We gotta get out of this place...

I'm am leaving once more for a trip, this time with my beloved wife and son for the sunny state of Florida. Email me, call me on my cell phone, just don't come over to my house because Nicole and our pit bull (leo) will both attack.

nerds

The Passion Of Wilco

So it's rumored that Wilco's album "A Ghost Is Born" syncs up perfectly with Mel Gibson's "The Passion Of Christ" a la Floyd and The Wizard of Oz. I might have to check that out.

Flying

So today I left Noel and Steve in Minneapolis with all the other big wigs from GCA and GCM. I've only flown a handful of times in my life and this was my first time flying alone.

For some reason I was a little bit nervous. I felt that I was going to forget something (like my boarding pass) or that I wouldn't make it past security, or my flight would be cancelled and my phone would die and I would be stranded at the airport, begging for food, sleeping at gate C12. None of this happened of course, being an adult I can get through the details of life decently well (better when Suz is around). But all in all everything worked out. I was just a bit lonely.

It would be so weird to be some business dude who had to fly solo around the country all the time, strange airports, strange people sitting next to you who snore on the plane, turbulance. Interacting with people doesn't come too easily for me anyway. I really don't usually care to chit chat and am somewhat shy at first. People don't realize that because I'm on the stage every week at church, but it's a whole 'nother ball game when you are alone in a different city.

Anyway, it's good to be home. The conference was nice. It was good to meet some people. It was great to hang out with Noel and Steve And Mark Bowen and be the "bad kids." We went and shot pool, drank and smoked some wonderful cigars. Mark is a really great guy. Wise, encouraging, easy to talk to and very funny. He would fit in well around here (not saying that we are all these things, just that we like people who are).

Well, Suzanne has a funny story to tell me, so I'm going to get off the computer here.

Large Church Roundtable

So here is a list of what we will be talking about at this conference:

Here's a summary of the topics on the table:



 
History of Evergreen Community Church
Plurality of Elders-Troubles, trials, and pluses
One Church, Many Locations-The advantages and pitfalls of a multi-site church
Other pertinent models of multi-site church
New Paradigms of Church Planting
What Evergreen did
What Evergreen might do differently
Use of video to start churches
Cultural Sensitivity vs. Remaining Counter Cultural
What is the quality line? How excellent does excellent need to be?
Is offering buildings and programs catering to American consumerism and producing the kind of disciples we want?
Has the time of the front door church come to an end
Is there a need for more large churches?
Small Groups-The future importance of small groups
Coaching small groups
New developments in the small group world


Looks like some interesting topics. I'm looking forward to seeing what people are saying about Cultural sensitivity vs. Remaining Counter Cultural. Also if buildings cater to consumerism. I'll let you know the Truth when I come back. (jk).

More Travel

I'm heading to Minniapolis tomorrow with Noel and Steve for a short conference. I'll be back Tuesday night. I spent a week in the Twin cities a couple of years ago with Scott and really enjoyed my time there. It's like a Chicago that you can get around. Good Eat Street also.

Lark News

Lark news is just awesome....here's a great headline

Heart attack victim goes unnoticed at Pentecostal revival

"Your Mom Went To College!"

Napoleon Dyanamite

wow

What a good week. I mean that in the hardest way possible. The young couples group is just starting and gaining momentum as more people are getting connected and as our vision is getting focused, but it's tough stuff! It's amazing how hard communication can be, but how rewarding the struggle to understand each other is. Often times when we don't understand each other we think that they are thinking badly of us and our motives. We draw a cartoon verson of the situation in our mind where people are heroes if they agree with us and villians if they don't. Or we think that the other person has that picture which is really the same thing. It's interesting when we read Paul's letters to the churches, we see a very graceful greeting, even when there is some conflict between them. He "thinks well" of them. He "thanks God for them." I think this attitude is a hard one to have. But then again, that's what it means to put your value behind someone else's good. That's what it means to love sacrificially. Most of the time anyway, our motives in these things are the same, it's just the communication that is confusing. Wanting more specifics? Too bad.

Play That Funky Music White Boy

On a lighter note, thanks to Sarah for this video of me and JR.

Struggle of Discussion II

So yeah I hate conflict. Even when it isn't all that bad and everyone is on the same side. Differing opinions always seem to press on people's self-worth and value, including mine. I've been trying to be more open lately about my feelings and so, conflict, to be honest, makes me depressed.

Inerrency vs. Foundationalism

"Postmodern philosophies argue that truth is a product of the shaping of language communities and power structures that ultimately cannot be trusted. Yet we must answer in light of our presuppositions about God. Does God have the ABILITY to communicate to us in such a way that we can understand him? And if he does, can he be trusted? The affirmative answer is obvious to the Christian. As Grenz says “It is the work of the Spirit that influenced the authors and compilers of Scripture to produce writings which adequately reflect what God desired to communicate to us."

This is a quote from Ochuks blog. Click the title to read the rest. Interesting. The link above is www.ochuk.com in case it doesn't work.

Baby!

Congrats to Travis and Shanna! They are expecting a baby this September. Thanks for making a friend for Jaden.

Lansing

I'm back in town and it feels good. I missed Suz and Jaden so much. It was just awesome to see their smiles as I walked in tonight.

Denver was amazing though. It was 60 degrees there today and then Lansing is like negative ten with the windchill! The retreat and everything went really well. I got to know some of the students pretty good. Got to meet a few of JR's really good friends and had some great conversations and times of joking and poker playing (which, of course, I cleaned house). But the best was just getting to know JR and hang out with him. He is one of those guys who is easy to joke around with and just as easy to get into a deep conversation with. He's an all-around type of friend =)...

