technically, it's the 4th as i begin this post, but functionally it's still the 3rd for me, here at 12:58 a.m. big lightning storm going on outside, mixed with various local fireworks displays. strange combination, in that you have to wait for thunder (or the lack thereof) before you can tell what caused the curtains to glow.
played some foosball with Colin this morning, and then taught him to play the table tennis game on the xbox360. he was actually pretty decent at the table tennis; still a little too short to be very effective at foosball, though. then he and i went to IKEA to get a bookshelf and some lights. unbelieveably busy out there today, but we had a great time together listening to Bill Cosby CD's in the van as we drove. he loves helping me build stuff, so he handed me dowels and shelves and we assembled it this afternoon before my chiropractic appointment.
played some soccer out at the church fields with Ross, Mark, and Robert - mainly just practiced penalty kicks since there were only the 4 of us. then we came back to our house and played a little FIFA World Cup on the 360 before calling it a night.
in an interesting coincidence, Steve Yzerman (heart and soul of Detroit's professional hockey team, the Red Wings) announced his retirement today and Ben Wallace (heart and soul of Detroit's professional basketball team, the Pistons) announced he's leaving the Pistons and signing with the Bulls. Yzerman's glory won't fade in the city, that's for sure. but Big Ben's? hard to tell. too bad. remarkable how much boils down to finishing well. sure hope i do. by the grace of God.
Monday, July 3, 2006
Sunday, July 2, 2006
anzubetvergnügen, frappucinovergnügen, foosballvergnügen
the title of this post, loosely constructed in German, loosely tranlated: the joy of worship, the joy of frappucinos and the joy of foosball (remember Volkswagon's fahrvergnügen ad campaign, meaning the joy of driving?)
the worship team was kickin' it today at church - feel so lucky to get to go to church with great musicians. Ronni took the chorus of the opening song, "come, now is the time to worship" and spliced it into the end of the opening set - "come, just as you are... come, just as you are..." over and over, transforming a lyric that in the original context is an exhortation for us to come to God's presence just as we are, into an invitation to God to dwell among us just as he is (not that he'd ever come any other way). beautiful.
after church i watched the kids (they were napping most of the time, so don't give me too much credit) while Ronni went and hung out at Starbucks for a while. she returned with a carmel frappucino for me, and a ping pong game for the 360. what a deal, eh? beautiful.
this evening, my dad came over, along with a cool guy named D. (short for Devonathon) who'd needed a place to stay for the weekend (which worked out well at my parents this weekend, since my mom and Grace are in Virginia Beech). D. and my dad helped me build the foosball table Ronni and the kids got me for father's day a couple of weeks ago. we did everything wrong, twice, and it took three times as long as it should have, but we miraculously remained in good spirits throughout the ordeal, and ended up being able to get a few games in before calling it a night. just a couple of less consequential pieces are missing, so i'll call the manufacturer tomorrow, and hopefully they'll ship them out to me.
looking forward to playing with some of my friends (and Colin as he grows) in the days and weeks to come. maybe someday i'll get good enough to beat my Uncle Kit. in my 35 years of life, i've never beat him singlehandedly, and almost never 2 on 1. even if i don't get substantially better, i'm figuring his reflexes will have to slow down when he hits 100 or so, and then i'll have a chance. not that my 85 year old reflexes will be much better than his at that point. gives me something to shoot for, though.
the worship team was kickin' it today at church - feel so lucky to get to go to church with great musicians. Ronni took the chorus of the opening song, "come, now is the time to worship" and spliced it into the end of the opening set - "come, just as you are... come, just as you are..." over and over, transforming a lyric that in the original context is an exhortation for us to come to God's presence just as we are, into an invitation to God to dwell among us just as he is (not that he'd ever come any other way). beautiful.
after church i watched the kids (they were napping most of the time, so don't give me too much credit) while Ronni went and hung out at Starbucks for a while. she returned with a carmel frappucino for me, and a ping pong game for the 360. what a deal, eh? beautiful.
