ok, so it only reminded me of durango in this one spot, but, still, quite the oasis of beauty on a path that runs around and through some of the rougher areas of boston. i love it. plus you end up in a place like this...

which is pretty cool. needless to say, i had a great experiencing a little beauty in the middle of busy week and a crazy town.

20659 Day 14

nate

this is nathan and he is a good man. he chooses his words well and he dresses sharply. he also loves Jesus very much and cares deeply about the ways that God's Kingdom are discovered and expressed, especially in a place like dorchester. he's been a major leader (THE major leader, in fact) in the Quincy Street partnership that Sojourn has (the partnership that led amy and i to move to dorchester).

nathan and i were able to hang out today and talk a little bit about the future...in particular we are starting to think of ways that we can link our houses and ministries together in a way that is healthy and makes sense in our particular neighborhoods. these are fun and very encouraging conversations! thanks nate

20559 Day 13

king_bowl

today was a big day for sojourn as we jump into a new semester (and year). we had our annual kickoff event at king bowl (free bowling and pizza). this is a pretty important event for us since we don't do much in terms of large group gatherings. in fact, other than our sunday morning gatherings at reunion this is the only time we get "everyone" in the same room. so, it is a good opportunity for connection and for people to see the faces that go along with our community groups. we had a great time and a good turn out (about 80 people) and lots of new sign ups for community groups. amy and i are launching a brand new, BU specific group that starts this week, so if you get a chance to pray that follow up goes well over the next few days that would be great! this is going to be a big week.