broken//stained//glass

Introducing you to some friends...

I want to encourage you to read regularly the thoughts of some missional church planting pastor friends of mine. They challenge me and encourage me in the journey.

I love the way Brent Underwood (Richmond, VA) writes, but he is an even better listener and shepherd.
I am challenged by the words of John Chandler, (Austin, TX) but his humor cracks me up.
I am intrigued by the words of JR Woodward (Hollywood, CA) and I love sharing in his unique first name.
I read the words Todd Hiestand (Feasterville, PA) shares on his blog, but I totally enjoy seeing him live those words out on a regular basis in the rhythms of his life. It makes his words credible when he backs them up by doing them.

Enjoy...

The Olympics

The Olympics start tonight in Beijing and I'm really excited.
08/08/08 at 8 pm.
I love watching the Olympics and getting into the human interest stories they report.
We have some unique connections with the Olympic athletes.

• I went to school with Lindsay Shoop, who is competing in the eight-woman rowing events.

• When we lived in Colorado Springs I led a Bible study for the athletes on Tuesday nights at the Olympic Training Center working through the book of Romans.

• In 2004, there were six people who attended our church who were Olympics athletes. Two of those athletes, Michael Blatchford (cycling) and Reid Priddy (men's volleyball) are competing again in Beijing.

• The first wedding I officiated was of a couple who were U.S. Olympic triatheletes. (Their wedding was filmed by the show A Wedding Story on TLC).

• One of my closest friends from college and Colorado Springs is in an accountability group with Hunter Kemper (triathalon). Hunter has already had his face printed on a Wheaties box.
  

• I seriously dated a girl in college who went on to compete in Athens in archery. On dates we would sometimes go to the archery range that her father owned. She was an incredible archer. No joke.

Watch for these athletes (Lindsay, Michael, Reid and Hunter) and cheer them on.

As you get into the Olympic spirit check out this Google application for the Olympics.

And also, this fascinating little piece in the New York Times about the evolution of the Olympic torch.

a good challenge: Church II

"The biblical fact is that there are no successful churches. There are, instead, communities of sinners, gathered before God week after week in towns and villages all over the world. The Holy Spirit gathers them and does his work in them. In these communities one of the sinners is called pastor and is given a designated responsibility in community. The pastor's responsibility is to keep the community attentive to God."

- Eugene Peterson

a good challenge: church

"On the whole, I do not find Christians, outside of the catacombs, sufficiently sensible of conditions. Does anyone have the foggiest idea what sort of power we so blithely invoke? Or, as I suspect, does no one believe a word of it? The churches are children playing on the floor with their chemistry sets, mixing up a batch of TNT to kill a Sunday morning. It is madness to wear ladies' straw hats and velvet hats to church; we should all be wearing crash helmets. Ushers should issue life preservers and signal flares; they should lash us to our pews. For the sleeping God may wake someday and take offense, or the waking God may draw us out to where we can never return."

     -Annie Dillard in Teaching a Stone to Talk