Well what can I say? NY is a big change from California and life here has been a big change as well. I am so thankful that we did not get just sent out in 2's but in a family of 7 this time what a blessing. God is teaching us all so many new things about things like "love, sacrafice, humility, joy in all situations, compassion and mercy on a truly broken world." Those are just a few great things that God is teaching all of us about.
Ponder thoughts...
Love is not an emotion but a choice of action..
I am realizing more and more what love really is and what it isn't, this is the conclusion that I have came to lately about love. It is not a warm feeling that you have for someone, but rather it is when you orientate your decisions around what will benefit and bless this other person. Love may not be love until it is tested. I am learning to love and I am so thankful for this because I desire to understand better the love that is extended to us by God and I may only come to understand it by first learning how to really love, by choosing to.
I have had opportunites to really think through the nature of sacrifice, and what really constitutes sacrifice?
I have been able to determine in myself that there are things that I will gladly sacrifice for and others that I have to struggle through, this has been humbling..
I have seen so much beauty in my fellow servants in Christ that live with me, we all are growing and changing and embracing a life that is unlike anything else we have yet expereinced. There are so many things that come from community and living and loving each other that you really can't ever know without it. Living in community is incredibly hard, painful, beautiful, fulfilling, humbling, sacrificial. I think that what I am trying to say is that in community you experience both ends of the spectrum, both great pain and hardship, and great joy and blessing. Those people that rub you the wrong way and force you to deal with all the ugliness inside your own heart are the same one's that offer up prayers for you while you walk it out. They are the same people that love you inspite of the ugliness and offer grace to you. They are the one's you celebrate with and laugh with. I have lived with people and without and even though I have seen more sin in myself being forced to the surface, I thank God that he has blessed me with people to really share life with. Humility is a much more joyful walk than loneliness. May our love for each other show others Christ love for the world...
10.30.2006
10.29.2006
DID YOU KNOW..?
The world's 225 richest people now have a combined wealth of $1 trillion. That's equal to the combined annual income of the world's 2.5 billion poorest people.
(Check the title link)
(Check the title link)
10.15.2006
Welcome to Buffalo!
We were greeted, by all who knew we were new to the city, with loud and gleeful choruses of, "Welcome to Buffalo!"
Yet in the midst of the devastation, and the loss of power (this is being touted as the worst power loss in the history of Western New York) God was able to bless us, and to use us to bless others.
We were able to dig several cars out of the snow, shovel half the sidewalks on our block, and share meals with many of our neighbors, all because of the snow.
I have posted pictures of the downed trees, power poles, blocked roads, destroyed houses, and also some pictures of some of our new friends. The one in the black sweat shirt is Tommy, he has 'joined' our church. He is drawing characatures of the residents at the home we visit; he was a smash hit!
10.12.2006
We ain't in Kansas
Well, it's official...
...we no longer live in California.
First snow of the year, October 12. We got a good four inches and it is still coming down.
The picture in my car is from my work truck. Notice the lack of windshield wiper action, yeah that's right I drive through blizzards in a work truck that has a tempermental electrical personality.
Also, praise God, our church just increased by fifty percent! We had two new people at our small group last night!
10.07.2006
He Brews!
Hey long time no post! All I really have to say is if you want to read the history of Jesus and you want to better understand his sacrifice and what it meant, or you just want to be spiritually spanked then you need to read Hebrews. It was such an amazing quiet time to read that book this morning. It was like good Jesus context and I think good Theology. I don't know if that is the right word for it but it was good. So there you have it! Read Hebrews!
10.03.2006
The Opposite Spirit
Lord, make me a channel of thy peace,
that where there is hatred, I may bring love;
that where there is wrong, I may bring the spirit of forgiveness;
that where there is discord, I may bring harmony;
that where there is error, I may bring truth;
that where there is doubt, I may bring faith;
that where there is despair, I may bring hope;
that where there are shadows, I may bring light;
that where there is sadness, I may bring joy.
Lord, grant that I may seek rather to comfort than to be comforted;
to understand, than to be understood;
to love, than to be loved.
For it is by self-forgetting that one finds.
It is by forgiving that one is forgiven.
It is by dying that one awakens to Eternal Life.
Saint Francis of Assisi
that where there is hatred, I may bring love;
that where there is wrong, I may bring the spirit of forgiveness;
that where there is discord, I may bring harmony;
that where there is error, I may bring truth;
that where there is doubt, I may bring faith;
that where there is despair, I may bring hope;
that where there are shadows, I may bring light;
that where there is sadness, I may bring joy.
Lord, grant that I may seek rather to comfort than to be comforted;
to understand, than to be understood;
to love, than to be loved.
For it is by self-forgetting that one finds.
It is by forgiving that one is forgiven.
It is by dying that one awakens to Eternal Life.
Saint Francis of Assisi
9.28.2006
Schizophrenic Submission
I had another discussion this past week on the topic and yet again ran into the dichotomous view of authority that I have found within my thoughts on the subject. I believe this is healthy...
It is healthy to believe that those under authority should submit whole-heartedly to those authorities.
It is healthy to believe that those in authority should not weild their authority without fear and trembling.
When looking at the topic from the perspective of one under authority, we should take a very hard view of the nature of authority; when looking from the perspective of one in authority, we should take a soft view.
I was reflecting on the way I talk to my boss ...I believe it is right for me to continue to address him as, "Sir;" and I believe it is right for him to insist I call him, "Danny." Just so, I always refer to my pastor as, "Pastor Mike," yet I have never heard him ask anyone to call him by his title. I believe those under authority should emphasize the authority of the one they are submitted to, and the one in authority should emphasize her or his role as a servant.
Oh yeah...
...check out our 'official' Buffalo Vineyard website!
It is healthy to believe that those under authority should submit whole-heartedly to those authorities.
It is healthy to believe that those in authority should not weild their authority without fear and trembling.
