new Nooma Video for viewing only 48 hours though...

And it is only on Facebook:

http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=588666405663&oid=21600640369

A conference that might be worth your while, Visual bible, and Mahalo social....

while in Orlando, Florida last week I found out about a conference that I going going to try to help at and attend. If you are UM and or Presbyterian and interested or got questions about the Emergent Church then this is the conference for you......

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Emerging Church for the Existing Church

To see the brochure for the conference click here.

This conference will provide opportunity for dialogue between younger leaders of the Emerging Church movement and leaders of the established church. It will be held on April 8-10, 2008 at St. Luke’s United Methodist Church in Denver, Colorado. Speakers include:

Doug Pagitt ... Dan Kimball ... Tony Jones

Bob Whitesel...Janet Forbes...Katherine Turpin

not pictured: Lilly Lewin, Karen Sloan and Don Payne.

This conference is being cosponsored by the Emergent Village, Clergy Uniting for Growth and Ministry, Iliff School of Theology, and the United Methodist Publishing House in cooperation with Denver Seminary. For more information send an email to info@leadershipnexus.net

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Also here are a few other cool things i found as of late:



That is a visual look at the bible and all of the cross references shown with different colors! How freaking cool is that, there are several more was of showing the bible visually, and I would encourage yall to go check them all out...very cool creative stuff (just go click on the pic and it will take you to the site)!!

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Well, I am trying to show in a new and different way all of my online life...and there is a new one out there called Mahalo...so here is a link to it, and it is just a better looking way to keep track of my online presence/life with tabs to several online things I am apart of. Go check it out here:

Do yourself a favor and go buy the movie, "Once"

That is right I did not say rent, or even check out.. I said, BUY! This movie!



I just watched this movie that I rented via Netflix (and yes, as soon as I get some money I will buy it!)

But seriously, it is a date movie, musical, and tons of other words that would describe it as a chick flick, but I am telling you it is AMAZING! You would do wonders for your heart, mind, and soul to watch this movie.
Warning..it is shot like a documentary, and is rated R for the language (it is just like real life...crazy huh? heh heh)...but seriously if you have not seen it... you should not die without watching it!

yeah it is that good.... wow!

Ok and here is a quote from my friend Alan, who is quoting someone else that I just had to put up here!!!

Take it away Alan:


OK, please do yourself a favor and go read this. It's a fairly lengthy blog post by Fr. Al Kimel about our views of God's love, forgiveness, how we look at sin, etc. He's mostly interacting with thoughts expressed in a book by Dominican theologian Fr. Herbert McCabe. I've added a new book to my wish list now. Good stuff. It will be challenging for some to read, but it's good.

I snagged this particular quote from Fr. Alvin's post, just to wet the appetite...

"It is very odd that people should think that when we do good God will reward us and when we do evil he will punish us. I mean it is very odd that Christians should think this, that God deals out to us what we deserve. … I don't believe in God if that's what he is, and it is very odd that any Christian should, since there is so much in the gospels to tell us differently. You could say that the main theme of the preaching of Jesus is that God isn’t like that at all" (God, Christ and Us, p. 11)

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AMEN! I used this quote today, and it was for me... thank you God for not giving me something that I think I deserve! You are THE God I serve...not matter the circumstance! Amen!

Oh and BTW: Alan has just started his own graphic Design company..so if you need anything like that (web design, or business cards, or print material, or logos...he is your man)! Go give this guy some money so he can feed his family! Thanks! and God bless yall!

Merry Christmas! and Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday Jesus!

I miss birthday parties @ my Nanaw's house! Because every time anyone had a Birthday at my Nanaw's house, the birthday person always got money under their dinner plate, under their water glass, or even rolled up in the napkin! But the cool thing was that EVERYONE @ the table got money, not only the birthday person!!! So, I loved it when ANYONE had a birthday! ha ha ha...

but you know, it is like that with Christ. Here we all come to celebrate his birthday, and yet, when we show up, it is he that has these amazing gifts of love, acceptance, peace, joy, and grace! Everyone @ the party who knows him well enough to come (or even if you were just invited by a friend, he still gives you a gift! Everyone is blessed at this party!

So, welcome to the party! Happy birthday Jesus! And hey what did you get @ Jesus' Birthday party? I think this year I got a huge lump of love and grace!

Hey! Let me see what you got! Oh, and as you would guess, Jesus desires for you to not just keep the gift he gives, but to give it away to all those who decided not to come to his party!

Love yall! Merry Christmas!

