08059

yesterday i was supposed to run 6.6 miles, many of them working upwards against the forces of gravity, but my final trail run was postponed due to a torrential rain that has raised our beloved animas river to near record levels. i can live with that...another two weeks to prepare will be greatly appreciated...

...i am so excited to watch our farmington campus develop and grow over the next several months! one thing that was fun about this week was realizing how far we actually have come in durango...sometimes you can get so caught up in the moment that you don't realize what's been accomplished...but as i was sitting in our first farmington service i was simultaneously overwhelmed with how much needs to happen to get that group going but also how much has happened already just in durango. that experience made me appreciate both of our "core" groups of people so much for what they have done for our community...

...new crowder out wednesday!!!

my parents are here this week, so i finally get to show some boutry's what durango is all about!

peace

07959

check this out!

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070920/lf_afp/environmentsocialcountries_070920151835

07859

- i'm sure you've all had this experience...an old friend, someone you once were really close to, moves away, or you move away, or you both move on to the next thing, and communication becomes more difficult and you don't see each other more than once a year, and after a while you still have this sense of what the other is up to in life, but the closeness that was once there is there no longer. and then something happens...you see them at a wedding, or a group of old friends gets together for whatever reason and next thing you know, in that moment, it's like nothing has changed.

this is how i've experienced the new caedmon's call album, "overdressed." i used to love this band. between 1998 and 2002 i probably saw them play 10-15 times. they would have been a no-brainer choice for favorite band. but then derek webb left the band (and to be honest, the real reason i loved them so much was for derek's songs), they did some less than great worship albums, and i just moved on to other bands and other music. i sort of kept track of what they were doing...for example, i really admired their passion for india and the subsequent album that came from that experience...but i just wasn't feeling the connection anymore.

"overdressed" is not a great album...but it feels like that moment with old friends where it seems as if time has been rolled back and nothing has changed. derek's songs are once again amazing...coupled with andrew osenga's songwriting skills, about half the tracks are excellent (the rest leave something to be desired)...but the bottom line is that it's been nice to get reaquainted with this old friend. (the most excellent song, if you are in to downloading, is the last track "ten thousand angels")

- this week i finished the final Harry Potter novel. it was excellent...it took me a while to get into the series (and i started with a lot of skepticism), but the last three books, in particular, are so fantastic, it's worth slogging through the first half of the series just to get to the payoff!

- last, but definitely not least, our farmington campus kicks off this week...please pray for that amazing group of people as they pour themsleves into this new adventure!

07759

some updates:

- we had a sweet prayer time last night for our farmington crew, commissioning the people and the place (hot stuff billiards and spa!)...the new campus starts sept. 19th and everyone seems to be really excited about it.

- yesterday i played my first game for the durango herald's adult league soccer team...we got killed, but it was a lot of fun! i thought i was in shape from all of the running i've been doing, but not even trails can prepare you for 80 minutes of soccer...i'm pretty sore today =)

- fantasy baseball is all but over (even though there are three weeks left in the season)...current standing are rmps59 106.5, tex boys 82, enraged echidnas 81.

- thanks to rmac for sending me the new caedmon's call cd...derek webb is back with the band (at least for the recording of this album) and upon first listen at least the results are pretty fantastic.

i think that's it for now. peace

07659

on saturday i dropped amy off at the airport...not fun. on the way home i buried myself deeply into a world of self-pity and melancholy. about an hour outside of durango i got a call from james asking me to pick him (and some of his stuff) up at a local gas station. james is heading out to oklahoma this week to see his family.

i thought this would be a simple procedure...pick james up, drop him off, go home, crawl into bed and continue to wallow in my self-pity while listening to some sad songs on my ipod. i was terribly wrong. before i had time to really process on what was going on i found myself on a cliff in Horse Gulch, in my flip flops, helping james mule his belongings off the mountain.

there i was, dirty and sweaty, less than four hours removed from saying goodbye to amy, loaded down with stuff (james was carrying a five gallon bucket of bean soup on his back about which he made the following comment: "i gotta enough soup to be able to eat all winter and tell everyone else to go to hell")...thinking to myself: how absurd and wierd life can be at times.

i seem to be having these experiences a lot lately: moments where i get pulled out of myself and reminded that there is more to life than the little worlds i can create in my own mind.

sometimes it takes a bucket of beans to get me there.