When looking at the topic from the perspective of one under authority, we should take a very hard view of the nature of authority; when looking from the perspective of one in authority, we should take a soft view.
I was reflecting on the way I talk to my boss ...I believe it is right for me to continue to address him as, "Sir;" and I believe it is right for him to insist I call him, "Danny." Just so, I always refer to my pastor as, "Pastor Mike," yet I have never heard him ask anyone to call him by his title. I believe those under authority should emphasize the authority of the one they are submitted to, and the one in authority should emphasize her or his role as a servant.
Oh yeah...
...check out our 'official' Buffalo Vineyard website!
9.14.2006
Finally there...
Here is the house:
God is good!
We have been so blessed by God, all of the details taken care of, and in such a providential fashion!
Sam and Dre's arrival was a real blessing, we did not feel like a whole team until they arrived.
Jobs:
God has given us a tremendous grace in a city where everyone is talking about the dearth of quality occupational opportunities. I have been working for the past two weeks now for the local cable contractor (the same thing I was doing in Redding), and the company here only works five days a week; this is a real blessing compared to the six-day weeks I was putting in back in CA. Sam arrived late on a Friday, waited out the weekend, placed one phone call on Monday morning, and then went to work for a framing crew on Tuesday. Mary has been working for two weeks now at a local coffee-shop. It is not the one she thought she would end up at, but it is another one that is right in the heart of the art/homosexual community (not to confuse artists with homosexuals, that just happens to be where both communities are centered). Dre appears to have a job lined up at a drug store less than a block away.
The neighborhood:
In the span of 5 or 6 hours we met a someone from Cuba, someone from Nigeria, someone from Haiti, and someone from Switzerland; all on our block!
The man from Nigeria is named Paul. He is a pastor at a local church here in Buffalo. It is a small church, he is essentially planting it by himself as his wife is still in Nigeria. She has been waiting for two years now on her visa to go through. They are hopeful that she will join him in the next few months. Pray for him!
We had asked God for a house that had alot of foot traffic. From the very first night that we moved in people have been walking by constantly. We have encounters with new people everyday, and are getting to know our neghbors very easily. We are planning for our first neighborhood get together, an 'ice-cream social.' Pray that people show up!
Opportunities to serve abound. We are still praying for God to direct us to clear open doors into the community, it appears that we will be spending our Sunday mornings at the nursing home a block away. They sounded very excited about having us come in and sing some songs and then visit with the people who don't get visited. We have also met with a chaplain from the local Good News Rescue Mission and we are hoping to spend an evening with them. Our group has a desire to work with the Literacy Volunteers as an open door into some of the minority populations in the area. At this point, however, we are waiting as there is a time and money commitment that we don't want to just jump into. Most of the ESL groups in the city are on the West Side (we are on the edge of the West Side) not too far from us. There is a significantly large Puerto Rican population, as well as refugee groups from Somalia and Sudan. We have also adopted a Buffalo State College international student from Taiwan, his name is Cheng-Yuan (he insists we call him Frank).
This week we have just started having morning prayer together as a house. This has been a real blessing! We had been waiting until schedules began to settle into an established rhythm.
We have had some real opportunities to bless and serve. The very first day in the house there was a man vomiting on the street corner. I went over, helped him clean up his mess, and gave him some water. He has been hanging out ever since. He has been homeless off and on for the past few years. We were able to get the ball rolling and help him get into a hotel room (he has access to money, but lacks the mental resources to get himself into a place), and we are trying to get him into an apartment. He has expressed on many occasions that he wants to join our church, and he has been a part of our lives for the past weeks. His name is Tommy.
Mary has had opportunities to share what we are doing with her co-workers and has talked to her friend/co-worker about Jesus, and has committed to praying for a situation she is in.
Just yesterday I was able to pray with one of my co-workers whos wife had just left him and taken his daughter.
God is giving us many opportunities to bless and serve!
God is good!
We have been so blessed by God, all of the details taken care of, and in such a providential fashion!
Sam and Dre's arrival was a real blessing, we did not feel like a whole team until they arrived.
Jobs:
God has given us a tremendous grace in a city where everyone is talking about the dearth of quality occupational opportunities. I have been working for the past two weeks now for the local cable contractor (the same thing I was doing in Redding), and the company here only works five days a week; this is a real blessing compared to the six-day weeks I was putting in back in CA. Sam arrived late on a Friday, waited out the weekend, placed one phone call on Monday morning, and then went to work for a framing crew on Tuesday. Mary has been working for two weeks now at a local coffee-shop. It is not the one she thought she would end up at, but it is another one that is right in the heart of the art/homosexual community (not to confuse artists with homosexuals, that just happens to be where both communities are centered). Dre appears to have a job lined up at a drug store less than a block away.
The neighborhood:
In the span of 5 or 6 hours we met a someone from Cuba, someone from Nigeria, someone from Haiti, and someone from Switzerland; all on our block!
The man from Nigeria is named Paul. He is a pastor at a local church here in Buffalo. It is a small church, he is essentially planting it by himself as his wife is still in Nigeria. She has been waiting for two years now on her visa to go through. They are hopeful that she will join him in the next few months. Pray for him!
We had asked God for a house that had alot of foot traffic. From the very first night that we moved in people have been walking by constantly. We have encounters with new people everyday, and are getting to know our neghbors very easily. We are planning for our first neighborhood get together, an 'ice-cream social.' Pray that people show up!
Opportunities to serve abound. We are still praying for God to direct us to clear open doors into the community, it appears that we will be spending our Sunday mornings at the nursing home a block away. They sounded very excited about having us come in and sing some songs and then visit with the people who don't get visited. We have also met with a chaplain from the local Good News Rescue Mission and we are hoping to spend an evening with them. Our group has a desire to work with the Literacy Volunteers as an open door into some of the minority populations in the area. At this point, however, we are waiting as there is a time and money commitment that we don't want to just jump into. Most of the ESL groups in the city are on the West Side (we are on the edge of the West Side) not too far from us. There is a significantly large Puerto Rican population, as well as refugee groups from Somalia and Sudan. We have also adopted a Buffalo State College international student from Taiwan, his name is Cheng-Yuan (he insists we call him Frank).
