Weve really enjoyed the past couple days on family vacation… I am typing this on the laptop, and on the eshes wifi network… I just posted a video clip of stuff I shot yesterday and today… its my first time using youtube… pretty easy and pretty cool to be able to get it there… especially now that I have done it, it makes it even easier to do again.

The video is for fun, and for grandpa manny (candaces dad) – so he can see how we are enjoying the camper he is so generously letting us borrow. Its lots of fun. It is harder to pull than I thought it would be… just lots of weight swinging around behind you – I had to concentrate on driving when I was on the highway.

So it is nice to be with Conrad and fam… especially for maria to spent lots of time playing with her cousins… I havnt ever heard her laugh so much and scream so much, and just have a blast. Its great.

It’s nice too to be able to hold the newest addition to the esh family – Conrad and Vickis third is only 2 weeks old.

Anyway, its so late, I just need to get to bed.

Peace

I haven’t posted much political commentary lately... but I believe this post might fall into that category. Not political in the governmental sense, but in the religious/spiritual sense.

The emergent church is a term used to describe a movement. It is not a denomination, it is not structured, and it is barely defined... I think Wikipedia has done the best job so far.

"Emergent Church" is a descriptive term... sort of like the word "charismatic" Of course, we all know that there are good "charismatic" churches, and there are some flakey "charismatic" churches... likewise, there are good and bad "emergent" churches, and good and bad people who advocate for the emergent church etc. It simply can't be boxed in.

We have had conversations about the emergent church on the doxas podcast
There is a lot I am excited about - especially when it comes to new creative expressions of worship.

When we started Club Worship over 6 years ago, we just wanted to worship God - all out - and do it on the dance floor - with electronic music. We also wanted to push the limits creatively and using art etc. to love on God. Now we have more intentional hip hop church, and some of the stuff we have done has been described as "emergent." That’s fine with me. Call it whatever you want, but we are spiritually grounded in Jesus Christ. If you havnt heard our club worship podcast yet, you should - especially episode #1 - you can really get a sense of our vision for worship.

In any group of people, there will be politics happening. Those political struggles are constantly happening in Christ's Church. As humans, it is so much easier to criticize people than to actually talk to them... It is easy to be frightened by new stuff... to be frightened by change... but I think we stay abreast of the times… we need to show people that GOD IS RELEVANT to our culture! We need to run the race, and keep our focus on the prize as the apostle Paul talked about. For good or for ill - I am a postmodern Christian in many respects - depends on how you define it, but I really feel like God can't be boxed in by the modern churches rules, regulations and definitions. I get tired of legalism. I don't believe in extreme relativism or anything like that, but I also don't think that I have all the answers - and I don't feel the need to have all the answers... my faith is strong in the very Word of God... but my faith is not very strong in how theologians have interpreted it all. Some theologians are great, and some are wack!

One example of this in my personal life, is my recent powerful experience with meditation. We are going through the “celebration of discipline” book by Foster, and after reading and teaching on the chapter, I realized that this is something I really need to practice more… I have failed in many ways to practice these more thoughtful disciplines… the bible says that we should meditate on God – on all the great things he has done etc. Mediation is nothing new… duh… God knew that we can just constantly stuff our minds with stuff all day long, and it is good to just fill it with some quiet, so that you can hear the still small voice of the holy spirit…. How would you rather? The still small voice, OR a two by four upside of the head? so why are “modern” church people scared of meditation? Of course I know that meditation needs to be done right – and there are weird meditation practices in other religions and stuff… but there is so much more that can be gained by doing it biblically. If you need a guide, Foster did a great job… get the book.

I guess it comes down to the fact that I love God so much, and I also love his bride “the Church” I want there to be unity, like is talked about in the new testament. I want people to embrace diversity in the body… you can’t say “I have no need of you” to the emergents or the moderns - to the artistic and the plain – to the academics and the accessible - to the overseas missionaries and the missionaries at home. We all need to focus on Jesus, and head toward that goal… when we look to our right and our left, we should see others – maybe not wearing the exact same uniform, but definitely headed the same direction.

Lord of heaven and earth - forgive our wandering ways - help us to know you more!

I guess I did promise to post about the change going on in my life. It’s an interesting feeling walking away from something that you feel such a connection to. Yet at the same time exciting to see what possibilities the freedom brings.

After nearly 15 years at ACTV, I’m going to be handing over the reigns to Jon Carlson. I sort of ran the place by myself for almost 11 years... and then Jon came on the scene - as a volunteer for a couple years, and then part time staff, then full time staff - and now it seems like the time is right to sort of pass the management baton on to him.

There are lots of reasons why it seemed like a natural transition to make this change. I suppose I could list them all out, but it would be longwinded for this blog. Suffice it to say that it feels right, it feels good, it feels spirit led.

