only wonder understands

There are more creative altar designs in the world, but here is what I pulled together for tonight. I like to use rough fabric for Ash Wednesday — burlap, sack cloth, etc. I tend to avoid the “pretty” altar elements that are normally used, such as the brass cross and candlesticks. Kay gave me this […]

There are more creative altar designs in the world, but here is what I pulled together for tonight. I like to use rough fabric for Ash Wednesday — burlap, sack cloth, etc. I tend to avoid the “pretty” altar elements that are normally used, such as the brass cross and candlesticks. Kay gave me this […]

This is what I found waiting for me when I got to church this morning: We’ve seen a recent increase in vandalism to our sign. I don’t mind the obscene messages too much, I just wish they could learn to spell (lick is not spelled “lich”) and that they wouldn’t steal the letters. It makes […]

Just a reminder that I will be hosting a chat time via our church chat room at 10 p.m. CST. Go to http://www.antiochumc.net and click on the Conference Room button.

…this is how I feel.

We spent the afternoon at the zoo today…

Back when I was first was getting into the emergent church conversation, I was trying to tell my spouse and colleagues what was involved. Of course, the modernity/postmodernity dichotomy was an easy explanation, but it doesnt’ fully capture what we have been talking about “It seems to me,” I went on, “that modernity was the […]

James Mills of Knowtown Fame, has the honor of being the 10,000th visitor to this blog, so he will be getting a lovely gift from the pastoral library. Actually, I am going to send him a used copy of an old book that I just discovered by Glandion Carney, one of the co-facilitators of the […]

The word’s of Willie Shakespeare help me announce that I will see my ten thousandth visitor tonight or tomorrow. This isn’t a big milestone for the mega bloggers like Jen, Kiwi, or Cleave, but it seems pretty important to little old me. One of the things that I recently learned is that Site Meter (the […]

KING: Brian, I guess you as well knew you would be on the list. What did you make of the story? MCLAREN: Well, I heard about the list just a couple of days before I found out I was on it. I’m probably one of the people Dr. LaHaye has never heard of. So I […]

Once upon a time, there was a princess named Aurora, who was given some gifts from some fairies . . . oh you know the story of Sleeping Beauty. Anyway, after a whole bunch of stuff happened, her true love, a guy name Prince Phillip, was captured by the evil fairy Malificient. The good fairies […]

Starting next week, I am going to be hosting a chat each Tuesday at 10 p.m. Central Time (GMT-6) focused on spiritual practices. To get ready for this, I’m going to be on tonight at 10. If you are around, why don’t you join me. We can talk about whatever is on your mind. To […]

You may notice that I have reinstated the Blogger Bar at the top of the site. I had taken this off (I am one of those who has been aroung long enought that I have an old Blogspot Plus site which allows me to omit it entirely), thinking that it was basically an advertisement for […]

This week a bunch of folks are out in San Diego for the last YS sponsored Emergent Convention out there. I wish I could be there, but am getting excited about the Nashville version in May, which will be very different than the West Coast version. One difference, which we have been working on, is […]

I was looking over my last post, and was shocked by something I had written in the heat of trying to get out of Perk Central and to the church. I wrote: My church will probably never be very hip (after all, I’m their leader!). Yet can we change to carry out God’s mission in […]

The church I serve is as far from “hip” as they come. It isn’t a complaint, but a reality. When you have a congregation that has 130 years plus of history together, the hipness factor quickly goes out the window. As Anne Beatts once said about Saturday Night Live its only so long before the […]

Gracious God,    we don’t fully know the details,    but it appears that an election has happened in Iraq. There was violence, to be sure,    but those who would vote       put aside their fear       for a deeper belief in self rule. Now comes the hard part. Putting together an election is relatively easy    compared to putting […]

Prayer In The Wood

Someday, when I’m far too old to enjoy it, I might actually get a full nights sleep. This past Wednesday, the folks at my church gathered as we always do for dinner and some sort of program. The Wednesday night thing has been hard to sustain at times. It is a deep tradition for some. […]