06659

- 0 comments last week...i must have scared everyone off with that quote from "the blogging church." =)

- we had our first baptism yesterday...in the river nonetheless...i was a little worried how this was going to work (considering it's boating season), but it worked out great...we weren't in anyone's way and no one ran over us with their raft!

- i saw "Transformers" last night...the cartoon was a major part of my life from the ages 5-8...i actually saw the animated movie in the theater many, many years ago. the movie is pretty cheesey but a ton of fun...the perfect kind of summer, popcorn flick. the effects and some of the shots in the movie are unbelievable...it's one of those movies where you can't wait for the DVD so you can see all the bonus features.

- i've been listening to the new Derek Webb album, "The Ringing Bell." i loved derek's songwriting when he was with Caedmon's Call and i always longed for solo material from him. and then he left the band and my dream came true. unfortunately, through three albums, he never really lived up to my expectations. with caedmon's derek wrote these very personal, inward looking songs about faith and girls. but when he went solo his focus turned outward...two popular subject matters: the church and social justice. these are great topics, and very close to my heart, but they did not always produce great songs. i still preferred stuff like "Bus Driver," "Table for Two," "Faith My Eyes," and "Me," to his newer stuff. "The Ringing Bell" though is my favorite work since he's gone solo. In particular, if you have itunes, everyone should download the song "This Too Shall Be Made Right." I think this song perfectly represents Derek's strength as a songwriter by combining both an inward and outward perspective. It's a thought provoking, moving song.

- have a great week...i'm going tubing!

06559

- i survived my first trail run...i got beat by the durango high school cross country team, but i'm ok with that...i got ninth out of the men (twelfth overall...yes, i got beat by three girls)...but i ran the whole way and i accomplished my main goal which was to not get lapped by the hardcore guys running the long course (7 miles vs. the 4.5 mile course i was on).

- thanks to bruce for the information that an echidnas is a spiny anteater...april also informed me that they, along with the platypus, are egg laying mammals. the more you know...

- the echidnas did not have a good week: i'm currently in first with 93.5 points...the enraged one has fallen to 86.5.

- i finished "the blogging church" this week. the whole point of the book boils down to this: blogs are a good way to tell the story of your church...duh!!! i had to read a whole book to find that out?! actually there were some good tips and ideas about promoting blogs and stuff like that...the most interesting part of the book, though, was the section on comments. the author interviewed various church bloggers asking the question: "is it a good idea to allow comments on your blog?" most people were in favor of allowing comments because, in many ways, that's the whole appeal of the blog: interaction and community in cyberspace. however, even those in favor of allowing comments had this to say: be prepared to get hammered on occasion. and then came this sad commentary:

"one of the most surprising and unfortunate developments has been the popularity of Christians attacking and criticizing other Christians online. If you write often about the theology and methodology of your church, you'll find that the dominant critics are not unbelievers but the already convinced. Even more strangley, these naysayers are people who have never stepped through the door of your church. [But] they may post comments on your blog, send you an email, or share their vitriol from the comfort of their own sovereign corner of cyberspace."

luckily i haven't really experienced that too much, but it was interesting to read that this week while preparing to teach on James 3, which is all about the tongue and how we are supposed to talk to each other (by the way listen to the podcast this week to hear a funny story from the race!)

- barry bonds was voted in as a starter in the all-star game next week...wierd...he's supposed to be the most hated man in baseball and the fans voted him in...what a strange world.

06459

ok, rmac and others, you're all spared a long post...too many other things to talk about...some more important than others...

...on saturday, the original team that met so long ago in the johnson's living room in salinas got together to mark our first year in durango...it was a really cool time of remembering what's happened and seeing how far we've come in this first year...i think the overall theme was: "i can't say anything has gone as i've expected, but i love that and i wouldn't trade this year for anything."

...last week i got sicker then i've been in a long time and so my run this saturday is somewhat in jeopardy...i'm still leaning towards running, but last week was a major setback...

...fantasy baseball update...this league has turned into a two team race between myself (aka rmps59) and the Enraged Echidnas (if anyone knows what "echidnas" means, i'd love to know)...as of today i'm at 95 points, Echidnas is at 91.5, but we constantly flip flop between first and second...

...soccer update: arsenal's best player, thiery henry, jumped to the spanish league this week, which means arsenal is in trouble and not likely to improve on last years third place finish...also the US beat Mexico yesterday 2-1 to win the Gold Cup...the US is now 9-2-1 against Mexico in this millenium...the average US citizen probably has no idea that this is the case.

...i just got the new Project 86 album "Rival Factions"...it makes me feel so good to hear Andew Schwab's voice again, so full of energy and rage, with fresh material...i'm not normally too into the "hard" music scene, but i love this band...it's been too long Project...

...finally, after much urging, i saw the movie "Freedom Writers"...it got me...i'll admit it...very inspiring..

...finishing "The Book of Lost Things," and starting "The Blogging Church," and "A Thousand Splendid Suns" the new novel by Khaled Hosseini (author of the Kite Runner)

...i guess that was kind of long...oh well...hope everyone is enjoying a summer as beautiful as the one we are having in Durango...peace!

06359

- we had another great sunday yesterday...the biggest crowd in the history of ctk-durango...the debut of two guitar worship...a proliferation of children at the service...another angry old lady phone call from the church with a similar name in response to our newspaper ad...all capped off by another wonderful time around the campfire. also, we are getting ready to do our first baptisms (in the river, nonetheless) and that is really exciting!

- waiting for rescue has finally finished another new tune...you can listen to it by clicking the "waiting for rescue" link to the right.

- i have a couple of longer/deeper posts in process, so stay tuned!

06259

...i knew the last one was too long...zero comments...

- updates:

...had to break up a fight at the soccer field the other day...both players in the fight got suspended for a year...wow!

...the giants are pretty terrible...

...i'm training for a trail running series...i am doing a lot of running and eating a lot of food (my appetite has increased incredibly, but i still have gone down a notch on my belt)...the first race is June 30th, a 4 mile trail run a few miles out of town...it's been fun to have a goal to go with my workouts, otherwise i have a hard time doing things like running on a consistent basis...

...saw: ocean's 13...i liked it...i love the humor and the music in those movies...

...listening to: the ocean's soundtracks =)

...reading...finished: "Generation What"...started: "The Book of Lost Things"

...that's about it for now...peace!

06159

...this is kind of a long one which i feel compelled to apologize for because i often have a hard time reading longer posts myself, but i think it's good stuff!

...yesterday was one of the greatest days ever...in the morning chip and i drove the hummer down to Aztec to pick up shawn, ryder, and keegan (3 of the guys in chip's small group)...

...and then the five of us went to the infamous "rock garden" (an amazing spot about 15 min outside of Aztec). obviously it was fun to ride in the hummer and i am always amazed at what that thing can do...

...but more importantly it was so much fun for me to hang out with these guys outside of church (chip gets to see them every tuesday, but i've not been able to hang out with them outside of a sunday night). how many pastors get to hang out with people in their church on a sunday morning outside of the context of a worship service?

...we wheeled, we ate, we laughed, we had a great time...

...then i came home and talked to amy on the phone for a long time and that is always a highlight...

...then it was on to the rec center for some worship prep. our pre-service run through was pretty lame...i had not played all week so i was not very good...singers were struggling with allergies...the set list seemed unispired...and then the service started and a wierd thing happened...people genuinely worshipped God...it was the total opposite of our pre-service practice...which for me highlighted something i've been noticing for a while...we actually have some pretty amazing musicians in our little church and yet that rarely becomes the focus of our musical worship experiences...yes, it helps to have great musicians, but again, that never really seems to be the point...

