Ted Haggard

Update 2: Here's the news report.

After Pastor Ted Haggard went public Wednesday night denying allegations of a homosexual affair, senior church officials told KKTV 11News Thursday evening, Pastor Ted Haggard has admitted to some of the claims made by a former male escort. The church's Acting Senior Pastor, Ross Parsley, tells KKTV 11 News that Pastor Haggard has admitted to some of the indiscretions claimed by Mike Jones, but not all of them.

Update: According to news reports this morning-Haggard has confirmed that SOME of the allegations are true.

Now I still think we must be patient and allow time to unpack all this. But the reality is rather harsh, because the backlash will be intense. This will truly be a black eye for the church. This reminds me of the Baker/Swaggart era.

Anyhow, I think it's important for the church to react swiftly, if mistakes were made let's admit them, repent and ask for forgiveness. NO COVER UP"S PLEASE, this is not politics for God's sake!

Also, we do need to pray for Haggard and his family. And we need to find the redemptive opportunities that can and will come out of this situation.

Quick Thought: By no means did I really see Haggard as my leader because he led the evangelical association. I guess I'm one who is on the edge of those labels. But I do see the importance and implication that this will cause the church. Therefore this is important to me.

_________________________


Ted Haggard stepped down amid sexual ALLEGATIONS. Man this is not good, I hope it's not true. I'm not really into Haggard or many of his beliefs, but I hope he did not do what they say he did.

Click here to read the article.

Partnerships

I just got off the phone with Steve Saccone who is the director/leader of Mosaic Alliance. Great conversation. I've been searching for some like-minded folks that I can partner with. I personally believe that the right partnerships can catapult a church (or any organization) and the wrong partnership can slow-down or even cause death in a church. (or any organization) Partnerships helps create the ethos of the organization. Good ethos = good organization, bad ethos = bad organization. I must partner with the right people who will help me achieve my God-given dreams.

So, I'm hoping to connect with partners that will stretch me and help me grow as a leader. But the partnership must understand the mission and help me stay on track. One of my biggest frustrations in life has been my lack of focus. I'm determined to stay on mission, and stay focused on the dreams that God has birthed in my heart.

Anyhow, I say all that to say this:

I've been invited to attend ethos in New York City (At Columbia). Mosaic Alliance is going to help off-set some of the cost. But I still need to cover my plane ticket and day-to-day expenses. So, if anyone out there would be willing to help...Please let me know. Also, please pray for me, this would be a huge opportunity.

Copeland

The new Copeland CD rocks. If you don't have it get it, you'll be happy!

I'm A BAD BAD BAD LAKER FAN

So last night, after the kids & candy thing, we put the little ones to bed. Necole was blitzed also so she went to sleep early.

So that left me with a chance to catch the Laker game. But I was a bit tired and all, but there is no freaking way I'm missing opening night. Of course I found out that Kobe was not playing (BITTER) and neither was Mihm and Kwame.

Therefore the chances of the Lakers winning were not all that high. But hey, I'm a believer so I watched the first quarter. Of course we played BAD and the Suns played GOOD so we were down by 19. I thought for sure we were done. So I turned out the lights and went to bed.

Then morning arrived. I kissed my wife, hugged my kids and opened the iBook to see the score. Holy cow, what-I could not believe the score. I screamed like a little girl who just found her lost doll...So sweet.

I miss winning championship and all, but I love this team, because they are a TEAM. They like each other and they want each other to succeed. Of course Phil Jackson is a stud and for those who thought he only won 9 rings because of Scotty, MJ, Kobe and Shaq, well I think they will no longer be criticizing PJ. (after last years success)

The season has started, 81 games left-I LOVE IT!

How Sad & Frustrating

I saw this somewhere in the blog world, but lost connection, therefore I cannot give credit

From Relevant Magazine:

Nov/Dec. 2006, page 30 (Sobering Fact #23)


If Christians had given the traditional 10 percent tithe of their income to their churches in 2004, instead of the 2.56 percent that they actually gave, there would have been an additional $164 billion available, according to a report released in October called "The State of Church Giving through 2004." If the churches chose to funnel just $70-80 billion of that additional income to missions and humanitarian works, the basic needs of every person on the globe would be provided.

All I can say is WOW. Of course, I do have to ask myself some very important questions, assuming most of this money is being given to the local church:

1. Would the church "funnel" these funds to humanitarian projects, missionaries, and other various organizations to help eradicate the most basic needs of the world? Or would they build larger buildings, spend more money on various programming, pay the "staff" larger salaries, put more into retirement accounts, etc.

Also, if the above statement is true, the very fact that the world suffers is because Christian simply lack the obedience to give back to God what he requires. How tragic!

Bailey's Dance-Enjoy!

The Art Of Reading

So I'm trying to learn the art of reading. What I mean by this is simple; how can I be a more effective reader? My schizophrenic type A personality tells me I need to read more. You know, if I read 2 books a week then I 'm a better leader; I will gleam more information, etc.

But I'm beginning to think that quality is more important than quantity. Now the important factor here starts with the book: it must be good, or else it's getting shelved rather quickly.

But if the book is good, I want the book to become a part of who I am, at least for a short season. For instance, as I read "In A Pit With A Lion On A Snowy Day," I want to allow the text to infiltrate my Spirit, to challenge my thinking and I also want to find space for praxis. How can I apply this to my life now and in the future?

Of course all books are a bit different. For instance, I'm reading Systematic Theology by Grudem. Good book, but I do not agree with many parts of it. So the challenge I face is three-fold.

1. Why do I disagree? How can I challenge the text, and find my own way and understanding?
2. Maybe I have to unlearn what I thought I already knew. Life is a process of learning and unlearning right? So maybe the things I disagree with, means I'm wrong, and God is expanding my thinking, and maybe causing me to come to a new conclusion, or should I say revelation.
3. The things I agree with, how can they benefit me, my family, my life, my city, etc? How can I let the principles sink deep within my Spirit so long-term change can take place?
Sometimes I get tired of all the information that I can access. It seems crazy how many "experts" and "pundits" there are out there trying to teach us more stuff. I love information, I love to learn, but I have to use caution. Too much information is bad, it can cause a lack of action or to much change to quickly.

Change is a double-edged sword and if your not careful, it can kill you. Too much change, too quickly can cause an unstable culture. Not enough change, over a long period of time, can cause death or a create a backwards momentum.

Plus, how many times do we seek a "pundit" over the ultimate Rabbi? Sure I want to learn from leaders, peers, and the so called pundits. But at the same time, I do not want to replace my ability to learn from God with my ability to learn from another human.

So read, read well, read diverse, but read smart.

BTW-I really have no clue why I posted this. Hope is makes sense.

Peace & Love from Austin

Fantasy Football

Well, yesterday did not go well for me. I got beat by Ashdown's team, by like 20 freaking points. The bad thing is this-Ashdown's has a scrub team. His best player is injured. So that speaks volumes of my team, ya not looking good. Plus I'm on a three game loosing streak.

