Continuing the Fun!

so the post below this is truly the final--this post is just to give you the heads up on two things.

first, i have another blog. you can find it here. it's about my journey as an associate pastor who thinks associatively.

second, Shutterfly is the coolest! Right now there is a Shutterfly’s Holiday Card promotion were bloggers can get 50 free cards from Shutterfly by talking about it on your blog, and selling your blogger soul a little bit. But we've really been happy with Shutterfly and order all sorts of things from them, so it's not too much of a stretch to sing their praises.

We have used Shutterfly the last 5 years to send out our holiday cards and they have been high quality and low cost. I highly recommend them. Not only do they have great stationery for your cards, but they also have invitations you can use to send out to your holiday parties. great designs and witty phrasings! Each year my in-laws also create a calendar of the year's past events. it's great to have a calendar with people you know on it and a reminder of what you were doing this time last year. So dump Kodak, Snapfish, and whatever service you're using. With Shutterfly, you can't go wrong!

Favorites

I will try to keep my list of favorites brief. I have really enjoyed blogging over the years and I must say that I'm pleasantly surprised to what this blog has turned into. it started off as a place to keep funny links and stupid thoughts i've had while running around the DC metro area. when I decided to go to seminary, the nature of the blog changed. I have tried to report some of what i was learning and considering in seminary and the discussions have been rich. so here are just a few posts that i have enjoyed over the years.

here is the first announcement: the post entitled Get'n My Robe On.

i've posted many poems, but my favorite by far is the Objective Walk. when i read it, i'm immediately transported to those late night walks i took with Sonny as a break from writing whatever paper for whatever class. it is amazing what insights and clarity can be gained by walking your dog.

on an academic, purly theoretical side, i really liked Created Reality. it shows largely how i view the world and what meaning i make out of it. there was a good discussion that followed it. good use of science, TED Talks (yay) and post-modern philosophy and theology.

my favorite journaly-personal happenings style posts, i liked a pair of posts about when my favorite flower pot was stolen. later, i found that a friend down the street took it because she thought it would be funny while she was really drunk. Life Lessons in a Flower Pot is a study in how to look for God in daily life and nonattachment. Water Board Your Friends for Fun and Profit is the follow up post for when the flower pot was returned. it is a funny and ironic rant that is political and theological at the same time... i wish i wrote more posts like it.

two posts that show how others view me and that i read when i'm feeling inadequate are my lay committee evalutation from my time spent as an intern at TRUCC and the letter from Prof. Dr Peter Schmiechen it's good to have those type of things to return to when you feel confused... or in my case, more confused than usual.

finally a reflection on fatherhood entitled How Low is the Bar Set? was pretty cool. i was going to put the debate i had with a conservative christian from Confessions of a Seminarian about "Biblical Masculinity" but i feel that this post does everything that post did without the polemics.

that is just a sampling, short and sweet. do you have any favorites? i could have put a lot more with Eve in there, but i'm attempting to be modest and not too sappy. ;-)

and a small announcement, the next and final post will be next Tuesday. lots going on and i want time to really reflect and say something coherent.

The Final Four

Gearing up for the last four posts which will happen over these next two weeks.here's what the posts will be about:

The Fall- where i talk my struggle with the Christian doctrine that has confused me the most over the years and what i think of it now.

The Faith- where i was and where I am now.

The Favorites- some favorite posts over the years

The Final- where i write something awesome and touching and you cry at you computer.... or maybe not...

stay tuned dear readers!

Two Articles of Note

a local minister goes full-out in this article. she's a little bit of awesome, gotta love those alums! i think i may follow her example.

the blog post "Imagine if the Tea Party Was Black" by Tim Wise has been getting a lot of attention on my facebook threads, so i thought i'd post it here too. where the hell were these people 7 years ago? hell, how about 3? whatever. it sorta reminds me of this ol' cartoon about Huxley getting it right vs. Orwell.

okay.. that was hyper-link-tastic!

this weekend i hung out in Allentown and preached at my best bud's church, doing the whole Eeyore goes to Tehran. got a great shoo-fly pie too. excellent! came back here and went to TRUCC and listened to a group of awesome and strong women talk about their trip to Mercy Home in Kenya. too much awesomeness to put into words about how good we have it here. these girls are stronger at 5 then a WWE wrestler. walking 2 miles for water every morning at 4 a.m. with a 5 gallon bucket on your head is freak'n strong. it was great to hear their stories. it is also great to be in a church that supports such a great mission without asking anything in return.

still trying to think up another blog name for wordpress, "considerations" or something might work. or i may drop blogging altogether unless my future church thinks it would be a good idea. just getting frustrated with the level of discourse i fail to live up to. also sick of polemics and homophobia and generally the lamenting and anger at people being human and not living up to their standards... you know, the same standards they themselves can't live up to. bull-hockey i tell you. bullocks and durn it all to tarnation!

or maybe i should just stick to the fine peeps on my side list ( these ones here---> )and not worry about the rest of the world.

