Football is in the air

For the most part, I've lived in cities that are not wild about college sports. Northern Cali and Dallas are not college cities. Now Dallas does have a nice Texas Vs. Texas AM thing going on. But, for the most part, pro sports rule.

Then I moved to Raleigh. Now Raleigh is a great city, I really miss the place. It was the first city I lived in where college sports dominated the culture. Although, this year I'm sure hockey was HUGE.

But I loved it, I love Sept to Mid-March. And I learned something, college sports is so much cooler then pro sports. Now, I've always loved college sports, huge Georgetown fan, (b-ball) and Notre Dame fan in football. But it was always second fiddle to pro sports.

All that to say this, I'm so stoked college football season begins today. Raleigh taught me a lot about college sports, the passion, dedication and commitment that fans and alum have is truly amazing.

So let's get it started, I just hope Notre Dame and Texas do not play each other in the championship game,

Films Shot In Austin

UPDATE:

Looks like I made someone mad with my love for Austin. (not sure why, of course I'm not sure if people know, but bloggers can read all incoming links and who they are and all that) Of course, this person was a wimp and posted anonymously, ya no guts at all. So, I had to turn comment moderation back on, which is lame. BTW-This is my blog, so if you do not like my comments about the city I live in then delete me from your blogroll-just a thought, you DO NOT HAVE TO READ MY BLOG!

Sorry for the interruption...Now back to your regularly scheduled program.

______


Films Shot In Austin To Be In Theaters Soon.

Austin is becoming a little Hollywood. I think close to 10 films are being shot in here as we speak. Below are a few that will make it to the theatre's soon.

-Idiocracy
-Infamous-Sandra Bullock
-Texas Chain Saw Massacre:The Beginning
-Fast Food Nation
-The Return
-Grind House-Quentin Tarantino


It will be fun to see these flicks.

My Blog World Is getting Bigger

I'm always keeping up with the blog world. I've met so many new friends and I get to keep in touch with all my friends, it's a win-win for sure. Now these cats below are some real cool people doing great stuff for the Kingdom.

Eugene is the lead pastor at Quest Church in Seattle. I really dig Quest, and if we plant here in Austin, they will be a model for us along with a few other churches.

I've just found Earl Creps blog. Earl leads the D.Min program Assemblies of God Theological Seminary. At one time I was on track to attend AGTS. Anyhow, Earl is a much needed Pentecostal voice to the emerging or should I say missional conversation. Earl also has a new book coming out: Off-Road Disciplines: Spiritual Adventures of Missional Leaders

I hope you enjoy these folks.

Peace & Love from Austin

New Friends & Ventures

I hung out with Brian today at Seattle Best Coffee. Brian is on staff at Vox Veniae. (formerly Liquid)

Vox Veniae's first gathering is Sept 10. So please pray for them. I had a good conversation with Brian. Austin pastors seem very committed to unity and the overall kingdom. So that is refreshing.

In other news...I have been asked to join Blink Consulting. I'm giving it a trail run for the next month. My buddy Kevin has some mad skills. So my job is to drive business. We have lots of idea's. So please pray that God will give us wisdom & of course deals. Looking forward to jumping in.

Peace & Love

Austin Stats

Interesting:


Austin is:
1. The 2nd best place to live. 800,000+ unchurched
2. Home to the largest university in the country. 50,000+ unchurched
3. The #1 city for singles
4. One of the fastest growing cities in the US"

Via Vox Veniae.

Busy Weekend

We finally made it back home from Dallas. Two long days. But fun and worth it. A few interesting things that happened:

Saturday morning we were driving on the freeway in Dallas and we noticed cars quickly stopping in the middle of the freeway...I looked ahead and I saw the 4 lane freeway empty, no movement, no lights or sirens. Then, two other cop cars quickly swooped in and forced traffic off the freeway. All of sudden, I noticed a fire truck on the overpass. Some dude climbed over the overpass fence and was trying to jump and commit suicide. Man that was so sad. How could someone get so desperate that they would climb a fence and jump off a bridge on the freeway?

We hung out with family Saturday night at Blue Goose. Good to see them, and the food was great.

We are no longer Ikea virgins. That's right, for the first time in our lives, we went to Ikea. That place is nuts, I thought we would never get out. We did not spend much cash. (Thank you Jesus) It was a bit surreal walking out of the store, like 30 mini- vans had pulled up to the front so they could load up their stuff.

Although, I was a bit disappointed when I unwrapped our dishes and found out they they were made in Chine. Hmm...Not cool!

We came home tonight with only three family members...Kenzie stayed in Dallas to hang with grandma. So sad. I miss her already.

Time to go...Hope you had a great weekend.

Peace & Love

Some Stuff

I hung out with Jim Mueller, who is planting Austin City Church. They have their first gathering Sept 10th. I dig their sanctuary, they made it into an art gallery and they have some really cool paintings available to view. I think this church is going to do real well. Plus Jim studied in Cambridge, so jealous.

Jim also took me to Flipnotics, which is a great cafe with a huge outdoor patio. So cool. Thanks Jim for hanging.

Also, my buddy Jeff Foust called me Tuesday, he was going to be in town and wanted to hang out and grab some drinks. I was like negative on the drinks (they cost money) and then he informed that the drinks are on the firm (he is a lawyer) so I was like sure, I have the whole night free :)

So last night I headed downtown for my first Austin night life experience. Let me just say this, WOW! Downtown was filled with energy, so many people it was crazy. We headed to Flemings, which is a steak house & wine bar. These lawyer boys & girls are crazy, dropping $100 bottles of wine like it's tap water. I sat next to a judge, how fun. Someone asked the judge how he got his job. He relied back, "well I started to tithe, and God blessed me and opened up the door." Let's just say that changed the tone of the room quite a bit :) Of course my buddy boss owns a share in a private jet, has a house in Colorado and the Carribean. He found out I was clergy, we started chatting, he goes to church every Sunday, of course latter that night he headed to the strip clubs. He asked me about being a Christian, I told him I do my best to follow Christ, he relied...Well, I go to church every Sunday, I never miss. I told him a lot people go to church and Sunday, but they do not follow Christ. He asked me what I meant, I told him a true Christ follower follows Christ outside the walls of the church. He was silent, but he still paid for my drinks and food. AMEN!

We are now off to Dallas for the weekend to work and hang with the family, should be fun.

blogger is a pain in the ass

So a few days ago I see this nice new blue box in my blogger dashboard. It tells me that I've been chosen to migrate my blog to blogger beta. I'm pumped, and in a moment of stupidity I do it. (Usually I wait for bugs to be worked out before I do stuff like this)

Well, my blog crashes, I'm locked out of my dashboard and I get this lame page for the past four days telling me that my blog is being moved. Maybe you have seen that page?

I email blogger, jump on the blogger help boards etc. Well, nothing. Nope, blogger did not reply to my email. A blogger employee did respond to my post in the help boards after a few days of me whining and screaming like a little puppy dog that just got attacked by a pit bull.

So today I tried to login and see if my blog was working. Yep, it is...kinda. My blog is working with the old blogger platform, but not new beta. So what gives blogger? You cats really screwed this up big time. Hopefully google will not be the next microsoft. To big to be any real use.

Now to be fair, I like a lot of the new tools that beta has. So I'm not giving up yet. Although I did create a wordpress blog just in case I jump ship.

I will keep you updated, and my advice...Do not migrate your blog for a while.

Getting To Know Some Folks

I had lunch with Don, who is the pastor of Austin Mosaic. It felt good to get out and be in conversation with like minded folks. Austin Mosaic seems very similar to Sacred, which is way cool.

Since Don is a local Austinite, and I am not a local Austinite (yet), he took me to a real cool Brazilian Tex- Mex place, yummy!

Tomorrow I'm hanging out with another pastor, should be fun. I love to explore, build relationships and learn from other folks.

Sunday Reflections

Yesterday we decided to get out and explore the city of Austin. We headed downtown and went to Amy's Ice Cream . Amy is a local business owner and she is really involved in the community. And her ice cream is real good, but it's also a little expensive.

Then we headed to Ruta Maya Coffee House. Ruta Maya was ranked one of the top 10 coffees in America by Food & Wine Mag. So I had to check it out. I bought a pound of fair trade, organic coffee for $8.50. How sweet is that! Looking forward to going back and hanging at this place.