So I may some trades...I hope they work, if not I may have to fire the gm, which is me.

YES!

Praise Jesus!

Barack Obama

Barack Obama was in Austin tonight. I could have heard him speak for free...The only problem is I had no clue he was in town till AFTER he spoke, dang it!

I Love Austin

So, I'm sitting in Seattle's Best Coffee in our apt complex. Biker dude rolls up in a fat Harley. I used to hate Harley's, now I love them. (why do I hate Harley's you ask, because my dad was a biker, my dad was a rough dude, feared by most in our city. I never liked that very much, or his gangster friends)

OK, back to the story-So dude walks in, looking biker tough and all. He takes off his cowboy hat, unpacks his bag and orders a cup of joe.

In his bag was a fat powerbook, blue tooth mouse, iPod, and an iSight. Of course he also had a razr phone.

He them rolls up to the counter an asks for a Americano and a pastry. Who knew? Simply nuts.

Of course it gets better...Dude gets a phone call on his slick razr. Must be the wife or daughter. He looked confused, then he ask "is the cat going to be OK?" The dude was really concerned and all.

I was trying not to stare (Nobody EVER stared at my dad, if they did it was not a good thing, since he always carried his 357 with him.)

But I guess the reality is this- you can't judge a book by it's cover, man I love Austin!

Barack Obama

Time magazine has a nice article on Barack Obama, who seems to be all the rage these days in politics. I hope the pundits are right, man this country really needs a fresh voice.

I'm so sick of politics, it seems impossible to really get anything done. I just hope we can get a fresh voice, a leader who cares more about America (and the rest of the world) then themselves, their agenda or their political affiliation. I'm not a Republican or a Democrat. I do want a strong leader who desires positive change. My biggest issue right now is Foreign Policy, we have to have dialog with our so called enemies and find some sort of understanding and hope. War does not get us far, As Amos Lee says, "Freedom is rarely found, by beating someone else down."

I like Obama, and I like John McCain. They seem to real and authentic. And our country really needs that now, IMHO! But I need to study these dudes. Is it just me, or does it seem hard to really find out what these cats believe?

At this point my simple take on Obama is this: He is humble, charismatic, and he seems to be a bridge builder. I think he could bring a lot of healing to our country. But, maybe he lacks the strength to make the hard decisions and lead our country. He seems a bit unclear on many of his "stances." If he "clears" up his philosophy and shows he can lead, I'll probably be punching his name of the ballot in 2008. And if Hillary is running, I will definitely be pulling for this guy.

Also, how cool would it be for America to have a black President? To me, this would bring so much healing to our country and the rest of the world. I'm a white dude, but man I get so tired of seeing so many white folks in power. Diversity is good!

But hey, I really have not taken the time to study this dude and try to understand his policy and dreams for our country. All I know is 2008 can't come soon enough. Not because I'm a Bush hater, I just think we need a change, a fresh perspective and some creative ways to move our world forward.

Anyhow, below are some interesting quotes from the article. Enjoy, as always, peace & love from Austin

Obama is doing something pretty rare in latter-day American politics: he is respecting their intelligence.

the other side is not evil

In The Audacity of Hope, I counted 28 impolitic or self-deprecating admissions. Immediately, on page 3, he admits to political "restlessness," which is another way of saying he's ambitious. He flays himself for enjoying private jets, which eliminate the cramped frustrations of commercial flying but--on the other hand!--isolate him from the problems of average folks. He admits that his 2004 Senate opponent, Alan Keyes, got under his skin. He blames himself for "tensions" in his marriage; he doubts his "capacities" as a husband and father. He admits a nonpopulist affinity for Dijon mustard; he cops to being "grumpy" in the morning. He even offers his media consultant David Axelrod's opinions about the best negative TV ads that could have been used against him in the 2004 Senate campaign. (He once--accidentally, he says--voted against a bill to "protect our children from sex offenders."

But those were politicians who had big ideas or were willing to take big risks, and so far, Barack Obama hasn't done much of either

The audience of students and activists sensed the Senator's timidity and became palpably less enthusiastic as Obama went on

Look, it's just not my style to go out of my way to offend people or be controversial just for the sake of being controversial. That's offensive and counterproductive. It makes people feel defensive and more resistant to changes.

Parenthood Woes

The past few days we've had kids from "the hood" over at our place. It gets so loud I have to put headphones on and seek God for refuge. This is definitely a bitter-sweet transformation.

NBA

The NBA season is upon us. Can't wait. With the the Red Sox's sucking worse then the bad news Bears, and the Raiders are no longer even considered a legit NFL team (Chandler stop smiling) I get the chance to to root for a team that has some sort of talent, flare and excitement.

Last season we almost upset the Suns to advance to round two. This year, I think it's going to be hard to improve. Because the WEST is so good. Maybe we can finish 6th.

Although, the Lakers seem to be having early health issues. Which for a team that is not deep, that can be tough.

Anyhow, the addiction will begin soon, I will stay up late, refreshing my browser, stressing about the all numbers like playoff seeding, games back, games left at home etc. Nuts, and I've been this way since 1983. OH MY GOSH!

Ashdown, can you get tickets to the Rockets and Lakers?

Firefox 2.0

Firefox 2.0 is now available. So if your itching to check out all the new stuff, here's your chance. As for me, I will wait a few weeks and let them work out any bugs.

A Quote To Live By

So I'm hanging out at Mozart's reading Mark Batterson's book: In A Pit With A Lion On A Snowy Day. So far the book is good and challenging. I personally believe that at this time in my life I needed to read this book. When we planted Sacred, NCC was a church that we watched and tried to learn from. I love how the levels of life have been flattened, how bloggers build great churches and write cool books and in some funny weird sorta of way, complete strangers have a sense of community and relationship.

I remember Mark blogging how he struck a deal with a book publisher. I can also remember Mark blogging on how he writes first thing in the morning. So it does seem a bit strange to actually be reading a book in which you understand (or have a better understanding) the background of the author and his points of view and all.

Anyhow, let me share this one quote with you:

Mark asks this questions:

"Are you living your life in a way that is worth telling stories about?"

Mark's first church failed, like mine. But he did not give up or call it quits. Now he pastors a church that is reaching twenty-somethings on Capital Hill. So his story gives me the courage not to give up and quit, but to move forward and fulfill my calling, so I can have a life that's worth telling stories about.

Peace & Love from Austin

Fantasy Football

So this is my first season playing fantasy football. I lost my first two games. Then I went on a three game win streak. But that did not last, and I've lost the last two games. But this week is mother of all matchup's. Why you ask...? Because this week I know I'm going to win, I can feel my opponent getting scared. This week I will not lose. I know it! Of course this week I play Ashdown's team. And J has a hurt Shawn Alexander, so that helps.

Ashdown, was shall we bet?

Blogger Beta

I switched to blogger beta, took five minutes and so far it works. Thank God!

Weekend Roundup

We made it back from Dallas last night, after two long days of work. Although, we were able to eat at la Madeleine French Bakery and Restaurant & Cafe Brazil, two of my favorite places to grub. But hey, rent is paid :)

Necole and I are TIRED of driving. So we are looking forward to hanging out in Austin this weekend, attending church and maybe we can make our way to some cool hiking spots or something.

