-cool video and article about one of the churches we're considering: mosaic here, here, and here.
-the other church we've visited, and like, is here.
Friday, August 17, 2007
Sunday, June 24, 2007
Gold Cup Champions
Absolutely amazing victory by the US over Mexico in the Gold Cup today (the North American/Caribbean/Central American championship. A gorgeous goal by youngster Benny Feilheiber put away the Mexicans in a match that displayed all the beauty of soccer.
Sunday, June 17, 2007
Guardrails...
"Karl Barth once compared the creeds and confessions of the church to the guardrails that border the narrow roads of the Swiss Alps. Only a fool with suicidal tendencies would want to drive across the Alps without the guardrails. But it would be equally foolish to mistake the guardrails for the road; when we start driving on the rails, disaster is imminent. To push the analogy further, Jesus Christ is the Road (cf. John 14:6 and St. Augustine’s depiction of Christ as "Patria et via ad patriam"), and the Bible, as interpreted by a covenanted congregation of baptized believers in continuity with the apostolic witness, is the light (cf. Psalm 119:105) by which we are able to see clearly both the road on which we travel and the guardrails that protect us from dangerous deviations."
Taken from here...
Taken from here...
Sunday, May 20, 2007
live
watching a snow patrol concert on hdnet right now.
makes me realize just how much i miss going to live shows.
hopefully i can rectify that situation soon.
there's just something communal about the live show...
makes me realize just how much i miss going to live shows.
hopefully i can rectify that situation soon.
there's just something communal about the live show...
Wednesday, May 16, 2007
Tuesday, April 10, 2007
Tuesday, April 03, 2007
"fellowship"
I used to hate the term "fellowship."
At least in the loose sense it was tossed around in college...college being the last days I was actively involved in any sort of....fellowship.
Yes, I'm speaking of Christian community, the church, fellow believers, brothers and sisters and Christ...speak your church language of choice.
I hated it because of, well, the almost clique-ish nature with which it was tossed around.
"Are you living in fellowship?"
"You need to be involved in a (Christian) community."
"He's fallen out of fellowship."
If you weren't, well, it wasn't spoken, but it was as if you were somehow less of a Christian.
That said...I miss fellowship.
Seriously.
It's been so long that I've had a consistent group of fellow believers to challenge me, keep me accountable, and, help push each other towards the creator.
It's probably my fault. In medical school there was always the excuse of needing to study. Not having enough time even for 1-2 hrs of church fellowship. Or the excuse that perhaps the (particular) church wasn't genuine enough. All show and no soul. That it somehow didn't fit into my sense of what church should be.
As you know, these sorts of things snowball, and soon I was essentially without this "fellowship."
Fast forward 4 years and a move 1000 miles from home, far from the non-denominational, evangelical, and, yes, southern baptist environment I grew up in. There I was right in the middle of a church environment that was far more traditional protestant and also, yes, overwhelmingly (relatively speaking) Catholic. I soon became married to a lovely wife who is also a believer, but had grown up in a church culture far removed from the one I was accostomed to. A church culture full of tradition and liturgy and strict interpretations (at least as far as I can best see without attending their catechism).
With nothing firm of my own to stand on, given that my once firm grounding in a more free, "spirit-filled" interpretation of the modern church and "fellowship" and church and evangelism and grace and, well, tradition, had eroded with 4 years of excuses, there was nothing to shore up further erosion.
Initially, I tried to open myself to this new view of the protestant tradition.
Specifically, there is a lot about the Lutheran tradition that I admire. I am obviously far from an expert, but I admire the devotion to faithful interpretation of scripture. The desire to reexam everything we say and sing about God and Christ and the Spirit in the light of trying to be faithful to the whole body of Scripture. I admire the ties to the traditional church, the continuation of liturgy which amazingly ties us to Christians who have come before us and wrestled with this faith and passes along lessons learned and beliefs established. I appreciate how this brings new and different meaning to the traditional Christian holidays, and how it carries a believer through the calendar year in an annual remembrance from the birth to life to death to resurrection of Christ, the continued church, and over again.
That said, there are other things about the tradition I'm less enthusiastic about, and therein lies the dilemma.
