Free 411....booyeah! Take that money grubbing telephone companies....

Here it is Google's free 411....just dial one 800 #: 1-800-GOOG-411 (1-800-466-4411) number and you get to use 411....and it even includes dialing the number for you! It is my new address book number in my phone book...right alongside Jott.com!! Woo hoo!

And if you have not signed up for Jott.com...then seriously do that NOW!!! you have no choice...do it! KUTPs!!!

More pictures...Help Build Hope.....

Just a few pics from today...if you would like to know more about what we did today go to Th3 Waters' blog Th3 Harbor.









for all the rest of my photos just go to my Flickr page....and while you are there just leave a comment of two on a picture. God bless and KUTPs!!!

EmergingUMC: A Gathering...update....

Here is the latest from the EmeringUMC blog. (go there for the original post)

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: 8:30

emerging ministries 1 9:00-10:00
organic gatherings in greater cincinnati dg hollums & gary gibson
indigenous mission in an urban arts community jim walker
emerging in a traditional congregation in west virginia melissa rudolph
an emerging regional young adult network carl thomas gladstone


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
organic groups in florence ky dg hollums & gary gibson
indigenous mission in an urban arts community jim walker
an emerging regional young adult network carl thomas gladstone
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 the um connection susan cox-johnson
pcusa: an ic (formerly) supporting a movement chip andrus
emergingumc and gbod: confessions and hopes taylor burton-edwards

mid-afternoon eucharist 3:45-4:30

emerging ministries 4:30-5:30
organic groups in florence ky dg hollums & gary gibson
indigenous mission in an urban arts community jim walker
an emerging regional young adult network carl thomas gladstone
emerging in an institutional church chip andrus

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
emerging and arminianism jay vorhees
attractionional, extractional,
and missional/incarnational taylor burton-edwards

cohort time and covenant affirmation 11:00

mid-day prayer and sending forth 11:30


so who are these people and why should i care?

dg hollums is the cultural architect for th3waters, a network of organic gatherings based in florence, ky(pastored by Gary Gibson). A recent missional concern is the need to redeploy leadership to make way for more organic gatherings to start multiplying. You can learn more on his blog/website at http://www.th3waters.com

jim walker is a united methodist pastor on pastoral leadership team at hot metal bridge faith community in pittsburgh, pa. One serious missional concern of this community is that it may be growing too fast. See their website at http://www.hotmetalbridge.com.

melissa rudolph is the united Methodist pastor of Leetown UMC, a “traditional” UMC in rural West Virginia that is re-engaging in indigenous ministry in its community. The congregation is online at http://leetnmeth.org

carl thomas gladstone is a united methodist deacon, leader of an emerging young adult ministry at birmingham first umc (detroit area), composer and publisher of new settings of charles wesley hymns, and coordinator of what’s becoming a region-wide network of young adult ministries in the greater detroit area. You can see these ministries online at http://www.emergedetroit.org and http://www.carlthomasgladstone.com.

elizabeth buxton is a united methodist pastor in virginia (farmville district) and has been the leader of the women’s gathering in Emergent

chip andrus was on staff with the office of theology and worship, presbyterian church usa, with a particular focus on nurturing emerging missional churches in the denomination. he is now pastor of first presbyterian church, harrison arkansas.

susan cox-johnson is a united Methodist district superintendent in the missouri annual conference, and an advocate and proponent for emerging missional churches in the um connectional system. her blog is here.

billy watson is associate pastor at st. peter’s umc in katy, texas. the church website is http://www.stpeterskaty.org.

jay vorhees is a united methodist pastor in antioch, tennessee, an active participant in Emergent, and keeper of the methoblog.

=====================
I really hope that as many of you can make it, it really should be a great discussion and a needed one especially in the UMC...but for all of the church as a whole. Thanks, take care and God bless! KUTPs!!!

We have couch feet.....

Well, since we moved in we have been trying to open every box in the garage to find the feet to our couch! Well, yesterday i was trying to rest (because I have been feeling a litte under the weather) ( and yes instead of resting I was out in the garage opening boxes searching through all kinds of stuff (mostly Tiffany's pictures/cards/sewing/cross stitch/knitting/etc....) but anyway, there was one last box that I had not opened, and Tiffany shows up...opens it up and sure enough there they are. So, needless to say our garage is getting better. We need to have a garage sell soon, and once we do, then we should have enough room to park both cars in the garage...I think we could get one in right now...if i could move everything around....but oh well, I just wanted to give everyone an update. And I might try to take a few more pictures of the house now that we have got a few rooms looking the way we like. Yall take care and it is now off to a conference.