Notre Dame is causing me some undue stress. But they pulled out another victory. Texas also pulled through and won on the road.

I rooted against the Raiders yesterday. I was hoping they would go winless. Oh well.

Hope you had a great weekend...Peace & Love from Austin.

BTW-Amos Lee is coming to Austin Dec 20th, SO FREAKING RAD!

Oh Dallas, Why Oh Why, Oh Dallas

We are off to Dallas for the weekend. This should be our last month working in Dallas. It sucks, because we can't really hang with friends while we are there. It's a constant non-stop work and all.

Anyhow, I think I landed a pretty big deal yesterday. I should be getting close to 2200 inspections per month. Plus, I will get some real estate listings from the bank. Our first month is Nov. So, we shall see if we get it, and how well it goes. Thanks for praying.

Peace & Love from Austin!

Yes, You Will Get Mad

Moronland.com - The Worlds Most Addicting Game

Stock Market

I used to be a stock market junkie. I was somewhat of a low end day trader. I had my Datek account, and I would follow my stocks throughout the day. (I'm very compulsive, just in case you didn't know) I can vividly remember a time when a friend told me to invest in this struggling company called Apple. I never used an Apple computer before 2002. Therefore I passed on my friends advice. Instead I invested thousands of dollars into my company-XO Communications.

Needless to say I was a bit shocked when I heard the Dow had closed over 12,000 today. Of course, I did a very lame thing and checked out Apple. As of today Apple is selling $80 per share. And I refused to buy them when it was $10, or maybe $8 per share.

BTW- my lame company went out of business in less then a year. Can you feel the pain?

Had I invested $1000 in 2000, I would have bought close to 100 shares of Apple. Now, those 100 shares would be worth $8000.

Of course I did diversify like any wise investor. I had Oracle, Red Hat, WorldCom and a couple of other that I forgot about.

Can you say lame lame lame! And Damon (my financial advisor, who no longer advises me cause I have no finances) if you are reading this please stop laughing.

Finally Fall?

Yesterday it was 90 and steamy. Then last night we had the cold front move in and our temperatures plummeted like 40 degrees. So today it finally feels like fall.

Prayer Request-I'm working on a rather large business contract right now. I have a tentative lunch appointment today. Basically I will be working for banks doing drive by home inspections for them. We may land a HUGE deal that covers central Texas. It's kinda of scary. I would have to hire multiple people in 3 weeks. We shall see. At best I may land a medium deal that will really help stabilize my family. So once again, remember the Marlow's when you pray!

Peace & Love from Austin!

Saturday & Sunday

Saturday we got up and headed to Austin Java for some yummy breakfast tacos. After hanging in Austin for a bit, we drove over to Houston. Ashdown was opening for Spur58. Jasen did awesome and Spur 58 was really good. Then Necole and I headed back to Austin. Man, when you get older, night driving sucks.

This morning, or should I say afternoon we headed over to Gateway Church's 12:30 gathering. Gateway's building is amazing, very artsy and creative, the coolest church building that I've ever been to.

Anyhow, after church we headed to Waco to pick up the girls and grub on some Rudy's BBQ. Fun weekend, now I need some rest :)

Busy Weekend

Jasen & Amanda came down (or over) to Austin Friday (along with their friend Nikki from LA) to hang for a few days. We headed downtown for an evening of fun, food, and music.

Our first stop was Hula Hut for some yummy food. Hula Hut is cool, located right off the Colorado River. Great vibe and good food at a reasonable price. After filling our stomachs we decided to walk next door to hang at
Mozart's Coffee Roasters, this is a really cool coffee shop. I can spend hours hanging at this place. So peaceful!

After some good food and coffee, we headed down to Emo's to hear Damien Jurado & Rosie Thomas. Of course the show started at 10PM, yikes. Rosie was great, Damien was drunk and the opening band was about as good as a bag of spinach laced with e coli.

As for 6th Street. WOW, what can I say, freaking amazing. It's so packed, the city has to close the streets. It was Mardi Gras Austin style. Unbelievable.

Of course my old age begin to kick in and I forgot what it was like to be awake at 2 freaking AM. Anyhow fun times for sure. But man was I happy to get home and sleep.

Day 2 a little later :)

The Red Nano

The Red Nano is now out. If you buy this bad boy for $199. Apple will donate $10 to the Global Fund to fight AIDS in Africa.

Not for sure if this is consumerism at it's worst, or if this is a way to raise legit funds for those who need it across our world?

Any thoughts? Is this a good thing or a bad thing?

New Music

Amos Lee latest album Supply And Demand is so good.

If you've never heard of Amos Lee, do yourself a favor and check this dude out, so much soul.

I'm hoping Ken will do a review at I Radio Heaven. I guess we will have to wait and see?

What Did She Say?

Kenzie is in Dallas with her granma and granpa and her aunt's. Today she had a play date set up with a boy that her auntie watches.

So, a few days ago I asked her if she was excited to see Clausen, she said yes and she also added that she loved him and wanted to get married to him, yippee yikes!!!

So here is a picture of their play date today. Of course she is 4, it's going to suck when she is 14 :)

iTunes Store - Jasen Ashdown - Be Still My Soul - Be Still My Soul

Jasen Ashdown's latest CD is now available on iTunes. Go get it, leave a review and enjoy the CD.

iTunes Store - Jasen Ashdown - Be Still My Soul - Be Still My Soul

Take The Money And RUN

Darn: Google buys YouTube for $1.65 billion.

Oh..Well!!!

Hey World

So we headed out this morning to the Texas Wildlife Festival. I had no clue it was going to be such a huge event. It was free, so that was cool, but it sucked so I'm glad it was free :)

Then we headed over to Shady Grove for lunch. Great burgers, great vibe.

After spending a few hours at home, we headed down to Mozart's Coffee Roasters. I got a tell ya, this was a great place. 3 huge decks over looking the water. Add some live music, coffee and some cheesecake, yummy! So many people, the line was way out door. Plus the weather today was amazing. Really great day.

So pumped the Yankees lost, they suck. 200 million dollar payroll and they lose 3 straight? LOVE IT!!!!!

Texas took down OU, and Notre Dame beat Stanford. Also, my fantasy football team should win this week.

Man, what a weekend, next week is going to be better when the Ashdown's roll in from H-Town.

Peace & Love from Austin

EPIC SPORTS DAY!!!!

Today is a simply great sports day:

2 baseball playoff game, including the Yankees losing 7-0 to the Tigers...YES!!!

Way to many good college football games.

TX is beating OU 21-10 (I'm still nervous)
Notre Dame already downed Stanford
Florida is beating LSU
Michigan is up 17 to 0 on Mich St.


Plus, Tennessee and Georgia tonight.

What a day!!!

the story i find myself in

Bitterness

Weekends Are Crazy

Well another busy weekend ahead. Necole's parents are coming for the weekend. And of course Bailey has a birthday party to attend tomorrow.