The Golden Compass the movie reviewed...

Well I went the last week to go see The Golden Compass...and I have a 5 word review for it......you ready? wait for it....wait for it....wait for it.....


I'd rather see The Hobbit!!!!!

I mean come on... just give up on the Lord of the Rings wanna bees and just give the people what they desire THE HOBBIT!!!!!!
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Oh well, the movie was good the CG was very good, (still no as good as I Am Legend), but the best part of the movie was the story plot of the polar bears! That part was awesome...the end fight scene... was something that I expected to occur in the middle...it did not give the feeling of a HUGE battle (that The Lord of the Rings did VERY well) and the ending was just arrogant in my opinion..... it was like they made the movie and they just told the movie producers to cough up the money for the next two...and assumed they would do well in the theaters enough to prove that they could... this ending was just flat out not as good as it could have been and I was just disappointed!

OK, now on to the other thoughts of the movie being anti-Christian....

(side note... I have not read the books!!!)

Well, yes, I can see how the Magisterium could represent the roman catholic church (or church in general) and I can see how an ignorant individual could see and say the things that he was hinting at... for example, in the first century people believed that Christians were cannibals...why you may ask...well if you over heard someone say, "This bread is the body of Christ and this wine is the blood of Christ.... and then people are eating them and drinking them!!!! Yeah I can see how people would think that, but if someone knew they would know that those things were a modified passover, a meal with tons of meaning and remembrance...just like the bread and wine were remembrance items in a meal with tons of meaning!

OK, so when someone says, "you must die to yourself and raise with Christ"... I could VERY easily see that someone would think that we were crazy, and then we tell our youth to do the same, and yeah most people would say that there is some brainwashing going on.

And when someone gives into the false battle between science and faith, then normal and Christian people would say you had to pick a side, and since faith is not measurable, then it would be thrown out as ignorance....

And you take these understandings along with the true ignorance of the church in the past (i.e. the crusades, and countless other stupid things that human beings who have misrepresented their God) and you get one persons understanding of the church...and a horrible viewpoint of it!



So, here are a few thoughts:

1. don't expect a normal person (non-Christian) to act, speak, look, or even slightly resemble a Christian..and this goes for their books or movies as well. STOP being pissed at them and start loving them and developing a relationship with them.

2. If you don't want your child to go see this movie, then don't take them, but please do the rest of the church a favor and stop judging anyone who believes differently.....trust me that is God's responsibility, and I bet he can handle it.

3. Why not try to go to a movie that you disagree with with the intention and purpose of striking up a conversation with someone that you can love and care for and possibly realize that they may be blessing you more than you are blessing them.

4. Realize that Christ disagreed with several people, and he never stopped loving them! Even those that he ran out of the temple! (why can't the church or those who cal themselves Christians actually live it, and start loving others, each other, and why not start taking care of the environment, or at least your neighborhood or city!

5. What if someone would have sat down with the writer of these books and got to know him, find out why he had a grudge against the church, and do some heavy lifting of apologizing, listening, or at the very least caring for him!

OK one more rant real quick... sorry I am having to get a little bit off my chest here..... Thanks for listening/ reading... or not heh heh heh.....

Why can't church signs be real? Why do so many of them try to have a cute saying, or an offensive one towards those that are not like them? Why can't there be a church sign that says, "We are sorry that Christians have hurt you, please let us make it up to you over a cup of coffee?"

Man, I long to read that sign!

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Ok Thank yall, and please feel free to join a discussion below...all thoughts are accepted as long and the language is appropriate. thanks and God bless yall! Oh and be looking for further movie reviews via the podcast or here. Thanks!

Merry Christmas 2007....The second round....and Munchkin!!!

Merry Christmas Everyone!

Here is a picture of our Christmas tree this year. The Halo helmet I stole form a story in Digg.com, but the gender of the tree was all me...thanks to the help of Tiffany's favorite store Michael's! When I saw those balls I knew exactly what I had in mind for them! oh yeah!

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Here is the final picture of the aftermath after a game of Munchkin (I think on Tiffany's Birthday) I love this game, but I never win at it..and I did this time, so here is all my cards and the final 10 level on the dice! Oh man it was a great day!