...andrew beaujon is a writer for Spin magazine (one of the major music zines)...he spent over a year getting thoroughly immersed in the world of the christian music industry and then wrote a book about it called "body piercing saved my life" (i've mentioned this book in this space before)...anyway, i picked up this book expecting him to just rip away at an easy target...i was surprised at how gracious and open he was to christian music for a self-proclaimed athiest (and serious music critic at that). he had a lot of positive things to say about the industry, which was surprising. however, there was one "genre" in the industry that he could not get his head around and that was worship music...far and away the most harsh things he had to say were directed at the worship bands and services he attended...

...now i can hear all kinds of arguments about how non-christains aren't supposed to "get" a worship service or really understand what is going on (i've been to seminary and i've heard all the arguments), but i don't think that's really the case, especially after you read what this guy has to say about when he "got" what the worship thing was all about.

...it happened for him at a david crowder concert (which, of course, endeared the author to me greatly)...here's how he describes the experience:

"The reason I finally 'got' worship music at this show wasn't that Crowder puts on an excellent show (which he does) or that the music was adventerous and fun and really, really loud (which it was) or even that, if I eyed my fellow spectators selectively, I finally got a glimpse of what it might have been like to see Cheap Trick at Budokan in 1979...No, I got worship music during a sound collage during the last number, 'Rescue is Coming,' when Crowder bent down and started fiddling with an effect pedal so that his guitar was feeding back in an interesting loop, so engrossing, in fact, that I didn't even notice he'd disappeared completely for a minute or so. And that, friends, marked my conversion to, or at least the end of my enmity to, worship music. Here's a guy surrounded by rabid fans who'd have done anything to get close to their worship leader, consiously removing himself from the spotlight. There was only one star at that evening's show, and He hadn't been onstage at all."

...first of all, i think that's some incredible insight about what a worship service should be about from anyone, let alone an athiest...second, i think, if i may brag for a minute, that that's what is happening at CTK-Durango during our little worship services...the artists/leaders/musicians/ have been removed from the spotlight and it's just people responding to God, who he is and what he has done, not attending a show (or putting on a show). i can't think of a better way to describe what happened last night...

...after church there was a campfire to attend to and wonderful conversations into the glorious night...reflections on where God has led us and where we might be going next...

...what a way to spend a Sunday.

06059

random updates...

- current reading...
* Finishing "The Jesus Way" by Eugene Peterson (the chapters on David/imperfection and Isaiah/holiness are just fantastic)
* Finished "Leading from the Second Chair"
* Started "Generation What: Dispatches from the Quarter-Life Crisis"

- current watching...
* the season finale of Lost was great...helped to redeem a meandering and sometimes even boring season

- current listening...
* arcade fire "neon bible" (keep the car running is a song that i can't stop listening to)
* elliott smith "new moon"
* rocky votolato (pretty much everything he's got)
* otis redding "best of"

- taste of durango raised somewhere around $17,000 for the manna house which is fantastic news!

- church barbeque tonight!

05959

what a day! today was a huge community event called "Taste of Durango." several blocks on main street get shut down and all these retaraunts from town come out and set up shop and sell their excellent wares. aside from a fun, huge community event the tase of durango (or TOD if you are an insider) benefits the Manna House (the soup kitchen we've been volunteering at). last year this event raised almost $15,000 for Manna...and this year probably more.

the day went really well...most of CTK-Durango's members were involved in one way or another. in particular, we are all really proud of ruth because, as the manna program director, a lot of the responsibility for pulling this event off fell on her. she spent months planning for it, recruited and coordinated 200 volunteers, and then oversaw the whole operation today. she did an amazing job!

the rest of us checked people in, sold tokens, and patrolled the streets in green shirts. the security task force (which you will see below) ensured the safety of the good citizens of our town...and we also ate a lot of great food.

i am really proud of our church for all of the ways we were involved in helping out with this event...this is exactly the kind of thing we want to do...bringing the church to our community instead of asking them to come to us.

also, as a manna board member (somehow this week i became the chairman of the planning committee) it was so awesome to see our church represent so well.

manna is on the web too http://mannasoupkitchen.org/

ps...two of our guys (shaggy and ron) were not able to make it to church today because they were "evicted" from their campsite...an interesting juxtaposition...while we need events like TOD to make the manna house happen there is still so much else to be done.

the security task force:

05859

...there are all kinds of little events that can lift us out of whatever we might be dealing with at particular moments in life, and this week i had two of those moments that make you just a little bit happier to be alive...

...on tuesday night at small group, the daughter of one of the women in our group gave me a soccer ball wrist band...a small gesture, but it made my day, and so i wore tonight while i taught on james 1...i thought that was really cool...

...i aslo got the "new" elliott smith cd in the mail on friday...i say "new" because elliott died in 2003...he's been one of my favorite (if not my all time favorite) artist since the end of high school...his music, though dark, has always been a comfort and a window into my own life ever since i came across it.

...the album is called "new moon" and is mostly songs that didn't make it on "elliott smith" and "either/or" (from his days on the "kill rockstars" label...which put this album out)...like a lot of posthumus work and collections of songs that got cut from earlier records, there are a lot of throw away songs, but there are a couple great ones ("whatever: folk song in C", and "angel in the snow" in particular...along with the cover "13")...more important though was being able to hear an elliott song for the first time again...it was like talking to an old friend you haven't spoken to in a long time...

...so, 2 small things that helped make my week...

...other thoughts...lots of other good new music is set to come out this year...i continue to enjoy reading just about anything Eugene Peterson writes...i like my new job supervising soccer games...my small group is the best!

peace

05759

this is so awesome, you just have to watch it...start with the most recent (4-29-07...via satelitte with bill 2)

http://www.welovethebulletin.com/

05659

thanks to everyone who was able to make it to our "show and tell" meeting on friday. it's been fun for us to talk about what we are doing and to take a step back and look at the big picture and see what is developing here in durango. it's pretty exciting.

church last night was pretty great too...we showed our video and it was awesome to see everyone light up and cheer each other on.

i think that's it for now...

05559

- church notes: we started a new series on the books of James and Colossians this sunday...we'll spend several weeks trying to integrate the teaching of these two books (there's a lot there and it's been really exciting to work on this with chip!) check out the podcasts each week...

- also, my small group is getting going again...we're going to read "Sex God" by Rob Bell...i'm exciting to see what comes out of reading this together.

- i got a job with the rec center supervising soccer league games and keeping score of softball games...easy and good money!

- i started reading eugene peterson's newest book: "The Jesus Way: a Conversation on the Ways that Jesus is the Way." The intro is worth the price of the whole book...with his new theology series, eugene is rapidly moving up the list of favorite authors...here are the first five sentences:

"This is a conversation on the spirituality of the ways we go about following Jesus, the Way. The ways Jesus goes about loving and saving the world are personal: nothing disembodied, nothing abstract, nothing impersonal. Incarnate, flesh and blood, relational, particular, local. The ways employed in our North American culture are conspicuously impersonal: programs, organizations, teachniques, general guidelines, information detatched from place. In matters of ways and means, the vocabulary of numbers is preferred over names, ideologies crowd out ideas, the grey fog of abstraction absorbs the sharp particularities of the recognizable face and the familiar street."

and it only get better from there...

05459

the big news of the week is that CTK-Durango now has an office...headquarters if you will. aside from the benefits of simply having a space to do some work (that is not a coffee shop), the building we are in has a number of perks...from high speed internet access (included in the rent), to common areas shared by each individual office, to a beautiful deck right outside our door, to an landlord who cares about giving back to the community, to monthly office parties and plenty of opportunities to interact with the other tenants there are a lot of reasons to be excited about this space. not only do we have a reasonably priced place to work and call home, but this space really fits into our vision of integrating ourselves into good things already going on in our community. plus we're right on main street!

here are some pictures...

the front door...














where all the magic happens...









view from our window...