Looking forward to the Texas/Sooners came, its going to be nuts!

Next weekend the Ashdown's stroll in town. We are going to hit a concert and hang in the city, should be fun. Then Saturday Asdown is in concert in Houston. So, we are going to head that way and take in the show.

Of course the following weekend, we will go to Dallas for the purpose of work. The cool thing is we pay our rent only working one day, but I hate going to Dallas once a month to work. We do not get a chance to hang with the family and friends.

Of course this is fun and all, but it makes life tough trying to connect with a church and all, so we will see how that goes.

When Good Things Go Bad

Is google planning on taking over the world? While I like google and all, it seems like they are getting a little to big for my comfort zone!

Google 'in talks to buy YouTube'.

YouTube, JUST SAY NO!

For My NC Peeps

When I moved to NC we established a beautiful community of friends. Most of these "friends" were HUGE NC State fans. After a few heart-breaking losses in football and basketball, I begin to wonder if they would ever win. My friends begin to wonder if I should stop watching. Because when I watched, NC State seemed to lose.

So, last night I begin to watch the game. It was a really good college football game. Of course I was rooting for NC State. But I thought once again, maybe I was a curse when they could not get the touchdown on the 4th & 1, and Florida St romped 99 yards to score.

Then NC St begin to make a comeback. But, I had to go and I could not finish the game. I awoke this morning, and lo and behold, NC State won. Was I the curse, did I break the curse? I dunno, but at the end of the day, they won. So congrats to NC State and to my peeps in Raleigh. I love and miss all of you!

Peace & Love from Austin!

Scary Thinking?

Bob has some great stuff to say about Spencer Burke's latest book, you can check it out here.

Now, I have not read the book, but I've heard nothing but great things about Spencer as a person. That being said, the statements that he is making/claiming/discussing etc, are scary to me; like this one:

"Institutional Christians tend to have a very narrow and literal interpretation of the Bible. Christianity is the only way to reach God, certain Christians argue, because the Bible says so. It tells us that Jesus said, 'I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.'... So how do I interpret this particular Scripture? In the next chapter, I'll explore it more fully, but I don't believe it can be used to argue that Christianity is the only true religion. First, Christianity as a religion didn't exist when Jesus spoke these words. Compounding this point are two additional facts: no one actually recorded Jesus' words at the time he spoke them, so we have no proof that they are indeed his words, and what he did say, he said in Aramaic, which means that nothing in the Bible as translated into any other language can be taken literally anyway... to read this as a literal statement requires that I take the other statements about he makes about himself as literal. For example, Jesus declares that he is the bread and the vine and the Good Shepherd. Does that mean he is literally a loaf or a bread or a plant? Of course not! These are metaphors, clues to something about his character and person."

______________________

This does not make sense to me. I'm an open-minded dude, but...If this is the case, and if Spencer's argument rings true, then should not ALL of the Bible be thrown out also? Could we not include some other key elements like the life, death and resurrection of Jesus? Why then should we love our neighbors? Or "go" preach the gospel...? Hmm, why should I do that? Who do I preach to, who do I tell them about? To me, this type of thinking really pulls the rug out of the "authority" of the Bible. And if this is true, then Jesus and his story is great and cool. Kind of like Gandhi, or Martin Luther King Jr, or Desmond Tutu or some other great dude who lived a great life, but that is far from being God, and forgiving sin, and over-coming evil.

But, it has nothing to do with forgiveness of sin, the state of man, and the Lordship of Jesus Christ.

This is why I continue to distance myself away from the emerging conversation. About a year ago, I began to re-think the word emerging and I decided to use the word missional, because I'm still an Orthodox Christ follower and I still believe that Jesus is the way, the truth and the life. And I do believe heaven and hell exist.

Now I differ on much of my belief system I had from the 90's, and I'm culturally more liberal. And I would say I'm not a "fundamentalist" Christian anymore.

But I do believe in foundational Christian theology. Like the fact that there is "One true God," the Bible is "inspired" by God, and I have a calling to tell the world that Jesus died a bloody death on a cross because mankind messed up. And that Jesus came to remove our guilt and teach us a better way to live.

New Review Blog

My buddy Ken has created a new website called I Radio Heaven.

Basically, he is reviewing all the fun things to do in life, like drink beer, listen to music, read books, eat at restaurants, and watch cool movies and TV shows.

Plus, he is a great writer, and I'm assuming, hoping and praying that he is doing some writing and he will also add that to his site in the near future.

So, check it out, read it, blog it, RSS it, and leave a comment and let him know your thoughts.

He just posted a review of "The Killers" new album. I'm waiting for him to review "Amos Lee's" new album. If you have a request, leave him a comment,I'm sure he will oblige.

Weekend Reflections

Someone forgot to tell mother nature that fall starts in late Sept. So it's still rather hot right now.

Notre Dame won, which is good.

Last night we hung out with Tony & Candy who are planting a church in Cedar Park. We grubed at the Texas Road House, good food and it felt good to get out of the house.

This morning I got up and felt horrible. Allergies were beating me down. But I mustered enough strength to head out to Austin Java to grab some brunch. They had some killer breakfast tacos. I feel at home when I'm in downtown Austin.

Then we headed over to Austin City Church to check our their gathering. Which was cool. Very Sacred (ish), felt good.

They also do some GREAT things in the community. It almost felt like they were doing more cool things outside the four walls of the church then inside. Pub theologies, school of theology, festivals, art shows, teaching Greek & Hebrew etc.

Now it's time for another week. Looking forward to it!

New Book Alert

Mark Batterson, who serves as lead pastor of National Community Church in Washington, DC, and is a daily blogger @ Evotional.com, (which has been one of my favorite reads for the past 3 years) Mark lives on Capitol Hill with his wife Lora and their three children.

Mark has a new book coming out: In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day: How to Survive and Thrive When Opportunity Roars.

Book Description

Your greatest regret at the end of your life will be the lions you didn't chase. You will regret the risks not taken, the opportunities not seized, and the dreams not pursued. Stopping running away from what scares you most and start chasing the God-ordained opportunities that cross your path.

In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day is inspired by one of the most obscure yet courageous acts recorded in Scripture: Benaiah chased a lion down into a pit. Then, despite the snow and slippery ground, he caught the lion and killed it (II Samuel 23:20-21).

Unleash the lion chaser within!

I would encourage you to pick up a copy, read it, blog it, share it and pass it along to your friends. When i read my copy, I will do a review.

Peace & Love from Austin, TX

Vintage Jesus

Mark Driscoll had a great post on Vintage Jesus.

Below are a few quotes about Jesus from various famous folks:

Mark Twain:“If Christ were here now there is one thing he would not be—a Christian."

Jean-Jacques Rousseau: “Socrates died like a philosopher; Jesus Christ died like a God.”

John Lennon: “Christianity will go. It will vanish and shrink. I needn't argue with that; I'm right and I will be proved right. We’re more popular than Jesus now; I don't know which will go first—rock and roll or Christianity."