This week we have just started having morning prayer together as a house. This has been a real blessing! We had been waiting until schedules began to settle into an established rhythm.
We have had some real opportunities to bless and serve. The very first day in the house there was a man vomiting on the street corner. I went over, helped him clean up his mess, and gave him some water. He has been hanging out ever since. He has been homeless off and on for the past few years. We were able to get the ball rolling and help him get into a hotel room (he has access to money, but lacks the mental resources to get himself into a place), and we are trying to get him into an apartment. He has expressed on many occasions that he wants to join our church, and he has been a part of our lives for the past weeks. His name is Tommy.
Mary has had opportunities to share what we are doing with her co-workers and has talked to her friend/co-worker about Jesus, and has committed to praying for a situation she is in.
Just yesterday I was able to pray with one of my co-workers whos wife had just left him and taken his daughter.
God is giving us many opportunities to bless and serve!
9.05.2006
I am here !!!!!!!!!
Hello We are here and boy is it something!!!
The neighborhood is fun and the neighbors and great!! The kids are adjusting, the house has a history (we'll talk about that later) but is seems ok now!! Now I can settle in and stop moving around soo much. God has taken care of us sooo well! I'd love to write mor
The neighborhood is fun and the neighbors and great!! The kids are adjusting, the house has a history (we'll talk about that later) but is seems ok now!! Now I can settle in and stop moving around soo much. God has taken care of us sooo well! I'd love to write mor
8.30.2006
Spiritual Authority Revisited
I had a few comments and conversations about my previous post on authority (see the title link) that gave me pause and caused me to reflect further on the subject. One comment in particular sparked this current post: "it seems your views on authority have changed over the years." This was in reference to a conversation years ago about the place of discipleship in our lives. I then (and now) took the position that it was beneficial to all Christians to have an authority figure in their lives.* I believe that we benefit from spiritual authority over us, and I believe that submission to authority is an issue of monumental significance in the spiritual well-being of all women and men, especially in today's spiritual-social-political climate. Apparently my previous post, "Spiritual Authority" appeared to have a 'soft' view of the place of authority and my previous comments (in conversation) appeared to have a 'hard' view.
The apparent disparity between this call to submission, and the understanding of authority that I wrote about in the former post, are not a disparity in thought, but rather a disparity in perspective. The former post could be seen as a view of authority from the perspective of one in a position of authority, what I am about to write can be seen as a view of authority from the perspective of one under authority.
Authority From the Other Side: Submission to Authority
What is submission?
I have the idea that there is a fundamental inward bent to all of Christian ethics. Much of the history of morality has emphasized the outward actions of individuals, which leads to all sorts of moral predicaments; questions about the worth of the individual in comparison to the greater good of all, questions about the importance of the motivation behind the action, questions about the conformity to an absolute standard or a mutually agreed upon social standard, ad infinitum; Jesus brilliantly cuts through all of this. The issue for Jesus is never the outward action, but the inner reality. Is the heart turned towards God and others in love? Is the tree fundamentally ‘good?’**
When this same outlook is applied to the conversation on submission we see that there must therefore be a difference between submission and mere obedience. Obedience to a set of rules is very different from a heartfelt pursuit of the internalization of those rules. Obedience to the commands of an individual is a very different thing than coming under that person to serve their needs, to build them up, to learn from them, to desire their ultimate good, in a word, to submit.
What we see is that it is possible to obey an individual without submitting to them, to obey without loving them, to obey without taking responsibility for our own actions, to obey without serving them; obedience can be given with gritted teeth, submission comes only and always from a willing heart.
It is not obedience that we are called to, but rather submission; and this is the greater and more expansive call, it is the call of Christ.
*It is important to note that, by 'authority over us' I do not intend that all people should have a 'pastor' who 'teaches' them. I fail to see this as a real source of authority on a spiritual level, it is rather authority on an intellectual level. When I speak of being 'under' authority, I am speaking primarily of a mentor or spiritual advisor. There must be the relational connection for the authority to be truly functioning on a spiritual level. It is good to have authoritative sources for sound teaching in our lives, however, this fails to amount to the submission that is the call of Christ on all of His followers. Submission to a teaching is much easier than submission to a person. In submitting to another we learn selflessness, in submitting to a teaching it is even possible to reinforce selfishness, as we often gain a sense of self-importance through increased knowledge.
**Of course, we must never make the mistake of believing that actions therefore have no part of Christian life. (Luke 6:43-49) Jesus is unequivocal on this point, our actions will flow out of our heart, and this will reveal the true nature of our hearts. A heart of love for God and others will not be capable of producing evil actions, a ‘good’ tree will produce ‘good’ fruit.
More to come…
The apparent disparity between this call to submission, and the understanding of authority that I wrote about in the former post, are not a disparity in thought, but rather a disparity in perspective. The former post could be seen as a view of authority from the perspective of one in a position of authority, what I am about to write can be seen as a view of authority from the perspective of one under authority.
Authority From the Other Side: Submission to Authority
What is submission?
I have the idea that there is a fundamental inward bent to all of Christian ethics. Much of the history of morality has emphasized the outward actions of individuals, which leads to all sorts of moral predicaments; questions about the worth of the individual in comparison to the greater good of all, questions about the importance of the motivation behind the action, questions about the conformity to an absolute standard or a mutually agreed upon social standard, ad infinitum; Jesus brilliantly cuts through all of this. The issue for Jesus is never the outward action, but the inner reality. Is the heart turned towards God and others in love? Is the tree fundamentally ‘good?’**
When this same outlook is applied to the conversation on submission we see that there must therefore be a difference between submission and mere obedience. Obedience to a set of rules is very different from a heartfelt pursuit of the internalization of those rules. Obedience to the commands of an individual is a very different thing than coming under that person to serve their needs, to build them up, to learn from them, to desire their ultimate good, in a word, to submit.