...our address is:
CTK Community Church
1075 Man Ave. Ste. 210
Durango, CO 81301
so send us a postcard or something!

05359

- our first sunday at the rec center was a success (check out the new podcast to hear more). we revisited our purpose and vision and also looked into the future which was a lot of fun...there are a few things to work out with this new spot (they locked the doors on us!) but i think it's going to be a great place for us to worship. we also had two first time visitors which is always exciting. here's a picture to give you a little idea of what it looks like...

- chip, jenn, and i are going to be in california (salinas) may 3-6 to meet with and thank those of you who have been supporting us this last year. we are going to have a meeting at SVCC may 4th at 7 pm, so if you're in the area come check it out. i've been working on a video that we'll show at that meeting to give a glimpse into our church and life in durango and it's been really cool to hear the stories people have to tell...God's been doing some cool things in our little community.

- other thoughts...watch the movie "Saint Ralph". i just saw it for the second time this weekend with my friens seth and i love it...it's sligthly irreverent, but very inspirational...it's funny and true, and that makes any work of art great.

- i've also overtaken first place in my fantasy baseball league...i don't think my team has really done that well yet, so i'm not sure how to evaluate this early season success...but hey, i'm not going to complain!

peace

05259

...there are a lot of post-worthy topics floating around, but for now this will suffice...

05159

some easter weekend thoughts...

...our easter worship service at the manna house was great. we're really grateful we got to meet there this weekend. some pictures are included at the end of this post...next week we're having a worship fiesta and then it's on the to the rec center!

...thanks to my friend april all i listen to now is this guy, rocky votolato...he's amazing...

...on the topic of music, derek webb (formerly of caedmon's call), has a new album coming out in may...he's become a bit of a controversial figure and even if i don't always like the musical direction he chooses he is a very compelling voice for justice in the music world...i'm sure you'll hear more about this from me after the album comes out...

...i started reading this book called "A Perfect Mess: The Hidden Benefits of Disorder, How Crammed Closests, Cluttered Offices, and On-the-Fly Planning Make the World a Better Place." this book is in the style of malcom gladwell (The Tipping Point) and steven johnson (Emergence and Everything Bad is Good for You)....i love these kinds of books and this one in particular is fun because i've not often been praised for my organization skills. the basic premise of the book is that most systems actually function better and with greater health when there is a certain amount of mess or randomness in the system. there is ample evidence by the authors that the highly organized, "clean desk", neat freak is actually quite inefficient. i'm only about a third of the way through so i may have more to say about this later, but it's quite thought provoking so far...

...my fantasy baseball team is in third place after one week, and this is with pujols off to a slow start and several players not available due to the weather problems that are cancelling a lot of games...i like where i'm at so far...

peace!

05059

- baseball season has begun!

- well, the pickles era is officially over...i’ll definitely miss that place...it was fun and worked well for this early chapter of our story. but, on to new things!!

- i’ve been able to read two books this week, and this is a good thing. i read The Road by Cormac McCarthy (I started reading it before Oprah named it her book of the month...just so you know). i don’t want to give too much away for those who want to read it, but it took me about 100 pages to figure out what was going on and then it ripped me apart at the end. stick with it and it will be worth the effort.

- i also read Dan Kimball’s new book: They Like Jesus But Not the Church. i’m always interested to see what Dan has to say as i’ve been influenced directly by his ministry. the impact of many books is often determined by the timing and context of the reading of the book. there was not a lot of new information in this book (especially if you’ve been reading any of the emerging church stuff over the last five years), but it was good for me to read right now. i found it inspiring and also affirming of what we are doing here in durango.

the point of the book is really to look at the culture and examine why so many young people (the 18-35 demographic) are not coming to church. however, there is an interesting (but minor) section of the book where he looks at a disturbing trend with young leaders. dan mentions research and conversations he’s had with young leaders who have become frustrated by being relegated to “generational ministries” and feel like they have little or no influence in the church setting and therefore have left church ministry for para-church ministries, non-profit organizations, and other careers where they feel they can use their gifts and have influence on a larger scale. i’ve read a lot of books that say “young leaders need a voice,” but then leave it at that. dan, though, examines historical trends (showing how significant movements have been started by young people from the disciples, to john wesley, to bill hybels) and current cultural trends (showing how businesses are tapping into young people for hot “ideas” and how much of the cutting edge work being done in film, music, and fiction is being done by the young demographic) to put some weight behind his statement. his conclusion is that not only is the church losing future leaders it is falling way behind in terms of the “economy of ideas.”


certainly every generation feels slighted and has desired more influence, but the fact remains that many young leaders don’t see the church as appealing an option for influencing and utilizing gifting as they do alternative careers and organizations. and i know this is true because i’ve experienced it and seen many of my peers experience it as well. it is really kind of a bummer. so thank you dan, for putting something behind your “give young leaders a voice” plea.

- last, but by no means least, check out the new podcast episode (there’s a guest star appearance you won’t want to miss) =)

04959

- CTK update...the pickles era is coming to an end. the restaraunt is closing down and as it turns out the change is happening quickly. our last sunday will be april 8th. then it's on to the Durango Rec Center...which is actually a really, really nice facility. it does not have the characer that pickles had, but it will be a good transition place while we search something that fits our "style" a little better. also, the rec center is going to save us money each month and so chip and i are closing in on some office space.

- thanks to rmac for the shipment of reading materials...i have some good stuff to check out.

- video editing has been a private hobby of mine for the last year or so, and now i'm getting to use it in some cool ways. i made a training video for volunteers at the manna soup kitchen and i like the way it turned out. i also just started working on a video for a meeting we're going to have in california in may highlighting what's been going on here. these kinds of projects are a lot of fun for me!

- one more week until baseball season!!!

- on another sports related note i've discovered a soccer game that takes place everey tuesday here in town. i played last week and it was a lot of fun, although my play was pretty poor (i had three great moments and a lot of frustration). my touch is really bad at this stage of my life. i socred twice (typical steve 18 yard shots from the the top of the box) and also had an assist on the sweetest goal of the game (a back-to-the-net heel pass right to the feet of the guy who scored). otherwise it was a lot of bad traps, passes a few beats behind players, and a lot of sucking wind. but i'll be back tomorrow!

04859

...i'm really excited about our church right now...we're in an interesting place...there are definitely some big challenges (the real potential of having to move to a new location, families/people going through some big and hard stuff, etc.), but momentum continues to build: we are experiencing some definite buy-in from those who are currently involved...our efforts to be a part of what's happening in the community are paying off...our small groups remain a major focus (with a new morph in the groups on the way)...and i truly believe that people are experiencing God authentically in a community of people who are true and real. this is all good stuff!!!

...david crowder fans: check this out and be excited: www.remedyiscoming.com

...had the fantasy draft today...pretty intense hour and a half...i got the top pick! (took pujols: no bainer). as usual i loved my first 8 picks and then frustratedly tried to do the best i could the rest of the way. nonetheless, i like my team...

...finally, i just got back from an awesome week in arizona at the giant's spring training...it's always fun to watch a lot of baseball (4 games in 4 days), but the real highlight was hanging out with the fam...enjoying some major anouncements together...and, of course, spending time with amy...here we are having our day in the hot sun, watching the giants beat up on the rockies!!

04759

- church last night was pretty great...we heard about what's going on in each of our small groups and chip cast some vision for our groups and why they are so important to what w are doing...it was a cool moment. unfortunately, the moment was not adequately captured for podcast publication...but believe me, it was awesome.

- i'm off to AZ in the morning to check in on my giants. and to do other important stuff =)

04659

here's some house keeping and pop culture updates.

