May 2012
1 post
New article on DMergent →
“Some of my deepest rooted religious ideas come from my childhood. I bet this is true of most of us. It’s why I’ve had experienced ministry mentors tell me that if a church has a strong children program, those kids will likely come back to church later in life because of those warm feelings brought on by cotton ball sheep, fuzzy shepherds, and tender safety. I think my mentors have partly...
April 2012
3 posts
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My prayer at my Grandmother's memorial service
God of Life,
We seek You in this time of grief. In the midst of tears, laughter, and sorrow, our hearts are heavy. So we gather in this place to find comfort together and treasure the memory of this person, who we called mom, sister, wife, grandmother, neighbor, and friend.
We are thankful for the ways you blessed her and worked through her. For the encouragement others received through her. For...
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Good Management?
The Observer has a killer piece up on Romney’s leadership with Bain Capital back in the day. Ruthless, cold-hearted, goofball stuff like:
In the midst of that 1994 campaign, one of Romney’s companies, American Pad & Paper, bought a plant in Marion, Indiana. At the time, it was prosperous enough to be running three shifts.
Bain’s first move was to fire all 258 workers, then...
6 tags
Palm Sunday Prayer of Confession
Here is the text of the Palm Sunday Prayer of Confession that I wrote for use today. It could work at other settings, I suppose.
Lord of Creation, You seem to be one that likes to make curious entrances into the world - burning bushes, wild dreams, booming questions, cryptic prophecies, a child born of a virgin, even a low budget parade. We confess that we don’t always see or understand the way...
March 2012
3 posts
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A quote about emerging church that works
I haven’t finished the Hyphenateds, edited by DoC pastor/extraordinaire Phil Snider, but the first essay alone felt like the price of admission was dearly worth it. Nadia Bolz-Weber delivers a beautiful, moving case for the need for contextual, missional faith communities in our culture. But this quick section just felt like a little light bulb went off in my head, like finally she is...
February 2012
3 posts
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My Spiritual Direction Final Paper →
Hop on over to the above url, grab some coffee or tea, and curl up with a splendidly, delicious read about Spiritual Direction & the Lord’s Supper.
Okay, so this may not be the most intriguing read of all time, but it was my final paper as part of my three year spiritual direction training program out of HeartPaths. It’s a good thing. I have learned a lot, and so I decided to pick...
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Praying
I’ve been thinking and reflecting a lot on the language I use as a vocational church guy. It’s often way too “churchy” for my tastes. But it is tough to step away from seminary trained-ness and speak simply. I am practicing however. Last night at a memorial service, I shared this prayer, which I attempted to make simpler and more focused.
God, Our Creator,
In this...
20 tags
How to build a church/non-profit website for super...
There are lots of companies out there that offer exciting packages to churches or non-profits, and some of them are good for what they provide, especially if you want to hand over some of the things to an outside team. But, you can build your own setup for around $20 a year if you are up for it.
How?
Go get a free wordpress.com account. Wordpress is pretty much the standard blogging engine out...
December 2011
5 posts
14 tags
Thank You, Christmas! is out! →
If you like free, fun music, Thank You, Christmas! is my self-produced, unusual, quirky little winter set of sings celebrating all things holidays. I’m sort of participating with the Advent Conspiracy on this, sharing a gift from my creativity. These songs aren’t typical holiday fare, but they are fun and spiritual. Please spread theword!
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Where was Jesus born?
One of my professors for some sort of practicum (worship, I think) in seminary loved to talk about Advent. He was this prim and proper guy, a senior pastor of a big UMC church in the burbs of Washington DC. As we explored the theological meanings behind the seasons in the life of the church, he explained why his church community always did a service of healing around Christmas time.
I’m...
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Bait & Switch Theology →
This blog post is a great read.
Part of my faith story is growing up in Anadarko, OK, a town with 41% white people and 41% Native Americans. I loved my small town church - a bunch of good, wonderful people - but we never did a thing with our Native American neighbors. “They had their churches; we have our churches.” Granted that America’s legacy of racism, genocide, and...