What we see is that it is possible to obey an individual without submitting to them, to obey without loving them, to obey without taking responsibility for our own actions, to obey without serving them; obedience can be given with gritted teeth, submission comes only and always from a willing heart.
It is not obedience that we are called to, but rather submission; and this is the greater and more expansive call, it is the call of Christ.
*It is important to note that, by 'authority over us' I do not intend that all people should have a 'pastor' who 'teaches' them. I fail to see this as a real source of authority on a spiritual level, it is rather authority on an intellectual level. When I speak of being 'under' authority, I am speaking primarily of a mentor or spiritual advisor. There must be the relational connection for the authority to be truly functioning on a spiritual level. It is good to have authoritative sources for sound teaching in our lives, however, this fails to amount to the submission that is the call of Christ on all of His followers. Submission to a teaching is much easier than submission to a person. In submitting to another we learn selflessness, in submitting to a teaching it is even possible to reinforce selfishness, as we often gain a sense of self-importance through increased knowledge.
**Of course, we must never make the mistake of believing that actions therefore have no part of Christian life. (Luke 6:43-49) Jesus is unequivocal on this point, our actions will flow out of our heart, and this will reveal the true nature of our hearts. A heart of love for God and others will not be capable of producing evil actions, a ‘good’ tree will produce ‘good’ fruit.
More to come…
8.29.2006
At last...
We signed papers today on our lease. We will be moving in to our rental house on the 1st of September, this upcoming Friday. The house is on Hodge St, just a block from Elmwood Ave. (Check the title link for mapquest) This is truly a great location. Elmwood is the strip running through the heart of Buffalo with bistro’s, shops, and attractions for a good amount of the foot traffic through the city. If you zoom out to the 'city' view in Mapquest you can follow Elmwood Ave south to the City Central Business District which is were the black dot is at, or north to the Buffalo State Campus which is the Purple splotch. We are excited about the location of the house.
It is also a spacious house that will provide plenty of room for everyone moving into it. With three floors and extra bedrooms, we should all be able to have our own private space, as well as enough room to use our house as a center of ministry in the first year or so of our plant.
Tamy and Mary have been doing a wonderful job picking up furniture and house-wares at extremely affordable prices. We have been able to grab beds and dressers for everyone, as well as basic furnishing for the living spaces on well less than half of our allotted budget.
Keep praying for our jobs. We have had some good leads, but so far no one is actually hired. It sounds like the local cable contractor is going to hire me. The biggest concern about working cable again was the work load. This last year I have been working six days a week, sometimes 10-12 hour days; I am not willing to do that again. However, the contractor here has a much larger crew and so they only work five days a week, also, one of the technicians told me that they are great about working around schedules. Mary still has not heard one way or the other about the coffee shop she applied at. Pray that God would put her in the right job, and that she would have the patience to see where that is! We also have a good lead for Sam; turns out our property manager does quite a lot of work with contractors and will try to drum up a job for Sam!
God has been putting all of the details in order!
We have also had some wonderful times with people. We have had an opportunity to spend time with a lot of Tamy’s family. Her grandparents just recently celebrated their 50th anniversary, wow! There was a surprise party with a ton of family from all over the East Coast.
We also have spent quite a lot of time with Tamy’s best friend from childhood, and her husband, Matt and Jess. They are awesome people, we are blessed to have friends here with similar passions and desires; they will be a constant source of encouragement when so many of my family, and our great friends and spiritual family are so far away. They live only two hours away in Syracuse, which is a city we will be frequenting often as it is the site of our area meetings every other month.
Which brings me to our area. The Vineyard (for those of you unaware of it) groups local Churches into Areas that consist of a dozen or so Vineyards. We were able to gather with about half of the Churches in our area for a BBQ last week. We had a lot of fun, and were able to see friends we had already met, as well as make new friends. The area pastors include several ex-wrestlers which makes things fun for me! Everyone has been very encouraging and there seems to be a common set of values. We look forward to more time with those we have already met, as well as meeting others. The area leaders gather regularly to pray for different cities in the area, they will be coming to Buffalo late in September to pray for us, and for the city. We are greatly encouraged!
We are about ready to embark! Friday we are living in the city, and sometime in the next week, the rest of our team will arrive. Sam and Andrea are leaving Saturday and visiting an old friend on the way out.
It is also a spacious house that will provide plenty of room for everyone moving into it. With three floors and extra bedrooms, we should all be able to have our own private space, as well as enough room to use our house as a center of ministry in the first year or so of our plant.
Tamy and Mary have been doing a wonderful job picking up furniture and house-wares at extremely affordable prices. We have been able to grab beds and dressers for everyone, as well as basic furnishing for the living spaces on well less than half of our allotted budget.
Keep praying for our jobs. We have had some good leads, but so far no one is actually hired. It sounds like the local cable contractor is going to hire me. The biggest concern about working cable again was the work load. This last year I have been working six days a week, sometimes 10-12 hour days; I am not willing to do that again. However, the contractor here has a much larger crew and so they only work five days a week, also, one of the technicians told me that they are great about working around schedules. Mary still has not heard one way or the other about the coffee shop she applied at. Pray that God would put her in the right job, and that she would have the patience to see where that is! We also have a good lead for Sam; turns out our property manager does quite a lot of work with contractors and will try to drum up a job for Sam!
God has been putting all of the details in order!
We have also had some wonderful times with people. We have had an opportunity to spend time with a lot of Tamy’s family. Her grandparents just recently celebrated their 50th anniversary, wow! There was a surprise party with a ton of family from all over the East Coast.
We also have spent quite a lot of time with Tamy’s best friend from childhood, and her husband, Matt and Jess. They are awesome people, we are blessed to have friends here with similar passions and desires; they will be a constant source of encouragement when so many of my family, and our great friends and spiritual family are so far away. They live only two hours away in Syracuse, which is a city we will be frequenting often as it is the site of our area meetings every other month.