1) to the right you will notice two new links...one is to the CTK-Durango Podcast...the other to waiting for rescue's myspace page (new song on there by the way...check it out).

2) currently reading: Christ Plays in Ten Thousand Places by Eugene Peterson

3) last five books i've read...The New International Commentary on Ecclesiastes by Tremper Longman...Sex God by Rob Bell...The Ankeny Briefcase: A Collection of Short Fiction edited by Jordan Green (see the Burnside Writer's link for more info)...Off Road Disciplines: Spiritual Adventures of Missional Leaders by Earl Creps...and Elliott Smith and the Big Nothing by Benjamin Nugent (for the second time and it's just as interesting this read as last).

4) currently watching: 24...i've become hopelessly addicted to this show.

5) songs i've been wearing out..."Road to Joy" by Bright Eyes..."Thriller" by Fall Out Boy..."I Need You" by waiting for rescue (yes i listen to my own songs)..."Dude I Totally Miss You" and "The Government Totally Sucks" by Tenacious D..."Oh, It's Love" by Hellogoodbye..."Dark Blue" by Jack's Mannequin..."Life Less Ordinary" by Carbon Leaf..."Lazy Eye" by Silversun Pickups...and "Light Up Ahead" by Further Seems Forever.

6) looking forward to going down to AZ for spring training next week.

7) currently fascinated by a recipe for something called "pineapple fire and ice"

peace!

04559

here are a variety of thoughts and reflections on current happenings with apparently little connection...

- i finished "Sex God" by rob bell...reading this book was an interesting experience for me. the content of the book is very deep...he's basically getting to the core of almost everything about us as human beings which is pretty serious. yet, it is an easy book to read (as rob's style is very conversational and fast moving, and also the way the book itself is constructed lends itself to a fast read)...i struggled with this...i found myself flying through the pages but at the same time thinking: "i need to stop and ponder this thought more." i think it is the kind of book that needs be read a few times over a long period of time to let it all sink in.

- in some ways the tension i felt about reading the book illustrates my favorite insight that rob provides. a few months ago i saw this interview with bono from U2. he talked about all the stuff he always talks about (africa, aids, debt relief, care for the poor, the church needs to be involved in it, etc). that was nothing new if you've heard bono before or know anything about his life over the last decade. however, there was one point where he started talking about great art...and he said the key element to all great art is being able to hold two truths in tension...his point was that bad art (and a lot of "christian" art today) tries to evade tension all together. here's something rob bell says about tension (in relation to his topic of sexuality and spirituality): "we were created to live in tension...[not stress but the ability to live between two truths that on the surface might seem contradictory]...and when you lose the tension, you lose something central to what it means to be human...one of the marks of someone who has experienced significant growth in their soul is the ability to live in the midst of tension." [i'll let you read the book yourself to discover the context for this quote]

- this week i was asked to join the board of directors at the manna house.

- my favorite song right now (and i feel guilty for liking the song and this band because i feel like i'm about 10 years too old to enjoy it) is "thriller" by fall out boy...i can't stop listening to it.

- i got be in the classroom for the first time this last week (bio at durango high school...a pretty easy day actually). one of the students i had is the sister of a girl who goes to our church...that was kind of fun...another student recognized me from the sunday we led worship at another church in town. small town life...got to love it.

- tonight we will be attempting to record our first ctk-durango podcast!

- last, but not least, when you achieve a certain level of success playing yahoo! fantasy baseball you gain eligibility for public "expert" leagues...i have achieved this level of success and will be participating in one these leagues...i'll be providing updates throughout the year, but for now i am already very excited about playing with some serious dudes (and dudettes for that matter) and not with...well, i won't mention any names =)

peace!

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i have many blog worthy topics currently in the que, but for now this is what you need to know...

...i have a fully functional car again and that is good news...it also didn't cost me all that i thought it was going to originally which is even better news.

and now, more importantly: waiting for rescue has two new songs up on the myspace page...a cover of a switchfoot tune, and then an original number as well. listen and enjoy (and also check out our new picture =)
www.myspace.com/waitingforrescue

book reports and other deep thoughts to come later this week.

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- on july 27th, 2006 i drove away from Alisal High School, a summer of teaching geometry, and four years of subbing in the salinas union high school district, with my fist in the air and a grin on my face. "never going to have to do that again," was the thought rolling through my mind at the time. and then i moved to durango and started to get settled in a new life and new jobs, and a funny thing started to happen. i actually found myself missing the classroom. "this can't be right," i thought...probably just part of the transition process. or not. after a while i came to terms with this truth: i kind of enjoyed being a sub. wierd.

today, mr. boutry made his triumphant return (at escalante middle school, nonetheless...ironic, yes). on february 12th, 2007 i got to be a librarian for a day (also somewhat ironic, for all the making fun of other librarians that i know). it was a pretty boring day actually. but, it was cool to be on campus and many familiar feelings rushed into me as i walked in to the main office this morning. i'm only going to be able to work a couple of days a month, but i am excited to see what happens. plus, i already have a good farting story!

- i've been reading books that have nothing to do with church for almost two months now. there are a couple of reasons for this...one is that there is only so much you can fit in your brain and process at one time. i needed to slow down to let some things sink in. another was probably a fear that i'd get all excited about something, blog about it, and create a controversy. but, mostly i just needed a break.

now, though, i've started two (just barely the first pages) and already i'm glad that i did. i need this to get refocused and excited again about what we are doing (being thick in the middle of ecclesiastes has not helped this =)

for those who care about these things the books are:
1) The Forgotten Ways: Reactivating the Missional Church by Alan Hirsch (coauthor of The Shaping of Things to Come)
2) Sex God: Exploring the Endless Connections Between Sexuality and Spirituality by Rob Bell

i'm sure you'll hear more about these in future blogs after i actually get into them!

peace

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if there's one thing i've learned from this blogging experience it's this: if you want people to respond, talk about the poor or reveal information concerning your love life...so if you're thinking of starting a blog, take that into consideration!

here's what's going on...

- the early feedback from our new small group format is pretty positive. in particular, i am loving my group. i had some concerns about studying ecclesiastes but this group has definitely risen to the challenge so far.

- interesting things continue to develop with our church...from people stepping up into new/increased roles to developments in terms of a more "permanent" location...it's all very exciting and i am enjoying the moment and also excited about what will happen next.

- congrats to tony dungy...he demonstrates that you don't have to be a certain "type" of person to be a leader and that success is defined in bigger terms than winning and losing.

- finally, i knew this day was coming, but it's sad to see mike matheny go...he is a great man in every sense of the word and the Giants are going to miss him.
http://sanfrancisco.giants.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20070201&content_id=1792094&vkey=news_sf&fext=.jsp&c_id=sf

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=)

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check this out!!!

http://www.myspace.com/waitingforrescue

also, more on tony dungy...

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/writers/michael_silver/01/25/colts/index.html

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thoughts on the world of sports...

1) i know i've made a couple of statements in this space about how i've become a two sport man at this point in my life (soccer and baseball), but last night's game between the colts and the patriots got my attention. i was only able to see the first and last five minutes of the game, but those last five minutes...wow!

a lot is going to be written and said about peyton manning getting to his first super bowl, and a lot is being made about the first two african-american coaches to lead teams to the super bowl. for years now i've been rooting for tony dungy to be the guy to do it first (he's the coach of the colts for those who don't know)...i don't know if there is a classier guy who carries himself with so much dignity in any sport. he's why i'm pulling for the colts in two weeks.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/writers/jeffri_chadiha/01/22/lovie/index.html?section=si_latest

2) everyone is talking about what an incredible finish in the colts/pats game, but across the pond another great rivalry went down the last minute as well. arsenal beat manchester united (think red sox vs. yankees) 2-1 on a last minute header by thiery henri. a truly stunning result after arsenal was down 1-0 at half.

