fights

well, that was a rousing success. i guess we all had a lot to say...
ok this week, i want us to talk a little bit about what is worth fighting for. i was just in a business meeting, no fights broke out, but i know that they have a propensity to happen in that type of setting.

one thing i have learned/been learning since i have been married is that some things are not worth fighting over. we should not be willing to die on every hill, as it were. this is something that we should very much be thinking through as we all consider helping to start a church. this is not something a community can really decide on together, but that the individuals within the community must decide on seperately. what are you going to die for? what fights will you participate in? which ones are better to keep your mouth shut on? these are things to be considering within yourself.

the other thing, and it is really my fault for this not being my first post, is that i really want to encourage you all to be praying. there are about eleven of you that i can count that are pretty solid on doing this thing, then several others that are considering it, then several others that are just praying for us. so, what are some ways we can pray for one another?

these are some ways you can pray for me and robin, personally right now: it is difficult for us to be leaving brownwood, we are sad, and robin needs a job in waco, i need some refreshing and healing, ive been burning the candle at both ends for too long, my family is always a concern

for our future church: that god would guide us in our leadership, that he would guide us in our roles, that he would provide us with a place to meet, that we would each deal with much of our baggage or at least acknowledge it as we draw nearer to our beginning, that we would draw near to god, and that we would draw near to one another.

so, questions you can answer: what is worth fighting for? what are some ways we can pray for you?

ok vent time

alright, each of us has some serious gripes with churches. the last thing i want is for us to simply be some reaction to our problems with the church as it is today, but i also think it is important for us to see the problems and make some changes. this is not to say we should throw out everything that has been done before, because there are a lot of good things done right now in churches, and some ways that they are run are very intelligent. but for this week, lets just say what some of our problems are with church in our day. next week we will talk about how we can respond and do things differently, but this week is our chance to be critical. feel free to respond anonymously if you need to, and lets not have negative personal attacks, just talk about some issues we have. for example, i know of a church in houston that people in the ministries each have a baptism quota that they have to reach each quarter, or they will lose their ministry job. i have an issue with that. so. vent away.

what is church?

as we all contemplate beginning this journey together. some questions i think it would be good to begin with are
what is a church?
what is the church?
the apostles creed has a statement near the end "the holy catholic church" so what does it mean to us, "holy," "catholic," "church." lets dialogue about what each of those means, what we want it to mean, etc.
one of my seminary friends and i were talking the other day about what church is. i think it can be anywhere, anytime, whenever more than one christian sits together and talks about god. he thought it was anytime we gathered for a specific reason, namely to worship. what do you guys think? im not sure there is a right answer, but i think it is important to think and talk about.
if this falls flat, let me know a better way to start these discussions and i will try to make them better
so. what is a church, what is the church, what does it mean to be the holy catholic church?

Ladies and Gentlemen...

We are looking at quite possibly the single greatest blog ever created; yes, even better than R$%##$ blog!

This exists so that we can feel free to talk, curse, argue and express any feelings about Denver.

I for one feel that Christ has lead me to dive into this venture, I'm pretty stoked. So, let the blogging begin!