07559

- last night we were not able to have our normal sunday evening worship "in" the rec center due to their week of maintenance (when the whole facility shuts down)...we were under the impression it would be open by sunday, but we were wrong! in a bit of improv we moved over to the amphitheater and set up there. during our worship run-through the sun beat down on us and the sweat poured from our bodies. at about 5:30 a mighty gust of wind came up, blowin ominous looking clouds onto the horizon. chip and i put our heads together and in a moment of panic decided to cancel the whole thing. music was getting blown silverton, dust was flying all around, a downpour seemed imminent.

then 6 rolled around and we conceded to do the music. and then the winds died and the rain held off and the weather was near perfect for the next hour and fifteen minutes. i feel like there are a lot of conclusions to draw from this moment (for example: hold loosly to your own plans and ideas of what is good and makes "church" happen)...but mostly i walked away from last night loving, once again, our people and how no one complained ever about what was going on (except for me) and how down and flexible they are for whatever gets thrown our way. they are amazing.



























- also...this is really great:

07459

- yesterday was the second annual (it's kind of cool to have a second annual something) CTK Durango Boat Day! we all went up to Lake Vallecito and played in the water and feasted on great food and had a wonderful time together.



































- other news and notes: the premier league started it's new season this weekend...arsenal got off to a good start with a 2-1 victory...lot's of good music coming out this week: new dave and tim, new caedmon's call with derek webb...crowder coming soon...

...but more importantly: i get to see amy in 3 days!

07359

- monday has turned into the day i hang out with james (my homeless, pirate talking friend)...last monday we shot james' new rifle (which he was able to buy due to a job he's started working recently...a great development), we tossed our frisbee around (we finally bought a real disk!), and then went and got some ice cream...what a beautiful day.

while we were choosing our ice cream flavors, james leaned over to me and said, "hey, i've got this," and pulled some bills out of his wallet to pay for us. i said, "no james, i've got it." he insisted, though, that he pay for it. eventually i relented, but the moment has stuck with me this last week. it was difficult for me to admit, but i realized i had reduced james to an object, or a project, and i had a hard time recieving his gift because it's not supposed to work like that...i was supposed to pay for him (i have money, a steady job, etc)...and yet allowing him to pay for me gave him a great sense of dignity and also revealed how much i still have to learn about what it means to accept grace and to treat james like a person, not a project.

- i just finished the book "Jim And Casper Go To Church." I was excited to read this book for a couple of reasons, most of them due to a sick curiosity. the premise of the book is this guy, Jim, who has a parachurch evanglelism ministry, hires an athiest, Matt Casper, to visit churches with him to get a total outsiders perspective on attending a church service. the idea was to evaluate the church services to see what "we" (i use we loosely as you will see in a minute) can do differently to reduce the barriers people have to overcome when they attend a church service.

i have three criticisms of this book. (1) the book is very poorly written, which i never really got over the whole time i was reading it...(2) for the most part they visited only the biggest name/highest profile churches in America (i.e Willow, Saddleback, Joel Osteen's church, T.D. Jakes church, Mars Hill in Seattle, Mosaic)...and only two "normal" churches. as a result, most of the criticisms are things like: "it's just a big, pre-programmed show"....i can see many pastors and church leaders reading this book and saying "none of this really applies to my church...(3) Casper is one guy, and a highly intelligent, savy, hip, musician at that...i found it difficult to believe that he was really a good representative of the average church visitor. it felt like a very select individual, evaluating a very select "level" of church....that being said, if you know of the churches they visited it is really interesting to read this guy's thoughts.

- last, but not least, a fantasy baseball update...with 8 weeks to go i lead the Enraged Echidnas 101 to 85...it's still to early to celebrate, but it's close to being over!

07259

new crowder!

http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewAlbum?playlistId=260233097&s=143441&i=260233102

(works for itunes only...)

07159

a year ago today i climbed into a yellow penske truck full of my worldly possessions, and began the long drive to durango...which means that tomorrow will mark my first full year of living in colorado! what a year it has been...impossible to summarize in a neat and tidy post. there have been a wide variety of ups and downs, highs and lows, both personally and on the church level, and while the future continues to unfold in unpredictable, but exciting ways, the one thing i can say for certain is that this year has been one of the best, if not the best, experience of my life. i have no doubt that the growth that has occured this year could only have happened here, in this context...

...i can't wait to see what happens next!

07059

new dave and tim!!! and there was much rejoicing.

Eh Hee - Dave Matthews & Tim Reynolds

06959

sports thought of the week...

- probably no one else cares about this kind of stuff except for me, but i thought i'd share it anyway...in light of the past week's events in the sporting world i have an observation to make: if soccer is ever going to make headway in the USA now is the time...