3) many experts feel the giants are going to walk away from barry bonds. i don't know how i feel about this, but it will be truly amazing if they have the guts to do it, and it would be fascinating to see who, if anyone, picks him up at this point.

that's it for now,,,

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miscellaneous thoughts...

1) i enjoyed the comments about the most recent post. some good thoughts and even counseling taking place in cyberspace. so, thanks for participating.

2) we're swinging into a new small group season here to start off the new year. my group is studying ecclesiastes and i have been having a great time preparing for that. i have no idea if this is going to work in a small group (i think it will, but that doesn't always guarantee success), but still i am excited to see what happens and where it goes.

3) we continue to seek new ways to serve our community...in the next few weeks we'll start cooking dinner at a different shelter in durango.

4) i've recently been found on myspace by an old friend from college...he and his wife and friends are doing some pretty cool things in stockton, ca...i've added a link to a forum about what they're doing called "The Great Banquet"

5) donald miller has some excellent thoughts about the upcoming presidential campaign...you can read these thoughts at his blog www.donaldmillerwords.com/index

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"if CTK-Durango is an experiment in anything, it's an experiement in the power of relationships." i think this is true of CTK in general, but it's especially true of our community here...or at least that's the goal.

sometimes i feel like this is a new thing, that i am learning all this for the first time...and that may be true in practice, but defintely not in theory. in so many ways what i am doing, in helping to lead this community in durango in the way we are going, is a natural progession of everything that has come before.

most recently, my thinking in the relational dynamic of what God is up to in the world has been pushed by eugene peterson's book, "Eat this Book: A Conversation in the Art of Spiritual Reading."

chip and i have been talking about this relational dynamic for a while...but again, for me this is the culmination of things that began some time ago, most likely in college through intervarsity and learning about the importance of community, through being mentored by the likes of jay d, through ron demolor's (mount hermon) mantra "the kingdom of God is a kingdom of right relationships," through prof. korch at western, through the philosopher john macmurray (see: the self as agent and persons in relation), through donald miller's relentless pursuit of the relational dynamic of the gospel (see: Searching for God Knows What), through conversations and doing life with rmac, through dave browning (lead pastor of the CTK network), through studying John with the nexus, and now live and in technicolor here in durango. it is no surprise that i am here in terms of my theology, hermeneutics, and praxis. and i love it.

here's what eugene is speaking to me about this (he's talking about how we read and interpret Scripture): "here's the thing: every part of the revelation, every aspect, every form is personal--God is relational at the core--and so whatever is said, whatever is revealed, whatever is recieved is also personal and relational. there is nothing impersonal, nothing merely functional, everything from beginning to end and in between is personal. God is inherently and inclusively personal. the corollary to that is that i, because i am a person, am personally involved in the revelation. every word i hear, everything i see in my imagination as this story unfolds, involves me relationally, pulls me into participation, matters to my core identity, affects who i am and what i do."

thanks eugene...

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check it out...#22!!!

http://outreachmagazine.com/Library/features/JF07ftrMostInnovativeChurch.asp

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finally, a new post...the last two weeks have been filled with epic events: some glorious (such as spending time with friends and family...the giant's signing barry zito), some tragic (the canceling of flights and the losing of bags). there are many more things to say, books to recommend, amusing antecdotes to share...but for now, all i can say is i'm glad to be home and i am yearning for a "normal" week. here's yet another reason why i love durango...

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2006...the year of youtube and chuck norris...

...i offer my humble top 5 lists for 2006 in books, music, and movies. you know, the important stuff =)

...as one who claims integration as a high value it pains me to make the following confession: i've had to split the books lists into two groups, what i will call "required" and "non-required" reading...thre are two reasons for this: 1) i read too many books to have just one top 5 list and 2) as much as i like to integrate everything that i read there really are two categories...while all the books i've read, i believe, relate to life and ministry, some speak more directly to the later and therefore deserve their own list. so, here it goes

top 5 in "required" reading for 2006
1) The Irresistible Revolution by Shane Claiborne (i know, big surprise here...i've said perhaps more than i should have about this book in this space, but for the sake of this list i need to say "thank you shane for giving us permission to be idealists and 'holy fools'")
2) The Shaping of Things to Come: Innovation and Mission for the 21st Century Church by Michael Frost and Alan Hirsch (what Claiborne's book has been to our "staff" discussion the last few months, this book was during the first half of the year...while not a blueprint for what we are doing here in durango, no other book has shaped my/our philosophy of ministry like this one)
3) Deliberate Simplicity by Dave Browning (hopefully he won't fire me for putting his book 3rd...ha ha...this is the blueprint)
4) Soul Cravings by Erwin McManus (at CTK we are about 3 things: worship, small groups, and service...mcmanus says there are three "cravings" of the soul that everyone needs satisfied to be fully human...they are meaning (worship), intimacy (small groups), and destiny (service)...fascinating)
5) Everybody Wants To Go To Heaven But Nobody Wants To Die: Or the Eschatology of Bluegrass by David Crowder and Mike Hogan (this makes the list, closely beating out The Myth of a Chrstian Nation, because of the section of the book called "columns"...i am a sucker for magical realism)

top 5 in "non-required" reading for 2006
1) The Tender Bar by JR Moehringer (best memoir i've read since Angela's Ashes)
2) Fantasyland: A Season on Baseball's Lunatic Fringe by Sam Walker (this book follow the travails of a baseball season through the lens of one of the most prestigious fantasy leagues in the country...he absolutely nails the highs and lows of fantasy baseball)
3) What is the What by Dave Eggers (i really expected this book to just rip away at the US for what it's done, or not done, for the Sudan crisis, but i have to say it wasn't like that at all...nonetheless it is a hard book to read, and i don't know what's harder to read: the atrocities of the civil war/refugee experience, or the inhumanity of the robbery of the main character's atlanta apartment and everything that follows from that)
4) Tempting Faith by David Kuo (a tale of how the political machine can grind down even the best intentioned people)
5) The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini (ok, i know this didn't come out this year, but i read it this year for the first time and i loved it)

top 5 songs for 2006
1) The Adventure by Angels and Airwaves [i unapologetically love this band...i haven't been this excited about a new band since a certain lead man for further seems forever started his little side project...the whole album "we don't need to whisper" is amazing, and in many ways parallels my own journey this year]
2) I've Had Enough by the David Crowder Band [a test of a great song is that it breaks your heart the first time you hear it and it can do the same thing months later after you've listened to it 100 times...this is such a song, and it's only 65 seconds long...genius]
3) When You Were Young by the Killers [i'm not a huge killers fan...i only like 4 or 5 of their songs...but, wow, the ones that i like, i really like...this was the most played song on my itunes]
4) Don't Wait by Dashboard Confessional (i keep thinking i'll grow out of this band one of these days...this last album was far from great, but this song, along with Stolen and Currents, is just too good to ignore...i'll continue to indulge a little while longer)
5) 9 Crimes by Damien Rice (i prefer the demo version with the guitars over the version that opens the cd...but both are perfectly damien rice: haunting and depressing)

top 5 movies for 2006
1) Stranger Than Fiction (i've already talked about this one...there's this great scene where will ferell's character is trying to figure out if the story he's in is a tragedy or a comedy so he keeps score in a notebook...at the end of the day he has 5 points for comedy and about 100 for tragedy...emo kids all over the country will posting that scene on their myspace pages as soon as it's available)
2) Little Miss Sunshine (it'll make you laugh, it'll make cringe, and then it will make you cry)
3) Goal! (it's about soccer, so maybe i'm biased, but i think it's one of the best sports movies ever)
4) Nacho Libre (no explanation is needed)
5) Accepted (if you know me at all, you'll know why i loved this movie)

so there you have it...the art and entertainment that enriched my 2006. feel free to send me (or post) your own top 5's!!

merry christmas...