this evening, my dad came over, along with a cool guy named D. (short for Devonathon) who'd needed a place to stay for the weekend (which worked out well at my parents this weekend, since my mom and Grace are in Virginia Beech). D. and my dad helped me build the foosball table Ronni and the kids got me for father's day a couple of weeks ago. we did everything wrong, twice, and it took three times as long as it should have, but we miraculously remained in good spirits throughout the ordeal, and ended up being able to get a few games in before calling it a night. just a couple of less consequential pieces are missing, so i'll call the manufacturer tomorrow, and hopefully they'll ship them out to me.
looking forward to playing with some of my friends (and Colin as he grows) in the days and weeks to come. maybe someday i'll get good enough to beat my Uncle Kit. in my 35 years of life, i've never beat him singlehandedly, and almost never 2 on 1. even if i don't get substantially better, i'm figuring his reflexes will have to slow down when he hits 100 or so, and then i'll have a chance. not that my 85 year old reflexes will be much better than his at that point. gives me something to shoot for, though.
Saturday, July 1, 2006
this past week, part 2
picking up from the previous post...
wednesday was filled with meetings, and i had my first workout at the rec center in at least a month. that felt good, for sure. went to my sister Grace's ballet recital in the evening, with Ronni, Colin, and Elle. she was awesome, as usual. didn't get to catch her afterwards, as she had to jet (literally) to Virginia Beach for the Nationals Field Hockey tournament. my mom sent this picture from her match today (Grace is the one slicing up the middle of the field, leaving frustrated defenders in her wake):
more meetings at church on thursday, followed by some study of Ephesians for the summer of love message series at church. thursday evening we went over to the Brennan's for dinner, where we hung out with Rich, Andrea, Conner, and Haylie, and we met Vladimir, Sarah, and their daughter Dasha (sp?). Vladimir is from Khazakstan, so it was fascinating talking with him about his homeland and his experiences here. we had a great time, and left Colin there for a sleepover with Conner. it was strange to be at home with only Ronni and Elle. Ronni and I realized some portion of every day will be like that come next fall, when Colin starts kindergarden.
friday worked on writing the sermon for the sunday, and went to see Superman Returns in IMAX 3D with Phil, Don, and John. thoroughly enjoyable film, especially the 3d parts. sometimes i think to myself, how lucky am i to be alive in 2006? speaking of 2006, Phil and I played two epic FIFA World Cup 2006 matches between China and Germany after the movie over xbox live. both went into penalty kicks, one won by me, one by Phil. what a great piece of software that is.
saturday, finished up the semon and put the multimedia together in the morning. installed some motion sensor porch lights in the early afternoon, and went to Phil's birthday party in the evening, where we had much fun socializing, watching world cup soccer, and playing more FIFA World Cup. Set everything up at church for the morning, and now here i am typing...
wednesday was filled with meetings, and i had my first workout at the rec center in at least a month. that felt good, for sure. went to my sister Grace's ballet recital in the evening, with Ronni, Colin, and Elle. she was awesome, as usual. didn't get to catch her afterwards, as she had to jet (literally) to Virginia Beach for the Nationals Field Hockey tournament. my mom sent this picture from her match today (Grace is the one slicing up the middle of the field, leaving frustrated defenders in her wake):
more meetings at church on thursday, followed by some study of Ephesians for the summer of love message series at church. thursday evening we went over to the Brennan's for dinner, where we hung out with Rich, Andrea, Conner, and Haylie, and we met Vladimir, Sarah, and their daughter Dasha (sp?). Vladimir is from Khazakstan, so it was fascinating talking with him about his homeland and his experiences here. we had a great time, and left Colin there for a sleepover with Conner. it was strange to be at home with only Ronni and Elle. Ronni and I realized some portion of every day will be like that come next fall, when Colin starts kindergarden.
friday worked on writing the sermon for the sunday, and went to see Superman Returns in IMAX 3D with Phil, Don, and John. thoroughly enjoyable film, especially the 3d parts. sometimes i think to myself, how lucky am i to be alive in 2006? speaking of 2006, Phil and I played two epic FIFA World Cup 2006 matches between China and Germany after the movie over xbox live. both went into penalty kicks, one won by me, one by Phil. what a great piece of software that is.
saturday, finished up the semon and put the multimedia together in the morning. installed some motion sensor porch lights in the early afternoon, and went to Phil's birthday party in the evening, where we had much fun socializing, watching world cup soccer, and playing more FIFA World Cup. Set everything up at church for the morning, and now here i am typing...
this past week, part 1
just got home from Phil's birthday party, where Mark threatened to take me off his blogroll if i didn't post soon. point taken. posting in process...
really enjoyed the celebration last sunday. as Bono might have said, God walked through the room. had a working session with the church board in the afternoon; encouraged about the direction Jesus seems to be leading us re: leadership development, discipleship infrastructure, etc. after coming home and hanging out with Ronni and the kids for a bit, Blue drove by with an invite to twightlight golf at Huron Hills, on the banks of the river. much fun had with Blue, Matt, and Jimbo. Matt and i won the two man scramble (in a playoff chipoff), and were treated to Coldstone Creamery for our efforts.
monday (day off) took a trip out to the new Canton IKEA with Don, Julie, Eve, Ronni, Colin, and Elle. IKEA's like the Mecca or Jerusalem of inexpensive contemporary furnishings. crazy cool, and crazy cheap, relatively speaking. they've mastered the family shopping experience, with a huge childcare / play area for kids, cafe, great layout, fast checkout, the whole nine yards. had a ton of fun hanging out with Don and Julie and Eve, especially since we hadn't seen them in a while. played soccer in the evening at church with a bunch of guys (and a few girls, too). Mark Morsfield jr. dominated, effortlessly, it seemed to me.
spent most of tuesday in Lansing, meeting early in the morning with the crew that went to Russia this spring for a mission's partnership meeting, and then with the east michigan area vineyard pastors. Steve drove me there and back, and we had a great time talking, observing stuff God's up to in the church and in our lives, even a little blueskying. homegroup was really rich tuesday evening. Phil and Amy shared the story of their lives and relationships with each other and with Jesus, and then we prayed for them afterwards.
...wed. to sat. in the next post...
really enjoyed the celebration last sunday. as Bono might have said, God walked through the room. had a working session with the church board in the afternoon; encouraged about the direction Jesus seems to be leading us re: leadership development, discipleship infrastructure, etc. after coming home and hanging out with Ronni and the kids for a bit, Blue drove by with an invite to twightlight golf at Huron Hills, on the banks of the river. much fun had with Blue, Matt, and Jimbo. Matt and i won the two man scramble (in a playoff chipoff), and were treated to Coldstone Creamery for our efforts.
monday (day off) took a trip out to the new Canton IKEA with Don, Julie, Eve, Ronni, Colin, and Elle. IKEA's like the Mecca or Jerusalem of inexpensive contemporary furnishings. crazy cool, and crazy cheap, relatively speaking. they've mastered the family shopping experience, with a huge childcare / play area for kids, cafe, great layout, fast checkout, the whole nine yards. had a ton of fun hanging out with Don and Julie and Eve, especially since we hadn't seen them in a while. played soccer in the evening at church with a bunch of guys (and a few girls, too). Mark Morsfield jr. dominated, effortlessly, it seemed to me.
spent most of tuesday in Lansing, meeting early in the morning with the crew that went to Russia this spring for a mission's partnership meeting, and then with the east michigan area vineyard pastors. Steve drove me there and back, and we had a great time talking, observing stuff God's up to in the church and in our lives, even a little blueskying. homegroup was really rich tuesday evening. Phil and Amy shared the story of their lives and relationships with each other and with Jesus, and then we prayed for them afterwards.
...wed. to sat. in the next post...
Thursday, May 25, 2006
vineyard great lakes regional conference audio
thought this post on my friend Donnell's blog nicely articulated the following news (cut and pasted directly, in italics):
Each year Vineyard hosts either a national leader conference, or a regional conference. This year's regional conference theme was A New Christianity: Rediscovering the Center. It's a time of ferment across the church landscape in North America as an ancient faith struggles to find fresh expression. You know the buzzwords: emerging church, post-modernity, and the like. It's time now to flesh it out. Vineyard churches are positioned to do just that. We believe the New Christianity involves a rediscovery, a new convergence toward the center, drawing from the treasures of the whole church. The conference addressed some major themes, such as contemplative prayer, social justice, and Spirit empowered and outward focused ministry. I believe this is core content for the emerging Christianity of the 21st Century. It is also central to Vineyard's contribution to the emergent church conference will be aimed at leaders at all levels in local vineyard churches, but it is wide open to anyone who wishes to attend.
while you're at it (visiting Donnell's blog, that is), check out his link on an interview with Brian McLaren re: the DaVinci code - expresses eloquently what i've felt on a gut level but never thought about with enough focus to put into words.