Will there ever be a church I find that fits what I picture the modern church to be? That fits what I've put together in my own faith story of how I should present myself in worship and service to Christ and others.
Or should I dump this idea of the "perfect church" (probably) and just plug in somewhere and begin again the process of service to others and surrender to Him?
But there always remains the question of how can one do this in an environment one doesn't not connect with fully? And it's not just this new tradition I've been exposed to, it's even those within the tradition in which I am comfortable.
So, that brings me to the original purpose of this blog entry.
I think I'm more excited about the possibility of finally finding a church community I can connect with in Austin, than with the other potential benefits of being back in a warm climate, close to a great lake, in the "live music capital of the world," living in the hill country, outdoor activities, etc.
The idea of mosaic intrigues me. It's a church that I'm told tried to keep the traditional liturgy in the setting of a (post-)modern world. That has (loose) ties to the evangelical tradition I've grown up in. That is ok with the modern worship movement.
Now, I'm probably building it up to be more (or different) than it really is. And I'll probably find some excuse to not like it like the others. And, perhaps even more so, it may not be a church community with which my wife can connect and serve and worship and grow.
And so, back to square one.
We'll see, I suppose. There's potential there. And an excitement that hasn't been there for a while. If not there, then perhaps somewhere. Surely God wouldn't have put us together without a church fellowship in mind in which we both could serve and worship and grow.
Rejoice....He is Risen.
At least in the loose sense it was tossed around in college...college being the last days I was actively involved in any sort of....fellowship.
Yes, I'm speaking of Christian community, the church, fellow believers, brothers and sisters and Christ...speak your church language of choice.
I hated it because of, well, the almost clique-ish nature with which it was tossed around.
"Are you living in fellowship?"
"You need to be involved in a (Christian) community."
"He's fallen out of fellowship."
If you weren't, well, it wasn't spoken, but it was as if you were somehow less of a Christian.
That said...I miss fellowship.
Seriously.
It's been so long that I've had a consistent group of fellow believers to challenge me, keep me accountable, and, help push each other towards the creator.
It's probably my fault. In medical school there was always the excuse of needing to study. Not having enough time even for 1-2 hrs of church fellowship. Or the excuse that perhaps the (particular) church wasn't genuine enough. All show and no soul. That it somehow didn't fit into my sense of what church should be.
As you know, these sorts of things snowball, and soon I was essentially without this "fellowship."
Fast forward 4 years and a move 1000 miles from home, far from the non-denominational, evangelical, and, yes, southern baptist environment I grew up in. There I was right in the middle of a church environment that was far more traditional protestant and also, yes, overwhelmingly (relatively speaking) Catholic. I soon became married to a lovely wife who is also a believer, but had grown up in a church culture far removed from the one I was accostomed to. A church culture full of tradition and liturgy and strict interpretations (at least as far as I can best see without attending their catechism).
With nothing firm of my own to stand on, given that my once firm grounding in a more free, "spirit-filled" interpretation of the modern church and "fellowship" and church and evangelism and grace and, well, tradition, had eroded with 4 years of excuses, there was nothing to shore up further erosion.
Initially, I tried to open myself to this new view of the protestant tradition.
Specifically, there is a lot about the Lutheran tradition that I admire. I am obviously far from an expert, but I admire the devotion to faithful interpretation of scripture. The desire to reexam everything we say and sing about God and Christ and the Spirit in the light of trying to be faithful to the whole body of Scripture. I admire the ties to the traditional church, the continuation of liturgy which amazingly ties us to Christians who have come before us and wrestled with this faith and passes along lessons learned and beliefs established. I appreciate how this brings new and different meaning to the traditional Christian holidays, and how it carries a believer through the calendar year in an annual remembrance from the birth to life to death to resurrection of Christ, the continued church, and over again.
That said, there are other things about the tradition I'm less enthusiastic about, and therein lies the dilemma.
Will there ever be a church I find that fits what I picture the modern church to be? That fits what I've put together in my own faith story of how I should present myself in worship and service to Christ and others.
Or should I dump this idea of the "perfect church" (probably) and just plug in somewhere and begin again the process of service to others and surrender to Him?