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(1:oo pm) i had this amazing picture i was going to post...it was going to be the center-piece of this particular post, but unfortunately i lost the cable that connects my camera to the computer...so no picture, no wonderful post. now what am i supposed to do? (christmas present idea: usb cable for an hp photosmart r717 digital camera...hint hint).

well, now i just have to wing it...some random thoughts...not excited about the giants 2007 squad...excited about catching up with a lot of people next week...very excited about christmas with the fam...not excited about losing camera cables...loving the fact that the cable has been shut off for a couple of weeks now, it's like a new world without tv...this means tv shows on dvd (i.e. season one of how i met your mother...awesome)...

no book recommendations today (however, check out the new issue of the burnside writer's collective...link is to the right, right over there)...more than enough to keep interested and entertained...later this week will likely be my last post for '06 which means...top 5 lists!

(8:05 pm) the cord has been found! never mind all that at the beginning...here's a totally different, but amazing picture for to you look at anyway!

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whew! that last post really generated some interesting feedback...thanks to everyone who i got to engage in a bit of dialogue with, that was fun! (next time i quote shane i'll make sure i have a little more free time in the schedule...and perhaps next time i'll pick a really controversial quote)

- for those of you who have itunes and are into podcasts, check out the mosaic podcast from 12/3 "new under the sun"...mcmanus has some great things to say to those of us who are idealistically bent...there was so much illumination coming from my computer that i had to leave the room.

- tomorrow i'm teaching out of john 1 and i'm pretty excited about it...(i know what you are thinking...especially if you were involved with the nexus when i was there: can this guy do anything outside the book of John?)

- stephen colbert was voted 2006 media person of the year...awesome! http://www.iwantmedia.com/personoftheyear/06.html

- the david crowder band has been nominated for MSN's artist of the year...along with the likes of Christina Aguilera, Kenny Chesney, Prince, and INXS (http://music.msn.com/music/artistofthemonth) i have a couple of thoughts about this...

1) he's winning by a land slide which is a testament to Crowder's ability to mobilize his fan base (although i wonder if the other artists even know they are nominated...i don't think Christina is too worried about MSN)
2) more importantly, it demonstrates once again (as if we needed more evidence) that Crowder is clearly operating on a different level than anyone else in the christian music industry (especially in that bizarre genre know as "worship")...Chris Tomlin, Charlie Hall...insert your favorite worship leader here...are good (please don't take this as a tomlin bashing..wink, wink...) but they are not even in the same league...

one of these days i'll post something about the chapter on crowder from the book "body piercing saved my life"...there's some fascinating stuff in there.

that's it for now...christmas parties abound!

ps. for those of you who are tracking with some of the poverty stuff i've been writing about, here's a book recommendation for you: "the new friars: the emerging movement serving the world's poor," by scott bessenecker...it's a worthy follow up to shane's book.

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here are a few quotes that have been pushing my thinking lately...

1) this is from an interview with kieran kelly, a music producer who's worked with the likes of sufjan stevens and others in the indie rock scene...he's talking about how his faith informs his work and how easy it is for him to turn conversations to the spiritual.

"That is one of the great things that music does to people; it tends to be a much more open environment to be able to have discussions. As opposed to working in an office where if someone was a drug addict or had some sort of extreme lifestyle, it'd be hidden from public view, in a rock 'n' roll setting, everything goes."

i love this quote and it's implications for our church...i hope ctk-durango will always be more rock 'n' roll than stuffy office.

2) if i could i would probably quote shane claiborne's entire book (the irresistible revolution), but here's something i've definitely been experiencing...shane writes: "it is a beautiful thing when folks in poverty are no longer just a missions project but become genuine friends with whom we laugh, cry, dream, and struggle."

this really hit home for me last week. we've been serving at the manna house (the local soup kitchen) and making a lot of friends with some of the "regulars." last tuesday there was a going away party for one of the employees, and i was invited, but couldn't come until about half an hour into the festivities. when i walked in i was immediately confronted with an interesting scenario. the party had naturally organized itself into four groups. one group was comprised of well dressed older gentlemen (i learned that this was the board of directors)...another was a group of older retired couples, sweet people who serve regularly at the kitchen...the third group was made up of a few middle aged folks, again faithful volunteers...

and then the fourth group was jim, james, randall, and two other "clients" sitting by themselves in the corner. i went and sat with them and was simultaneously welcomed and chastised..."what are you doing hanging out with us?" "don't you realize this isn't the happening social scene." they gave me a hard time, but also expressed genuine gratefulness that someone came and sat and ate with them.

i couldn't help thinking that these guys were the only people in the room i would call friends...what other circle of people was i really going to sit down with.

i share this story not to pat myself on the back, or to say that everyone else there was lame, but to show the reality i see behind shane's quote. it really is a beautiful thing. i didn't sit with those guys because i felt sorry for them, because i am such a great guy, or even because of some holy/guilty compulsion. plain and simple, they were the people in the room i know and who know me. beautiful.

i know a lot of church planting manuals will tell you about how to be strategic and find all these successful people to join your church and tithe big and be your elders, but somehow that seems wierd when Jesus says stuff like: "those who are last will be first...everyone who exalts himself will be humbled...when you give a banquet invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind." (see Luke 12-19).

my two deep thoughts for the week. here's to a rock 'n' roll church and jim, james, and randall.

peace

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items of the utmost importance and extreme significance for the week of november 26-december 2nd.

- today is the last day in november which means i have been in durango for four months...part of me wants to say "four months...that's all," the other part realizes that this constitutes one third of a year, amazing.

- i love the exchange between sarah and ryan in the comments...good stuff...

- i am currently reading "what is the what" by dave eggers (number two on the all time favorite authors list). this book is very different from the other stuff he has written (including, but not limited to, "a heartbreaking work of staggering genius," "how we are hungry," and "you shall know our velocity") what is the what is to do with the story of a Sudanese refugee and in many ways this book is actually the heartbreaking work of staggering genius. (here is a plug for www.savedarfur.org)

- now that the hockey fiasco is winding down, things are pretty slow at the soccer shop...until january when indoor starts. arsenal is also disappointing us as well. they'll have a great game (see their 3-1 win over hamburg in the champions league), then stink it up with a inexplicable 3-1 loss to bolton (in the EPL). way too inconsistent.

- CTK-durango's momentum continues to build...we will be multiplying our small groups in january, moving into the bigger room in pickles on christmas eve, and looking for more ways to expand our service in the community. personally, i am enjoying this season very much, but i can't wait for the calendar to flip over to january because i think many exciting things are going to start happening once the holidays are over.

- i'll be in salinas and available to hang out the last week of december...let me know if you'll be around.

- lastly, this man is a genius: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1BcT4MXcNwY

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hope everyone had a wonderful thanksgiving. the first major holiday in durango was a ton of fun!

in the spirit of thanksgiving, i want to do just that (give thanks) for everyone who has interacted with the ID...some of the feedback i've received indicates that people seem to love the comments almost as much as the blog itself, which is a lot of fun to hear.

lastly, i would like to highly recommend the film: "stranger than fiction." it's the best movie i've seen this year, and a definite top 10 of all time. anyone who loves stories and literature will enjoy the film. the acting and writing are superb (i especially loved dustin hoffman's character....and in a moment of vulnerability i will say that maggie gyllenhaal's character is my ideal woman). it's the kind of movie that leaves you with a melancholy smile on your face as you walk out of the theater (and that, of course, is the best kind of movie).

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some weekend ponderings...