Mountain Air

Mountain View Dan, originally uploaded by groovingdan.

This is the view out my window. Pretty amazing.

The Mountain air is so fresh and at the same time it makes your lungs work harder (being that there is about a third less of it than at home). So I am drinking lots of water and resting a decent amount. I now understand why the Broncos have such home field advantage.

Do you ever read a well-known passage of scripture and see it in a new way? Today I was reading the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew and read the "Golden Rule" you know, "do unto others..." and I never really noticed the context before. We usually take that and say "don't hurt each other because you wouldn't want to be hurt." And I'm sure it could mean that sometimes. But it comes in part of Jesus' talk where he is talking about how God gives good gifts, just like father's give good gifts. And he ends with the Golden Rule.

I never saw it before, but I take it to mean that the Golden Rule (I hate that term) is primarily teaching us to bless people. Give good gifts to people. Isn't it amazing when someone goes way out of there way to do something for you? When people sacrifice something to give to you, it just blows you away. It is an "outwards" way of living. Read the passage and let me know if you think that's what it's saying.

rockies

rockies, originally uploaded by groovingdan.

Dan Skiiing

Dan Skiiing, originally uploaded by groovingdan.

I'm so stoked, the YMCA that we are staying at has free wireless, so I will be able to post some pics from Colorado.

Colorado

Jaden Laundry, originally uploaded by groovingdan.

No blogging for a while, I'm going to be in Colorado with JR. So I thought I'd post a picture of Jaden so you won't read about me being sick when you click over to my page over the next few days.

sippin' gin' n juice (ginger ale that is)

So, I yaked last night when I got home from practice. I knew it was coming and so did everyone else when I said...."guys, I think I'm sick..." everyone started hurrying me out the door. Flu sucks.




Don't you guys think the flag should always stay at half mast?

Everything is Broken

Well life isn't easy. The "kids" Jaden and Nicole have been thowing up the past 24 hours. And Suzanne hasn't felt very well herself. I'm ok for now, but I'm heading to Colorado on Thursday, so I hope I get sick tonight so I'll be better by then (I think that's how it works).

My dad had a tough week with chemo, keep praying for him. He lost ten pounds and he was already really thin. Pray that God will provide for them also, he hasn't been able to work lately.

Went over to Todd's house today and, unless a miracle happened today, the divorce is final. I just can't believe it. A guy who has changed his life so much in the past year, who has lived in sacrifice and who is following Christ, has just been divorced. Prayers go out to you man.

In light of the crazyness and the brokeness that I'm sure everyone feels, at least sometimes, I leave a Bob Dylan song for you.

Everything is Broken
Broken lines, broken strings,
Broken threads, broken springs,
Broken idols, broken heads,
People sleeping in broken beds.
Ain't no use jiving
Ain't no use joking
Everything is broken.

Broken bottles, broken plates,
Broken switches, broken gates,
Broken dishes, broken parts,
Streets are filled with broken hearts.
Broken words never meant to be spoken,
Everything is broken.

Bridge: Seem like every time you stop and turn around
Something else just hit the ground

Broken cutters, broken saws,
Broken buckles, broken laws,
Broken bodies, broken bones,
Broken voices on broken phones.
Take a deep breath, feel like you're chokin',
Everything is broken.

Bridge: Every time you leave and go off someplace
Things fall to pieces in my face

Broken hands on broken ploughs,
Broken treaties, broken vows,
Broken pipes, broken tools,
People bending broken rules.
Hound dog howling, bull frog croaking,
Everything is broken

God

Here is an interesting interview with Antony Flew, a (formerly) leading athiest philosopher talks about being "open" to the possibility of God.

Wilco Again

Wilco is playing Kalamazoo State Theatre on February 26th. I'm buying tickets tomorrow at 10, so let me know if you want to go. And by you I mean anyone, especially someone that has hit the "random blog" thing at the top of the screen and happens to be from Barbados.

wilco

Wilco will be on Letterman this Friday and PBS's Austin City Limits on Saturday. Check them out.

Enoch and the Gorilla

I think we finally found another guitar player and he's really good. We have five bands and four electric guitar players, which means that Sean and Dan E. take turns as subs in another band, but that will all change soon. It's a good feeling.

I've also been rereading Flannery O'connors short stories. They are seriously incredible. Dark comedy, poking fun at her Georgia country upbringing, filled with spiritual undertones. A Good Man is seriously Hard To Find.

Achy Breaky Head

Headache right now.

Today was long, but good. I led the communion service at all three Riverview gatherings. The 8:45 had about 25 people and was really dead and the service was a bit choppy. The last two went pretty well though. It's amazing how God works in people's lives when you just give them some time to pray together and remember Him. We also read a good amount of scripture, which I think is important. God's word is powerful. I basically wanted to hit some of the highlights of the story between God and man. We started with the Fall and Curse in Genesis, moved on to the coming Messiah and then to the sacrifice and hope that our lives should now contain.

New Year's Eve was tons of fun also. Kyle and Melissa were gracious enough to host a groovin' party. We sang karioke (I sang some Police) and $5 poker, which I won $40 bucks at. Pretty sweet. Also had a great talk with Eric Henry, Ross and Eric Craft. Probably the best New Year's that I've ever had.