The Flying ~E~ and a small announcement.

Just returned from a nice vacation with family out at the Flying E Ranch in Wickenburg, Arizona. If you're looking for good food, riding, and desert scenery, look no further!

I used this vacation to get centered, to do some reading, and largely not to think a whole heck of a lot. The latter part, I failed, but some good things came of it. I am reading Marcus Borg's Jesus: Uncovering the Life, Teachings, and Relevance of a Religious Revolutionary and it really has helped me come to an understanding. I came in very progressive and was labeled "fierce" by my advising committee. Some of that edge has come off, and the passion has subsided for a while, but I feel it coming back, and that is an excellent thing! Borg's book has helped with that, and I'll provide a review later on.

Another thing to note is that I will be ending this blog in June 2010. I will leave this blog up for posterity's sake, but this blog is about my journey to and through seminary. That journey ends on May 15, 2010. So i have about a month left and need to focus on all of that. I'll be wrapping this blog up and providing some insights and some favorite posts over the years. I will continue blogging, but in another guise. I am taking the good advice of Sabio and my wife. See, an atheist and a pastor's wife do have something in common! :-) i'll be anonymous but i think y'all know who i'll be. i'm not too subtle. So keep your eyes peeled in the near future.

I look forward to catching up on the bloggings that have happened since I left, and i will leave you with reflection and prayer I gave on Easter morning in the desert at the Flying ~E~ but updated for this audience and format:

What is this Sunday about?

Well, if you're a naturalist, you see that the desert is starting to bloom. The hedgehog cacti are just starting to sprout their purple flowers, the ocatillo their orange flowers, and all sorts of little ones like the Chia are sprouting up. For those of us who go back east soon, we'll find that the dogwoods are out, the tulips and crocuses are out and spring has sprung, once again reminding us that the life of spring has triumphed over the death of winter. New life has come.

If you're Jewish, you are celebrating your week long Passover. This is a reminder that your ancestors threw off the bondage of their old life and took on a new one of being free. This life involved a lot of uncertainties, and Moses didn't even live to see the Promised Land--he only glimpsed it, but it was worth it. The new life of freedom is remembered and celebrated.

If you're Christian, well, have we got a story to tell you. This is where new life has triumphed over sin and death. Christians do not have to be afraid of dying anymore but can live a life of service and radical love, free from the fear of death and dying. New life is ours to have if we are bold enough to take it.

With this in mind, let us pray:

God, we thank you for the gift of new life. We thank you for the many chances we get, the opportunities to grow and change, to learn and re-learn. We look forward to your insights as they come to us or as we figure them out after long hard hours of studying. Guide us in our conversations, help our words reflect our intent and our meaning, may they be met with grace and love. Above all, we thank you for new life, and we ask for the courage and strength to take it and live it to the fullest, to the benefit of all we meet. In your many names we pray, Amen.

Year in Review

Holy crap! This year was PACKED full of fun!

first and foremost EVE WAS BORN! and so was I.. born again as a dad.. it's been great to watch Kate mother Eve as well. there's a thoughtfulness, compassion, and planning nurturing that comes out. we love that little girl!

with the help of my compadres here at LTS i filmed a few short films for my church history class. To date Reformation the Sitcom has had around 250 hits on the whole series. that is 245 more than i expected! I knew my mom, wife, and in-laws would view it, but i was surprised to find other ppl did, too! here's the whole YouTube Playlist:

I also went to Egypt, and here's that playlist:

I installed Google Analytics on the site in August and I'm happy to report I've had around 1,000 unique visits and 2,000 page views. that's pretty slick for this little page of rantings and ravings. I've also made new friends like Sabio, Coffee-pastor, Al, and ER. good peoples! hit the "friends" sidebar for their sites.

My sermons are doing well, the biggest would be Start Where You Are.. followed by The Greatest Sermon Ever Preached.

Things are looking up for 2010. it's too bad that we just have two more years to live...

here's what's upcoming in 2010 on the site:

• A sermon at my home church on 1-17-10. stop on by if you're in the area!
• Ordination Paper: what i need to write if i want to get a call, i'll need your help, dear reader.
• A book review of Marcus Borg's Meeting Jesus Again for the First Time.

odds are i have been pretty silent in the blogosphere as it is the holidays (i am writting this on 12-18-09) so i hope your holidays have been kind and that your hangover isn't too bad as you read this. i know mine won't be, as i'll prolly just be watching a movie with the wife on the couch and hitting the hay before 11 p.m. anywho, thanks for all the conversations, debates, agreements, grammatical corrections, speeling error forgivenessesesz, and in general, for reading and considering. looking forward to new topics and discussions in 2010!