1) the fort went down in the DII championship, 1-0, to dowling (some school from NY). we listened to it on the radio in the shop today and they fought hard, but just couldn't finish a goal. i also hear that there are going to be some big changes this offseason...we'll see what happens next.

2) i got my ears pierced...been wanting to do this for a while and it finally happened. i had a great conversation with my piercer. when he found out i was a pastor he couldn't believe it, and not for the reason one might suspect. i thought he would say something to the effect of "pastor's don't get their ears pierced." this didn't seem to be weird to him at all. what he couldn't get over was how young i was. a direct quote: "i thought pastors were just a bunch of old guys who voted republican." i assured him that i know some young pastors who lean more towards a blue state perspective. it was a fun conversation and another moment where i left assured that i am in the right place at the right time.

3) i encountered my most angry customer in my time at the soccer shop. words cannot convey how angry this lady was (not at me specifically, although i got to bear a good deal of it). i wonder what message that sends to her kids, and i pray for anyone who can get so bent (i've never seen anyone this angry, even in a movie) over something like a jersey.

4) i am listening to the new damien rice cd on my ipod and loving it. (it happens to be titled "9", which is very much approved of here at the ID).

5) i can't wait for tomorrow. i love our little community, and the morale is so high right now on our team...this is a really fun time for us...the giddiness level at our staff meeting on wednesday was off the charts.

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they did it!

http://www.durangoherald.com/asp-bin/article_generation.asp?article_type=sports&article_path=/sports/06/sports061117_1.htm

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alright, boutry, enough of this silly soccer stuff. tell us something of substance...something important...something about your church, for crying out loud!

ok, here it is...i'm the small groups pastor, so i must tell you that my small group is amazing. it is quickly becoming one of my all time favorites. we have all kinds of interesting people, people who are quite open about their brokenness, and they have all jumped in and gotten real with each other very quickly. this is encouraging to me because this is our church! more than anything else we want people who take relationship and mission seriously and i am really starting to see that take shape.

i can't help myself...the fort plays on thursday...

i've been playing a lot of cribbage lately. i am still a master!

finished reading"tempting faith" by david kuo...fascinating tale of the seduction of power (and a lot of other things as well).

last but not least: it's cold and starting to snow!

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you know it's going to be a good day and you're in the right place for a soccer match when the last song they play before kickoff is dave matthew's "two step." and it was a good day for the fort lewis men's soccer team. they took out all their frustations from last week and put five in the back of the net...four of them off beautiful set pieces. it was a clinical (if anti-climactic) showing by a confident team. next weekend they go to pensacola florida to defend their championship. good luck boys!














the hooligans!

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some things that have been shaping my thoughts recently...

1) the irresistible revolution...
2) crowder and his concept of a rescue that has happened and will happen...
3) a book (i know, another book...where does he get the time) titled "body piercing saved my life: inside the phenomenon of christian rock"...
4) a quote from this book, where the author describes evangelical culture as "constructing an ever more-impregnable fortress in which Christians can amuse themselves while waiting out the apocalypse." (Ouch!)
5) my fear that the election results will exacerbate this reality and evangelicals will continue to retreat instead of engaging in mission...
6) relational conflict (how it seems to always lack a perspective of the bigger picture)...
7) bonfires with homeless friends...
8) trailer parks and run down apartment complexes...
9) a sermon on what you have to know vs. what you can know (see Mt. 22:37-39, Mk. 12:28-31)...
10) joy and soccer and worship...

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when you see or experience unbridled joy it can be a disarming experience. today i witnessed one of the most amazing sporting events of my life. the fort lewis men's team is ranked #2 in the nation, won the national championship last year, and in the last two years has only lost once. that loss was earlier this season to midwestern state (from witchita falls, tx). the two faced off today in the "sweet sixteen" round of the div. II playoffs.

2000 people packed into Dirks Field. It was one of the most intense environments i've ever seen...it was easy to forget that the crowd was so small (compared to say 60,000 at an nfl game). the fort controlled the ball most of the first half. i was standing with the fort lewis "hooligans" and the goons were getting restless as chance after chance presented itself with no results. then about 30 min in midwestern got a breakaway and put away their only shot of the half.

the second half began with the fort in all out attack. as the half wore on the crowd grew more nervous and boisterous. again and again the fort had great opportunities to score and just couldn't put it away. but you could see midwestern wilting in the altitude. finally, in the 88th minute (with 2:30 left on the clock)...david barden (a freshmen nonetheless) found the back of the net. pandemonium ensued. i was hugging people i'd never met...fort players were jumping into our arms along the sideline.

two overtime periods came and went with no goals, which meant a dreaded shootout. i've been impressed with the fort's goalie (tom donelly) all season and he did not disappoint with three great saves. when he knocked away the last one the place went absolutely ballistic...no one could believe what they had seen and no one wanted to leave.

what strikes me is that i went from there to church just an hour later. worship tonight was awesome and chip taught on the great commandment and i think we all felt a similar joy. the question i have is how to bridge these worlds. most of the people at the game went in to town to drink and celebrate (not a bad way to spend the evening really), but i wish people could see that joy can come on a soccer pitch and in a small room in the back of pickles worshipping God. this is what is driving us...this is our mission...

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weekend thoughts...

1) baseball season is over...the world won't be quite right again until april.

2) (not that this was the most significant part about last night, buy)...preaching out of I John while wearing my project 86 t-shirt was fun!

3) we had another new face last night, which is awesome. people are coming.

4) don't read books by shane claiborne in the laundromat unless you want to look like a blubbering idiot. (fyi. shane's book "The Irresistible Revolution" is probably the best book on Christian Spirituality i've read since Blue Like Jazz. if you've ever heard anyone from willow creek speak, you've probably heard them talk about the guy who made everyone pile up their shoes in the back of the auditorium after he was done speaking....this is the guy. read his book!)

5) yesterday fort lewis won the RMAC championship in soccer, 2-0, in front of a packed house at dirks field...it was awesome! (actually both the men and the women won this year). not only that, but the colorado rapids advanced to the western conference finals in the MLS. colorado just might be the best soccer state in the union!

02159

some midweek thoughts...

1) hanging out with grandpa is fun

2) i have to "preach" this week...it's slowly coming together

3) all apologies to will ferrell, jack black, dave chappelle, etc...stephen colbert is the funniest man in the world.

4) i am currently reading "Dear Church: Letters from a Disillusioned Generation." (my favorite line so far...'they (as in the disillusioned/twentysomething generation) chaff at the pragmatist/programmatic approach to ministry.') (my second favorite line...'we can't all be articulate, middle-class, college-educated, Gap-wearing, small group leaders...and if we were, who would be in relationship with all the world citizens who will never shop at the Gap?')

5) my favorite song of the moment is "have you forgotten" by the red house painters

6) this is the greatest picture of all time (look closely and you'll see what i mean).

02059

it's for real! CTK Durango at pickles restaraunt...it felt so good to finally be meeting in our "place."

aside from the excitement of actually being somewhere for the first time, we also had three visitors tonight. there's a good feeling right now as people are getting to see some of the things we've been talking about actually happen.

01959

in what will likely be an ongoing theme of the ID i offer my first installment of "apartment adventures." last night the roommate walks in and proclaims: "dude, i think we have a problem." he leads me to the bathroom and sure enough our toilet is burping water all over the floor. i made a strategic phone call and myself and the landlords got to spend some quality time together moping and snaking and doing other plumbing chores. turns out some major sludge got backed up and a few other apartments experienced the burping toilet phenomenon. all is well this morning, but something tells me this is not the first and the last adventure! now if only i could get the kitchen light to turn on....