After some joe, we headed to The Austin Stone Community Church. Austin Stone is one of fastest growing churches in America. Chris Tomlin lead worship and Matt Carter (lead pastor) spoke on tithing. Lot's of young worshippers and the place was packed.

After church we headed to Rudy's "Country Store" & Bar-B-Q. Man this place is so good. The best BBQ I've had. And it's another locally owned business, which is cool. I love the fact that all the cash that we spent yesterday went to locally owned businesses. Out of every $100 we spend, if we buy corporate, only $14 goes back to the local economy. If we buy local, $44 goes back to the local economy. (I'm pretty sure those numbers are correct) So it feels good to support locally owned businesses.

Now it's time for the weekly grind. And the Red Sox SUCKED this week.

My Theology?

I re-took this test just for fun. I think they got it right, for the most part. I consider my theology to be somewhat of a mixed bag. I refuse to be boxed into any label. I think labels can be counter productive to any theological conversation, because when we "label" ourselves we tend to do whatever it takes to prove why we are right in what we believe.

Of course, the flip-side of this is you have to know what you believe and be able to communicate that belief system to some extent. So the tension exists. I'm not sure if this is right or wrong; but it's me. Below is a snap-shot of my basic beliefs.

Quick Thought, this is very much a stream of consciousness, so I could easily disagree with myself. :)

1. I'm in the middle of the calvinism/arminism debate.
2. I believe all the spiritual gifts are in operation today; I just do not like how most are portrayed and I feel like most churches abuse the gifts; such as prophecy, tongues, miracles etc...
3. I believe that heaven and hell exist. Who goes where? Well that is a little more complicated, and I do not have time to discuss what I believe. Nor am I sure I could articulate my beliefs.
4. I believe that women can be elders in the church. But I also believe that men are called to be leaders in the household. I also think this theology is really abused and most folks do not get this right.
5. I still consider myself conservative, with a liberal bent. That being said, I tend to want to distance myself from the conservative party or what may be known as the evangelical right, who supports conservative politics. I DO not believe that Ted Haggard, Pat Robertson or The Liberty dude (forgot his name) speaks for me. Nor do I think Brian Mclaren, Emergent Village, Mark Driscoll or any other "big-wig" speaks for me. I respect all of the above that I mentioned, but I also sharply disagree with them on many issues. (especially, the first three mentioned, ouch) But I try to learn from them all.
6. I believe in a humble orthodoxy; one that respects and listens to all people, yes, even other religions. But I also believe that we must be people of conviction and we have to learn when to "stand firm."
7. I think it's vital that we connect with culture. I think we tend to add layers of "don't do's," that hide the beauty of Jesus and bring forth a "religious spirit" that is not Godly or healthy. So, I do not mind smoking, drinking, dancing, playing cards, and hanging out with the "bad" people or what may be otherwise known as sinners.

Although, we must pursue holiness. Which to me is loving your neighbor, serving the world, saying no to consumerism and spending your money right (or should I just say, learning to be a good steward in life in general). Messy is good in my book, as long as it's not an excuse to live in sin.

I also believe that faith and struggle are essentials to the Christian faith.

Ok enough, not sure why I even did this, but I think the biggest reason is simple; I'm constantly trying to understand myself and my role within the church. And at this point my conclusion is, I do not fit in with any certain organization or denomination. But I do desire to help all Christ-followers to become missional believers, who walk "humbly before God" and who desire to bring "healing to humanity," which can only be done by God's love, grace and power. AMEN!

======================

You scored as Evangelical Holiness/Wesleyan. You are an evangelical in the Wesleyan tradition. You believe that God's grace enables you to choose to believe in him, even though you yourself are totally depraved. The gift of the Holy Spirit gives you assurance of your salvation, and he also enables you to live the life of obedience to which God has called us. You are influenced heavily by John Wesley and the Methodists. Evangelical Holiness/Wesleyan 82% Emergent/Postmodern 71% Neo orthodox 68% Reformed Evangelical 57% Charismatic/Pentecostal 50% Fundamentalist 46% Classical Liberal 43% Roman Catholic 36% Modern Liberal 29% What's your theological worldview? created with QuizFarm.com

RED SOX FUNERAL

Um, what happened to the Red Sox? Dude, how can they allow 26 runs in two games and get swept by the freaking Yankees at Fenway!

So freaking lame...Man it makes me want to cry, or yell or something.

Lost

Necole and I watched Lost for the first time last night. It's so good.

I'm not sure if it's better then 24, but it's close. Now it's time to start season 1, disc 2. SWEET!

Blogger Beta

In case you have not heard, Blogger Beta is now available. For a tech-slacker like me, It seems they have added some really cool features and it's real simple to use. My one complaint is the lack of creative templates available. Oh well!

Also, cable dude came today, thank God. Although he did try to over charge me, so I spent like an hour on the phone fighting with Time Warner. They originally told me the install was $76, but they wanted me to pay like $130. NOT GOING TO HAPPEN. So, the dude is done with the install, and he ask for my check of $130. I'm like no way dude, call your people and let's talk...So he did, and they (TW) told me I needed to pay the full amount and a supervisor will call me in two hours to hammer out the details and see if they over charged me. Even though I had in writing and the customer service rep's name in front of me, that I was to pay $76. So, I told the dude to unhook everything and I will find another provider. He was not happy (although he told me this always happens) but hey, I can't afford to give away 40 bones...He then called his people back and somehow they decided that they should charge me was they originally told me :)

Customer service seems so lame anymore, I told the "supervisor power-hungry lady" that they should send an email confirmation so this crap does not happen. She told me that was a good idea and she would pass it on. I mean, is that really that innovative? Nope, I wish I was that good!

Ok, but now the net is on, cable is on, the red sox are playing the yanks and PGA championship is in full swing and I can get on the net from the comfort of my own home. Good day for sure!

I Must Stop Reading

The last few days have been a bit strange for me. I have such a real sense of God's "aliveness," my spirit is a bit overwhelmed. On one hand, I'm doing my best to focus on practical issues that I'm facing. But, to be honest...I just want to take a Bible, a few books, some good music and a journal and go on a week long hike, or spend some time at a monastery or a camp. But that not happening right now.

In the meantime, this scripture is crushing my soul:

Epaphras, who is [one] of you, a servant of Christ, saluteth you, always labouring fervently for you in prayers, that ye may stand perfect and complete in all the will of God. Col 4:12

I want to stand confident in God's will, I want to hear His voice. But, that is easier said then done, right?

and this quote by MLK JR had got me thinking for sure:

“Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about the things that matter."

Honestly, I think much of this burden that I feel has to do with some of the books that I'm reading, like Driscoll's latest book Confessions of a Reformission Rev.

This book is raw, honest, funny and heavy. But really good. I can only read a few pages and I want to spend time in prayer and reading other "views," but no time for that. Sometimes I also want to take my cigar and light the book on fire and throw it in the dumpster, but hey...I keep reading.

I'm also reading Dallas Willard latest: The Great Omission: Reclaiming Jesus's Essential Teachings on Discipleship.

Dallas simply paints a picture of who I want to become as a Christ follower.

And finally I'm still reading NT Wright Simply Christian: Why Christianity Makes Sense.

Another really good book. Wright & Willard works have such a huge impact on me, I guess the best way to put it is that I simply resonate with what they are saying. It's so natural for me.

Now Driscoll is a different story, he makes me mad, but in a good way. We differ on much theology, but not on missiology.

Of course, if you add the Bible to these books, no wonder my heart is so freaking burdened and messed up. This stuff will screw with you, cause you to think, ponder, wonder and change, of course change is hard, and difficult and not fun, but its needed.

Lord change me, for your glory!

Whew, Net Access

Thoughts on my first few days in Austin:

Three flights of stairs is really hard, I about died taking what little stuff we had, it's 40 stairs in all, man I'm way out of shape. For my NC friends think "Chris getting lost in the mountains, and he is close to passing out." Only problem is I did not have Faas to help me :)

We went to Cici's pizza, let me just say this, the best thing they have is COKE! (blah)


Do not go shopping for school clothes with a 6 year old. It's freaking impossible. She knew what she wanted, and she was not about to budge. Bailey's whole wardrobe has some kind of pink in it.

