Well, my new blog is up and running. Hopefully with such a good-looking skin, developed by the notorious Hugo Fitch, I will blog more and begin to pontificate again.

I am finally finished with school. So this summer maybe I will have more time to blog. I am going to study Greek this summer to get ready for my semester of Greek this fall. I really want to go beyond the cursory learning of this language that most "pastor" trainees do in seminary. I want to really learn the language and master it - even after I have finished my classes - which I know two years will not even get close.

I have numerous books going now - the one that is stimulating me the most is Call to Commitment by Elizabeth O'Connor. It is the story about the Church of the Savior in Washington D.C. I know us postmodern folks don't like models or anything like that - etc. but I would love to see churches like that that do three things.
1) Make it tough to be a member - discipleship required - and not our Americanized version of a "six-week study" discipleship. All on the "altar" to use revivalism langauge.
2) A real burden and concern for the poor, the oppressed and the fringe. And not just a burden - but really doing something about it.
3) Small healthy churches planted that cultivate community around common Kingdom purposes and take serious the call to wholistic evangelism.

Oh Lord - to be apart and to have our fellowship do those three things - for that I do pray

I believe that this is what I am seeing pop up throughout the emerging church and I believe that it is a wave of the Holy Spirit to ge us back to the basics.

I have been thinking lately about my calling - per my relationship with my mentor and a book that I am reading by Bill Easum. Being called to "the" ministry - is a duh... all christians are called to ministry (notice the no "the") - as a side note I hate the term layman or laity - it sounds like the person is laying down and letting someone else do all the work ( wait maybe that's what it is supposed to mean? - hehe) But I have been asking what is the specific thing that God has in mind for me to do with my life for His glory. I know that I am to plant churches and facilitate discipleship in people's lives - but what else? and how are these to be fleshed out in my life? Times like these both scare me and excite me - scare me because my life usually changes - but excites me because my life usually changes. No longer will I be as the Israelites wandering around in the desert - but I will have a vision to gain - and once someone has a vision there is nothing that can stop them. Nothing!

Lord, I want to be in the center of what you are doing - I want to be where you are in my life and in other's lives. Please help me to triangulate my life to you and help others to do the same. Amen.

Just got back from the gym - I started back working out again aftedr not really doing it for a few years. I had already lost about 25 lbs. - but now to the gym to get what's left off and build some muscle. Believe it or not this is part of my lenten discipline - to give up "lazyness" so to speak. When it comes to exercise - I am definitely lazy. So this, along with getiing up earlier to spend more time with God is my Lenten rule - but I hope that it is a beginning to a life of the two habits and also a life of abstaining from things for periods of time.

It feels good to be sore. Earlier this week I was not saying that - but know that I am starting to get used to me routine, the soreness is welcome. Like the glass of yucky Nyquil when you feel bad. Bad but good.

There is a good discussion going on here at my brother's blog about about art and its uses. It looks like the beginning of are interesting look at art and its use for prayer and worship. Images fascinate me - I can't go anywhere without them.

I have finished the first chapter of Resurrection of the Son of God - I am enjoying it - but it is a chore to read. I usually can read about two fairly sized books a week - but this one I am having to slog on. But like a professor of mine says "Slog on brother, slog on" - and so I will.

The first chapter was basically outlining his methodology and some basic questions about the resurrection. He also called into play his dialogue partners ( I am assuming) of mostly critical/uberskeptical scholars - who it seems to me have more of a political axe to grind than to seek truth. I am going to start with the second chapter today or tommorrow ( I have some studying to for class.) In the next chapter he is going to go into the pagan views of the word "resurrection" and the afterlife - then moving on to the second temple Jewish views then into the gospels and early church. I like this strategy - seems to me (though has problems) to be important to getting a background of the worldview of the early church and how it deviated(or mutated is his word) from the second temple Judaism's views of resurrection.

I hope to gain much from this book. I am also praying as I read to discern correctly what I need to learn from this.