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And last but never least is the note that Tiffany was artificially inseminated Friday...so here we go on the second round of trying to make a Baby! I try to make it a fun time when we go, so this time instead of walking into the Dr.'s office with the plain brown paper bag containing my "deposit for the bank of Tiffany" I decided that I would spruce it up a little bit and give it a little Starbucks packaging. I can't tell you how many people asked me if I brought them Starbucks.. i tried to tell them that they probably did not want what was in the bag, ha ha ha ha.... but come to find out the Dr. loves Starbucks and gave me a high five when he found out what we had done! I made everyone smile, and that is exactly what the Dr. ordered for that day since it is our second round...so here is the pea for you all to please pray for us, and that if this is what god desires for us to do/have...then please pray for us and the possible future baby! Thanks and God bless yall!!!! KUTPs!!!

Emergent email article...

I received an email from Emergent the other day and it had a quote from an interview Brad Pitt did with Bishop Desmond Tutu... I just wanted to share it with yall....

The interview starts with Tutu explaining the
African concept of ubuntu...

Brad Pitt: What is this concept of
ubuntu I keep reading about?

Tutu: "Ubuntu is the essence of
being human [...] we say a person is a person
through other persons. You can't be a human
in isolation. You are human only in
relationships. [...] So we say that 'I need
you to be all of who you are in order for me
to be all that I am.' Because no human being
is totally self-sufficient. In fact, a
self-sufficient human being is subhuman."
[...] If you want to be human, we are not
going to be able to be human in isolation.
It will be that we are human together."


What do you think about this understanding of "Ubuntu"?

oh and yes, this just so happens to be a Linux operating system as well, heh ... never knew the history behind the word, and what an awesome name sake for an open source operating system!

NY Times artice with Halo 3 and churches...

Thanks to Steven for this article:

Thou Shalt Not Kill, Except in a Popular Video Game at Church

What really amazes me is that the article seems to be saying, "See look not even the Christians can keep what they say they should". But of course, look who they interview. The second page is a little more balanced, but the authors words seem to resemble the ultra conservative words more than then the youth leader's words, heh heh...

Anyway... what do you think? Do you think that Christians need to be able to know what is of God and what is not, but also, stop being offended by everything and start loving the people of this world, who do not look, act, and talk like you?

If you are a Christian does your love for other people outweigh your being offended? (not just mature rated games but rated R movies, or people that cuss, or people who do drugs, or dress in all black, or are illegal immigrants, or not mentally well, etc...) Where does the cost of crossing over "the line" motived by love start?

Oh and did anyone see this amazing grenade toss in Halo 3?

Now this is funny......

Here is a Lark news article about Emergent church spoof!......

Oh an yes, lark news in The Onion of the Church news world.

Thanks and great to meet you!

Hello to everyone who finds this blog from the, emergingumc: a gathering event! This past weekend! It was great getting to know you all and meeting most of you! I pray that we take the discussions and passions that were shared and expressed to the rest of the communities that we find ourselves in, or find ourselves called to move into. Blessings! And KUTPs!!!


Please feel free to contact me or any one else to keep the relationships up and going!

Oh and were you not there? then please head over to the emergingumc blog to read a few of the suggested resources that the presenters suggested...they can be found here on this post.


Also, it is a possibility that a few podcasts might be made available for a few of the breakout sessions and such, but they might take a little time to get the post production set up and working..but look for them soon on the blog....God bless yall!

so next week life should look a litle more normal....maybe...

(photo by B Tal)
Well for those of you who don't know, My parents have been visiting us for a month!!! It has been awesome getting to see them and be with them, and I would not have traded there visit for the world, but it has messed up our schedules a little bit here and there, but it is so worth it. And last week we went with them to Washington D.C., and Tiffany and my Mom had never been there before, so that was an awesome experience too!


(I promise pictures are coming, I just need to find some time)

And, so this weekend I will be traveling to Nashville to attend the EmergingUMC: a Gathering. Gary and I will be speaking, and the entire gathering will provide a bunch of presenters that are doing "Emerging/missional" Kingdom work. Taylor intentionally desired to bring in people who are doing and being the work and not so much those that stay in the ideology realm. So, I am looking forward to getting to know and meet fellow co-servants in the Kingdom and hopefully sharing a little bit about what God is doing in Th3 Waters and I believe in the UMC, and the Kingdom as a whole. I hope to blog a little bit more often while I am down there.



Oh and Did I mention that Halo3 came out and I beat it last night! I did not get to play it at all the week it came out due to the trip, and so Brad (a GREAT FRIEND) decided that he would play it through with me online and let me experience the main game, before I started to get too deep into multiplayer. So anyway... if you are a halo3 fan...be sure to beat it on Legendary, there is a different

EmergingUMC: a Gathering conference updated schedual...

