some thoughts...just for you, jill :)

hello, hello!

so, its been a while. mmm understatement--its been a long time! i'm sorry for not writing as much as i would like. to be honest, my own little 'blog' has suffered some this summer due to my busy schedule and lack of internet at times (can a blog suffer? haha)...

needless to say, i prevailed! i am at the office and letting some video work do its thang and figured i'd throw down some thoughts.

i had breakfast with one of the students in our high school ministry this morning and it was deeply encouraging, to say the least.

i asked her if she thought our youth group was 'spiritually dead...asleep...whatever you wanna call it.' She nodded and agreed heartily. when i asked her why that was she said, to this effect, that we are easily satisfied and its just 'what you do.'

i then began to unpack some of my own thoughts on this 'issue'--we are far too easily satisfied; we don't see our need for a savior; grace doesn't mean anything to us anymore (we ultimately don't think we need it), we are not captivated by the cross, and for most of us, we have grown up in the church and its just become that 'thing that we do.'

i mean, lets be honest, real quick; this issue of complacency isn't just in the youth group i am working with this summer in dallas. it affects all people at all times. it isn't an 'us' issue but rather a 'me' issue--if you get what i'm saying.

i am fear too easily satisfied; i don't see my need for a savior a lot of the time; grace loses its depth in my 'best moments'; i'm not fascinated by the cross...you get the picture.

can we ever 'curb' this 'spirit of death?' i don't know. i do know, though, that the holy spirit alone can change the hearts of men and that anything is possible. i think if we spent a bit more time on our knees, begging and pleading on behalf of our students/friends/ourselves and asked for transformation instead of just information--something crazy might happen.

who knows, though. i'm praying that the holy spirit rains down on this youth group and that these kids will forever be changed...

black knight

anyone?? thoughts?

paperbackswap.com

i miss you guys. i have been thinking alot about this blog and how i wish we had more time to use it maybe once a week. maybe that's a goal? anyway, i have joined this amazing site called paperbackswap.com. basically you log on and list all the books you own that you don't necessarily want anymore, which then gives you credits to request any book you want. they literally have basically every book ever written! you have to pay the shipping for the books that are requested from you, but the books you receive are free, making the cost of each book around $2 approx. it's amazing! i think i have gotten 14 books. :) woohoo!!

what amazing things have you guys run into lately?

Please pray

Hey guys please pray a lot for my friend Abbi. She has mono and this is a horrible week for her to have it because next week is finals. Her dad picked her up today and she's not planning on being here this whole week. She's really not doing well and it's hit her really really hard. And we all hate seeing her like this...she's just a really happy person all the time.

So yeah. Please pray that God works a miracle and she doesn't have the usual 2 rough weeks of mono and she can be back here for finals. She was kind of afraid to go home because she didn't think she would come back. And pray that her boyfriend didn't get sick [she got it from drinking after someone else]. And yeah...just pray a lot. Thanks!

The Church of Oprah

the emergent church...

what are ya'lls thoughts on the emergent church? just curious as i've had some interesting conversations with different people over the past few days....

for me, i think that the emergent church, as a whole, has an awesome vision on community, missional living, and authenticity but is definitely lacking in doctrine/sound theology. they question a lot of essentials within christian theology and that is scary...

some people that you might know that are categorized, generally, as 'emergent thinkers' would be rob bell, brian mclaren, donald miller and a whole host of others (by labeling them as 'emergent thinkers' is it obvious that they are all 'emergent thinkers' to varying degrees)...

anyways, i just wanted to see what ya'll thought about this huge postmodern ideal...

http://www.emergentvillage.com/

http://emergingwomen.blogspot.com/

It's been a while...

I miss hearing from you guys...