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the wisdom of ghost dog(?)

I have to admit, the thought of Forest Whitaker playing some kind of urban samurai seems laughable to me. And until recently I hadn't bothered to watch the movie, Ghost Dog: The Way of The Samurai. But our friend Holly, who owns and operates Citizen Video says that Jim Jarmusch is her favorite director. And Holly's husband says that Ghost Dog is his all-time favorite movie. Neither of their recommendations have done me wrong so far so I decided to check it out on a night that I'd had too much coffee and I knew Brooke was going to crash early.

My expectations were low, so I think that may have helped it out. But I actually enjoyed the movie. The RZA's soundtrack isn't bad either. It's got a lot of violence, and a funny scene where Whitaker is doing this meditation and then kung fu stuff in slow motion. But besides that, it wasn't bad.

The best part was this quote, supposedly from the book, Hagakure: The Book of the Samurai. Now, there were a lot of quotes from this book that I wouldn't highlight. But this one got me thinking:

"It is bad when one thing becomes two. One should not look for anything else in the Way of the Samurai. It is the same for anything that is called a Way. If one understands things in this manner, he should be able to hear about all ways and be more and more in accord with his own." [emphasis mine]

As silly as it seems–to me–to take a quote from this film so seriously, I feel as though this is how I see following the Way of Jesus. I'm not deterred by hearing about other "ways." Even if they seem contrary to mine. I remember hearing Deborah Loyd of the Bridge in Portland talking about creationism vs. evolution. She said that when she heard evolution explained her response was, "Wow! God is awesome."

The task is to see our own Way through the lens of others. Is this universalism or syncretism? I don't think so.

When I read my friend Matt's post on Horus, or hear my friend Sunil talk about the Bali raja or my Muslim friends talk about the prophet Isa, I am more enamored with the Way of Jesus than dismayed at a lack uniquity.

What do you think?

Not sure if I've explained myself well here.

south park street art

south park street art
Originally uploaded by jasonevans.

Matt and his centipede

Matt and his centipede
Originally uploaded by jasonevans.

open letter...

An Open Letter to the Previous Owner of My House...

To Whomever It May Concern:

You are an idiot. Everything you ever did to these houses stretches the words "fix" or "repair" beyond anything reasonable. If you still own tools. Give them away or sell them. You don't need them. They are of no use to you.

I assume by most of your "handiwork" I have uncovered that you are on drugs. You really should check yourself into a rehab center. Not only is it a threat to you and those who love you, but you tend to create problems, immense problems for others... even after you've been long gone.

If you aren't on drugs I will give you one thing, you're creative. Whether it be structural, decorative, plumbing, or electrical it never makes sense, commonly leads to more problems, but it certainly is always unconventional and creative... although, I use that term loosely.

Lastly, I hope we do not ever meet. I believe in non-violence and from time to time call myself a pacifist. But upon meeting, I am certain to reflect on the incalculable cost and pain you have caused me, and I have no idea what I might do.

Thank you for your time.

Sincerely,

Jason

HH not meeting at our place tonight...

We are not going to be able to meet at our place tonight. I have a broken
water line in the kitchen and Brooke is feeling REALLY sick. So, I think
it's best to not have folks in our house tonight.

BUT if you all want to still meet I encourage you to. A coffee house,
another home, whatever. I'll leave it up to y'all. Sorry for the
inconvenience.

