Junk Drawer Spirituality

Jon and Kate Plus . . . Awwwwkwaaaard

I just watched the season opener of "Jon and Kate Plus 8," the TLC reality show featuring Jon and Kate Gosselin and their 8 children (a set of twins and a set of sextuplets).  I don't watch the show often, but when I do, I enjoy it.  It is just about the only reality show I can stand.  I hate the canned drama, pseudo-game shows, celebrity celebrations, and the obviously scripted realities you get on lots of other "reality" shows.  But you can't script what a 4 year old says, which makes Jon and Kate plus 8 the most refreshingly real reality show I've seen.  It shows good moments with parents and their kids, the challenges of raising multiples, and cute, tender moments between the mom and dad, Jon and Kate.  

Tonight was the first episode in their 5th season, which was really interesting because it was the first episode since the tabloid reports that Jon's been steppin' out on Kate.  

Star Trek: a Review

Last night I saw Star Trek.  I'm not sure that I would call myself a "Trekky," but I did grow up watching Star Trek with my family.  Started out watching the original series with Captain Kirk, and when the "Next Generation" came out with Jean-Luke Picard and the rest of the Enterprise crew, we ended up watching that one pretty religiously too.

And yes, I've also seen all the movies (I think).  I don't go to Star Trek conventions or wear Vulcan ears in the shower, but I do like the show.  And I was pretty excited to see this Star Trek movie because I'd heard alot of good things about it AND, it was written and directed by JJ Abrams, the creator of "Lost" (my current favorite TV show).

So, here's my review. . .

Funny Little Cubs and Sox Fans

This just about says it all about the cross-town rivalry.  I love one of the comments someone left: "Cute ... but sad that the debate won't get much more intelligent as they get older."  :)

The Path To Theological Liberalism . . .

I was reading Michael Patton's blog today and he made a comment that I thought was pretty interesting:

"In one of our annual two-day meetings about ten years ago, we got to discussing theological liberalism during lunch. . . . Most of the scholars on this committee were theologically liberal, and one of them casually mentioned that, as far as he was aware, 100% of all theological liberals came from an evangelical or fundamentalist background. I thought his numbers were a tad high since I had once met a liberal scholar who did not come from such a background. I’d give it 99%.  Whether it’s 99%, 100%, or only 75%, the fact is that overwhelmingly, theological liberals do not start their academic study of the scriptures as theological liberals. They become liberal somewhere along the road."

I thought that was an interesting observation.  Of course I'm not aware of any academic studies to verify the numbers (although that would be an interesting study), but at least from an observational perspective, it's sorta ironic that those who carry the torch for Biblical liberalism most highly originally cut their teeth on the theology designed to guard itself against liberalism.  I mean, what is fundamentalism or evangelicalism if there is no liberalism or modernism?

I think the common assumption is that theological liberals become liberals because they're too close to liberal areas of the country/ liberal academic institutions/ liberal churches/ liberal parents, and not grounded enough in good old fashioned evangelicalism.  If Patton's right, it makes you wonder #1, how good a job evangelicalism is doing in really grounding people in good theology in a way that's defensible.  or #2, How important are the categories to begin with?   

Final Day ... Waterfront's First Small Group Session in Review

Today is our official last day of small groups for the Spring session.  We began our first small groups at Waterfront in early February, ran 12 weeks, and now we're coming to a close.

It's been a great semester.  We've seen alot of new people get connected.  We've seen many new people come to a deeper knowledge of God.  And we've all learned some things along the way.

I think in general, our experimental approach at term-based small groups that conclude at semester end has been good.  I'm alittle surprised at the amount of "push-back" we've received from some group members at the idea.  I think after we go through a semester end and semester start, it will seem less scary in the future, but at this stage, there are some who are having a really difficult time conceptualizing what it means for a small group to reach a conclusion and start again.

I've been pleased with the number of new group leaders who have shown interesting branching off to begin new groups next session.  We're seeing some really strong potential for growth and coaching through that.  And recently we've had several people from the outside of our church who've expressed recent interest in participating in Community Life ministry on an internship-type basis.  So potential abounds.

All of that is to say, I'm really excited about where this ministry is headed in our next few seasons.