...consider the following: baseball is staring the steroids era right in the face at the moment as barry bonds is nearing and certain to pass hank aaron's all-time home run record. baseball is extremely successful right in terms of revenue, but faith in the integrity of the game is extremely low. football is far and away the most popular sport in america but it's image is being dragged through the mud by shady characters like pacman jones, the cincinnati bengals, and now the michael vick/dog fighting scandal. add to that the huge story of the weekend: an nba official with mob ties is accused of point shaving and gambling on games he was reffing...this is perhaps one of the biggest scandals in sports histoy and the implications run deep (in particular, the outcome of the spurs/suns series is even more fishy than it was a couple months ago).

...and then, in the midst of all this, here comes david beckham...i don't think soccer will ever occupy a similar position in the american mindset like "the big three." but, if ever there was a time for soccer to make a move, it would seem like there is no better time than now.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/writers/greg_lalas/07/23/mls.stories/index.html

06859

- no pirate stories this week but i did have a little brush with fame. i went to the MLS (that stands for Major League Soccer...rmac...) up in Denver. this was a cool experience for a couple of reasons...one, we got to drive through the center of Colorado, which i haven't done since i've moved out here. what an amazing and beautiful state! two, in Denver they (not sure who "they" is, but they are rich, that's for sure) have built a huge soccer complex, at the heart of which lies Dick's Sporting Goods stadium...a soccer only facility that is truly awesome. we were in the corner, but only three rows from the pitch (or field, fyi). three, david beckham made an appearance and at one point was only about ten feet away from me. here are a few pictures...

...the stadium...














...a little bit of goodness...












...the "becks"...












- we continue to enjoy all the visitors who are making their way to and through durango this summer...that's been a lot of fun!

- finally, for those of you who listen to the podcast, this week we finished up James/Colossians and next week we start an overview of the Old Testament.

peace

06759

- today my parents have been married for 30 years...way to go mom and dad!

- soccer news: i'm going to the MLS all-star game on thursday up in denver at the beautiful new Dicks Sporting Goods Stadium...it's supposed to be a pretty incredible facility. also, David Beckham was introduced by the LA Galaxy this week. i wanted to point something out...on thursday the NYSE finished up over 200 points, the highest one day increase in several years..."experts" said this had to do with a spike in retail sails...hmmm....maybe i'm just reading too much into it, but that was also the day that Beckham arrived in LA and had his new jersey revealed.

- story time...

the other day at the manna house i could tell that my friend james was feeling lonely. he was sort of following me around all morning, and then finally he asked me if i wanted to play frisbee with him that afternoon. i like to toss the disk around a little bit and, again, it seemed james just wanted to hang out with someone so naturally i said, “sure.”

later that afternoon we met up at the park and discovered that neither one us had a frisbee. we decided to go on a quest downtown to find a disk (by the way, if you are ever in durango and you need a frisbee for your dog there are a number of establishments that you could acquire one at on main street in the old town section).

we were not successful (since the only disks we could find we for dogs to catch) so i said, “hey james let’s go to the Steaming Bean and get a smoothie.” james, for whom everyday is National Talk Like A Pirate Day, said, “Arrggh.”
we sat down at the counter and i ordered a smoothie (peach delight..highly recommended). the following conversation then took place:

james: “so what is this place?”
steve: “it’s a coffee shop.”
james: “but what’s this thing you just ordered?”
steve: “a smoothie.”
james: “arrggh...that’s like with ice cream, yeah?”
steve: “no...it’s fruit and juice.”
james: “but no coffee.”
steve: “no, it’s a smoothie.”
james: “arrgghh...but this a coffee shop.”
steve: “yes.”
james: “then why didn’t we go to an ice cream shop.”
steve: “because you can get good smoothie’s here.”
james: “even though it’s a coffee shop?”
steve: “yes.”
james: “arrgggh...that don’t make no sense.”
steve: “would you like a smoothie?”
james: “no...i’ll just get a cup of coffee.”

it was kind of funny to try to explain to james what kind of place i had taken him to...that you could order coffee and smoothies. the lightness of the moment though was short lived. you would think that it would be way faster to pour a simple cup of black coffee than to make a smoothie but in fact it took the worker longer to get james his cup of coffee than it did to make my drink. i wasn’t sure how to handle this, and james didn’t seem to mind (maybe he’s just used to it), but it seemed ridiculous to me.

that incident aside i had a great time that afternoon hanging out with my pirate friend, james.

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.