Which brings me to our area. The Vineyard (for those of you unaware of it) groups local Churches into Areas that consist of a dozen or so Vineyards. We were able to gather with about half of the Churches in our area for a BBQ last week. We had a lot of fun, and were able to see friends we had already met, as well as make new friends. The area pastors include several ex-wrestlers which makes things fun for me! Everyone has been very encouraging and there seems to be a common set of values. We look forward to more time with those we have already met, as well as meeting others. The area leaders gather regularly to pray for different cities in the area, they will be coming to Buffalo late in September to pray for us, and for the city. We are greatly encouraged!
We are about ready to embark! Friday we are living in the city, and sometime in the next week, the rest of our team will arrive. Sam and Andrea are leaving Saturday and visiting an old friend on the way out.
8.16.2006
Jobs and a House
So far things are going well. We haven’t resolved our housing or employment, yet… hence the update. Mary has been praying for the last year that God would allow her to work at a particular local coffee shop. The shop has free wireless internet so it was the first place in town we stopped last Friday when we made our first foray into Buffalo. Mary filled out an application while we had lunch and then spoke to one of the managers. The manager told her to expect a call and that she would be holding interviews for one of several positions the following Monday. We planned on returning for the interview, however, Mary never received a call. We showed up anyways, and Mary got her interview. The interview went very well, Mary is confident she has the job. This would be a unique opportunity for Mary to work around lots of people in a business that she is already familiar with. Pray that God grants her favor with the manager there. (It appears he already has!)
Here are some pictures of the shop, it is called Spot Coffee, and is one of a small area chain including three stores.
We also have been looking at houses. We have been trying to find a house large enough to accommodate our entire team (five adults and two children) and still maintain a modicum of privacy. The first house we looked at was superb. It was located right on the main strip (more on Buffalo geography in a later post) and only blocks from Mary’s prospective coffee shop. It was only one block from a children’s hospital should Tamy end up picking up a shift here or there as an RN; and the house itself is huge! It would definitely provide a sense of privacy for the three families moving in together (Schenks, Masons, Perkins), the rent is reasonable for the location, however, we would have no problem finding cheaper rent in another part of town, so we looked at a few more houses (unfortunately there is not a large selection of available houses for rent as most homes have been turned into multi-unit rentals).
The other houses we looked at simply couldn’t compare. We looked at several that were illegally built, or just outright disgusting, and then got a chance to see some in the Lower West Side that were in a much lower socio-economic zone. Our heart is to have a presence in one of these neighborhoods in the city, however, at this time we really felt uncomfortable moving into a house that could potentially bring violence right inside our home (there are occasionally shootings on the streets of some neighborhoods). The neighborhoods here do not work the way they do in any place I have lived, there can be a huge disparity on a block by block basis, in terms of property value as well as criminal element. We believe it would be wiser to stay in an area that we know is a safe place until we get to know the city better and can make a wise decision about where we should live.
So we are currently in the process of placing a deposit down for the first house, to move in September 1st! Pray that God would smooth the transactions! We really believe that this house is the one for us.
Finally continue praying that God would provide jobs for the rest of us. There is the possibility that Dre could also be hired at the shop Mary applied at. There appear to be plenty of framing/construction jobs available for Sam, and I have several phone calls out for potential jobs (at this point the leading candidates seem to be continuing with cable, or substitute teaching).
We love you and miss you!
Here are some pictures of the shop, it is called Spot Coffee, and is one of a small area chain including three stores.
We also have been looking at houses. We have been trying to find a house large enough to accommodate our entire team (five adults and two children) and still maintain a modicum of privacy. The first house we looked at was superb. It was located right on the main strip (more on Buffalo geography in a later post) and only blocks from Mary’s prospective coffee shop. It was only one block from a children’s hospital should Tamy end up picking up a shift here or there as an RN; and the house itself is huge! It would definitely provide a sense of privacy for the three families moving in together (Schenks, Masons, Perkins), the rent is reasonable for the location, however, we would have no problem finding cheaper rent in another part of town, so we looked at a few more houses (unfortunately there is not a large selection of available houses for rent as most homes have been turned into multi-unit rentals).
The other houses we looked at simply couldn’t compare. We looked at several that were illegally built, or just outright disgusting, and then got a chance to see some in the Lower West Side that were in a much lower socio-economic zone. Our heart is to have a presence in one of these neighborhoods in the city, however, at this time we really felt uncomfortable moving into a house that could potentially bring violence right inside our home (there are occasionally shootings on the streets of some neighborhoods). The neighborhoods here do not work the way they do in any place I have lived, there can be a huge disparity on a block by block basis, in terms of property value as well as criminal element. We believe it would be wiser to stay in an area that we know is a safe place until we get to know the city better and can make a wise decision about where we should live.
So we are currently in the process of placing a deposit down for the first house, to move in September 1st! Pray that God would smooth the transactions! We really believe that this house is the one for us.
Finally continue praying that God would provide jobs for the rest of us. There is the possibility that Dre could also be hired at the shop Mary applied at. There appear to be plenty of framing/construction jobs available for Sam, and I have several phone calls out for potential jobs (at this point the leading candidates seem to be continuing with cable, or substitute teaching).
We love you and miss you!
8.11.2006
8.10.2006
New York!
We have arrived in New York!
(My apologies for the lack of pictures, we left our rechargeable batteries in Laramie and didn’t stop to get more for the camera.)
It became ever increasingly apparent that we are where God intends us to be, it was a real heart-lifting moment the first time Buffalo began appearing on the road signs. Even though we haven’t yet been into the city, it is still a wild thought to realize that we have no ‘return trip.’ Mary even said, “Wow, I guess we’re almost home.”