Each year Vineyard hosts either a national leader conference, or a regional conference. This year's regional conference theme was A New Christianity: Rediscovering the Center. It's a time of ferment across the church landscape in North America as an ancient faith struggles to find fresh expression. You know the buzzwords: emerging church, post-modernity, and the like. It's time now to flesh it out. Vineyard churches are positioned to do just that. We believe the New Christianity involves a rediscovery, a new convergence toward the center, drawing from the treasures of the whole church. The conference addressed some major themes, such as contemplative prayer, social justice, and Spirit empowered and outward focused ministry. I believe this is core content for the emerging Christianity of the 21st Century. It is also central to Vineyard's contribution to the emergent church conference will be aimed at leaders at all levels in local vineyard churches, but it is wide open to anyone who wishes to attend.
Some of the audio from the conference is available online and is also available as a Podcast .
by the way, the conference deeply affirmed for me so many of the reasons i feel privileged to be part of a church in the community of churches called the Vineyard.while you're at it (visiting Donnell's blog, that is), check out his link on an interview with Brian McLaren re: the DaVinci code - expresses eloquently what i've felt on a gut level but never thought about with enough focus to put into words.
Wednesday, May 10, 2006
notes from Cincy
the conference has been awesome so far. extraordinary teaching, excellent worship, great fellowship. add to that a couple of encounters with Jesus that have caused me to lose all my cool and a fair amount of snot, too, and it's been a definite winner.
i'm rooming with my friend Donnell, a pastor at the Ann Arbor Vineyard. he's finishing up prep for his message tomorrow. his talk will be the final session of the conference - i'm really looking forward to it. looking forward to the talk, i should say, not the end.
also looking forward to seeing Ronni, Colin, and Elle soon. Ronni tells me whenever she mentions my name on the phone, Elle looks around inquiringly, "Da-dy? Da-dy?" as if i might just appear around the corner. breaks one's heart, don't you know?
i'm rooming with my friend Donnell, a pastor at the Ann Arbor Vineyard. he's finishing up prep for his message tomorrow. his talk will be the final session of the conference - i'm really looking forward to it. looking forward to the talk, i should say, not the end.
also looking forward to seeing Ronni, Colin, and Elle soon. Ronni tells me whenever she mentions my name on the phone, Elle looks around inquiringly, "Da-dy? Da-dy?" as if i might just appear around the corner. breaks one's heart, don't you know?
Monday, May 8, 2006
regional conference
heading down to cincinnati for the vineyard great lakes regional conference tomorrow. really looking forward to it.
experimented with motion backgrounds behind the song lyrics during worship at church yesterday. curious to see if it helped people worship, or if it was experienced as distracting/showy. it sure was easy to experience God's presence during worship, but i don't know if had anything to do with the multimedia, since the worship team was really in a groove. rarely get feedback on anything, so i'm not optimistic anyone will actually say anything voluntarily. i'll have to do a little investigating, i suppose.
also, going to see a chiropractor today; see if maybe some relief for head pain is available. should be interesting.
had batting practice for softball yesterday. while pitching, took one to the radius. can still see the stictches imprinted on my forearm. should leave a nice bruise, but nothing lasting, i'm sure.
experimented with motion backgrounds behind the song lyrics during worship at church yesterday. curious to see if it helped people worship, or if it was experienced as distracting/showy. it sure was easy to experience God's presence during worship, but i don't know if had anything to do with the multimedia, since the worship team was really in a groove. rarely get feedback on anything, so i'm not optimistic anyone will actually say anything voluntarily. i'll have to do a little investigating, i suppose.
also, going to see a chiropractor today; see if maybe some relief for head pain is available. should be interesting.
had batting practice for softball yesterday. while pitching, took one to the radius. can still see the stictches imprinted on my forearm. should leave a nice bruise, but nothing lasting, i'm sure.
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