Newest member of Th3 Waters....

Hey everyone John and Sylvia Choi had their new baby last night Sophia!!!!

Here is a sample of Sophia:

Tiffany: "That is one of the cutest babies I have ever seen!"

To check out more pictures and send your love and prayers to them....then go check out John's Flickr page and leave a few comments for them.

Prayer for the shootings....

Prayers In The Face of a Rampage Shooting
by Taylor Burton-Edwards

Rutree.com......is now live!!!

Well, I got a beautiful gift today...and it is my Dad's birthday! heh... but anyway... Sheila my brother's widow just finished the final touches of a website that she created to honor the life of my brother Jay. So, do yourself a favor and read some of the funny stories and see the pictures of a life well lived.

Rutree.com

Thank yall for your love and support and please know that I pray for anyone who reads this blog everyday... so seriously you are blessed (to be a blessing to others) KUTPs!!!

Photos of the weather from Wednesday.....

yep, more mammatus clouds


a little closer pic.


another view


less sunset colors


double rainbow that same evening


lastly the sunset after the rain

It was amazing...and I wish yall could have been there...feel free to click the pictures for larger versions. God bless and KUTPs!!!!

seriously... watch the movie Children of Men.....

Children of Men!!!

it is rated R, with lots of cussing and a very small amount of non-sexual nudity...but please do not let that stop you...wow what an amazing movie.... (follow the link about for a trailer on the official site)

Symbolism is king in this movie (not to mention AWESOME sound) ..and it is much more artsy fartsy than I am sure that most of you could appreciate..but I must say there are AMAZING scenes in this movie..and deep theology/psychology/philosophy and I loved it!!! Even with all of Tiffany's questions during the movie...and that is saying a lot... seriously Markus if you watch this movie then you must email me and let me know your thoughts. Man I wish I would have waited for the HD-DVD of this movie to come in Netflix...but Tiffany was sick today and we went to Blockbuster, heh...

Well, love yall and I have more pictures of the awesome weather we have been having around here up soon they are already at my Flickr photos, but I will try to remember to put a few on the blog as well, well take care and God bless yall! KUTPs!!!!

what an amazing story!!!!

The Washington post decided to put the greatest violinist in the world in the subway of Washington D.C. and see what would happen and how much he could make...the article is fascinating...and it makes me wonder if Jesus puts on a baseball cap all the time and joins us back here in this earth...and we just miss the beauty of our creator's presence everyday... read the article and be challenged and look for opportunities to bless other people each day!

here is some scripture to read before the article to keep in mind as you read it:

Matthew 25:31-46
31"When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. 32All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.

34"Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.'

37"Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?'

40"The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'

41"Then he will say to those on his left, 'Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.'

44"They also will answer, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?'

45"He will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.'

46"Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life."

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And now for the article!!!:

Peals Before Breakfast by Gene Weingarten

=============================================

KUTPs!!!!!

So I was surfing around the net and.....

Well I was enjoying the blog of my good friend Markus: StreachyChurch and saw this video called Mr. Diety...and here it is just incase you want to watch it:

(Disclaimer: This theology is WAY OFF, but man this really is funny. The old guy is God (the Father) the young guy is Jesus, and Larry is Holy Spirit)



So, then I found this video that some one shot @ Lake Louise where Tiffany and I went on our honeymoon...and man this made me miss being able to be with my wife for longer than just a date night here and there:



Anyway and it got me thinking.... I just got off the phone with another friend Aaron (disclaimer: he has not updated in a long time), and I was talking about the importance of Sabbath (and we talked about this in staff today too @ Florence UMC) and I realized that Tiffany and I have not been on vacation since we graduated from Seminary. All the vacation time that we build up during the year we take during Christmas and New year to spend with our families. and while i love that time...it really is not necessarily a true vacation. And to be honest, planting a church and being a part of a traditional church at the same time is a very tiring and time consuming thing. I really think that I need a vacation. But even if we did carve out a time for a vacation, we would not have any money to take one. It is just frustrating and honestly we do not see any sabbath or vacation time in the future. Plus moving and Tiffany starting up a new job is not helping anything either. but i am really sensing that I and we need some good marriage vacation time. We have talked about in the past going to Walt Disney World before we adopt/have kids and then get to save up and go back with kids....and we have also kicked around the idea of going with other couples on vacation together...kind of like a Sr. trip with adult married friends...and how much fun that would be....but then all of our dreams are dashed against jagged rocks when we look at our lives, and lack of funds.... anyway...just talking out loud here... and if you feel the same way a little bit..... I would say just go for it... really be intentional and start saving up now and set a desired date to go and work for it.... you deserve it....and Lord knows I will try to join you and take some of my own advice. love yall and God bless!!! KUTPs!!!!

Our people die well.....

The following is an email I got form a UM pastor in the KY conference that just found out that she is dieing. She sent it to the pastors of the Covington district in the KY Conference.... and all I could remember is Wesley's quote when he said,

"our people die well"

Here is the email:

"On Apr 9, 2007:

Well, it’s official. I’ve turned the corner from chronically ill to terminally ill. My chronic kidney disease is now diagnosed as renal failure and I have been given a life-expectancy prognosis of less than six months.

I’m 52 years old and I’m dying. Without the assurance of God’s grace and salvation, this news would be devastating. However, if I really believe what I say I believe about God and heaven and eternal life, this is sad, but not scary.

My friends and family weren’t prepared to hear the “H” word – Hospice – but my body has been preparing me for the news for some time now. One of my doctors asked me why I am so brave. I’m not brave, but I am weary and always in pain and ready to go Home. And – thankfully – I have a pretty good idea of what Home will be like.

I’ve officiated at dozens of funerals and at every one I have said something like this: “At 6:03 Sunday morning George became more alive than any of us sitting here today, because he walked out of this life and right into the heart of God.” That had better be true.

Abandoned to His grace and anchored in His love,
The Reverend (name removed)"

I do not know this pastors as well as I would like, but she is in inspiration! Thank you for your honor, sacrifice, joy, and passion in death. You show that relationship with God is the first and foremost when it comes to eternal life, and your helping others to see that it can happen now and in the future.

He is RISEN!!! KUTPs!!!!

He is risen!!!!!

He is Risen indeed!!!!

Dream: the sorrowful battle cry.....

On Monday of this Holy week I had a really deep and profound dream. I won't go into the entire dream...mostly because I can not remember it, but the one part I do remember felt like it was real. (you know the kind...when you wake up you just knew that it was real and wonder how you got into bed...instead of wondering how you go in the dream)

Well, I remember that I walked up into a war torn town square (it felt like Europe but nothing made it seem like a specific town...maybe Rome or somewhere in Italy?) I walked up to a single man standing in the center of a gathered group of people. I noticed that the people were not average people. They were all mentally handicapped or homeless. I thought it weird, but i felt like I was destined to see the event take place. The Man in the center moved like what I would think an Angel would move...just so smooth and yet purposeful. Each movement was almost like a dance of pure grace.

I noticed that he had a small mentally challenged girl that was wobbly holding a glass...almost drunk like. And the man was pouring wine or grape juice into the cup and as she swayed and bobbed he perfectly joined her in her movements pouring the wine/grape juice into the cup. Not a drop was spilt on the ground, it was almost like he joined her in her debilitating movements and showed us all that he could dance with her. But this was not a dance in the sense that most of us think of dancing, it was so close to liturgy that no one could tell the difference. And all of us were in awe of the beauty that was unfolding before us.

After he finished pouring the wine (funny I don't remember him having a container to pour from) he perfectly matched the girls movements to take the glass from her. And in that movement there were two drops that just barely dropped over the rim of the glass, and everyone watching (in amazement) gasped at the thought of this blood colored wine dropping on the floor, not because the man would not be able to finished this feat with out spilling any, but because this wine was precious...beautiful....sacred.

