Each year about this time, Tryptophan induced comas see a sharp rise in number. Consuming copious amounts of the wonderful MEAT known as Turkey leads to many, many hours of napping on the part of a majority of America. (You may ask why I put MEAT in caps…well, contrary to what tree hugging euphorians may want us to believe, poultry, fish and pork are all meat. By the Vegetarian definition of meat, I am a vegatarian for the most part. If you are a vegetarian, you eat only things that could not roam about the earth, ie fruit and vegetables and lots of beans. END RANT) As a tradition, most folks share what they have been most thankful for this past year. To be quite honest, I think that is overrated…everyday should be “thanksgiving”. A constant state of thankfulness takes the focus off of who we are and what we can do to the one who gives so freely to us. I am feeling a little giddy today for some reason…I think all of my brain power was used up on the paper I just finished up….so to that end I will write a list of things that I am truly thankful for…Curtis, you may have flashbacks on a couple, but they are just that funny.

Ten: Novacaine: Where would we be without it.

Nine: Pumpkin Spice Lattes from Starbucks. Who knew that you could liquify a pumpkin pie and put it in a glass?

Eight: Totino’s Pizzas. I think there is no explanation needed on this one.

Seven: The first snowfall of the year. Reminds me that yellow snow is not for human consumption.

Six: The Shuffle setting on my iPod and iTunes. I get bored easily, but when a random song comes on, it is quite exciting. If left to my own devices I pick the same stuff all the time.

5: Toilet Paper. Duh.

Fore: Burt’s Bee Lip Balm. If I could find Burt and give him a hug, I would. This stuff is wonder balsam for my lips. Plus, it tingles.

Threve: (If you watch Celebrity Jeopardy on Will Ferrell’s Best Of DVD, you will understand threve) Humor. I cannot possibly go through life without a smile….its just not who I am. I also love being funny..even though looks aren’t everything. (Insert Kurt Rutzen laugh here)

Dos: Being able to wear shoes that are enclosed when it is snowing. I went outside earlier with flip flops on…not the greatest idea I have ever had. Needless to say, when there is over 1/8″ of snow, I will be wearing enclosed shoes. Bummer…I used to heart shoes, but now I would much rather wear a flip-flop. Guess I moved to the wrong place then.

and the number one “thing” I am thankful for………………

The never ending love of God in my life….Not a day goes by that I don’t think about this. I am not one to live life to be blessed, but my life is so blessed that I am glad to live it. My family, friends, pastors, girlfriend….they are what makes me so blessed. I am not so concerned with material fare, but with relational fare…..I need people, I want people in my life. It is really what makes the world go round. So if you are any of these to me, know that I am thankful for you and love you. Thanks for making my life blessed.

Coming up…..a discourse on some of the stuff I have been reading regarding “Discipleship”. Since no other Journeyians are saying anything, I might as well. Is it okay that I talk a lot?

Wow, I am in a strange mood…Ah well, off to a feast of Ham, which is also a MEAT!

Blessings friends.

One of the blogs that I read when I can is Churchmarketingsucks.com. The basic premise of this site is that Church marketing sucks, pretty novel, huh? If you think about it, it is so true. I could go into a whole lot of discussion on why the church doesn’t need to market itself, why they don’t need web sites and why the church should be in the world but not of the world. But, alas, I am not going to. Long story short, they posted a ChurchCartoon.com cartoon that hits the nail on the head. (Click the link to see the cartoon.) Basically, churches do not know how to do the things that should be done to redeem the tools that we have. That is one of the big reasons why I want to do the church directory. I want to help churches get into the 21st century, heck even the 20th century would be nice. I think a lot of churches are under the impression that web sites have to be expensive and elaborate. I have seen church web sites that have barebones, cost about 10.50 to make and hit their target every time. People want to know the basics…Who, What, Where, When, Why and How. We all learned those principles back in 1st grade english class…guess that has been too long ago for some.

Sorry is this sounds like a rant…it really isn’t, more like a motivational speech for myself to get this thing off the ground. In my search to see what the “competition” has to offer in the way of directory info on churches, I came across a couple of directory like sites. One that I found was actually quite good, but listed only 18 churches in Rochester, MN. There are 18 churches within 5 miles of my house…only an estimate, but I guarantee that it is a very close estimate. Like I said, the site is good, but content sucks. That is what I aim to change. Great site, great content.

On a side note, finally figured out how to enable the title bar, exciting! This from a guy who wants to run a web site? hahaha. Never proclaimed to know everything, but I am willing to learn.

Also, check out Rich Bontrager’s blog for a discussion about discipleship. Be interesting to see the replies that are generated. I am still working on mine!

One of the blogs that I read pretty much daily is from Mark Batterson of National Community Church in DC. (Evotional.com) Today Mark posted a link to a news story that was on the local channel there about podcasting and the Christian counterpart “Godcasting”. Good video if you have high speed, check it out (Channel 9 News Feature)…if you don’t, don’t even bother, your computer may explode (literally). I was talking with my friend Curtis the other day about the whole podcasting thing. I have been brainstorming lately about how to redeem the technology that we have for use in God’s Kingdom. As I have related, I have been greatly blessed by being able to listen to sermons and such in my iPod. I know that others would be as well. I also know that when I was a college student, it would have been great to listen to other preachers and just get a feel for what is going on out there in the Christian community. So in talking to Curtis we decided that it would be really cool to make a directory of Church podcasts, hosting and uploading for churches without that capacity to do it themselves. I think it would be a great time, a lot of work but also a lot of fun. I know that there are things like this out there, but to be honest, they are mediocre at best. It would be a great way to do some sort of ministry that I really feel passionate about. Another thing that we discussed was a church directory online. As someone who has relocated to a couple of different areas in the past few years, I have discovered a severe lack of organization in that area online. Also many churches either don’t have any sort of website or they have a really poor one. My vision is to develop a web based directory with a catchy web address that is easy to find and remember that people can use to find churches wherever they are headed. One would think that it would be easy to find a church website in a certain area, but trust me, its not. So, those are the two things that I am kinda cookin right now…thinking about, praying about and just plain excited about.

Anyway…check out the vid! Have a rockin weekend!

Further From Myself….

Further from my future
Further from the past
Further from the starting line
Further from the last
Further from my doubts
Further from my fears
Further from temptation that I faced throughout my years
Further from agitation
Further from distraction
The reaction of the dissatisfaction of others actions
Further from myself
Further from my flesh
Further from my birth and I’m
Further from my death

I was pondering what to blog about today…didn’t really have any great thoughts going through my head or any news to discuss. So I was just listening to some music in iTunes and came across some Pillar. As a whole they have been one of the more influential bands in my life in the past couple of years. I saw them live in concert at a cool joint in Orlando called The Last Wave Club. Really cool place, would love to open up something like it…similar to Club 3 Degrees in Minneapolis, good Christian environment where kids can go and hang. This was during an interesting time in my life where I was just seeking out the alternative….the alternative to the everyday is the same. Listened to this band and it totally helped me understand a lot about me and life. This song in particular, Further From Myself, was instrumental in helping shape who I found myself becoming. The words really are powerful and quite scriptural. James records similar words in his book….James 4:7-8

“Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.”

If a person wanted to sum up this whole relational end of Christianity, I think these would be great beginnings. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. When I am further away from who I am, my faults and shortcomings, I am closer to God and He is shaping me into something that is nothing like who I am. (If that makes any sense!)

Just some thoughts…love to hear any comments, emails, suggestions…I hope that today finds you as blessed as I am.

Blessings,
T

Who says you can’t go home?

Where I sit is miles from what I call home. 1309 in the air and 1510 on the ground miles….
For those of you who don’t know, I am in Orlando for the weekend. The feelings that I have experienced over the last few days have been interesting. The first emotion that I experienced was sweat. I am not sure if sweat is an emotion, but it is now. The moment I stepped out of the doors of the Orlando International Airport I began to sweat. I remembered what humidity is like. If I needed to describe humidity in a word, that word would be gross! But overall it has just been a swell of other emtions. I am finding that it is like going home from college after a couple of years being away. You are home, but don’t really have a home or a space anymore. Your parents have turned your room into an exercise room. Boo. I find that I am overall just glad to be here with my friends…its not about the place, its about the people. If sweat can be an emotion, then coupled with that is smell. For anyone who has lived here or visited often, you will know that there is a distinct smell to Florida. Maybe it is swamp gas or some natural phenomenon, but whatever it is, it is Florida to me. Sorry about the randomness of this entry, but just logging as I think.

I was able to hang out with one of my buddies, Jeff Bristow. It is good to be with friends, especially Christian ones that one can dialogue with. The activities are inconsequential, but the time is what is important. Thanks, Jeff for driving up and hangin!

Went to Epcot yesterday, good times, good food. I am the Disney guy…if someone has a question about Disney, they call me. Sort of cool. Today we are headed out to Universal Studios City Walk as they also have a Food and Wine type festival this weekend. The food is so outstanding…well, I don’t know about the Universal one, but at Epcot there are at least 20 different countries represented, with samplings from their land. I particularly like the hummus from Morocco and the Beer Chesse soup from Canada. I was unable to get lefse from Norway, much to my disappointment. The good news is that Thanksgiving is just around the corner and hopefully my family will follow traditions of old and make some lefse the day after Thanksgiving.

Sorry that there is nothing deep in this entry, but I am on “vacation” so that is what is on my mind. Look for more new links to churches and hopefully I’ll add a section for podcasts over there as well. Those have been a great blessing in my life and walk. If you still don’t have an iPod of sorts, check out GodiPod.com. This iPod comes filled with cool stuff like the Bible and sermons and such. Also, if you are looking to buy a Nano, let me know and I can point you to someone who can hook you up. (He sells them out of the trunk of his car on Hennepin Ave…pretty sure its all legit.) (Just kidding)

Hope all of you out there in TV Land are doing great. Journeyians…hope today was blessed.

Blessings,

T

Life, Love and other Mysteries…..

I was reminiscing the other day about the old days. I must admit that I am quite sentimental at times…I was dialoging with a very good friend about how my friend Curtis (see links to Cross Pointe Christian and the “McG’s” blog on the right) used to just hang out and talk about life, love and other mysteries. I think at the time we didn’t realize how important those conversations were in our lives, at least I didn’t. Curtis has been one of my best friends for the better part of the last decade…sharing in my life’s struggles and victories, but mostly just being supportive of whatever I chose to do with myself, always encouraging. Obviously, if said activities are detrimental to my health and life, he wouldn’t encourage them. I called Curtis the other day and ended the message with “I miss you, man.” I felt a little, well, gay, just because I was being sappy toward another guy. But I think that part of the Brotherhood of Christ is just that. Curtis probably knows more about me than anyone on this planet, my bads and goods…He just knows who I am. I think often times modern men lose this intimacy out of fear. I have many close friends, many of whom I would share a lot with, but probably only a couple that I can share everything with.

The reason why I am thinking about this really is out of my own current situation. This is one of the times in my life where I need to be vulnerable and talk about life, love and other mysteries with my brothers. Some interesting developments are taking place in my life that I would not in a million years have imagined would be taking place. If you have been reading this blog (all 3 entries, including this one) you will remember reading about the Wild Goose Chase. This chase is just being further solidified in my life. I cannot express enough to God about how thankful I am in this moment. I have begun a romance of sorts and am quite excited about what the future may hold. It is kind of difficult for me to allow myself to be open to being vulnerable to a woman due to past experiences. The last relationship that I had dissolved due to my emotional distance. I was unable to allow myself to be in the relationship in my heart. But I am glad that this time around hasn’t been that way. I was thinking about this the other week and how God hardened hearts of people throughout the Bible…I am thinking that it was for my own good that I was emotionally detached. This may all be more than you ever wanted to know about me….but thanks for reading!

On a side note….if you or your church is looking to sponsor a missionary, take a look at these two fine young men:

Jeff and Jaime Bristow, Missionaries to Kenya

Mioche and Rosie Rock, Missionaries to Haiti

On another side note….if you would like to get up-to-date feeds of this blog you should download Mozilla Firefox

This is a browser that will take the place of Internet Explorer or whatever you are using…it allows live bookmarks, like the one for this blog. Firefox also allows a lot of other cool stuff, like opening windows in tabs. Best of all, IT IS FREE!!!

I gotta say, Today was a good day….

If you can guess what song that line is from, you get a prize. Seriously.

I wanted to blog about Church. Today I went to Journey Church, aka “The Church at the Movies”. (if you wanna read more, check out the links to the right, Pastor Rich’s blog is there as well.) A few days ago I checked out the Journey website and saw that they have been going through the 40 Days of Purpose campaign, much to my chagrin. The church that I went to when I first moved to Orlando (about 2 years ago as of right now) went through this back when it all came out, so I was kinda like, “Man, isn’t this old news yet?” (RICH — If you are reading this, take no offense, please keep reading! haha) So we went to church today and Rich announced that this was the final Sunday of the campaign and that today would be a Celebration service for the time that was spent in community and discovery of purpose. I still was a bit hesitant to be there, but man am I glad I was. Several members of the community shared about their experience during the campaign. I had sort of forgotten how powerful testimony is. I have always been one to really enjoy and be encouraged by people sharing what God is doing in their lives. Let me tell you, today was a glimpse of what Church is about. Read on….

The very definition of Church to me has changed quite dramatically over the past few years. Growing up Church was a place that we went to. Church has now become something that I am, that we are. In the past few years I have been to Church gatherings in several movie theaters, The Mall of America, a High School, the 2nd worst neighborhood in Cincy, a mega-church and several “normal” Church buildings. A smattering of humanity in all of them, but probably the “best” one was the one in Cincy. The mixture of “normal” Church folks, ex-cons, ex-drug addicts, seminary students, etc was just amazing. That day truly changed my view of Church. Lately, I have been listening to many sermons from across the country and further solidified my thoughts. A.) Church is not a place that we go, it is something we are. B) Church gatherings are not a place for perfect people, Church gatherings are ICUs for spiritually sick people. These should be places that people are accepted no matter where they are at with God. I don’t ever want to be apart of a community that doesn’t reach out to people where they are at. That is what Jesus did. He could have easily spent all his time with some high and mighty folks, but he spent his time with tax collectors and sinners. C.) I am glad that there are communities all around the country and world that are getting these ideas.

To close…Thanks, Rich, for the testimonies today. They did my heart well, even though my heart wasn’t feelin it at first. Be certain that we will be back…I am out of town next weekend though.

The name of this blog is “the misadventures of a beautiful letdown.” The Beautiful Letdown is a song by Switchfoot. Such an excellent song and sums up quite nicely my thoughts….I’ll leave you all with a snippet from that song.

“We are a beautiful letdown
Painfully uncool
The church of the dropouts
The losers, the sinners, the failures, and the fools
What a beautiful letdown
Are we salt in the wound
Hey, let us sing one true tune”