I love the business climate in Austin. It's young, creative and energetic. Looking forward to diving in.

It's hard not having web access, it seems like my life is on the web, and without instant access, I get a little lost.

So far, our apartments are real cool. Saturday night we had folks BBQ (ing), playing poker, and playing football in our square. It's a mixed bag, families, singles, young and old married couples etc. Tonight, we our heading to a "back-to-school" pizza party at the pool. Good chance to get to know our community.

Time to go.

Peace & Love

More Random Thoughts

We are here and ready to start the lovely job of unpacking. We are on the 3rd floor. (FUN) I do not have net access for the 1st week, so it looks like I will be getting to know all the cool cafes in town. (who would have thought)

Bailey starts school on Monday, Necole starts work on Monday and I take my Real Estate test on Friday. 10 hour study days ahead. Fun!

I may head to Houston and take on J and his crew in poker. Of course I will need to win to cover the gas money :)

Yesterday was hotter then the hottest part of hell, (at least I hope) it was wicked, 104 PLUS HIGH HUMIDITY. (As all my Seattle friends laugh)

Well, time to leave. See you on the flip side.

Peace & Love

Random Thoughts

We head to Austin tomorrow, sweet!

Can't wait for Fall, I hate the month of August. My least favorite month of the year. And Fall, Winter & Spring in Austin is great, Summer, not so.

We really need some rain, bad.

Red Sox are driving me nuts right now. How we get swept by the FREAKING Royals?

Football season is soon, how cool is that? Go Raiders. Maybe, just maybe we will be 8-8 this year. I just hope the Broncos suck. I mean, did they not draft Clarett?

I hope Notre Dame wins it all, but I think their schedule is to tough.

Off to bed...Peace & Love

Just A Thought

So today Necole received a phone call, it was Bailey's new 1st grade teacher. She wanted to introduce herself and answer any questions that we may have. She spoke with Bailey for a few minutes and Bailey was like the happiest 6 year old in the world.

Now I personally never heard of something like this, it was creative, professional and very encouraging.

You Are Not Alone!

So the last few days I've had a kinda of mini personal revival. I guess I would call it a time of refreshing. I'm so pumped to be a Christ-follower, to partner with God and use my gifts to help reconcile my generation back to God, so they can understand their role in His story. That is what makes me tick. Man I'm so pumped.

I was praying tonight, I have so many needs (or so it seems) yet I hate when my own prayer life becomes about me. So, I prayed for some others, so I thought I would blog my prayers:

1. I prayed for Hungry and the new church plant in Raleigh. Man, I love Jeff and Gore. These are some great men of God, and God is going to do some real cool stuff with them. Guys, I may be like 1500 miles away, but I with you in spirit.

2. Prayed for Vintage 21. Great church and Tyler is a real cool authentic dude. I think this church will make a huge impact in Raleigh.

3. Prayed for Ken and Brenda. That they would have a smooth transition, and God would bless them and lead them to a new future and with a new community in Seattle. I love and really miss those guys, even Sally!

4. Prayed for Pathways Church in Mill Creek, WA. I think these boys are on to something. How to build a missional church in a suburban context. A real need for sure. Plus, I had a long conversation over IM with John today, needless to say I was getting a little excited, of course I ranted a bit to!!!!!!! (I prayed for theohacks, is that what it's called? It's been so long, I dunno) :)

5. Prayed for the Ashdowns. That God would surround them with an amazing creative community in Houston. And that they would have kids soon. (j/k)

6. Prayed for Ryan Van Sickle and his trip to Africa. Ryan, don't let the burden die!

7. Prayed for my missionary friends who are living out life abroad. Steven in S. Africa and Mark in Budapest. That God would provide for them, protect them and use them to share the beautiful story of Christ Africa and Europe.

8. Prayed for many of the Sacred folk that I love and care for, who are still in Raleigh trying to live missional. Sacred is over, but the impact never dies. (I can tell you story after story that I've heard about in the past few weeks, very refreshing)

I get so excited to hear what God is doing. Man life is short, live hard for God!

Speak Up Now

What is your opinion?