The last few days here at the farm have been peaceful enough. Zoe is still trying to figure out exactly what is going on, and that has caused her some stress (pray for her), but she is enjoying all of the new people and the animals here on the farm. For those of you who weren’t aware of our plans, we are staying at Tamy’s parent’s dairy in Bath, NY. They live on a beautiful rolling hilltop, surrounded by deep green woods and bright green fields; full of cows, horses, cats, dogs, and as many nooks and crannies as a two-year old could ever think to explore.
The second half of the trip was much smoother than the first. After our time in Laramie we headed to Omaha, Nebraska. I didn’t know quite what to expect there as I had simply emailed the local Vineyard Church there asking if they could house us for a night. The Pastor had seemed friendly during our correspondence, but we had yet to meet.
We had a great time! The Vasey’s opened their home to us and were so welcoming and hospitable; their three daughters (ages 4-10) were enraptured by our son, or perhaps it was the other way around! They made us a fabulous Mexican-style meal (the recipe is on its way) with a lime-cilantro cole-slaw that was phenomenal. The senior pastor and his wife, Scott and Lynette, came over for dinner. We talked shop (that’s code for I asked him a ton of questions and let him share years of experienced wisdom with me) as they had planted their Church about ten years ago. After the pastor and his wife left we had some time to fellowship with the Vasey’s. We shared our stories with each other and had the opportunity to encourage each other and pray for each other. They are entering an exciting season in their lives; this past year or two God has placed a burden on their hearts to leave American soil and reach out to people in other countries with the message of Jesus.
We were able to let Zane and Zoe sleep in the next day as we were only driving to Chicago. When we arrived in Elgin (a suburb of Chicago) we had another great time of food and fellowship with the Tai family. They brought home an authentic Chicago-style pizza, delicious! Li-En and his wife Amy (and two children) are a part of the team that went to China with Pastor Mike and Dave DeMar a few months ago. The Elgin Vineyard does work in China, as well the entire Tai family has been involved in China for a long time. Since that time they made a trip out to Redding, some of you had the opportunity to meet them. During their visit Zane actually managed to vomit on both of them, so they felt obliged to offer us their home when we drove through!
We left Chicago around 5:30 am to beat the traffic, Elgin is on the west side of the city. We made it through with out any real trouble and were through into Cleveland by 3:00 pm. We had been hoping to make it to Bath by bedtime, but we made great time and pulled in around 7:00. We were hoping to surprise the family as we had told them to expect us the next day, but when we didn’t answer our cell-phones all day, they had us figured out.
We are planning to go up to Buffalo to look for housing and pick up some job applications tomorrow. Pray that God would point us in the right direction. Thank you so much for your love and support.
(My apologies for the lack of pictures, we left our rechargeable batteries in Laramie and didn’t stop to get more for the camera.)
It became ever increasingly apparent that we are where God intends us to be, it was a real heart-lifting moment the first time Buffalo began appearing on the road signs. Even though we haven’t yet been into the city, it is still a wild thought to realize that we have no ‘return trip.’ Mary even said, “Wow, I guess we’re almost home.”
The last few days here at the farm have been peaceful enough. Zoe is still trying to figure out exactly what is going on, and that has caused her some stress (pray for her), but she is enjoying all of the new people and the animals here on the farm. For those of you who weren’t aware of our plans, we are staying at Tamy’s parent’s dairy in Bath, NY. They live on a beautiful rolling hilltop, surrounded by deep green woods and bright green fields; full of cows, horses, cats, dogs, and as many nooks and crannies as a two-year old could ever think to explore.
The second half of the trip was much smoother than the first. After our time in Laramie we headed to Omaha, Nebraska. I didn’t know quite what to expect there as I had simply emailed the local Vineyard Church there asking if they could house us for a night. The Pastor had seemed friendly during our correspondence, but we had yet to meet.
We had a great time! The Vasey’s opened their home to us and were so welcoming and hospitable; their three daughters (ages 4-10) were enraptured by our son, or perhaps it was the other way around! They made us a fabulous Mexican-style meal (the recipe is on its way) with a lime-cilantro cole-slaw that was phenomenal. The senior pastor and his wife, Scott and Lynette, came over for dinner. We talked shop (that’s code for I asked him a ton of questions and let him share years of experienced wisdom with me) as they had planted their Church about ten years ago. After the pastor and his wife left we had some time to fellowship with the Vasey’s. We shared our stories with each other and had the opportunity to encourage each other and pray for each other. They are entering an exciting season in their lives; this past year or two God has placed a burden on their hearts to leave American soil and reach out to people in other countries with the message of Jesus.
We were able to let Zane and Zoe sleep in the next day as we were only driving to Chicago. When we arrived in Elgin (a suburb of Chicago) we had another great time of food and fellowship with the Tai family. They brought home an authentic Chicago-style pizza, delicious! Li-En and his wife Amy (and two children) are a part of the team that went to China with Pastor Mike and Dave DeMar a few months ago. The Elgin Vineyard does work in China, as well the entire Tai family has been involved in China for a long time. Since that time they made a trip out to Redding, some of you had the opportunity to meet them. During their visit Zane actually managed to vomit on both of them, so they felt obliged to offer us their home when we drove through!
We left Chicago around 5:30 am to beat the traffic, Elgin is on the west side of the city. We made it through with out any real trouble and were through into Cleveland by 3:00 pm. We had been hoping to make it to Bath by bedtime, but we made great time and pulled in around 7:00. We were hoping to surprise the family as we had told them to expect us the next day, but when we didn’t answer our cell-phones all day, they had us figured out.
We are planning to go up to Buffalo to look for housing and pick up some job applications tomorrow. Pray that God would point us in the right direction. Thank you so much for your love and support.
God For Us
"The doctrine of the Trinity is ultimately a practical doctrine with radical consequences for Christian life."
With this revolutionary concept Catherine LaCugna begins her book (check the title link and scroll down).
LaCugna shows the history of this understanding of God to be rooted not, as some are tempted to believe, in the dusty towers of men with bloated brains contrasting their atrophied bodies and souls; but rather this understanding of God is born of the concrete experiences of the first disciples of Jesus. The common misconception is that the doctrine of the Trinity was conceived and delivered by theologians in the great church counsels of the first centuries of the church; LaCugna argues that this doctrine is rather a description of the fundamental elements of Christian communal life.
There is God; the great transcendent, and self-reliant Creator.
...and then was Jesus; the lover of people, radically challenging established concepts of God.
...and then was the Spirit; the empowering presence in our midst, guiding us into God and His purposes.
And God had long promised the coming of Jesus and the Spirit; Jesus Himself continually spoke of the coming Helper. And all three were God.
God our Father, Creator and Source of All.
God our Redeemer, God come near and in the flesh; the image of God in human terms.
God our Helper, leading us into Truth, guiding our common life.
What are some of the practical outworkings of a trinitarian God?
God is love, even before there was a creation and creatures for God to love, He was love within Himself; a joyous dance of selfless submission and sacrifice, an ecstatic union of essence and purpose, a unity of plurality.
This implies that man, made in the image of the triune God, is also created to enter into this dance.
We are invited into fellowship with the trinity, experiencing Him and His joy.
We are also experiencing a joyous fellowship with each other as multitudes from every tribe and tongue join in the dance with their Creator.
We enter the dance, but we follow His lead, and the Lord of the Dance leads us to Gethsemene, Gabbatha, and then Golgotha; but the dance continues beyond the tomb to the Emmaus Road, the Sea of Tiberius, and beyond. The triune God leads us, as we experience His love, to follow Him outside, to those who are cast away and despised, we dance in His power from Jerusalem, to Judea and Samaria, and even to the ends of the Earth.
Finally, as God has revealed Himself to us and taught us and empowered us, so we too will follow him in the revelation, education, and empowerment of others. The Church of Christ is the Kingdom's cutting edge, bringing the loving presence of the King to those in outer darkness.
With this revolutionary concept Catherine LaCugna begins her book (check the title link and scroll down).
LaCugna shows the history of this understanding of God to be rooted not, as some are tempted to believe, in the dusty towers of men with bloated brains contrasting their atrophied bodies and souls; but rather this understanding of God is born of the concrete experiences of the first disciples of Jesus. The common misconception is that the doctrine of the Trinity was conceived and delivered by theologians in the great church counsels of the first centuries of the church; LaCugna argues that this doctrine is rather a description of the fundamental elements of Christian communal life.
There is God; the great transcendent, and self-reliant Creator.
...and then was Jesus; the lover of people, radically challenging established concepts of God.
...and then was the Spirit; the empowering presence in our midst, guiding us into God and His purposes.
And God had long promised the coming of Jesus and the Spirit; Jesus Himself continually spoke of the coming Helper. And all three were God.
God our Father, Creator and Source of All.
God our Redeemer, God come near and in the flesh; the image of God in human terms.
God our Helper, leading us into Truth, guiding our common life.
What are some of the practical outworkings of a trinitarian God?
God is love, even before there was a creation and creatures for God to love, He was love within Himself; a joyous dance of selfless submission and sacrifice, an ecstatic union of essence and purpose, a unity of plurality.
This implies that man, made in the image of the triune God, is also created to enter into this dance.
We are invited into fellowship with the trinity, experiencing Him and His joy.
We are also experiencing a joyous fellowship with each other as multitudes from every tribe and tongue join in the dance with their Creator.
We enter the dance, but we follow His lead, and the Lord of the Dance leads us to Gethsemene, Gabbatha, and then Golgotha; but the dance continues beyond the tomb to the Emmaus Road, the Sea of Tiberius, and beyond. The triune God leads us, as we experience His love, to follow Him outside, to those who are cast away and despised, we dance in His power from Jerusalem, to Judea and Samaria, and even to the ends of the Earth.
Finally, as God has revealed Himself to us and taught us and empowered us, so we too will follow him in the revelation, education, and empowerment of others. The Church of Christ is the Kingdom's cutting edge, bringing the loving presence of the King to those in outer darkness.
8.05.2006
Travels
We are on the road!
It has finally arrived, we have begun the move to Buffalo. We have had our tearful goodbyes and our last minute packing anxieties, and now we are in the middle of the US headed into the rising sun...
We had a good nights rest in Reno before making the long drive to Laramie, WY. Our friends in Reno blessed us with a bed and a steak dinner and a relaxing evening. Thank you!
Jack and Vanessa in Reno
Our second day, however, was a little more exhausting. Stuck in a traffic jam for over two hours outside of Reno, road construction, towing a trailer, and severely underestimating the impact of two small children cut into our traveling speed enormously. What would have been a 12 hour trek turned into a 21 hour day. Fortunately the kids went to sleep around 9pm in Evanston, WY and we were able to push through to Laramie that night. We got in at 3:30am and promptly went to sleep.
The past few days have been quite relaxing. Visiting friends and famiily, napping, reading, and taking Zoe to see leaping llamas at the local fair!
Here is Zoe petting goats at the fair.
We have been able to see some very good friends of ours from college. It is a funny thing to visit with friends who have children, and to watch them play with your own. We are no longer 'young marrieds' we are a family!
These are some great friends from college, John and Jessica Faczak and their two children Jack and Katie.
Here is our family in Laramie, Wyoming
I was able to spend some time with my old college coach who was very influential in my spiritual journey. He was there for the 'beginning of obedience' in my relationship with Jesus; I am sure many of you back home have heard that story.
Coach Suder and I
Thank you all for your prayers, we miss you yet we are excited for what is ahead!
It has finally arrived, we have begun the move to Buffalo. We have had our tearful goodbyes and our last minute packing anxieties, and now we are in the middle of the US headed into the rising sun...
We had a good nights rest in Reno before making the long drive to Laramie, WY. Our friends in Reno blessed us with a bed and a steak dinner and a relaxing evening. Thank you!
