deep church

Since Deep Church is getting a lot of attention, I thought I'd throw in my two cents... But I'm going to keep it brief.

Jim Belcher does a fine job of bringing to light the shortcomings and strengths of both traditional and emerging models of Christianity in his book, Deep Church. Although, his attempts at posturing a balanced, unbiased approach are lost when it becomes clear that all of his solutions to the weaknesses just happen to be found within the life of his own church. Some will say that the emerging church proponents lose in this book. I'd argue that the real losers are Anabaptists, who get several cheap shots taken throughout the book. That said, this is certainly the most fair critique of both sides, simultaneously, in print right now. If you're hoping for an overview of the emerging church conversation and the concerns of their opponents within the Church, this is the book.

For a more thorough review–and one which I tend to agree with–go check out Chris Smith's at Englewood Review of Books.

prego posts

My wife has been a trooper over the last 8 months (and some) of pregnancy. At 4'11'' there's not a whole lot of room for a baby inside of her, so the discomfort comes quickly for her. Her doctor finally put her on maternity leave, which started yesterday. Just not having to sit in a chair all day has helped a ton. The baby is due mid-November. But one of the most comedic, yet often nauseating, moments are the questions an expecting parent gets and/or the lack of understanding from others–even the dad sometimes (yup, let's just admit it fellas, we can be knuckle heads). We hang out with lots of folks younger than us. Most without kids. Yet, now being the third one in, we've got them fairly well trained. And they've all been some of the most incredibly supportive people through this third pregnancy. For example, our anxiety was seriously hampering excitement of this pregnancy until we announced it to our housemates; the room exploded in excitement and celebration. Brooke and I looked at each other and knew it was going to be okay... and this kid was sure as heck gonna be a well-loved one!

But you still get the numb skull questions now and then. We've had some great laughs over the last few weeks through some blog posts friends have sent us. There are three that have taken the cake. Here are those three, with the choice quotes from each post:

"PS I can hear you over there across the room saying 'OMG she looks like she's going to pop any minute.' I mean you were staring at me as well, so that also gave you away!" From our friend, Holly

"Megan, are you getting any sleep? You better get it now because you won’t get any when the baby comes…
It’s really quite shocking that you haven’t been punched in the face yet. Be VERY THANKFUL you haven’t been punched in the face. She is sleeping reasonably well, all things considered. You try having a 7 pound bowling ball sitting on your bladder." From Married With Chickens

"And you'll want to explain how completely exhausting being pregnant is but men never understand so whenever Victor would say "How can you be tired? You hardly did anything today!" I'd respond, "I made someone's ear canals today. Inside my stomach. Without even using my hands. What did you do today? Paperwork? God, how exhausting. I MADE SOMEONE'S NERVOUS SYSTEM."" Via Design Mom

don't be a litter bug

don't be a litter bug
Originally uploaded by jasonevans.

coincidence?

Is it just me, or is there an ironic resemblance between the icon for The Corporation movie and the silhouettes in Starbucks' new VIA™ advertising campaign? You be the judge:

kitchen remodel pics

My wife Brooke has made meals for hundreds of people. And those people can attest to her amazing culinary ability. People often come to me asking how we developed our little community, called Hawthorn House. On my most honest days, I admit that much of it has been built on my brides hospitality and cooking more than anything else. It is her gifts and abilities that have made our house a living home (a term we used on our old co-blog and she currently uses for her email address). Yet, for the last five years, her office–her workshop-has been a beat up, awkwardly pieced together kitchen. As we've worked on making this old property livable she's made due with this space. Needless to say, I've been very excited to start my current project: a kitchen remodel. I've tweeted about this and to my surprise, many former Hawthornistas and folks that enjoyed my wife's cooking were eager to see the progress. Below are a few pictures of the evolution of the kitchen remodel: phase one. Our budget, and early Christmas presents from my lovely in-laws, only allows us one wall at a time. And, it's not done yet! So, hopefully we can post some more photos on completion. That said, the photos don't capture much. Our kitchen isn't very big, so it's hard to get a good angle. Guess that means you'll just have to come by and check it out for yourself. If you're lucky Brooke will whip something up for us!

new snake babies songs

I haven't mentioned much about Snake Babies lately. But we have been busy! We recently finished recording several of our songs with our friend Adam of Adams & Eves. Check 'em out and let us know what you think!

addiction: complete

Me: "Man, I've been so tired all day long, all week... And a terrible headache!"

Brooke: "... Did you not realize you bought decaf' coffee last week?"

Me: "..."

Addiction?

Complete.

come see our stuff!

Our friends at Home Ec. Studio will have our artwork on display Saturday night during the South Park Walkabout. Please come by and check out our stuff and visit all the other great stores in our neighborhood. It's a fantastic neighborhood-wide party! If you can't make it Saturday night, visit our online store. We've got a bunch of stuff still available for reasonable prices!