Jon is capable. I was only part time there anyway, and mostly doing paperwork and behind the scenes stuff. As I learn about myself, I have discovered that it was difficult for me to be disciplined enough to work on the big picture stuff that didn’t have any deadlines. It's easy for me to take a project - a tangible goal, and find a way to complete it well... but I just wasn’t that good a development guy. And I really missed the creative and technology stuff that Jon was always working on.

I care alot about Jon, and hope that this is also the best move for him... I think it is, and I consulted with him before making the decision. I totally don’t feel bad about him sort of taking the fun aspects of ACTV. I know that the new management stuff might challenge him, but I believe not only is he up for the challenge, but I believe he needs a challenge like this to really shine and come into his own.

There are lots of things I am excited about the potential to pursue... Nothing is solid yet - and of course whatever I would choose to pursue would only be part time anyway because I am still part time at home.

I'm excited about Club Worship, about stuff at church, about possibilities in ministry – whether it be youth ministry, worship ministry, or some other creative expressions of worship and outreach. I doubt that I will take the traditional approach though – that’s not really me. My passion is to see people drawn to God – and into worship. I want my life to be about eternal things – things that last. I want to have enough time to do an excellent job at some of the things I have been part of for a while.

I am a little bit nervous about the whole financial end of things – long term – because I don’t have a solid plan, and I can’t see into the future… but Candace has been very supportive of this decision, and looking at our finances, we have a bit of flexibility for a couple of months to try to sort some things out and to continue to seek God’s guidance in it all.

I would value your prayers as I move into this transition. Also pray for the ministry of ACTV and Jon in hopes that the transition can go very smooth.

get a free ipod

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no - not kidding... you need to click my referal link.

you can get a free ipod too - or just help me get mine. I need two more people to sign up for something and complete their offer... this needs to happen by the end of may, or I lose all my progress so far.

anyway, I researched it, and it seems like a legitimate new form of advertising... its called viral advertising which doesnt sound good... but its like viral video that gets popular because it spreads via word of mouth and social networking sites. Thousands of people have gotten free ipods this way - and i signed up for blockbuster online - which I like very much for renting movies.

if you have questions or wanna discuss, let me know.

decent weekend - a little bit downtempo which was very cool.

Candace worked on Saturday, so I stayed home with the girls... and didnt hardly get anything done... Tori was barfing up stuff... but she is better now.

the only responsibility i had at church was to shoot some video clips of some kids saying stuff about their mom... so I recruited a couple volutneers (thanks josh and julie) and so it ended up hopefully being a learning experience for Josh, and julie is a better interviewer than I ever will be.

This week is going to be insanely busy. Especially the last half... so I got to take care of business early this week. plus my van is in the garage... im grateful for in-laws with extra cars.

Kairsies back in town... welcome home K. nice to have you nearby... shes been hanging out at our place which is cool to reconnect and stff.

another chance to write came up.

ive been spending sooo much time on this visual stuff for Zion... shopping takes so much time, because I have to research to know whats up... i dont just take one persons word for it... and I also got to get the best prices! Now I have the computer setup in my living room... actually, I am sort of getting attached to having a portal to the internet at my fingertips throughout the day - rather than having to go downstairs in the basement... Maria is enjoying it too - its easier for her to jump on here to play her flash games. In any case, I have the computer set up here to enable me to learn mediashout and also to try to scour the internet for visual content - there is very little out there for free anymore. It seems that everyone and their brother is jumping into creating and selling visuals for churches... its just that very little of it is really great. And tons of sites are up there with just a few visuals available. Anyway, its fun to have a new challenge - and be able to stretch my creative and visual talents again...

anyway, on the potty training homefront, things are looking up... Maria went yesterday twice and once today. We arent there yet, but there is hope again in the world. Im not yet confident - but at least hopeful that she will be potty trained before she is 10.

It is fascinating that she was probably ready to be potty trained last year around this time, but with the new baby and stuff, well we just procrastinated and didnt push it... that was a mistake, because what happened is that she got comfortable in her routine, and unlearned stuff... and is now almost comfortable in her wetness... so we have to retrain her.

anyway, Im sad for my sister and her husband and family... Wolfe's mom recently found out that she has cancer - pretty bad... and Wolfes dad was already pretty sick and close to death just because he is so old, and not really healthy... in any case, it is a real difficult time for them, and I cant really do anything about it, but I guess its just hard. Difficult decisions and end of life issues. its crazy.

Like I said, major change in life is afoot... I feel really good about it, and am excited about the opportunities that might come from it all... I will prolly fill you all in once the details become more solid. its major enough that it makes me go wow.