Emerging?

Who would have thought how much trouble would emerge around the word "emerging."

Andrew Jones is one of the most widely read Christian bloggers, and blogs under the name, Tall Skinny Kiwi. Recently he polled his readers asking whether or not he should continue to use the phrase "Emerging Church." Follow the link to read the results, but also be sure to read the pros and cons of the term.

It sucks to think that some of the pain and conversations that I've had over the past couple years aren't isolated, but have been causing pain in all sorts of people's lives.

Andrew Jones writes:

Jenna White who is staying with us, told us that her missionary support had been stopped because a pastor in the Baptist church she attends in USA just preached an anti-emerging church sermon and they put a hold on the money they were going to send her. Funny thing was, it was the same denomination that I had just taught, and we have enjoyed a decade long relationship to this particular church

I think the most upsetting things to me about all of the "emerging" hoopla is that some people give more weight to an anti-emerging pastor's comments re: "Emerging Churches," than to years of relationships with people who they have been serving together with.

Sounds a lot like McCarthyism to me.

Ryan "is blogging infrequently."

Although I haven't been blogging lately on blogger, I have been writing several [extremely] short blogs a day.

There's a web application called twitter that lets users update their "status" in about 10 words. At first I thought that it was silly, and didn't really have a point, but with the inclusion of "status" in the social networking site, facebook, I have found myself using a "twitter like app" more than anything else online.

I imagine that everyone has two main types of friends:
1) Those who they talk to several types a week.
2) Those who they talk to once a year if they are lucky.

I have found that the older I get the more friends I have in the second category. There are people in my life that I am grateful to know and to have a part of my life, but whose schedule makes it next to impossible to stay in constant contact with.
One of the difficulties with those relationships is that when contact is finally made, my conversations usually involve of getting caught up with one another, and then awkward conversation follows, with an even more awkward goodbye.
Contrasted with those whom are constantly part of my weekly conversations who I feel like I could talk to for hours about the most mundane of things.

One of the reasons that I have been so diligent in changing my status on facebook and checking the status of others, is that I feel like it strengthens my relationship with those who I ordinarily don't get to stay in constant contact with. I know when friends go to concerts, weddings, or on vacation, I know when their planes land, or when their horses get out of their yard and keep them up all night.

I'm sure that there are better uses for the internet than constantly updating one's status, but I am enjoying the popularity of this app that let's me know my friends better.

Made it to NY safely

Outside our window (We are staying with Maria's sister between Harlem & Washington Heights)


Times Square



Strawberry fields forever, or at least long enough to take a picture


Belvedere Castle


Central Park Fountain


Playing on the "Big" Piano


LOVE (notice Aspen sleeping)


On the subway

New Masthead

Thanks to Jake David for his lettering for my new masthead.

The Shack

This book with an endorsement from Michael W. Smith, a $300 initial marketing budget, and a seat on New York Time's best seller list has been making quite a stir.

I saw it on a pastor friend's book shelf and hoped that he had read it so that I could get perspective on it without having to actually read it, (I've decided that I like knowledge much more than I like reading).

I have already heard one review of the book by the Angry Pastor, Mark Driscoll, and well, his review was that of an angry pastor.


I came across this review in Christianity Today that I would recommend to anyone who was curious about reading the Shack.
The author of the article possesses the grace and humility that I wish came more naturally to me.

Does made in U.S.A. even matter?

Do you shop at Banana Republic, the Gap, Macy’s, Urban Apparel or Victoria’s Secret?

Check out this New York Times article about a factory in Queens which was reportedly, "one of the worst sweatshops that state inspectors have visited in years, sometimes requiring its 100 employees to work seven days a week, sometimes for months in a row."

At least being in the US, this factory will be penalized.

Good dads sometimes make bad decisions.

Taking your 4 year old daughter wakeboarding is a good idea. I can think of no better board sport, to take a young child along for the ride:
Surfing? Maybe, but the ride only lasts for seconds.
Snowboarding? There's a chance it will work, but there is a really good chance that you will fall, or be hit by an out of control skier/snowboarder, or hit a tree.
Skateboarding? Yeah...this would work, if I didn't suck at skateboarding. For reals, I'm really really bad at it.

It was amazing getting to ride with Sage, carving up and down the wake, gaining speed outside the wake while cutting away from the boat. And then it happens, while cutting back and forth the thought emerges, "This is going really well, she is staying on without a problem. If Sage likes this she will really like jumping! After all she really loves jumping the car at Ojai's 'dip'."

In the air it became apparent that this was a bad idea. As Sage slipped right off the wakeboard there was only one place for her to land, (I hadn't thought this out very well at all). Her ear hit the top of the wakeboard just as I caught her and pulled her back up. We had the boat pull us one more time that morning, but I kind of ruined a nice morning.

Fortunately it was only Monday, and we had four more days to build positive wakeboarding memories together...sans jumping.

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