here comes everybody

We hadn't planned on going to the Walkabout last night. But since we got home from a family birthday party a little earlier than expected we peaked into Citizen Video to watch The Paddle Boat play a few songs (they are fantastic, by the way). I walked into The Grove, our great little neighborhood gift shop, to say "hi" to someone real quick and saw the book, Here Comes Everybody: The Power of Organizing Without Organizations. I'm already reading enough books right now, I know. But I picked it up. I got interested in this book by Clay Shirky after reading Jonny Baker's posts on the "Network of Christ" in which he refers to Shirky's book. They are very good. You can check out Baker's series here, here, here, and here. I only read the first two chapters last night, but I am intrigued. In short (from what I've read so far and gleaned from Baker's assessment), Shirky discusses how people organize themselves in ways that are not dependent upon our typical organizational structures. As an anabaptist, I like this non-hierarchical approach. But one thing that Shirky also seems to be saying is that people associate as they please and at different levels, so get used to it... that's just the way it is now. This is something that Joe Myers talked about in his book, The Search to Belong: Rethinking Intimacy, Community, and Small Groups. This, I'm not sure how I feel about. Again, as an anabaptist, I feel the need for some kind of call to discipleship, a radical ethic. Either way, I'm enjoying the read.

Onto another great blog series I found recently: Magpie Girl has some great posts on starting communities. The posts are practical, feminine (which we need more of) and just plain great. Check 'em out here, here, here and here.

A51T15 Paige intro from Jason Evans on Vimeo.

the common root in So Cal and Baja

I haven't been able to be as involved in this project as much as I would have liked in the last 6 months, but the Common Root is really growing and taking shape. If you are drawn towards a more "anabaptistic" Christian expression, I'd recommend you go check out CR. I've started a CR group for San Diego-Tijuana. If you are any where around San Diego (or So Cal) or Tijuana (or Baja in general), please go sign up to be a part of our group. Together with the Center for Anabaptist Leadership we can try to gather like minded folks across the region.

free the rabbit!

art with the kids

We are a creative bunch in our household. It seems as though someone is always creating something. The best is when we get a chance to make things together. I thought I'd share a few things we've come up with recently.


"untitled abstract" by PaigePaige and I started taking a parent and child art class at San Diego Art Department a few weeks ago. It's been a lot of fun to spend a couple hours a week just sitting down and painting together. Last week we worked on abstracts. This is what Paige worked on. I love it!


"Family" by Paige, Matt and meThe other day, the kids and I somehow got to talking about plans for our Dia de los Muertos party this year. Matt asked why we celebrate it and we talked about how it's a chance to remember and celebrate the lives of those we love whom have passed away. From there we started to talk about the meaning of family, that it goes deep into the past but isn't limited to those we are related to by blood. That those in our "kingdom family" are just as precious to us. We decided to try and paint something that represented these ideas to us but together. This is what we came up with.


"untitled" by meLastly, this is a piece I worked on as my abstract in the art class Paige and I have been taking. We looked at a few of Kandinsky's pieces in the class. I tried to combine a little of that but had also recently been looking at Rick Froberg's stuff (of Drive Like Jehu, Hot Snakes and now Obits)... Not that I think I'm anything close but I gotta give prop's to what inspired me.

The Beatles

I'll be honest. I do try to influence my kids musical taste. I still remember taking Paige to Lou's Records to trade in a series of lullaby CD's we had received for music she could pick out. We spent an hour picking out CD's by putting the headphones on her and usually picking those she danced most for. The girl at the counter looked at me disparagingly, "Trading in your kids music for yourself?" "Honestly, these are for her!" She'll still tell you that she loves Tegan and Sara and Red Five, which were in that stack. But what I've never had to try with is The Beatles. The kids have instantly taken to their music from a young age. They're timeless! Both our kids love them. And they really enjoyed Yellow Submarine, which we watched a while ago.

Every time we listen to them, which is quite frequent, I still find myself amazed at how good their music remains after all these years.

Paige's favorite song by The Beatles is "Octopus's Garden." Matty's is "Come Together." Brooke's is "Blackbird." Mine is "Helter Skelter."

What's your all time favorite song by The Beatles?

scary

talking with chris smith

I met Chris Smith several years ago through our common friends at The Landing Place in Columbus and Vineyard Central in Cincinnati. Last summer, we had the chance to visit Chris, his family and church family, Englewood Christian, in Indianapolis. Their church is doing some wonderful things! If you are anywhere in the region, I'd encourage you to visit them. Chris is also the author of Water, Faith and Wood: Stories of the Early Church's Witness for Today, the editor of The Englewood Review and runs Doulos Christou Books.