But there always remains the question of how can one do this in an environment one doesn't not connect with fully? And it's not just this new tradition I've been exposed to, it's even those within the tradition in which I am comfortable.
So, that brings me to the original purpose of this blog entry.
I think I'm more excited about the possibility of finally finding a church community I can connect with in Austin, than with the other potential benefits of being back in a warm climate, close to a great lake, in the "live music capital of the world," living in the hill country, outdoor activities, etc.
The idea of mosaic intrigues me. It's a church that I'm told tried to keep the traditional liturgy in the setting of a (post-)modern world. That has (loose) ties to the evangelical tradition I've grown up in. That is ok with the modern worship movement.
Now, I'm probably building it up to be more (or different) than it really is. And I'll probably find some excuse to not like it like the others. And, perhaps even more so, it may not be a church community with which my wife can connect and serve and worship and grow.
And so, back to square one.
We'll see, I suppose. There's potential there. And an excitement that hasn't been there for a while. If not there, then perhaps somewhere. Surely God wouldn't have put us together without a church fellowship in mind in which we both could serve and worship and grow.
Rejoice....He is Risen.
Sunday, February 11, 2007
Accent?
| What American accent do you have? Your Result: The West Your accent is the lowest common denominator of American speech. Unless you're a SoCal surfer, no one thinks you have an accent. And really, you may not even be from the West at all, you could easily be from Florida or one of those big Southern cities like Dallas or Atlanta. | |
| The Midland | |
| Boston | |
| North Central | |
| The South | |
| The Inland North | |
| Philadelphia | |
| The Northeast | |
| What American accent do you have? Quiz Created on GoToQuiz | |
Monday, February 05, 2007
f r i g i d
how's this for cold...
-2 at 2 in the affternoon on yesterday (by my car's thermometer).
official recorded high was -4 yesterday.
-11 low yesterday (record low).
0 high today.
-14 on the way to work this morning (record low).
brr.
-2 at 2 in the affternoon on yesterday (by my car's thermometer).
official recorded high was -4 yesterday.
-11 low yesterday (record low).
0 high today.
-14 on the way to work this morning (record low).
brr.
Saturday, January 27, 2007
Albums I missed*
...or want.
i'm so out of the loop.
The Brothers Martin - The Brothers Martin
The Decemberists - The Crane Wife
The Killers - Sam's Town
Starflyer 59 - My Island
Norah Jones - Not Too Late
The Shines - Oh, Inverted World
hundred year storm - hello from the children of planet earth
cool hand luke - the balancing act (feb 20)
*subject to update at any time.
i'm so out of the loop.
The Brothers Martin - The Brothers Martin
The Decemberists - The Crane Wife
The Killers - Sam's Town
Starflyer 59 - My Island
Norah Jones - Not Too Late
The Shines - Oh, Inverted World
hundred year storm - hello from the children of planet earth
cool hand luke - the balancing act (feb 20)
*subject to update at any time.
Tuesday, January 23, 2007
real 100
bittersweet that tomorrow is the penultimate day of OB (labor & delivery) call. I can't believe this may be the last time I'm consistently delivering babies.
Turning 30.
Ending Residency.
Buying a house for the first time together with my wife.
A major move (somewhere).
A real job.
A real life.
Crazy, crazy year.
Turning 30.
Ending Residency.
Buying a house for the first time together with my wife.
A major move (somewhere).
A real job.
A real life.
Crazy, crazy year.
Tuesday, January 09, 2007
2007 Resolutions
1. Get in shape. Stay in shape. Work out 4+ days of the week, at least 30 minutes per day.
2. Keep up with charts. I am notorious for being weeks to months behind on my patient charts. My goal is to keep to our clinic standard - done in 3 days. 100%.
3. Pick up the guitar again. Get back into playing worship songs. Perhaps in #4.
4. Get involved in a small group in Church. This would require finding a church both Heidi and I agree on. I'm hoping that will get settled out once we move to a new town this summer.
5. Read at least 6 books this year. Non-medical books. This never used to be an issue. Now I rarely pick up a book. I miss that.