Here is the updated plan of events for the time in Nashville:

thursday october 4

Preconference Option: a gathering with the Nashville Emergent Cohort
11:30- 1 @ the flying saucer

Registration 3:30-5:30 p.m. at scarritt-bennett

Dinner and conversation at scarritt-bennett 5:30-6:30 pm

Evening Prayer and Plenary: 7 p.m.
“Streams in the emerging landscape and your ministries:
a conversation and cohortation”

missiology
worship
spiritual formation
theology

Facilitated by Taylor Burton-Edwards

Night Prayer: 9:30

friday, october 5
Breakfast at scarritt-bennett 7:30 am

Morning Prayer: 8:45
emerging ministries 1 9:00-10:00
Organic Gatherings in Greater Cincinnati dg hollums and gary gibson
Indigenous mission in an urban arts community jim walker
Emerging in a traditional congregation in west virginia melissa rudolph

Break 10-10:15

a key group conversation 10:15-11:30
Women and emerging/Emergent Elizabeth Buxton

noon prayer and lunch options 11:30
Love feast hosted by DG Hollums

emerging ministries 1:00-2:00
What Jesus is teaching us in New York-- Don and Pam heatley
Indigenous mission in an urban arts community Jim Walker
Emerging in a traditional congregation in West Virginia Melissa Rudolph


break 2-2:15

a panel conversation: emerging and the institutional church 2:30-3:45
Emerging and ELCA Kevin Anderson
Emerging and PCUSA Chip Andrus (via podcast/video)

Emerging and Wesley Jay Voorhees
emergingumc and GBOD Taylor Burton-Edwards

mid-afternoon eucharist 3:45-4:30

emerging ministries 4:30-5:30
Organic Groups in Greater Cincinnati DG Hollums and Gary Gibson
What Jesus is teaching us in New York-- don and pam heatley
Resources from/for emerging churches—Kevin Anderson

dinner and evening with your cohorts
or bible fight club hosted by jim walker

night prayer (for those who are back) 10 p.m.


saturday, october 6
Breakfast at Scarritt-bennett 7:30
Morning Prayer 8:30

Spiritual formation options 9:00-10:00
lectio divina
confession
labyrinth
healing
intercessory prayer
study

A panel conversation: theology and missiology 10:00-11:00
An Emerging Methodist Billy Watson
missiology and organic groups DG Hollums
Attractionional, extractional,
and missional/incarnational taylor burton-edwards

Cohort time and covenant affirmation 11:00

Mid-day Prayer and Sending forth 11:30

Oh and here is a little blurb on the Nashville Cohort on Thursday:

you come to the Nashville cohort you get your first meal paid for.. :~)

all should come

http://nashvillecohort.blogspot.com

• October, 4
• Place: The Flying Saucer (in the pool room) 11 10th Avenue South Located behind the Union Station hotel Nashville, TN 37203 (615) 259-3039
• Time: 11:30-1:00
• Topic:Emily Synder and Steven Miles lead our discussion about immigration issues and the Kingdom of God

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oh and here are some new photos I took Thursday:







As always you can check out my photos and even put them in an RSS feed here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/dgsflickr/

Life Together by Dietrich Bonhoeffer...

I am reading this classic right now by Dietrich Bonhoeffer and here is a thoughtful quote that I mentioned in my own way yesterday in church during the announcements, but I think he says it better:

"Only he who gives things for little things receives the big things. We prevent God from giving us the great spiritual gifts He has in store for us, because we do not give things for daily gifts. We think we dare not be satisfied with the small measure of Spiritual knowledge, experience, and love that has been given to us, and that we must constantly be looking forward eagerly for the highest good.....How can God entrust great things to one who will not thankfully receive from Him the little things?" Bonhoeffer, "Life Together:The Classic Exploration of Faith in Community", page 29

This reminds me of Brother Lawrence's "Practicing The Presence of God", as well, being so thankful in the little things in life, and while the rest of the world may not think that he received great things, I have a feeling that in his life he received GREAT things.

I know that for Bonhoeffer, when he wrote Life Together he was a part of a underground Seminary training young Pastors (or I would say, "desiring to go deeper disciples") right in the middle of the Nazis. I can only imagine how thankful he was for his community, and the little things, and later one it served him well to be thankful for the small things, because that might have been what kept him going while serving God in the prisons in Germany. I know it looks to be that way for John in Revelation, and Paul when they were in prisons.