5 tags
Alternate Advent Fun
I try to spice things up for Advent with alternate advent tunes. I use them primarily in worship, but they’re just fun anyway. Still, I’d love some new ideas, so if you have any, please share.
Like:
“Let It Be” by the Beatles
“Christmas Song” by Dave Matthews Band
“From the Mouth of Gabriel” by Sufjan Stevens
“Joy to the World” by...
November 2011
2 posts
3 tags
“6 With what should I approach the LORD
and bow down before God on high?...”
– Common English Bible, Micah 6:6-8
bigdtootall asked: Christ told the thief that he would be him today in paradise yet on the third day Christ told Mary not to cling to Him for he had not yet been to the father. Was Jesus a time traveller?
October 2011
2 posts
10 tags
Open Source
I’m still a tech nerd most days. I’m a fan of vintage computers and new shiny tech. I use my iPhone 4 everyday and enjoy an old dual-core G5 Powermac at home.
I like to get a nice long life out of any computer I own.
The challenge is that once a company abandons a platform, software usually follows suit. My G5 Powermac is an example. It works great and is plenty fast, but Leopard was...
Anonymous asked: Have you ever been to Cartwright, Manitoba, Canada?
September 2011
2 posts
6 tags
“When you live next to the cemetery you cannot weep for everyone in it.”
– Russian proverb (as told by a mentor)
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“The maxim of illusory religion runs: “Fear not; trust in God and He will...”
– John Macmurray (Gifford Lectures, 1953-54)
July 2011
2 posts
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New books
Going to enjoy some reading through the rest of summer:
Many Colors (Cultural Intelligence for a Changing Church) by Soong-Chan Rah
Missional Worship by Cathy Townley
& … a new bible, but specifically the Common English Bible, which is my new favorite translation (at the moment)
Yes.
March 2011
3 posts
8 tags
End of the Story →
Doing an Advent tune in the midst of Lent.
But it works.
Aaron Niequist’s “End of the Story”
we say – hate doesn’t win
we’ve seen – Redemption in skin
we say – let the celebration begin!
we’ve seen the end of the story and Heaven wins
4 tags
Heavy things
Sometimes, you can leave for a weekend and take a single bag with you for all you need… and yet come back loaded down with burdens, thoughts, questions, and hopes.
That was my weekend in a nutshell.
Great… but heavy.
Ever felt like that happened to you?
2 tags
Finally decided
I’m late to the game, but I finally decided that I’m giving up something for Lent.
In the past, I’ve given up mostly negative things and have written about it. By negative, I mean - self criticism, cynicism, etc.. I’d suggest that too if you felt like giving up chocolate or cheese or whatever seemed a little pointless. Consider Lent an opportunity to improve your life...
February 2011
2 posts
4 tags
Mother Teresa Quotes →
In my sermon today about love, I used a bunch of quotes from Mother Teresa, that I in turn, got from this great sermon out of the Gathering in Cincinnati. Cool stuff.
3 tags
AT&T says thank you to iPhone users with 1000... →
Too little, too late?
Hey AT&T, how about cutting text message costs and data costs and improving service? Now that’s a thank you.
January 2011
5 posts
2 tags
This was my week.
I did a little bit of everything this week - maybe a little too much.
Post-week report would be…
Sunday - Met with youth group parents, talked about parenting, brainstormed some discussion/study ideas.
Monday - Dallas Children’s Aquarium at Fair Park. Decent experience.
Tuesday - New pub ministry launched. Simply awesome - plus great pizza.
Wednesday - Great meeting with my Table...
4 tags
Want to buy a phone? Don't read this. →
Android phones are the cheaper alternative to iPhones, but this article is every reason why you might want to avoid them. They seem like solid phones, but this is way too complicated. How the heck do you determine “build quality” anyway? How is someone’s mom supposed to figure out the software version?
Another alternative: just buy an iPhone. Or even a Blackberry.
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Pub ministry?
In a couple of weeks, I’m launching a new pub ministry here in Dallas.
What is a pub ministry, you ask?
It might sound like a sort of Frankenstein creature to you - half churchy, half cool.
Or it could sound as terrifying as one of those two headed calves they show off in Ripley’s Believe It or Not.
Does a Bible belong in a pub? Can beer and Jesus mix? Can people really eat greasy,...
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A Couple of Writing Things in the New Year
I’ve linked up a sermon that I preached on January 2 at East Dallas Christian Church. I’ll direct link it from here to save you from hunting around for it. “What’s Your Calling?” - helpful to you if you are searching to answer that lifelong question - what can I do best that no one else can do?
Second, check out a few words I put together today as I reflected on this...
December 2010
7 posts
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3 tags
WatchMerry Christmas and joy and kisses…
5 tags
Another childhood favorite resurrected... →
The Secret of Mana is arguably the greatest console rpg ever released. Me and my buddy John played this thing often on his SNES - I wonder if the iPhone version will support multiplayer?
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Dallas: A Dining Nowhereville? →
Ever since moving to Dallas, I’ve been looking and searching for that particular Dallas food that is this town’s bread & butter.
It’s eluded me, minus Randy Galloway on ESPN 1033 calling Dallas folks the “chicken fried nation”.
If you notice my little pic on the left, it’s from the State Fair where I was sampling something like a fried snickers bar. Bad...
5 tags
An opportunity to relive my childhood →
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iPhone
My wife and I got ourselves iPhones for Christmas.
We had both been putting up with old Samsung phones that promised a lot of features but made them pretty difficult to use. Nice to move into the modern age. My wife now touches her laptop a lot less.
In reality, I rarely buy something that is brand new - I tend to wait a few revisions until I jump on board.
For example, I’m typing this on...
November 2010
1 post
6 tags
Found Footage Is Delightful
In my junior high era, my brother was proudly part of an A/V class in high school where they made a pretty terrible news show featuring the goings on of Anadarko High. The show aired on our local public channel, along with city council meetings and static announcement screens. Fun stuff.
When I finally got to the take class, I carried on the tradition as proudly as I could. I think only one...
October 2010
4 posts
7 tags
Heading to the FCD - RSL game in a few
Had a great morning at EDCC’s Community Carnival. Great crowd from the neighborhood.
Highlight: Calvin Chynoweth busting out “Thriller” vocals.
Now, we head out to Frisco to watch FC Dallas in their first playoff game in a few years. They play the hated Real Salt Lake squad that beat us 2-0 a few weeks back. It should be an exciting day. I am hoping Brek Shea can get on the...
4 tags
Congratulations FC Dallas!
My favorite Dallas area sports team, the MLS’ FC Dallas, made the playoffs. Tough road ahead, but love the way they play soccer.
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A thought.
Video games seem just like a way for grown men to continue to play with their action figures.
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Someone asked me a question.
I got this short, sweet question in my messages from anonymous.
how long and when did you decide to become a minister
Here goes my answer:
It was never my intention to become a minister. I went to college to learn computer programming, with the idea to develop some killer applications to be the next Steve Jobs/Bill Gates or whatever. However, I discovered that I cared more for people as...
September 2010
1 post
Oil
Sad to see another oil rig burst into flames today.
The workers who escaped the rig were sent to a hospital at Houma, which is where a group of young adults and I did a mission trip a few years back. Nice area - good people.
Heard a good point that oil companies are silent when profits are up and business is good - but as soon as things turn sour, they try to defend their territory and block...
July 2010
1 post
June 2010
1 post
Got it
I am going to add some old stuff in those links to the left of here. May they be useful.
May 2010
1 post
2 tags
I suppose...
It must be normal to be tired of a long day.
March 2010
2 posts
