i never knew this was a 'thing' till a read about it years ago (i believe in 4 models of youth ministry book). my mainline context, church planting is equivalent to moving a mountain or putting toothpaste back in the tube, it just doesn't happen, so it is pretty much a moot point. i wonder if too many youth workers get caught up in the 'on stage' part of their work and fall into an idea that being pastor feeds that favorite part (been reading a lot about narcissism lately mike). don't feel this is of ill intent, but we always do the things we feel are most worthwhile and generally easiest and those front and center stage times are very visible and can be easily construed as important. when in actuality those less visible times are the most shaping just less than visible.

Reformed folks are still trying convince themselves that they are right, so they keep talking. Emerging folks decided & are out doing gospel work. &:~D

yes, jeremy, i plan to update the methoblog feed once the move is done. david, i think i forgot to put a http:// in the link. gavoweb.com still works for here, but it will soon point to a new site.... that is if i do all this correctly

i'm glad things started to turn around for you shane

officially jealous. so want to make a pilgrimage to Taize'

what can i say, "pimp'in ain't easy" &:~)

Hi Jordan, apologies for not standing alongside you all this past Sunday. I was out of town. Knowing that Michael was a member of Cooks UMC makes me wonder how many times I've run into him over the years when I was at Hermitage and doing all the various conference event work. So sad & tragic, the family continues to be in my prayers.

yes, we've been in prayer over that. it is a long story, but we hope as a family to help make some impact in those communities.

that is the hope. not sure it is a poetry path. though i am enjoying a different angle on the literature i'm reading.

that's pretty cool. certainly the price didn't indicate that they were a local build. &:~)

I just got our reminder cards for the MP tournament. didn't jot down the date. we are doing a bit of a business / family trip in october. hope they don't collide.

tony, you make to much sense brother! jody, i actually understood everything you said.. and i didn't have use my theology terms book. i've come such a long way. &:~) tbe, i'd love to meet up and chat if you are down. have some specific questions that i am asking of folks in my discernment process to where God wants me.

thanks all! it has been an emotional time, but we have really felt the prayers and well wishes as we are totally at peace with where i will find myself and God's dream for our ministry from here on out. it'll be really good.

i thought it was some kind of bidet at first & said cool.. then was thinking, how do you get your b' up there? oooohhhh, its a water fountain. it didn't work, so i couldn't try it out probably a good thing. who knows what metal/lead would come out of that pipe.

whoa! a leafs fan.. there are still some of those left? the D is great, the O needs to take some shots imho. pekka has done great for us, though i wish he held onto some of those rebounds more in game 6.. sigh.. next year

what was funny is that it was doing this all day.. oh, and we weren't even on the 16th hole when i snapped this pic

that's a great little draw together john!

hi desarae, thanks for the compliment. look for a twitter befriending soon. shalom

i bet, mark seems to do good work with his craft. i find it funny, of all the people to say 'i want to make my career out of impersonating' john wesley would be the last i'd think of..

i would hope that something soon might come across the digital interwebs to build up a new community. that way we can create some new friendships, much as many of us did, with new folks to the area or new voices.

i think they should specify which sayings could be put onto the black eye stickers.. wait, they're are stickers? that's so lame, what happened to the black eye paint! that is hard core.. i worry what this might do for the TxTech players, they do the whole "Program" dress up. okay, back to my point. why not just say they have to use the Lectionary.. that way no saucy Song of Solomon gets into there. come to think of it, that'd be really awesome!.. is that taking it a mile shane?

thanks DB for the kind words!

thanks for the update Austin, i penned this sucker some time ago & it still gets daily traction. who'd have thought. i probably pulled it off the net myself. rather positive i didn't retype the whole hymn (to lazy a blogger for that) but i did look it up in the hymnal for the #.. not sure which umc hymnal version though

thanks ken, Save the Children, World Vision and Compassion are entities that have been there that i would be comfortable supporting in their efforts. as i know, they also had similar experiences of losses of staff and buildings. i wonder what time of life our culture will become less on the reactive side and move into a more proactive position.