Jack and Vanessa in Reno
Our second day, however, was a little more exhausting. Stuck in a traffic jam for over two hours outside of Reno, road construction, towing a trailer, and severely underestimating the impact of two small children cut into our traveling speed enormously. What would have been a 12 hour trek turned into a 21 hour day. Fortunately the kids went to sleep around 9pm in Evanston, WY and we were able to push through to Laramie that night. We got in at 3:30am and promptly went to sleep.
The past few days have been quite relaxing. Visiting friends and famiily, napping, reading, and taking Zoe to see leaping llamas at the local fair!
Here is Zoe petting goats at the fair.
We have been able to see some very good friends of ours from college. It is a funny thing to visit with friends who have children, and to watch them play with your own. We are no longer 'young marrieds' we are a family!
These are some great friends from college, John and Jessica Faczak and their two children Jack and Katie.
Here is our family in Laramie, Wyoming
I was able to spend some time with my old college coach who was very influential in my spiritual journey. He was there for the 'beginning of obedience' in my relationship with Jesus; I am sure many of you back home have heard that story.
Coach Suder and I
Thank you all for your prayers, we miss you yet we are excited for what is ahead!
Reflections
Walking through the foothills outside of Reno, staring up at stars that are brighter than I have seen in months, talking to Jesus, reflecting on His kingdom, reflecting on life, listening to what He might say to me…
I cannot help but be humble at the infinite amount of wisdom and knowledge that I lack, and yet, I know this…
…there is more!
There is more to life than a 40 hour a week paycheck and a big screen television. Why do so many of us settle for living vicariously through the hopeless despair of Hollywood celebrities? Why do so many of us drown out our chance to change this world with mind-numbing self-desensitizing electro-media? Why do we narrow our own lives so dramatically? Are we simply unaware of how cramped a life is that is self-consumed? Do we fail to see the freedom found in a life consumed with Christ?
(And the next day I read this)
Dear, dear Corinthians, I can't tell you how much I long for you to enter this wide-open, spacious life. We didn't fence you in. The smallness you feel comes from within you. Your lives aren't small, but you're living them in a small way. I'm speaking as plainly as I can and with great affection. Open up your lives. Live openly and expansively!
2 Corinthians 6:11-13
He is larger than the universe! He is so expansive, there is room enough in Christ for each of us to become ourselves, and yet reflect his nature. Becoming like Jesus is not a route to becoming Christian clones, but rather the only route to true self-actualization. In Christ we find our true selves, and he is so vast and so glorious that there is simply more than enough room for billions of individuals to be gloriously like Him, and still gloriously diverse!
He was supreme in the beginning and—leading the resurrection parade—he is supreme in the end. From beginning to end he's there, towering far above everything, everyone. So spacious is he, so roomy, that everything of God finds its proper place in him without crowding. Not only that, but all the broken and dislocated pieces of the universe—people and things, animals and atoms—get properly fixed and fit together in vibrant harmonies, all because of his death, his blood that poured down from the cross.
Colossians 1:18-20
Everything good is found in Christ, anything outside of Christ is meaningless.
I cannot help but be humble at the infinite amount of wisdom and knowledge that I lack, and yet, I know this…
…there is more!
There is more to life than a 40 hour a week paycheck and a big screen television. Why do so many of us settle for living vicariously through the hopeless despair of Hollywood celebrities? Why do so many of us drown out our chance to change this world with mind-numbing self-desensitizing electro-media? Why do we narrow our own lives so dramatically? Are we simply unaware of how cramped a life is that is self-consumed? Do we fail to see the freedom found in a life consumed with Christ?
(And the next day I read this)
Dear, dear Corinthians, I can't tell you how much I long for you to enter this wide-open, spacious life. We didn't fence you in. The smallness you feel comes from within you. Your lives aren't small, but you're living them in a small way. I'm speaking as plainly as I can and with great affection. Open up your lives. Live openly and expansively!
2 Corinthians 6:11-13
He is larger than the universe! He is so expansive, there is room enough in Christ for each of us to become ourselves, and yet reflect his nature. Becoming like Jesus is not a route to becoming Christian clones, but rather the only route to true self-actualization. In Christ we find our true selves, and he is so vast and so glorious that there is simply more than enough room for billions of individuals to be gloriously like Him, and still gloriously diverse!
He was supreme in the beginning and—leading the resurrection parade—he is supreme in the end. From beginning to end he's there, towering far above everything, everyone. So spacious is he, so roomy, that everything of God finds its proper place in him without crowding. Not only that, but all the broken and dislocated pieces of the universe—people and things, animals and atoms—get properly fixed and fit together in vibrant harmonies, all because of his death, his blood that poured down from the cross.
Colossians 1:18-20
Everything good is found in Christ, anything outside of Christ is meaningless.
7.24.2006
The Final Quest
The Final Quest
by Rick Joyner
This book, as the introduction informs, is born out of a series of dreams and other prophetic experiences that Rick Joyner had over a length of time. It speaks powerfully to the soul. I have read this book through a second time now, and still find myself moved to tears at the beauty of the life found in our Master, and the depth of blackness of evil that my own heart is capable of. Humility, pride, wisdom, and other characteristics, are dealt with in a powerful and symbolic/prophetic way.
While some might find this book appealling as fiction, yet disturbing as 'prophecy,' I would highly recommend this book as an insight into the workings of evil in our world, our church, and our heart; and the supremacy of Jesus in all things.
7.13.2006
MYSPACE
I am not really into America's new online rage, MYSPACE, I was on there tonight checking out my brothers myspace page (I guess you could call it spying) and checking all his friends pages too. I just wanted to see what they were into and everything. I just don't like it. It seems like a weird place and I just have this dark feeling everytime I go there. I am afraid of what I would be exposed to. You never know what you might see. It feels like to me that you can't go very far without being violated at some point or another. It's all so weird to me. I don't like it. Maybe because I just don't get it, and I am sure there are some good ones out there that aren't so bad. And that's all I have to say about myspace.
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