Recently, Chris and I got talking after this post. (He's also recently made a strong attempt at being my look-alike, unfortunately, I'm not as good-looking or as smart as he is) Anyways, I asked him if I could take some of his thoughts and shape them into an interview. He's a wise dude. I hope you take the time to read what follows.

In our conversation, you shared with the idea of the "rootlessness" of American culture. Can you explain this to me?
Yes, I think “rootless” is a good word to describe American culture in general today. It seems to me that our rootlessness has its origin in the individualism od Western culture. Descartes intentionally severs himself from the roots of his past and sets out to see what knowledge he can discover by himself, and before long many others were following suit. It’s crazy the extent to which America and Western culture have been formed by this one little philosophical thought experiment. Another force behind our rootlessness is the overarching American spirit of “Manifest Destiny” – the land and indeed the world is ours to conquer. Manifest Destiny drove westward expansion, American imperialism and even our explorations in space, but perhaps the most prevalent expression of Manifest Destiny today is that of one’s “career.” We have been formed in such a way as to value the pursuit of our career above all else. So, when the company tells us to pack our bags and move to the opposite coast (or, God forbid, somewhere in the heartland) or when an irresistible job opportunity in another place pops up, we move on with little or no thought. The globalization of the economy also feeds on these powers that drive us; the built landscape of the global economy begins to look the same wherever we go: Walmart, Starbucks, Home Depot, etc., they all start to look the same whether we are in Los Angeles, Little Rock or Long Island. This homogeneity of landscape eases any qualms we might have about our transience from place to place. We have practices of encouraging our kids to “go off to school” (I should know, I did this myself, going to a college over 500 miles from where I grew up), and furthermore we don’t really offer our kids any substantial community to return to and participate in after college. We have all these forces (economic, social, historical) driving us forward – “progress” we call it – and they keep us moving and never really desiring to settle and make a deep commitment to a people and a place. That, in a nutshell, is our restlessness.

In this kind of culture, what do you believe to be the calling of the church?

The Church is – or should be – the community of people formed by the divine gift of sabbath (REST), in which we can stop and name the insanity and idolatry of our restless patterns of self-glorification for what they are. Above all else, the calling of the Church is to be a community, he gathered people of God, the body of Christ that incarnates God’s person in a particular place. In community, we learn to submit our individual hopes and agendas to the agenda of the Kingdom. We need to make deep commitments to our church communities, commitments that run deeper than the varieties of opinions (theological, cultural and otherwise) that each of us have. Secondly, (and I do believe that this is a slightly lesser commitment) our church communities need to be rooted in a place. The monastics call this the virtue of stability and offer us much wisdom in this direction. With commitments to community and stability, our life together is starts to take a particular shape over time, or in other words, we become a culture, and specifically a local culture.

Speaking about the church in a particular place, what is a local church to do?

Because we as the church have a culture that is deeply-rooted in a local place (so rare in our rootless society), we have great potential to shape the larger culture of our place. It is important to note the priority here: church community first, and the culture of that cannot help but overflow into the neighborhood. We need to grow in our understanding of our place – watching, listening, etc. Most importantly, we should ask what the assets of the larger community are and how they can be nurtured to promote growth and human connection? Secondly, we should ask what are the needs and opportunities of the neighborhood? (If we start by looking for needs, we set ourselves up for some weird power dynamics, where the Church over time could take on a privileged role as a “fixer.” On the other hand, if we start by identifying assets, our work is done alongside our neighbors and not for them…)

In almost any place – with the possible exception of some rural places – food is a key economic way in which the church can nurture local culture: e.g., growing foods, connecting neighbors to local food producers, cooking in ways that make the best use of local foods, and educating others to do all of these things. What if the church was to become an incubator for locally-oriented businesses (home construction/renovation, credit unions, restaurants, bike or car sales/repair, the possibilities are endless and should flow out of the particular gifts and skills of those that God has provided us in the church community). John Howard Yoder’s little book Body Politics: Five Practices of the Church Before the Watching World has been really helpful for me in seeing how the basic worship practices of the church can form the socio-political ways that we engage our neighbors. As we nurture local culture inside and out of the church community, the Kingdom way of our life together will form the ways we take care of our neighbors, do business, etc. Finally, in any discussion of the church as a local culture, we must emphasize the place of the discernment of the body. There are no neat one-size-fits-all solutions; our community in urban Indy is going to look different from yours in San Diego. We discern the shape of how we are going to live together, how we are going to sustain our community and how we are going to engage our neighbors. This can be really messy and certainly is not an efficient way to “get things done” but as Yoder and others have argued it is the way of love and of shalom to which we are called.

Can you share with me some of your own experiments, or those of others?
I really like what you guys are doing with food issues and education (“Justice Kitchen”, etc.) Being in an urban “food desert,” our church community is experimenting a lot with food issues too: growing and preserving food, starting a food co-op, etc. “Experimenting” is a great word to use here, by the way, because we should recognize that as we nurture local culture, we’re bound to fail occasionally, and we shouldn’t be afraid of failure. As to other experiments, we have a Community Development corporation that is basically the economic face of our church, and allows us to be a sort of incubator for locally-oriented business coming out of the church. We do bookkeeping for other churches and non-profits, we fix up some of the vast numbers of vacant houses in our neighborhood and provide affordable housing, I sell and publish books, etc. All of these businesses and a few others have arisen out of the gifts and skills of our people and the opportunities in our neighborhood. Recently, I’ve really been interested in seeking out the wildlife assets of our urban neighborhood. These are an often-overlooked asset of any urban place, and are a reminder both of the larger ecological community of the place and of God’s reconciliation of all creation. I’ve been writing off and on about some of these explorations at http://urbannaturalism.com My friend and frequent collaborator, Brent Aldrich, is an artist who is experimenting with forms that are intimately tied to our neighborhood, where he has grown up. One of these is a tool shed in our community garden, on which he is in the process of painting a “field guide” that depicts plants that are growing in the garden and in the wider community. I’ve also learned a lot about nurturing local culture from our friends in Cincinnati, about stability, beauty, urban gardening, etc. All of the thing I’ve mentioned here are experiments, but I believe that with our commitments to people and place, God will work through our faithfulness to transform the culture into that of the Kingdom.

Thanks, Chris.

0320091720.jpg

0320091720.jpg
Originally uploaded by jasonevans.

street art in south park

zines, zines and more zines

With all due respect to those behind these projects (because I really do respect many of these folks), in a world where so many print publications are already struggling, why do we need this and this when there is already this and this (among others)? Just curious.

future of christian learning?

... or viable alternatives.

There are all kinds of examples out there... The Disseminary, Word and World, People's Seminary, School of Servant Leadership, Underground Seminary, etc., but there is clearly many out there that are convinced that theological training needs to happen in a different way. For lay people and leaders. Rooted in context and practices. We've talked off and on about this here in San Diego. But... what should it look like? Is it needed? What doesn't work? What does? Why not just rely on the institutions that already do this? What are they missing?

You got answers?

I'm listening.

A51T15 Matty Boy intro from Jason Evans on Vimeo.

st. patty's day san diego style

The weather has been unresistable the last couple of days. With the time change and warmer nights, it feels like summer is already coming. The cool yet still-light evening beckoned us all outside last night. Brooke and I, sitting on the porch sipping wine while the kids picked clovers and threw them at each other. Priceless! We captured a few more pics which you can check out on my Flickr page.