Then the man with his thumb and middle finger saved both tears of wine from going any further down the glass and brought them back home to the inside the glass. Then out of nowhere it started to rain blood and my view point changed to following two drops of the blood falling from he sky and as they danced down spinning through the sky they feel right above the man and he proceeded to move the glass so as to catch the two drops with the wine glass. And then everything went into slow motion. The two drops of blood hit the wine and changed the entire glass to blood. nothing seemed gross or disgusting, but beautiful. And immediately the homeless man I was standing behind yelled out, "JESUS!!!!!". And in that one moment everyone knew no matter their mental abilities, that we were witnessing Jesus. It all just became clear. And the cry from the homeless man, was one of sheer pain and passion.

It was a sorrowful battle cry.

We knew that the man was filled with sadness, but at the same time he was invigorated by the battle the man was having with death. Jesus immediately fell to the ground spilling the blood filled wine glass all over the ground and everyone joined the homeless man, including me with lifting our hands to the heavens. Then the body of Jesus started to float up to the heavens, and as his body was coming back to life and floating to the heavens, I awake.

I woke up with my face towards the ceiling and my arms lifted with tears in my eyes. I worshiped, and desired so much to go back to the reality of my dream.

May you all live in the ultimate reality of Christ this Holy week! Worship with your life! Worship with your life! And join the homeless, widows, orphans, socially unaccepted and live a sorrowful battle cry. Live with the same passion that he lived for us!

Amen! Glory to God!

It is snowing right now!!!

Woo hoo! it is snowing right now...as I type...very cool for this West Texas boy! love yall KUTPs!!!

A few photos from the past few days....

Well, life is moving along nicely. We have unpacked the majority of boxes that were already in the house when we made the first move and now we just need to start tackling the boxes that are taken up our garage space! Right now we can not park either car in it and it is killing me...I am not one of those people that use their garage fr storage...it is a 2 car garage and I want to use it for that purpose. So, still we have lots of work ahead, but it is al happening and going well.

I mowed the lawn yesterday before the rain and cold temps hit, and I realized that was the first time I mowed a lawn since High School. (the past few years we were in school, living in Santa Fe (where there is no grass), or living in the parsonage in Cold Spring where the church paid for someone to come and mow it for us...and so we had to go buy a lawn mower and I mowed yesterday.

(man it really hurts when you have to buy something that you know you need, but will always hate using it) ha ha ha ha.....

Well, OK here are the pictures I promised:


Here was the flowers in front of Florence UMC last Sunday... man thsis was amazing! I think that it might die now with the next 5-6 days dropping below freezing, but it sure was nice to look at while it lasted!


I love st. E.'s and I do not think that I could take enough pictures of the building... I really love it there...so here is a few straight up looking at it's highest dome window.

(if anyone is interested please join us @ the Easter Vigil to be held there this Saturday evening from 9:00pm til 12:00 midnight...for more info go to Th3 Harbor.


i saw this car in the parking lot of Joseph-Beth Booksellers, and man I had to take a picture of it...what a repair job!! nice tape work going on there...I just had to show of someone's skills at car repair. (this is almost as god as Tiffany's Dad fixing the paint job of his car with a Sharpie marker.

And ow for the highlight of the week (so far)
For anyone that does not know this about me....I LOVE the weather!!! i serisouly considered being a meteorologist growing up along with a chef, Dr., and Christian Music marketing man).... but the weather has always thrilled me...mostly because growing up in West TX tornadoes are a fact of live each year right around this time of year...and man, if I was not chasing them, I was wanting to... and that is how I got my love of weather... well, one day while looking at a book about clouds, I saw an amazing cloud formation that I thought was just too cool. They were called Mammatus Clouds! (to learn more about them just follow that link) And I saw something that looked like this picture:(yes, this is a real picture)


And that is why I freaked out yesterday when I got to see these clouds in the sky with my very own eyes, and I had to take my own pictures of them:





and lastly:


So needless to say my day was awesome yesterday! Anywho... I hope your Holy weeek is going well! I know it will get very busy starting tomorrow night for me:
Thursday: Maunday Thursday Worship 7:30 pm
Friday: Friday night OG
Saturday: Easter Vigil 9p-12midnight
Sunday sunrise: 7am
Sunday 2 services: 9a and 11a
Sunday evening OG: 5p
and then Monday OG: 7:30p

So, I don't know what your weekend looks like, but I hope it is not as tiring as mine will be, but more importantly... I pray that you do worship somewhere this weekend, and may you be blessed so you like Abraham before you can be a blessing to others! KUTPs!!!!

Here is a video of the clouds too: