500

...from ChristianityToday blog entitled:
The Future of the Emerging Church

for the first time we’ve had the ability to talk to each other, to be self-conscious about what is happening, and be somewhat intentional. This is very exhilarating.

Author/Scholar/Journalist Phyllis Tickle dialogues her views on the Emerging Church. Good read and lots of good reading in the comments...

Beyond Sunday School

I'm in one of those places where I'm thinking about reaching and ministry outside the context of the Sunday morning routine.

Telling our community that God loves them and we love them and to prove it we offer age-graded, content oriented Bible study classes... just doesn't get there for those outside the church culture.

I guess I'm back to those nasty words, "authentic, relevant"

...this just in. James was online. D-rell was down for a visit. That was good fun... only someone jacked my mic and I had to type my half of the conversation. Why does it always happen to the arthritic guy?

now it's late and my rant is gone. dang it.

Meet Courtney Perry

Courtney, a freelance photojournalist from Dallas, recently shared 3 photos/3 stories in the latest Emergent/C newsletter.

Today I share with you three simple images and stories. I revel in finding God in the coincidences, the synchronicities, of life, and these are all just that:

Picture 1: October 2005. Marc Broussard’s soul-wrenching song “Home” was ringing in my ears and heart. I had photographed bedraggled Katrina evacuees pouring into Dallas by the busload a month or so earlier, and that song, which a friend had shared with me long before the deluge, was suddenly ringing loud and clear. I envisioned returning to New Orleans with a family for the first time to document the experience, and perhaps over the next 10 years continuing to document future returns. I mentioned this randomly to a security guard at a facility in Dallas where I was shooting an unrelated assignment one night. It turned out the security guard was originally from New Orleans, and his brother and mother had fled from the storm. The very next day they were all driving back for the first time. I asked if I could join them. They generously said yes.

Picture 2: November 2006. Gainesville, Texas. I won’t bore you with details. The simple fact was that I quite unexpectedly got to photograph sunrise on a lavender farm. Not only did I get to bathe in the beauty of a floral fall sunrise, I ended up making wonderful new friends, It was simply a day when the beauty of nature and humanity shone brightly.

Picture 3: February 2004. I was assigned to photograph an artist at his home on a Wednesday, but the artist asked the reporter and I to come on the previous Monday, saying he thought he would feel better that day. He had COPD and found it strenuous to breathe. He was preparing for an art show later in the year, which was the story we were covering. He showed us photos of his local work, and I couldn’t believe it. One huge piece was hanging in the atrium of a local chain hotel--I had JUST been there for work, and I recalled stopping cold in my tracks when I saw it, and then sitting underneath the billowing art wondering why in the world something so beautiful was in a hotel lobby. He was happy that it had inspired such awe in me. I was honored to be meeting the creator of such incredible art. I photographed him. I left. Very unexpectedly, the gifted artist died later that same day.

Where do you see God in the unexpected?
How do you feel God in the quiet?

These photographs are the property of Courtney Perry and are used with her permission. All other use of these photographs is prohibited. Please respect the rights of the artist and the privacy of the subjects by not copying, printing, posting or using these photographs in any other way.

I recommend a tranquil walk through her photo galleries and those of her husband Chris Hamilton.

We Baptists Do Not Drink ( . . . in front of each other)

Andrew has an interesting article regarding a topic that has gotten a lot of press in the last few months. Read the article and enjoy the comments. Here's my fav

I've been instructed that when taking a baptist fishing to always invite two. Otherwise the one will drink all of your beer.

- Richard

Good word.

This just in from Lloyd's blog

...how to be "missional", a term which basically means to meet people where they are at; speak their language, play their music, hang out where they hang out, etc. Para-church organizations send out missionaries who eat the food, dress in the clothes, and become totally immersed in, the culture in which they are working. The American church doesn't usually do this. The American church, sadly, creates its own sub-culture and hopes that the rest of the community around it will change their culture to fit ours. It ain't gonna go down like that

-Lloyd