I mentioned green beer, yesterday. But we decided to add a few more "green" foods to the list last night. The kids and I made green chocolate chip cookies after school and later on we made guacamole and green salsa to go along with our home made bean burritos! No Irish food here! We have some yellow-green tomatoes growing in our garden that don't have much flavor and clearly aren't red tomatoes–they voluntarily sprouted up. But they make a good salsa!

- 5 tomatoes
- 3 garlic cloves
- bunch of cilantro
- 1 lime
- 1/2 onion
- 1 jalapeno
- cumin and salt to taste

... yum!

saint patrick's day

Happy St. Patrick's Day! No big plans for our family today. I think I might make some green beer tonight. And then I'll be off to band practice. How about you? Is there anything I should be forewarned about before attempting to make some green beverages?

When considering the day, most of us think about wearing green and consuming green food (and beer). But there is a lot to be learned from St. Patrick and those early Christians among the Celts. I would recommend anyone to pick up George G. Hunter III's, The Celtic Way of Evangelism for a short but insightful overview of the early Christian influence in Ireland. Here are a few things that I find inspiring about Patrick and his early successors, according to Hunter:

• Love of Enemies: Patrick was from England, captured and enslaved by the Celts. He escaped and returned years later to minister to them.
• It's Never Too Late: He returned to Ireland in what was considered at that time, old age.
• Early Environmentalists?: Early Irish Christians had a high appreciation for the natural world and the Creators hand within it.
• Holistic View of Faith: Similarly, the early Christians in Ireland tended towards seeing God's presence everywhere, not just in church buildings.
  
• Urban Community: Rather than start monastic communities outside of town, they started theirs within villages, mixing monks and families together in one community.
• Post[Pre?]-Colonial, Contextual and Unorthodox Ministry: Patrick and others respected the traditions and culture of those they ministered with and did their best to communicate the good news of God in a manner that related to their context–which lead them to be perceived as unorthodox and questioned to be heretical by Rome.

irradio

Matt and I walked down to the Whistle Stop on Friday night to watch Irradio play. I've known guitarist/vocalist, Dan Dasher, for a long time and have really appreciated the evolution of his music. Irradio has really matured and developed a unique sound that is really awesome. They will be at SXSW and Bonnaroo this year. Check them out live if you get the chance. Visit their myspace page to hear their most recent release, recorded with Mitch Wilson from No Knife.

tastes like tofu

Dad: "Matty, do you want some coffee?" (jokingly, of course)
Matt: "Yuck! That crap tastes like tofu!"

... okay.

I've redesigned the ol' blog. I unintentionally wiped it and was forced to rebuild. But I'm pretty happy with how it came together... Hopefully, you don't think this blog is yuck and tastes like tofu.

Feel free to comment on the new A51T15.

what do you do with old jeans?

Brooke has often told me over the almost two decades of being togegther, "You can't go through life wearing only a t-shirt and a pair of jeans." Yep, I like wearing jeans. And I've done my best to prove my wife wrong... although it didn't work out totally.

But it's simple. I don't have to worry about matching. And they're durable–I can be rough on clothes. I've learned how to make them last a long time (ie. don't wash them too often, etc.). But I've a got a couple pairs that are starting to wear out in the knees. But I'm cheap. I don't want to buy another pair if I don't have to. It just kills me to think about getting rid of them when they still could have some life in them if it weren't for the damn knees. So, I need your ideas on a) creative ways to recycle old worn out jeans (it's not like I can donate them to someone when they're in this bad of shape... and re-using them in some way would make me feel a little better about tossing in the towel) or b) tips on repairing blown out knees on jeans. I would appreciate your help... and Brooke will too. :)

new jesusradicals.com

JesusRadicals.com has undergone a huge overhaul! Among other new things, it now includes free material (including video footage) by a variety of radical Christian thinkers include Dorothy Day and John Howard Yoder. The Yoder clip alone is worth checking it out! Enjoy.

why we live the way we do... [pt 2]

So, what does that mean for us?