Sick Sick & Sick of Being Sick

I'm sick, which sucks. Hate being sick. Thank God for Golf, vodcast, podcast and books.

Gordon Conwell Rocks!

If you are looking for an in-depth theological study look no further. The good folks at Gordon Conwell have created this.

I must say that I'm highly impressed. They even offer you a certificate of completion. What is the charge? NOTHING, that is right it's free.

I love how the church is becoming more open-source. Free graphics, messages, bible studies etc. That is a good thing for the Kingdom of God.

HT: emergesque.

Hostage in school standoff dies

This story is to sad.. Freaking unbelievable.

I can vividly recall an erie phone from my buddy Rawd when I was a youth pastor in Dallas. He told me I needed to head to the office quick, one of our youths cousin was killed in the columbine incident. So sad, later that night, this couple was all over the national news. Crazy!

An innocent young girl is dead because some reckless dude. Sad, Sad, Sad!

Halo The Movie-Looks Good

Kids Rule Parents Drool

Spent the weekend in Dallas, doing our monthly work that we do up there. Fun, I guess. Good to see the family and play some poker.

I was reflecting on parenthood these past few days. Now that Bailey is in first grade, we have more restrictions on our schedule. Necole and I are free spirits, so it's been an adjustment. Bailey has close to an hour of homework per night.

Of course, school is never enough, parents have to try and keep up with other parents, so their little one "don't fall behind." How lame is that? Of course we are looking at outside school activities; like cheer-leading, soccer(gag), tennis, and gymnastics. Plus, every freaking Saturday is another b-day party to attend. So far we have gotten 4 invites in six weeks, enough already! It kinda sucks, I want my kids to be involved, I know that their is value in these activities. But sometimes I wonder how healthy it is for the whole family structure? Maybe mom's and dad's should spend more time together, that way they can still be married when their kids grow up, go to college, get married and have their own little ones.

Kids rule the roost, I love it, and I hate it. Parents can easily lose their soul to work and kids activities. As for me, I refuse to be one of those parents who live their life for their kids. If you know me, you know I love my girls more then anything, I would literally kill someone if I had to in order to protect them. I'm pretty much a pacifist...But, you got draw the line somewhere.

In the meantime, if you don't have kids, go make a baby :)

Notre Dame Is Killing Me

YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Notre Dame is killing me. Hanging in Dallas for work this weekend, and I just got home and fired up the tv in hopes that ND would be spanking Mich St butt.

Well, I guess not...They are spanking our butt. Last week I thought Michigan was THAT good. This week, I'm starting to think that ND (defense) is THAT bad.


Man we need a freaking miracle. C'mon touchdown Jesus!

BTW-If I lose in fantasy football tomorrow, I'm going to quit.

Alcohol use and the believer

There has been an on-going debate within the Southern Baptist circles in regards to alcohol consumption by it's clergy.

I personally call this extra biblical teachings. Don't dance, don't smoke, don't drink etc. Of course, very few times do you hear these denoms talk about over-eating, or what the bible would describe at gluttony.

I think it's sad that we pick & choose which issues are more important. I mean, at the end of the day, I think it's wrong for any believer to be addicted to anything. Like money, caffeine, alcohol, tobacco, FOOD, etc.

If we will not allow planters to pioneer a church if they drink, maybe we should not allow them to plant if they lack the discipline to eat a proper diet. Of course I would be in trouble. But for real, how many times have you seen a fat pastor tell his congregation that drinking and smoking is wrong, yet the buttons from his shirt is about to pop out. I call this hypocrisy!

Also, it seems to me that Jesus did not mind drinking some wine. And for those who say it was non-alcoholic wine, well they should study history. Although to be fare, the alcohol content was not quite what it is today.

The Pathway: Home: Alcohol use and the believer: Theology on-tap

HT: Steve McCoy

Tim Keller

DJ Chuang posted some great (dangerous) thoughts on his blog:

Why I like Keller more than Piper.

Tim Keller is by far one of spirtual hero's. I love this dude, he is wise, smart, and urban. He loves church planting and he walks with incredible humility. Which is something I need to learn :)

Go enjoy DJ's thoughts. As for me, I'm going back to study systematic theology and it's not even for a degree. It's because a friend unknowingly spoke wise words that left me convicted. So I'm spending an hour a day studying theology. NT Wright trilogy is next:)

Look & See

My favorite brown truck came to visit me today :)

Breaking the Missional Code: Your Church Can Become a Missionary in Your Community: Books: Ed Stetzer,David Putman

The Last Word: Beyond the Bible Wars to a New Understanding of the Authority of Scripture: Books: N.T. Wright

Christ Plays in Ten Thousand Places: A Conversation in Spiritual Theology: Books: Eugene H. Peterson

Reflections on Gospel

This morning I'm hanging at Genuine Joe Coffeehouse in N. Austin. At one time this cofeeshop was literally a house. It has a 70's retro vibe; yah-know, couches, beads, and the old round kitchen tables with the square-ish brown leather chairs. I love their tagline.

" A place for boots, suits, hippies and techies."

Wow, so creative, they understand their mission and what they are called to do.

On my left are two hippie chicks, on my right is a Jewish Rabbi, a Muslim just walked out, and a few dudes in suites are having a meeting and talking loud. Outside, some guys are playing the guitar, laughing and enjoying the moment.

It's cool cause I get to see a reflection of Austin and the greater American culture. So many people, backgrounds and faiths all mixed into small geographical area. And somehow the gospel is relevant to all of them, somehow the story of Jesus is greater than their backgrounds, faiths, identities or mistakes.

The challenge is this, how do I communicate the gospel to this culture? My calling as a Christ-follower is to love and serve the city that I live in. It's not really optional, and it has nothing to do with official ministry or church planting.

I'm called by God to reach my neighbor, my community and my city. For me it starts with conversations, it starts by building community and allowing trust to be established.

I think for the most part we have a timid Christian culture in America, we worry about fitting in, we want to be "liked" by those in our community. We spend much of our time at church or Bible studies or playdates with other Christian parents. My prayer this morning is for a broken heart and crushed spirit. I want to be wounded for my city, I want the pains of sin and godlessness to overwhelm me. There comes a time when the story must be told with boldness, clarity and faith. Yes we have to be incarnational, but I wonder how many times we refuse to share the gospel because we make up lame excuses, or we are scared of rejection of being the outcast. I know I do. Somehow, I want to change that.

Mark Driscoll

For some reason Mark Driscoll has captivated the evangelical landscape. Why, well I guess because he is a controversial figure. He is outside the box for sure. Plus he's doing some great stuff for God in a city that is spiritually complicated and hard to reach.

So, I was a bit surprised to read this post from Driscoll's blog. Very authentic and human.

In 1999, I moved to Seattle to attend school. My buddy Ken in Sac-town kept telling me I needed to go to Mars Hill Church. I was pretty distraught with church at the time. I just resigned a position at a mega church in Dallas. I was tired of the corporate church structure, I did not understand my role in the church. I was bored. I did not become a pastor to get a paycheck, I became a pastor to help make the world become a better place, to lead people to the story of Jesus and to help equip them to find their role within that narrative. This is why I will plant another church even though my first one failed.

Now back to the story:

So I went to Mars Hill. It was the first time I had communion with real wine. I loved the make up of the crowd, young and old, hip and nerdy, rich and poor. I loved the vintage feel, no purpose driven concert shows that tried to impress people as if the gospel story cannot stand on it's own two feet.

All I can say is this, I never felt the presence of God like I did on that night. It was rich, deep, reflective and real.

I don't always agree with Driscoll, and every mega church has it's issues. (or should I say every church) But I did appreciate his the honesty that was laid forth.

I'm A Wimp

So tonight I feel like a wimp, why you ask? Because I watched LOST tonight on DVD instead of Monday Night Football. Not good, the addiction is getting stronger.

Lets Try Again

Jasen & Amanda have posted some great Austin pics on their blog from this weekend.

Weekend Roundup Day 2

So Sunday morning we got up, ate breakfast and did the 360 trip again. Austin locals, Chris Larson and Rachel Ray kept telling me I need to get some grub at the famous Salt Lick BBQ. Which is like 40 minutes in the boonies. Man, I got to tell you, it was really good.




After lunch we headed downtown to the infamous 6th St. WOW, so cool. Lot's of stuff going on...I even found a local cigar shop that rolls their own cigars, right in the shop. NICE!

Then we headed to the tattoo shop for some body piercing for my sister-in-law. After that, we headed home for one last game of poker. Fun, Fun, Fun, and yes I also won again :)

Now, I'm blogging, watching a freaking amazing lightening storm outside. This was a great weekend. God is good, and life is good. (Except for ND losing to Michigan, of course Ken blogged it, that dude does not even like football, or at least I thought he didn't like football. Hey Ken, Michigan wins a lot, why blog about them beating ND? Ya, go ahead rub it in, now I just hope they beat Ohio St. and lose to Mich St.)

Ok, I'm signing off, I hope your weekend was as good as mine!

Weekend Roundup Day 1

So Friday night, Jason and Amanda drove over from Houston. They were attending the Sufjan Stevens show. We met them downtown to grab a quick dinner at Wahoo's, which was/is a favorite of theirs from So. Cal.

After the show we met at my place. It was great to catch up and chat, it's been awhile, or should I say-too long.

The next morning, we ate some breakfast and headed downtown via the 360, which is a freeway that cuts through the Hill Country. It's a beautiful drive, and most folks are amazed at the rolling hills and beautiful scenery, usually the response is; "I can't believe this in Texas."

After the drive, we headed to the Soco district to grab some Ruta Maya coffee and lunch at Shady Grove. The burgers were great. Shady Grove is funky fun rugged place. After filling our stomachs we made our way over to BookPeople. Of course, if you hang out with the Ashdown's or Nussbaum's, you know you gotta find the local record store, and we did, next to Bookpeople is Waterloo Records, and next to Waterloo is Amy's Ice Cream. So we hit all three, yummy, yummy!

After the downtown tour of sorts, we headed back home. The Ashdown's had to leave and head back to H-Town. We had a blast with the J & Amanda, hope to see them soon!

Then

Our family from Dallas came in later that evening. We headed back to downtown for dinner, and then we walked to the congress bridge to see the "Bats." It was a beautiful night. We saw over 1.5 million bats head out into the night to eat mosquitos (go bats) and do whatever bats do at night as we mere mortals sleep.

Man, I love the vibe of downtown Austin. So much energy. Everyone is hanging out on the patios, drinking beer, and having fun. Right up my alley!

We finally made it back home to play a little family poker. Good times for sure. But the fun is just beginning. And yes of course I won the poker game :)

Dog The Bounty Hunter

I love the dog, I think he is an authentic follower of Christ. It's ironic that he was aressted & freed on bail. Hope it works our for him.

Also, Notre Dame got rocked, so pissed. Last week Texas, this week ND, lame.

Austin City Limits Music Festival Live Feed

Austin City Limits Music Festival started today, over 200,000 people will swarm Austin over the next 3 days, nuts!

If you are a chump like me, and you have no tickets; you can still catch the show live. The feed is here.

Enjoy, and hopefully next year I will be able to attend?

We are now off to brave the crowd downtown to hang with J & Amanda and eat some fish tacos at wahoo's Wahoo's.

HMM

Lovely day in Austin, it feels like late spring. (I think fall comes in late Oct)

Cool and crisp in the morning, hot and sunny in the afternoon and just amazing at night. The skies are mesmorizing; So blue, so great. And every morning we get to watch the sun break through the darkness, it's really sweet. I get to sit on the balcony, sip my shade grown organic ruta maya coffee. (which is the best drip coffee I've ever had; but if someone from the Nussbaum's clan, Tre, or the Hudson's want to send me some vivace, zoka, ladro, or zita beans, I have a feeling I would be really happy about that; c-mas is soon and my b-day is March 1st).

Why do I say all this, because life goes fast and I'm always thinking about the future. But this week God is speaking to my spirit, I need to learn to stay in the now, yes the present. Enjoy life. So I'm trying.

Austin City Limits start tomorrow. The weather is suppose to get toasty and humid this weekend, which is not good if you are hanging in a park in the hot sun for 3 days. I wish I could be there, but, I have another treat, the Ashdown's are coming from H-town this weekend. I'm looking forward to hangin out, catching up and enjoying some of the finer things in life.

Now it's off to the balcony, to enjoy the remainder of the day.

Peace & Love from Austin

One Month

We've been is Austin for a month now. It's been what I would call a beautiful struggle. So far the hardest part has been rhythm. We have not been able to afford pre-school for Kenzie. So Necole and I kinda tag team the babysitting thing. We are sad, because Kenzie really needs to be in school. Hopefully, sooner rather then later, we will get her in school?

We love Austin, it's a great city, yet at the same time, I spend most of my time at home. Which is not good, because I hate being at home. So much to explore and do. In the meantime I try to be patient and work the plan that we have.

It takes time to get re-established, to find rhythm and community. To re-acquire all the basic stuff we need, like couches, tables, dishes and of course the XBOX.

At the same time, I've really learned what it means to rely on God, to learn how to pray and seek God, and read the Bible, to hope and trust. Spiritually speaking, the past 5 months have been a breath of fresh air. Healing has taken place, vision has been restored, and passion is alive and well.

If someone asked me to describe the past 5 months, I would say sovereignty. God has been sovereign. And for that I'm grateful, I find hope and I know my story, is precious to God and important to humanity.

So the struggle continues...But it's a good struggle.

RAIDERS SUCK!!!

UPDATE: Not that you needed proof, but just in case:

Stats of the Week: The Oakland Raiders had as many sacks (9) and punts (9) as first downs (9).(ESPN)

Also, just to let Devries know, I will not become a Texans fan. I mean how lame can you get, they passed on R. Bush, crazy. I don't think AL Davis would have done that. Of course, Al Davis did give up on chucky, and chucky took Al and Raiders down in the Superbowl. (Thanks for reminding me-Ashy!)

