San Antonio Adventure

So, this morning, Dina and I took the kids to San Antonio for the morning. Our purpose in going was actually for me. I wanted to attend a meeting of the San Antonio Emergent Cohort. It was a great meeting and I was able to make some new friends that are on similar journeys as I am. We practiced Lectio Divina using John 17:20-26.

One of the things we gained from this exercise was that we noticed Jesus' call to unity among the disciples. Many times he calls them to be "one" as He and the Father are one. It was interesting, as well, to see that this would be a mark for how the world would know that Jesus was sent from God. Unfortunately, the state of Christendom is not one easily marked by "unity". Even among my evangelical tradition, it seems that we spend more time trying to see how we disagree with others, rather than working to "be one" with others. It is no wonder that the world doesn't take Christianity seriously, when we can't practice this "oneness" that Jesus prayed for the disciples.

What would our world look like if all disciples of Jesus could spend more time seeking how to love one another, rather than seeking how to "protect ourselves from corruption" and fear of syncretism. Unity is not something that we have to strive to create, it is something we are given. Unfortunately, through our actions, we break unity and cause disunity. If we could stop to take the time to, as verse 26 says, love one another rather than rebuke one another, we might find unity growing more in our midst.

Well, lots more thoughts to chew on. The thing I love most about this phase of my spiritual journey is that it forces me to rethink things and chew on things that I've taken for granted for many years. Hey, I've even begun the process of trying to form an Austin Emergent Cohort. It will be great to find a group of people locally that I can have more consistent relationship with to share in this conversation.

Anyway, after the meeting, we all had lunch at Beto's Comida Latina, an awesome Mexican restaurant not far from Viva! Bookstore (where we met for the meeting). We continued our conversation there and got to eat some really tasty empanadas. After that, we said our goodbyes and headed back North to Austin. However, on the way we stopped at the Outlet Malls in San Marcos and I found a great deal on Postmodern Youth Ministry by Tony Jones. I'm sure it will make for an interesting read.

After that, we came back home and rested for a bit. Now we're about to go out to eat at Texas Land and Cattle Co. to celebrate our anniversary! My Mom gave us a gift card back at our actual anniversary in January and we are now finally going to use it! Smoked Sirloin, here we come!

I can't post...Yes, I can!

Well, today is Jonah's 6th birthday. We're planning on celebrating it "Star Wars"-style. He wanted a cake that looks like a "ballcano" (his pronunciation of Volcano) and has Anakin and Obi-Wan having a lightsaber duel on it. It is quite funny that he grasps that, as we have not let them watch Episode 3. Anyway, Dina did an amazing job on the cake and I'll post some pictures of it later today or tomorrow on our homepage. After the birthday celebration with my family, we plan to head out to Old Settler's Park for some good old-fashioned fireworks. (We alway tell Jonah that they shoot off fireworks in honor of his birthday every year. How long will we be able to keep that ruse up, before he gets wise to us?) :-)

We also were able to get a free trampoline for the kids from Craigslist. It has a hole in the middle of the bed, so we're either gonna have to get a new bed or see if we can get this repaired. Either way, the kids will love it.

So, Dina and I are again grappling with everything that is going on in our lives. Sometimes it feels like I am in a whirlpool, swirling around in confusion. Our church struggles are only compounded by my work struggles. Dina helped me identify last night that I really struggle with an "I can't" spirit that causes me to set goals and then immediately torpedo them because I feel like they are unattainable. I need to really seek within myself and my desires, and then seek the Lord heavily over the next few days to figure out what I want to do over the next couple of years and then pursue it. No matter what obstacles appear to be in the way.

The first small sign of conquering the "I can't" spirit is to pursue finding or starting an emergent cohort here in Austin. I strongly desire to find a person or a few people who are walking the same journey that we are to converse with. We are definitely in a state of "disembedding" from the traditional church system and seeking to find something new that better models what Christ intended for the "church" to look like here on earth.