I'm referring to what I mentioned in yesterday's post.

Realizing this kind of local commitment in San Diego, has led us towards a deeper commitment to this place and the people. I've looked at this in three ways:
• our region–both San Diego and Tijuana
• our city–specifically the metro area neighborhoods
• our neighborhood–South Park

Speaking of the region, as author Mike Davis pointed out in Magical Urbanism, these two cities are like "Siamese Twins"–deeply dependent upon each other. Unfortunately, people of Latin American descent are often unfairly treated and the federal government continues to militarize our border.

What would it mean to "[w]ork to see that the city where I sent you as exiles enjoys peace and prosperity"? John Howard Yoder, in For The Nations and elsewhere, has argued that the early church was well aware of this kind of posture. Without going into the details, his perspective (and I'm convinced as well) provides a profound shift on what the "Good News" means. In effect, we who choose to be the church, to align ourselves with God's agenda in the world become the good news by how we live. But this can't be carbon copied... it always has to be in context. Just as in the Jeremiah passage.

With this in mind, in this context, we are compelled to embody peace and love where violence and divisiveness is taking ground. Where some would seek the prosperity of San Diego, ignoring the concerns of those living in Tijuana, we pray and live towards the well being of both parts of this region.

I celebrated communion with other Christian leaders at the border fence for months. This simple act of being the Church together has spoken loudly to political leaders and citizens of both Tijuana and San Diego. Appreciating our attempts to simply serve and practice unity with our brothers and sisters from the south, a Christian leader from Tijuana recently told me he would be willing to be our liaison in developing deeper relationships with Christians in Tijuana. This was an honor I didn't expect.

But this is just a start. I think those of us in this region would do well to look at Dr. Glen Stassen's Just Peacemaking books and material for assistance in imagining a more just and peaceful region. If we really believe in changing the factors that empower some to benefit while others suffer we have to consider things such as:

• Developing non-paternalistic relationships with people in Tijuana
• See more San Diegans learn to speak Spanish (more on this later)
• Find economic development models that work in Mexico, and specifically Tijuana (such as Cafe Justo)
• Consider engaging in nonviolent advocacy, accompaniment and intervention for those seeking a better way of life
• Nurture more theological development around the idea of Jesus as an immigrant

I don't assume to have the means to address each of these things. But I feel like part of being the church in San Diego calls us to address this. I won't go into anymore detail on my reasons. You can read more about those here, here and here.

... more to come on city and neighborhood.

bake it forward and wikichoice

from The Idea Camp

Check out BakeForward.com and WikiChoice.com.

why we live the way we do... [pt 1]

Our family is in the middle of a bunch of changes again. Nothing to worry about. We're not moving to Bangladesh or anything crazy. But I don't feel like I can say quite yet what they are simply because not all of those shifts are still concrete. I haven't sent a newsletter for the Collective in over a month simply because I haven't known what to say quite yet. But whenever things begin to shift in our lives, I begin to ask myself, "Why do we live the way we do?" I started writing some things down in response to that question and decided to share some of it here...

Bill Hybels has often been quoted saying, "The local church is the hope of the world." I remember first hearing Hybels say this years ago at a Willow Creek conference. It rung true to me and convinced me to remain involved in Christian leadership. I still agree with this statement–although I think his understanding of "church" is misguided. In 2007, I spoke at the annual Mennonite Church USA conference in San Jose, CA about the unsustainable state of the Church in North America. At first, my statement and Hybels' seem contrary. But I believe that the local church put into a local context, understood not as institutions, particular places or events but rather as the people of God called to participate with him in the renewing of all creation is still the hope of the world. What is no longer sustainable is an understanding of church as a particular place, time and event in which only a few have power and authority.