So this year, in honor of my formal cities in which I lived in and still love. I shall cheer on the Seahawks and the Panthers. So there you have it, I'm no longer a Raider fan.


I grew up in the Bay Area. (kinda) I remember watching the Raiders play the Eagles in the Superbowl in 1980. I also remember the Raiders taking down the Redskins in the Superbowl in 1983. I attended the championship game in 2000 (?) when the Raiders lost to Ray Lewis and the Ravens. Another words, I'm a huge Raider fan.

But the last few years I've been trying to "let go" and move forward. You can only be faithful for so long, and Al Davis is a complete idiot.

As for last night, I could hardly watch. The game was so bad, the Raiders were so bad. Man, these are not good times for Raider nation. Although, I think the HATED Broncos and Chiefs both lost, so that helps, at least for a week.

The Let Down

I headed to the mailbox today, pretty normal right. I got out my key, placed it in the lock, turned right and swung open the door. Cool, got a couple new mags, paycheck and wait, no wait...Where is it? No Lost, what...OH MY GOSH!!!! How am I gonna tell Necole? Who cares about the mags and paycheck...WE NEED OUR FINAL DVD OF LOST! You know, now we have to wait another day to find out about the hatch, and the raft and the kidnapping of the kid. URGH!!!!!!!!

Blockbuster, how could you...This is why I was so hesitant to switch from Netflix. Yes, I love the four movies passes I get per month, but...Not more then my LOST DVD!

Ya see, here is how it works. I send the movie back which is day 1. (It takes one day to get to the warehouse.) So, the next biz day, blockbuster received my movie and they ship another one out to me, which is day 2. And on day 3, the movie shows up in my mailbox.

But not this time, I hope this is not going to happen on a regular basis. If so, Netflix here I come.

9/11

I have a lot of thoughts in regards to 9/11. But I think I will remain silent for the most part. The one thing that still makes me sad is the fact that the killing that started that dreadful day, has not stopped yet. Sometimes I wonder when It will end, or will it ever end?

Sunday Musings

Got up this morning and headed to church. Tony was quite depressed over the Texas loss, but he pulled through and spoke a good message. The folks were quite nice, they served hot dogs, snow cones and did some face painting for the kids. (post service of course) Bailey and Kenzie were pumped and they were hoping that church is tomorrow so we could go back. Anyhow, good times for sure.

Then we headed home to chill, I caught some boring NFL football. After Bailey finished her homework we decided to head out to Suzi's Chinese Grill, which is kinda like PF Changs. Of course the locals think it's better then Changs. I'll reserve judgment for later. Suzi (the owner) was there, saying hi, and serving her customers. It always feels good to spend the hard earned dollar on a local business.

Now it's time to get the little ones in bed, fire up the DVD player and finish watching Lost. We have two more discs and we will be done with season one. We need to catch up, so we have to watch the whole 2nd season by next week, which is the season premier.

Peace & Love from Austin

Bummer

Well it looks like the better team won tonight. The game was good, but not epic. Texas QB was not quite ready to play a team like Ohio St. However, I do not think the season is over for Texas, they will be much better at the end of the year than they were today!

Notre Dame

Notre Dame took care of business today against Penn State. Although, it does not get any easier next week as Michigan come to play ND. Should be fun!

Now, If only Texas can take Ohio St, that would make today, a great sports day.

I can say this, Austin is packed with folks, the hype is huge. If only I had tickets :(

Blog Buzz

Some good conversation taking place at the bob.blog. Basically Bob responded to a post by Driscoll on Multi-Site/Video Venues.

Darrin Patrick, who is an ACTS 29 board member (I think) and Elder @ THE JOURNEY Church left a comment. Which set off some more comments. FUN FUN FUN!

Honestly, lot's of good conversation and insight If you love church planting, culture and leadership then make your way over and chime in. This is a good chance to get into the head of some cool leaders who are doing their best to bring heaven to earth and move the church forward.

Peace & Love

New Contact

I was surfing PlanterPlanet the other day and I happen to click on one of the blogs...Lo and behold this particular blogger was in N. Austin/Cedar Park, which is were I live. How cool is that.

So I emailed Tony to see if we could touch base, which we did today over some yummy Rudy's BBQ.

We had a good time chatting, dreaming and discussing all things in regards to theology, church planting, culture etc.

Tony's church-Legacy Fellowship, is gearing up for their fall launch. So please keep them in prayer.

Anyhow, It's great to get out and meet people, good times for sure!

Peace & Love from Austin.

NFL-WHY!

I just realized something horrific-Being in Austin, I now have to watch the Cowboys & the Houston Texans on Sundays. Another words, I'm going to miss all the great NFL games because I live in a city that is close to both Houston & Dallas. SUCK!

NFL

NFL starts tonight, sweet! Fall is in the air, it's only 92 in Austin :)

Pellet, you should come down Saturday and watch the Texas game?

BTW, I've been messing around with wordpress, it seems real cool. Although, I still need some help from the tech God's.

Peace & Love

WHAT WOULD I HAVE DONE?

Taken word from word from JR Woodward blog, this is such a touching story, I wonder what I would have done? Or, maybe I already know.

"I love this story that Max Lucado shares. If you are familar with the book of James, you will understand the message even more. Here is how he recounts what happened in his church in San Antonio, Texas.

“Some years ago, David Robinson, who plays basketball in San Antonio, visited our church. He's not a member of our church, but he shows up occasionally. You can imagine the stir that occurred when that seven-foot striking fellow walked into the auditorium. We have two worship services, and he came to the first one. At the end of it, people mobbed him. Kids all wanted his autograph. Dads lined up, allegedly to get things signed for their kids, but we all knew the truth. The brouhaha finally settled down and David went his way, and we began the second service.

In the second service that day, I was standing to do the announcements when something happened that has never happened since. A homeless person walked in the back of the auditorium, came down the center aisle with his backpack, ratty jeans, torn T-shirt, unshaven face, and distinct odor. He walked down to the front, and he sat down.
The contrast struck me. When David Robinson entered, he was immediately swarmed. People wanted to touch him and be close to him, be next to him. However, I'm sad to say that nobody jumped up to run and sit next to the homeless man. After two or three awkward minutes during which I was trying to act like nothing was happening, one of our elders got up from his seat and sat by the man and touched him. I was struck. Wouldn't you have been as well?

The message that I received in my heart that morning was: Which of these men do you think touched Jesus? If you want to touch Jesus, whom do you touch? Jesus said, 'Whatever you've done for the least of these, my brethren, you've done also to me.'""

HT: JR Woodward

Trying To Connect

Brand Guerilla which is a subsidiary of Blink is attending Austin Game Conference for the next three days.

K-Dub is down there now passing out t-shirts and I hope to make it soon.

We hope to connect with the creatives who roam around Austin, these folks have huge dreams and we hope to partner with them and help brand their companies and dreams.