Going from Home-Renter to Home-Owner

This afternoon at approximately 3:45 PM I crossed the line from home-renter to home-owner.  I closed on a new house in Streamwood, IL.

It's an interesting thing, purchasing a home.  I've never lived in a place (at least since I moved out of my parent's house) that I've ever really considered home ... my home.  I've always rented.  And not only have I always rented, but I've also frequently moved from one rental to the next.  I did the math one day and I estimated that in the 13 years since I moved to College Station, TX to go to college, I have moved again and again and again at least 15 times (I might have missed a move or two as I was calculating, but 15 is close enough).  So it's weird imagining that I'm going to be moving to a place that I can call home . . . that's mine . . . that's not just a transitional home to another stage in life.

It's also interesting because as silly as it sounds, this house represents for me the roots I have set down in this community.  I have not been in a position to purchase a home in the past, primarily because I have not yet lived in a place where I could really drop anchor.  I've been living a life of transition since I was 18.  I transitioned to college . . . waiting until graduation.  I transition to Amarillo . . . waiting for seminary.  I transitioned to Denver . . . waiting to finish seminary.  I transitioned to Chicago . . . waiting to find a ministry and church.

Waterfront Community Church, and the Northwest Suburbs of Chicago have become that for me.  And that's why for me, this home purchase is more than just a financial decision.  It's a symbol for this community becoming my home and not just a place I'm passing through. 

The Big Switch . . . My PC to Mac Conversion

Alittle over a month ago, I made a significant life change.  I decided to buy a mac.  It was not an easy decision.  It was something I'd fought for a very long time, but here are the reasons I finally decided to make the switch:  

1.  A few months ago, a bunch of viruses made their way into my Dell's systems folder and started screwing around with my machine to the point where I had to just erase everything and start over.  I'm honestly sick of dealing with viruses, and just as sick of messing with anti-virus software.  

2.  Even after reloading my Windows operating system and cleaning out the whole hard drive, I still ran into the same kinds of problems I always encountered with the computer.  Windows would freeze up and crash on me, or everything would run super-slow for no reason at all.

Fly-Fishing in Colorado

Last week I took a trip to Colorado for alittle R&R and some fly-fishing.  It was a short trip, but it was alot of fun.  I flew into Denver Thursday morning to meet a friend of mine from Fort Collins, CO (Daniel Bort) at the airport.  Some of Daniel's family lives in Denver, so we went downtown to meet  them at The Falling Rock Tap House for lunch.  It's a little hole in the wall joint in Denver LoDo with a huge beer selection and great hamburgers.

Daniel and I loaded up on groceries and then made the 2 hour trip up the mountains from Denver to Grand Lake, Colorado, a beautiful vacation town just on the west side of Rocky Mountain National Park.  There's an amazing and very generous woman I knew when I pastored a church in Golden, CO who owns a beautiful lakeside cabin in Grand Lake.  She let us crash there for a night.

Back on The Blogging Horse

It has been 41 days since my last blog post, and I've been feeling alittle guilty about that.  I enjoy blogging . . . I do.  But I just haven't posted anything recently, and I can surmise 4 reasons why:

1.  I have been super busy for the past month.  Between Easter, visitors, trips, purchasing a house, and the increased pressures of ministry, I have had little excess time to post.

2.  I have become much more active on Twitter, which I guess has scratched a bit of that social networking itch.  Twittering is definitely different from blogging, but they're similar enough that one makes me not miss the other quite so much.

3.  I actually bought a mac in the last month (which warrants a whole other post).  It has taken me a bit to get my computer up to snuff configuration-wise, and my internet has been a bit finicky.

4.  When I'm blogging regularly, I put much less pressure on myself when determining what exactly is a "post-worthy" subject.  But after you haven't blogged in a week, or two weeks, or 41 days, you start to feel alittle more pressure to post something really, really, brilliant, witty, and wise . . . 

As you can tell, on this last point, I have decided to throw caution to the wind :).

So, as of today, I'm going to try, once again, to get my blog on.  I like life when I'm blogging.  I like processing thoughts and ideas and feelings in a way one can only do when working on a post.  So I'm officially re-entering the blogging world . . . And I'm going to try to keep on it more consistently this time.