Sunday Rebellion
January 7th, 2012 | 0 comments | permalink
“Sunday is the key that explains to the world and to the church why we are the church. In our Sunday worship Christians serve the world by showing the world that God has not left us alone and that we have good work to do. Our work is worship. Worship is the work God does with us to show the world a manner of life that could not be known had not God vindicated Jesus in the resurrection. Sabbath is a weekly reminder that we are created for no better purpose than to praise God and enjoy God forever.
In simply withdrawing from what the world considers its “important business,” in taking time to do nothing but worship in a world at war, in celebrating an “order of worship” in a world of chaos, Christians are making a most “political” statement. It takes courage to take time to worship God in a world where we are constantly told that it is up to us to do right, or right won’t be done. Sunday is that holy time when Christians perform one of our most radical, countercultural, peculiarly defining acts-we simply refuse to show up for work. Sabbath is how we put the world in it’s place. This is how we take over the world’s time and help to make it God’s time. It’s how we get over our amnesia and recover our memory of how we got here, and who we are, and in whose service we are called.”
Will Willimon from Calling and Character
And Baby Makes Three…
January 4th, 2012 | 3 comments | permalink
This is our digital "with child" announcement
During our trip home for Christmas, Tracy and I made a “surprise” announcement to our families: We’re going to have a baby. It wasn’t a surprise to us, we had been making arrangements for over a year planning next steps, squaring insurance away, being more diligent about getting out of debt; yet we wanted to make this secret we had been holding onto for nearly 12 weeks as special as possible for our parents. (They’ve been waiting nearly 10 years for this moment–even giving up hope that it would ever happen*.)
Now that word is out, now that everyone knows our little secret, it’s still a little bit surreal. I thought that letting everyone in would make it feel more real, would make it feel like a reality, but it hasn’t. It’s still hard to believe that this is actually happening, yet July 16th (the projected due date) is quickly approaching.
I’m a pretty big ball of garbled emotion and scattered thoughts. I’m filled with a mix of excitement and joy, gratitude and exuberance, fear and trepidation, even unworthiness slipping in there every now and again… all of which stem from different stories and experiences that have been a part of my life these 30+ years.
I’ve been told a time or two** that having a child changes everything–and not just your sleep schedule or life rhythm but how you view the world, how you view life, how you view your own life, how you view God. I’m looking forward to these things, to seeing the world in a different light, to seeing the world through the eyes of a child, to experiencing firsts all over again, and to exude the same sorts of pride over my own child that my parents have over me.
I’m looking forward to joining the “daddy club” and it looks like I’ve only got a few short months to get ready…
——
* I think we succeeded… especially when my mom reacted like a contestant on the Price is Right, darting up from her seat once she realized what was happening and dancing in circles chanting, “I’m going to be a grandma!” over and over… it’s one of those moments you wish you had on video.
** More like a hundred… parents seem to really like telling you these things: how terrible the sleepless nights are, the joys of a colicky baby, the frustrations of discipline–and how for a limited time only you too can join the club! It’s a terrible sales pitch by the way… we should probably re-think that one… but I too will probably join the ranks at some point and perpetuate this procreational pitch.
The Anti-Resolution
January 3rd, 2012 | 0 comments | permalink
On New Years Day our community gathered to talk about the “anti-resolution”… we took a brief look at Matthew 6 and set the stage for where we’re heading together this year.
As always you can listen to the podcast here.
Hello 2012
January 1st, 2012 | 0 comments | permalink
Well, it’s here and along with it a slew of new hopes and dreams, ideas for change and desires for something different or better… so, here’s to 2012 and new possibilities.