My agreement with Hybels' quote only grew this last summer. In August, Brooke, Paige, Matty and I had the opportunity to visit multiple faith communities of different shapes and sizes across the country. We found several communities attempting to uncover God's agenda in their neighborhoods rather than building their own agendas. Some had buildings. Some didn't. But all of them were deeply embedded within and committed to their surrounding community.

Many of us may no longer be familiar with the term "parish." A parish is a region or geographic district that a church considers their primary location of ministry. It includes those that are a part of the local church, but may also include those outside the church but within that geographic space. In many ways, that is what these communities have done. They have renewed a parish mentality; they have made their neighborhoods their primary space for living out the Good News of God.

On our trip we were inspired by communities doing just this. It renewed our commitment to seeing these kinds of communities emerge in San Diego. We were encouraged by the work of communities such as Church of the Savior in Washington DC and Vineyard Central in Cincinnati who have spent years living out justice and beauty in hard hit neighborhoods. And there were the small, young grassroots communities meeting in homes and cafes that were rooting themselves in neighborhoods showing grace, love and consistent presence like Water's Edge in Grand Rapids and Revolution in Fort Collins. Or churches such as Englewood Christian and Trinity Mennonite with long histories within denominations doing an amazing job of speaking prophetically to their traditions while reaching out to those disenchanted by those same institutions. In each case, we found new hope in the potential impact of a local faith community committed to each other, God and a particular place.

We've recognized for awhile just how important it is for all us to return to more localized ways of living. In our current economic squeeze, many are writing about the importance of more localized economies. This last year, we read Bill McKibben's Deep Economy in which he recommends this. And Brooke has often shared in her health counseling that more localized diets are better for our health. This summer, we saw the possibility of this when we visited farmer's markets, stands and co-ops across the country. We were also inspired towards this by Barbara Kingsolver's Animal, Vegetable, Miracle and Michael Pollan's In Defense of Food. But we also came back from our trip realizing that the transformation of our city depends in part on vibrant faith communities. Rather than commuter services of people driving to a particular location for a few hours, we came home anxious to stir up the idea of people of faith embedding themselves into communities. Not much different than what the prophet Jeremiah encouraged God's people in exile to do in Babylon.

... more to come.

a good weekend...

We had a great weekend hanging out with some wonderful friends. Mike, Chris, Kevin and Steve–whom we've been tracking with for years now–were all in town. On Saturday, Dan, Matt, Lace, and others came over to talk about Mike's book, What Is Church? and what is means to be covenant communities today. We had a good discussion but most importantly I was reminded of just how many wonderful people I am surrounded by. The same thing happened last night, when the Hawthorn House met. We took time catching up with everyone and all the good things going on around us. James' dream of WikiChoice is taking off. Em talked about Bake It Forward spreading. Dorcas' House is doing well... good stuff.

I also started reading Mike's book. I had the privilege of reading parts of his manuscript but it is fun to actually begin flipping through the pages in print. I am biased–he is a friend of mine–but I have to say it is an easy–to–read, straight forward book. The book does a great job of cutting through the tired scripts and, as Mike outlines, it talks honestly about:

- What is church?
- What does it mean to be a follower of Jesus?
- What is the gospel Jesus preached?
- What does it mean to be authentically spiritual?
- What does it mean to be a leader in Jesus church?

I have often struggled referring books by N.T. Wright, Dallas Willard and others to people simply because most working class folks don't have time to go through something so dense. One of my frustrations over the years, which I believe I share with Mike, is that we have made Christianity terribly difficult to approach–chastising those who question things. But I think I might have found a good substitute for those recommendations in What Is Church? Mike isn't trying to score points, he wrote this book not for the convinced or the academic. He wrote it for the rest of us: "This is plain and simple not a book for entrepeneurs, but for people of no reputation."

'Nuff said. Pick it up.

How cool is my kid?!

yup!

Bish, Rains and Marsh in town... just waiting for Lewis to arrive.