6. Attend 6 concerts. Again, this never used to be an issue. I so very much miss this.
7. Be a better do-it-yourself person around the house. I'm horrible at this now. I hate having to hire out everything. Hopefully I can improve this as my schedule settles down with a real job. I'm not sure how to quantify this, but we'll have to gestalt it next year.
2. Keep up with charts. I am notorious for being weeks to months behind on my patient charts. My goal is to keep to our clinic standard - done in 3 days. 100%.
3. Pick up the guitar again. Get back into playing worship songs. Perhaps in #4.
4. Get involved in a small group in Church. This would require finding a church both Heidi and I agree on. I'm hoping that will get settled out once we move to a new town this summer.
5. Read at least 6 books this year. Non-medical books. This never used to be an issue. Now I rarely pick up a book. I miss that.
6. Attend 6 concerts. Again, this never used to be an issue. I so very much miss this.
7. Be a better do-it-yourself person around the house. I'm horrible at this now. I hate having to hire out everything. Hopefully I can improve this as my schedule settles down with a real job. I'm not sure how to quantify this, but we'll have to gestalt it next year.
tomorrow never dies
the problem with my blog: i can never decide exactly what i want it to be.
-place to post my inner most thoughts/struggles?
-place to post only my most insightful moments?
-place to talk about sports?
-place to talk about cool things i've come across?
-place to update my day-to-day life?
-place to talk about spiritual struggles?
i think over the years, it's been all of the above, and, thus, not really been anything.
i don't think i'm going to solve that problem any time soon.
thoughts/things for today:
1. did you know car rental prices vary from hour to hour? yes. hour to hour. we just looked up an 8 day rental for an SUV, and the cost in 3 hrs varied from $780 to $480 to $405. Craziness. Keep that in mind the next time you look.
2. i've just entered into contract negotiations for new braunfels. it's weird. and challenging. and way too much legal mumbo-jumbo. it seems inevitable that i'm going to get screwed.
3. i wish we could find a great option for both heidi and me to be close to our families. hopefully one of the sets of parents will spontaneously decide to move close to the other set. somehow, that just doesn't seem likely, with both families having firm roots in texas and wisconsin respectively. my angle: buying a lakehouse for them. the question is: which lake? (in which state?)
4. new years resolutions to follow.
5. it's so great ohio state not only lost, but got BLOWN OUT by florida. justifies all my defense (here in big ten country) of the SEC champ being in the title game, and not michigan. the michigan drubbing at the hands of USC helped, but the florida drubbing of ohio state was the kicker. i hate living in big ten sports country. most big ten fans are so elitist (sp?)
6. apple has a new phone, the iphone. it looks oh so tasty.
-place to post my inner most thoughts/struggles?
-place to post only my most insightful moments?
-place to talk about sports?
-place to talk about cool things i've come across?
-place to update my day-to-day life?
-place to talk about spiritual struggles?
i think over the years, it's been all of the above, and, thus, not really been anything.
i don't think i'm going to solve that problem any time soon.
thoughts/things for today:
1. did you know car rental prices vary from hour to hour? yes. hour to hour. we just looked up an 8 day rental for an SUV, and the cost in 3 hrs varied from $780 to $480 to $405. Craziness. Keep that in mind the next time you look.
2. i've just entered into contract negotiations for new braunfels. it's weird. and challenging. and way too much legal mumbo-jumbo. it seems inevitable that i'm going to get screwed.
3. i wish we could find a great option for both heidi and me to be close to our families. hopefully one of the sets of parents will spontaneously decide to move close to the other set. somehow, that just doesn't seem likely, with both families having firm roots in texas and wisconsin respectively. my angle: buying a lakehouse for them. the question is: which lake? (in which state?)
4. new years resolutions to follow.
5. it's so great ohio state not only lost, but got BLOWN OUT by florida. justifies all my defense (here in big ten country) of the SEC champ being in the title game, and not michigan. the michigan drubbing at the hands of USC helped, but the florida drubbing of ohio state was the kicker. i hate living in big ten sports country. most big ten fans are so elitist (sp?)
6. apple has a new phone, the iphone. it looks oh so tasty.
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