The last few months we have lived on the east coast, west coast and mid-America. Each location has it's good points and bad points for sure. One things that is frustrating is trying to locate your favorite fast food joints, because the cool ones are regional.

So I was asking Ashdown if he preferred Bojangles or In-N-Out Burger. I will let J speak for himself.

So the questions is this, what is your favorite fast food joint? Leave a comment.

The Light Is Getting Bright!

So yesterday was a good day. We landed jobs, good jobs. So that is a blessing. Now we still need to come up with the funds to move in this Friday. We have money coming in next week, but hey, that is not this week :)

So the struggle continues...But the light is at the end of the tunnel and it's getting brighter.

BTW-Mad props to the person who sent me this. I came home late last night and I saw a cool Amazon box. (it's been awhile since I saw one of these bad boys)

Anyhow, I will give you a hint of who he is: Plays guitar, loves Bojangles' * Famous Chicken 'n Biscuits, married up, lives in H-town, loves LA, (soon to be Austin)drinks way to much Hennessey, smokes rolled tobacco, plays halo (I beat him all the time), one of the best worship leaders in America.

Peace & Love

YouTube - OK Go - Here It Goes Again

WOW, very creative and fresh approach. This video has been seen over 2 million times in just two weeks. Can you say viral. Check it out- YouTube - OK Go - Here It Goes Again

Got It or Should I Say Got Them!!!

Whoops-Necole now has three job offers :)

Necole scored two jobs today! WOW, now we have to choose. So pumped, thanks for your prayers.

Peace & Love

Andy Stanley

Good quote by Andy Stanley:

"Leaders chase opportunities."

That is really really really good!

Apple News

Tiger, now Leopard.
Does it seem strange that pc users still have Window X`P. I thought Vista was suppose to come out like two years ago. :)

Prayer Request

Update: Necole scored a few more job interviews. And she got a second interview (the one that she really wants or should I say the one that we really need)tomorrow in Austin. So, we are off again in the morning. My faith is high and the journey is good.

____________________________

So we are now 5 days till we move to Austin. I have 6 major needs that I've been praying and fasting for. Of those six, only two has come to pass. *sigh*

So, here are some prayer request that I have.

1. We need the remaining funds to move into our place. ($600)
2. Necole's job. She has one that she really wants. Pray that they choose her (if God willing) and that she starts sooner rather then later. ( I have a part-time gig for now)
3. Daycare for Kenzie.

That is enough for now. It feel good to be able to blog this, knowing that friends from all over the world will be praying for me tomorrow. I think sometimes we have to lay our pride down and ask for help. I'll let you know when the prayers are answered and thanks ahead of time for your prayers.

Peace & Love and my hope is sooooooo high, God is so good.

The Village Church

UPDATE: So for some odd and unknown reason, we went back to the Village tonight. Now I've only been to a few churches in the past 4 months, so I was surprised that I had some motivation to try to make it to the 5PM service.

The service was great, Matt is a great communicator, brought the word and mixed in some good humor. Plus, I NEEDED to hear what he said. It was a blessing.


So we attempted to go to the The Village Church this morning. We arrived right when the service started. We put Bailey and Kenzie in their class and headed towards the sanctuary...Only to find out that the church was full. Yep, we had to leave. No luck. I could be pessimistic and complain, but I think it's great.

I know for a fact that they have planted another church last year and they have 4 services each Sunday. Now they are adding a fifth on Saturday night. Anyhow, that was the first time in my life that I could not attend of a church for a lack of seating.

Peace & Love

Life-Or The Lack Thereof

Necole and I have had multiple conversations about our crazy journey that we have endured and embraced over the past four months. One thing is for sure when you go through times like we have, you tend to ask a lot more question. To be truthful, it seems like it's easier to focus on God and to process life when you are in desperate situations. I keep asking a few key questions; like hearing God's voice, or knowing God's will.

I guess you could say that Necole and I know a lot more about ourselves now than we did 4 months ago. Here are some observations:

We love simplicity. Life is so complicated and stress levels run high. But I think the church must be a voice of simple living.