Free Book

Billy Graham evangelistic Association is offering a FREE book by John Piper called 'Don't Waste Your Life." Go here to fill out the form and order your copy.

HT: Goodmanson

Coach facing felony charges in football brawl

I keep seeing the replays on espn and the national news, some dad runs on the football field and crushes a 13 year old kid because of a late hit. I thought that was sad, crazy and very immature.

Then I realize that this happened in the city in which I was raised. Yes, good ole Stockton, CA aka "the ghetto." I played against the team that was attacked by this crazy dad/coach. People always ask me why I left Cali, this is a big reason. Story below.

Coach facing felony charges in football brawl

Prayer Request

My friend and church planter Jeff Ramsey had surgery this morning. You can read his story on his blog. Please pray that he has a speedy recovery and that he gets a clean bill of health.

The Life After Ours

I was watching some of Steve Irwin's past episodes last night. Needless to say, it's always sad to see tragedy, knowing that a wife, daughter, son, dad, mom and friends are hurting.

On the episode I was watching Steve was talking about how short life is, and he made this statement, "when we cross over from this life to the next, whatever that is."

I could not help but wonder the spiritual fate of Steve Irwin. Now don't get me wrong, I have no clue as to his spiritual upbringing or beliefs. But my heart was broken. Did he know Jesus? Was he ever told the story of God in a legitimate way? I wonder, I wonder?

Somehow I hope moments like these will always grip my heart. I wonder if I really care about people, do I really understand the responsibility that I have as a Christ-follower to share Christ's love to this world. It's not like Jesus told us, if we have time then "go" and tell folks about me.

Part of the story of God is realizing that we have a role to play. That we get to partner with God (because of His grace) and help redeem and restore the world and the people living in this world to their rightful place.

As I stare in this cafe, I look into the eyes of the people. Do they know? Do they know what I know? Have they been given a chance to see and know Jesus?

I have a passion to remove the layers of religion that have been placed on the person of Jesus because I have a conviction that if the world sees Jesus through a pure lens (if they see the Jesus that I see, one that frees us up to live life to full, to experience deep forgiveness and to understand grace and mercy) then they will follow this Jesus; not out of fear, but they will follow Jesus because they will realize that Jesus came to teach the world how to "live the best possible life." (thanks Rob Bell for that thought)

Another words, if Jesus is lifted up... Man, that is our goal...How do we lift up Jesus in our culture? I pray my heart is always crushed for those who do not know Christ. I was almost 17 years old when I first heard the strory of Jesus; that's right, 17, and I lived in America. God have mercy!

"I can change the world, with my own two hands, I can make peace on earth, with my own two hands, I can make it a kinder place with my own two hands, I can clean up the earth with my own two hands, I can reach out to you, with own two hands. I'm going to make it a brighter place, I'm going to help the human race, with my own two hands."

Jack Johnson & Ben Harper (Harper wrote the song)

Fantasy Football

I just participated in my first ff draft. The bad news, I drafted last. But I think I did ok. Below is my team, wish me luck. Ashdown, what are we going to bet?


QB: Trent Green
QB: Matt Hassleback
RB: R. Brown
RB: Cadilac Williams
RB: DeShaun Foster
WR: Chris Chambers
WR: Joey Galloway
WR: Joe Horn
WR: Keyshawn Johnson
WR: Jerry Porter
TE: Jeremy Stevens
TE: Dallas Clark
K: Jason Elam
Def: Pittsburgh
Def: New England

Steve Irwin

Steve Irwin, the self-proclaimed croc hunter died last night. Tre and I used to talk about when one of these wild animal tv personalities were going to die. Of course I think it sucks that it came true.

One thing I can say about this guy, he seemed to really love what he did for a living. I think it's so important to love what you do, and not just do what you do to earn a paycheck, pay the mortgage and take a week's vacation a year. Life is to short to not do what you are called to do.

WHEW!

Close game, I was getting a little stressed. But hey, whenever you can win on the road against a good team, you gotta take it.

Next Sunday will be insane here in Austin. Ohio St Vs. Texas, enough said.

Peace & Love

Fantasy Football

I decided to give fantasy football a try. This will be my first year. Any tips? I have to beat Ashdown and his H-town crew. Of course, these cats have the experience. Man, I do not want to lose!

Theology And A 6 Year Old

I can't tell you how many times Bailey has come home from school or Sunday School and she tells me what a friend or teacher said. Man, people and their wacked theology!

So Bailey comes home today, and she tells me her friend from school told her that the Devil is real and that he throws people into hot lava forever. So Bailey asked me if the Devil is real and is the Devil out to get her.

So I tried to tell Bailey about God, the Devil and the cross. I also tried to tell her that the Devil is not out to get her...That she is safe.

Her response was-Why did God make the Devil? When the Devil was a baby did God not know that the Devil had evil powers? Why did God kick the Devil out of heaven? Where is the Devil now (I told her that God had the Devil on a leash like a dog, she then asked if the leash was a laser lease, oh boy)

So we tried to tell her about God, Jesus, Devil, Fall, Cross and Resurrecting etc. And that God gives us a choice to do good or bad.

She then wanted to know why an angel turned mean. So we taught her a little bit about pride and living selfish lives.

Of course she then wanted to know who is God's mom and dad. And what time God goes to bed, Oh boy!

First of all, I wonder what these folks are teaching their kids? I mean, I do not want my 6 year old to assume the Devil is out to get her. But, I did not want to tell her the Devil does not exist either...Let's just say, I walked a thin fine line trying to explain the Biblical narrative, evil and good and how to make good choices. I tried to explain to her that Jesus teaches us the best way to live, and we try to be like him.

I hope I did a good job...I just know that her little mind is spinning, as she progresses into a little girl, who feels, thinks and wonders what life is about.

Man, It's really important to understand theology, I do not want to "steer" my girls in the wrong direction.

Parenting can be tough stuff.

Some Bono Thoughts

Below are some thoughts from Bono at the recent Willow Creek Leadership Seminar. Convicting for sure. HT: Dave Ferguson:

# 'The most rewarding part of this past year? Selfishly, it is to wake up with a melody in my head and heart. But beyond my music it is the work we are doing with the ONE campaign.'
# 'I never had a problem with Christ...it was Christians that gave me problems...they seemed completely disinterested culturally and politically...they seemed very strange to me.'
# 'The world works on the principle of Karma; what you put out comes back to you...but then enters the story of grace in the person of Christ and it turned the world on it's head.'
# 'Duality is the mark of really great art and it's what is missing in Christian art. It's missing the tension that is missing...the attempt to wrestle truth to the ground is often absent.'
# 'Much of gospel music seems fake to me...pretending that everything is o.k...I relate more to the blues...that sounds like the song of David to me.'
# 'Jesus was either a Charles Manson - a nut case or he was who he said he was. I'm fascinated by a child born into straw poverty. The Christmas story is a remarkable story that never ceases to amaze me.'
# 'How in a world of plenty can people be left to starve? We think, 'it's just the way of the world'. And if it is the 'way of the world' we must overthrow the 'way of the world."

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!