Sometimes it is in the difficulties in life and especially in the difficulties in community/church in which when we live into the thanksgiving of the small that God shows us the great right in front of us!

Thank you God for the little things, clothes, health, community, and even disagreements when ever they arise, for it is in our thanks you can work in and through us!

My life is yours, and so is the life of community and relationships you have placed me a part of!

BTW: my own way of saying "be thankful in the little things" was my request for the church to take tie out of their lives this week, look up @ the clouds and tell God what they look like and thank Him for them!...here is something to get you started:

funny video from my friend Eric...

I was reading Eric's blog today and if any of yall know me you know that I really love Revelation (the last book in the bible) and of course you know that I am not a freak when it comes to reading it, but it is just cool, well here is a video that I thought was cute enough for yall to see about one man's challenges with all the interpretations, thanks Eric!



Oh, and Happy Anniversary (yesterday) Tiffany! 9 years and counting! Woo hoo! Love you girl!

Interesting article...

Here is an article/blog post by Aaron Flores:

The New Big. Small's In.

So what do yall think?more needs to be fleshed out, but it is worth thinking about deeply.

Life is so crazy...

Well, go on a Mission Trip for 10 days and all hell breaks loose. Please pray for me, Th3 Waters, Tiffany's hip, and just life in general. It is nothing that can not be fixed or dealt with, but it is just overwhelming and frustrating.

Oh and here is a little something for yall to chew on:

"What is common to Christianity is more like an immune system than a one-size-fits-all set of beliefs and practices. like an immune system, Christian doctrine and practice grows over time and develops through both internal and external challenges. Without challenges an immune system does not grow, but remains weak and cannot adapt to new challenges. An immune system sometimes rejects and sometimes incorporates elements of those viruses and diseases it confronts.............
We ouirselves, and those born again, we live on the fault line of the now and not yet kingdom of God. this kingdom of God or new creation is not something that is completely different from what we know or an alternative universe but our creation transfigured."

--From the book "Remembering our Future: Explorations in Deep Church (this chapter is by Luke Bretherton, pages 50 and 51.

So what do you think about the quote? like it? Hate it?

trip is still going good......

We went to the prison yesterday and then climbed a volcano! Both were amazing, both were very hard. Lov eyal and thank you for praying for all of us... mor eto come I promise! KUTPs!!!

It was very funny when I was asked 10-20 times if I want a joint to smoke, heh... God is good..... even in people that are a little misguided, heh. love yal!!!! KUTPs!!!!

Guatemala Update!

Yesterday was probably some of the hardest yet. We went back to La Limonada to try to finish the was for the three teachers and also to speak encouragement to the teachers of the school, and then we did a few home visits and then last night is what killed me. We went and made sandwiches for the street children that live in and near the trash dump. I think there might have been two of the 30 that were not high on glue or rubbing alcohol. And there were all there and singing songs with this amazing guy who just went out there and loved on them with his wife/girlfriend. The glow sticks wet over amazingly! of course I am sure they really loved the trip of a glowing stick when they were high, heh heh..

please continue your prayers for us! We are going to spend most of the day with gang members in prisons today! Then we get to go walk on a volcano! If your reading this then I must say that we will never know how blessed we are. Never. B ut there is always hope in this world and life, and I pray that you can keep searching for it and find it! Because it is worth the journey and challenge of the chase! Love yall...soo much and please I beg of all of you, KUTPs!!! of us and for the world around you!

Off to Guatemala......

Well, I leave tomorrow morning @ 7:15 am for Guatemala...so please keep us all in your prayers/thoughts as well as the people God desires for us to minister to. Thank you all for making this trip a reality and possible! Now it is time for yall to all kick up the prayers a notch! Thanks and God bless yall!
I promise that there will be many stories to come after I get back!...I might try to blog while gone, but if not i will try to make up for it..and I can't wait to show yall the pictures! KUTPs!!!


Oh and if any of you have time..call Tiffany, I am sure she could use the company! Thanks!

Sunday Night Live with Th3 Waters......

Well, yesterday was awesome once again! During both Services Tiffany and I sang a duet ("The Valley Song" by Jars of Clay), and then Th3 Waters met up and served our King and The Kingdom by going downtown and feeding and getting to know the homeless and low income families of Covington. I took pictures and here are a few of them. Do me a favor and look into their eyes, there is something special in there...almost like caring for Jesus. It is such an amazing opportunity!







God bless yall and please KUTPs.....

For the entire set of photos go over to My Flickr. Thanks!