01859

tonight was pretty much my favorite night of church so far. 25 people packed into the johnson home to celebrate our last week in the living room and to commemorate our move to pickles! we had a blast...eating bratwurst, listening to chip talk about where we've come from and where we are going, and then singing our lungs out!

i think my favorite story so far also happened tonight. this dude named joe came with one of the daniels kids. he just moved here to durango two weeks ago. he said he had been to church before but hated the singing. he kept telling people afterwards about how when we started he just really "felt it" and started singing too and couldn't stop! it blew his mind that he could actually sing at church. this week we also continue serving at the local soup kitchen as well as starting up two small groups. this thing is really happening!



i have included a few pictures from tonight in this post...next week i'll have some pictures from the first night at pickles.

01759

lot's of cool things happening here in durango these days....at CTK we are all about three things: central worship, small groups, and outreach. as far as central worship goes we finally have a place to meet that is not chip's living room. we'll be starting at "pickles" restaurant on october 22nd. we tried several other spots and it never worked out...somehow, pickles, the least likely place, turned out to be the right fit. we already have two small groups going right now, but in two weeks we'll be starting two more groups. this is very exciting as we hope these new groups will be "birthing" groups...groups that will give way to even more groups in a relatively short amount of time. finally, this week well be starting to serve our community on a regular basis at the "manna house", the local soup kitchen.

some soccer news to report. i went to the fort lewis match today and it was awesome. ft. lewis (ranked 5th) was playing the 8th ranked team (who also had a lot of fans in the crowd). it was a "chippy", physical match....the fort jumped out to a 2-0 lead, gave away a goal early in the second half and then played tightly contested game until the final ten minutes when they put it away for a 3-1 victory.

arsenal is back in the world power rankings top ten, which is a good sign for my adopted EPL team.

finally, i saw the movie "Goal" this weekend. awesome movie...kind of a classic underdog, over come the odds, rocky story, but from a different perspective than normal (also great themes of family, cross cultural differences, father/son relationships). probably the best movie i've seen this year.

last but not least...check this out:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JuECatf6qaw

01659

"hunting the hunters: how to reach specific people groups." that was the assigned topic for my session this weekend at the CTK conference i attended. it was a lot of fun...i talked about durango and how it is so subculture driven, and then brought up paul in acts 17...how he integrated his knowledge of jewish culture when he was in a jewish context and how he infiltrated greek culture and used their language, poets, and symbols to communicate christ to them.

people were digging it! i've never had 15-20 furiously writing down words that were coming out of my mouth (certainly never happened when i was teaching geometry)...i concluded that we need to integrate groups that we are already a part (ie soccer players) and share jesus with those people, but there are also groups we need to infiltrate and learn their ways and customs before we start sharing jesus with them.

then i opened it up for feedback and questions and discussions and i got more strokes! a lot of people were resonating with what i had to say and asking good follow up questions...then, right at the end as i am about to wrap things up, this one dude speaks up: "i'm sorry but i have to totally disagree with everything you are saying...we don't need to infiltrate or integrate anything....we have the truth, the gospel....and the gospel is confrontational, there's no way around it...we need to be getting in people's faces...going door to door...passing out tracts! in fact your title it perfect...these people are hunting for souls and we need to HUNT THEM DOWN!"

after his little speech everyone was stunned...i started to respond but the frazzled host quickly dismissed everyone to the next session. i had a short but good conversation with the guy afterward...it was good to have a little tension in what was an overwhelmingly positive experience....but definitely not going to forget that for a while!

01559

when i was in college an involved with intervarsity we used to do testimony times with the leadership team...after a person talked about what was going on in their life the rest of the team would ask them questions. without fail this one guy would ask everyone the same question: "do you have a heart for a specific people group." it always got a laugh, and after a while people got creative with their answers. i used to think it was kind of a dumb question.

now, here i am, about to speak at pastor's conference on how to reach specific groups of people (evangelizing the subcultures). suddenly that's not such a bad question.

other than that, this weekend should be a good time for chip and i to connect with some key CTK people...put some faces with some emails and phone calls.

i recently read david crowder's new book: "everybody wants to go to heaven, but nobody wants to die." the guy continues to put out stuff that is not only quality work in the christian world, but good art period. there is a section of the book called "columns" that really makes the book in my opinion. it is a bit of fiction in the magical-realism genre (ala jonathan safran foer) and it is awesome. i'm still waiting for crowder to do something that does not impress me.

if you haven't watched the video in the link from the last blog, you need to!

01459

my first summer at mount hermon, rmac introduced me to the concept of the density of time...time is much more than a measure of the passing of moments. there is mass and volume to it...this weekend was a good example of dense time.

congrats to bruce and connie on becoming one...you have marked my life figuratively and literally =)

it was also fun to be with the old crew again...a shout out to mdh, h squared, vivie, b_lum, LG, glee, kdub, big al, drewyap, peter the great, and all the other fabulous people i got to spend time with.

major thanks to mdh for the suggestion of brett dennen...this guy is going to be huge soon we both believe. check him out...it will change your life.

finally, if you haven't seen this, you must:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ovJ5nWwF5k

01359

have i mentioned that i love living in colorado? i do...i have to go back to california this weekend for a wedding. i'm stoked about the wedding and sharing a huge moment with my friends and seeing a lot of people i haven't seen for a while, but i am going to miss my mountains!

in two weeks chip and i get to go to the annual CTK pastor's conference...where we have been asked to present some stuff about our story and what we are doing here in durango. it seems a little weird to be "teaching" people stuff when i've only been doing this for six weeks, but i think this will be a great opportunity for chip and i to pause and really think about what it is we are doing (and then talk about it too). so i am excited about that, but again i'll have to leave my mountains!

the final big news is that we have found a meeting place for sunday mornings...park elementary (a school we hoped to be investing a lot in anyway) appears to be our landing place. i've loved meeting in chip's living room but this is another one of those threshold steps for our church and i'm exciting to get in there and start worshipping with more people!

01259

first off, thanks to everyone who has been praying for us and also thank you to those who have been posting comments on the blog!

the last few days have been interesting and amazing. we had our first information meeting on friday and one person showed up! this could have been a huge bummer for our team, but the conversation that emerged answered so many of our questions (where can we serve, who is being overlooked by the churches, etc) that everyone was pretty stoked when it was all said and done.

then, last night we had our first (4) durango people come. what a huge moment for our team to finally welcome new people into our community. i was really proud of the way everyone interacted with our visitors and really made them feel welcome. i'm pretty sure we'll be seeing more of them in the future.

finally, this weekend was also a great time to hang out with dave browning the founding pastor of the Christ the King movement. (hopefully, most of you know that we are not just here doing this thing on our own, but are a part of the Christ the King network or churches). dave was really encouraging to us and also very excited by what he sees happening here.

dave has a book out now, titled Deliberate Simplicity, which outlines what CTK is all about. it can be purchased from amazon or barnes and noble. i highly recommend in general, but especially if you are interested in finding out more about what we are attempting to do here in durango.

thanks again everyone!

01159

check this out...

http://web.mac.com/ryanmcrae/iWeb/Colorado/Durango.html

01059

there are moments or phases of life that sometimes have to pass before you can say "yeah, that was a real good time." usually i need some time to pass to have the proper perspective.

then there are times when you know, during every single moment, that this is about as good as it gets. this weekend was one of those moments.

rmac and i packed about as much into one weekend as is possible. we cleaned up at the sky ute casino, we got kicked out of the telluride film festival (where we met many cool people, award winning directors, scored free stuff, and even had time to ride the gondola), participated in an ultimate frisbee tournament (which nearly killed me), ate some of joe's amazing barbecue, and pretty much dominated the entire southwest. lives were changed, ladies swooned, and legends were born. it was that kind of a weekend.

now it is back to work...the next 14 days being important days in the life of CTK Durango. these are exciting times...