Status Quo oh no-We are truly not interested in status quo living. It's so boring and mundane. (Although sometimes necessary) Our goal is not to get good jobs, have a few kids, buy a home and attend 27 soccer games per week. By no means is this wrong, but it's just not us. God just did not design us to be this way. Ed Young Jr. has some good things in his book Kid CEO. So many parents design their lives COMPLETELY around their kids. Is that healthy? I think not.

Community-For the most part, we have very complicated family situations. I think this is the biggest reason why we desire community. Community means more to us than money, success, title, or even being right. I love community, especially diverse community, community where people disagree and live messy lives, but a community where love is true and acceptance is not optional.

Missional Living-Nothing really matters to us outside of being missional followers of Jesus.

Adventure-Necole and I often wonder why parents assume when they have kids they have to stop "living." Now, there is a season where Neocle and I would rather have stayed at home. Like when Kenzie was a baby and Bailey was a toddler. Remember, my first point was simplicity. :) Life is not simple with a baby and toddler.

Anyhow, we dream of doing so much; like traveling, exploring, educating, understanding other cultures, dealing with poverty, helping our global brothers and sisters in Christ. I dream about hanging with Mark in Budapest, or Steven in South Africa. I want to help, bring hope and feel like I'm living a life based on eternity and I'm not going to regret my life when I'm 60.

Why I'm I saying all this? When you go through tough times, times when It seems like the voice of God is silent, your decision making is flawed and life is not going the way you want. It is in these times that you find your values, what makes you tick, and what keeps you up at night. I know myself now more then I did 4 months ago. I know what I want to do with my life, I know I want to live a life of no regrets, a life of adventure and I life that is based on mission. I want to live life, follow Jesus, love my family and be a "friend that is closer than a brother." I do not want to live in safety or the mundane.

Life is meant to be lived to the full. And that is why I love living.

eBible Pimp

I've been called the eBible.com pimp. So, let me do some more pimpin. I got three invites. If you want one leave me your email address in the comments.

Peace & Love

Austin Is Home

I'm in Austin. When I'm here I feel alive, I feel home. I'm now starting to network and meet some pastors in the area. Some cool churches doing some cool things in the city. I'm looking forward to "jumping in" and seeing what God is going to do.

Peace & Love from Austin.

BTW-Gore you never called me back you sucka!!!! :)

Music Is Soooooo Good

For whatever reason I've been blessed with some cool friends who are worship leaders. Over the past few days I've been spinning their tunes in my times of prayer or study. It's been a true blessing to hear their music and their hearts. I know I've posted about them before, but of you are looking for some cool indie worship music, I would check these guys out:

Ryan Van Sickle's blog & music website.

Wahba's blog and music website.

Jasen Ashdown's blog & myspace.

Enjoy

Peace & Love

Test Time (Yikes)

I finally got the paperwork that I needed in order to take my real estate test. Which is cool. But now the stress begins. (fun fun fun)

Anyhow, I take the exam next Friday. So please pray for me.

Also, tomorrow Necole has three interviews in Austin. So pray for her.

Peace & Love from one stressed out dude!

BAD NEWS ALL THE TIME

Is it me, or does the world seem so negative these days? Maybe we have to much access to information. Wars, robberies, poverty, political upheavals etc.

I know the "gospel" is good news, right? Yet, to be frank...It seems like all I personally ever hear about the "good news" is how many people showed up to a Sunday morning gathering. Now maybe that (numbers) is good, and I think they are or could be. But, is that it, Is that the climax? Is the ultimate goal to get a lot of folks to church on Sunday mornings?

Of course, you always have the flip side: people that tend to do nothing but criticize the church, or politics or whatever they are upset about. I mean, I've stopped reading some blogs that do nothing but complain about Bush, or the church. That is so boring! Say something if you want, but also tell stories about God and His goodness and what he is doing to help restore the world and His kingdom. PLEASE!

What does good news look like these days...? When I read the Bible, I can feel the good news...Healing, miracles, a new way of living, forgiveness being poured out, self-esteem being returned, hope renewed etc.

Hey, maybe it's me. I do not want to ignore the issues that our world faces, I personally think we as Christ-followers are called to stand in the crossroads of our generations and point people in the right direction. BUT, I just get so tired of hearing negative news all the time.