Hey All!

Thanks so much to everyone who donated to the Jen Lemen ticket fund. Jen called to tell me that she has enough now for her ticket and her airport shuttle. Way to go team blogiverse!

Pat over at Mt. Si Vineyard asked me a question here about using the term missional vs. the term incarnational. My answer was too long for the comments, so I thought I’d post it here. Have fun disagreeing!

Pat,

As you know, there is no dictionary of Postmodern Lingo! But, I can tell you why I (and many of the folks I know) shy away from the term missional. As a recovering evangelicals, anything having to do with the term mission has a certain driven-ness to it. In their experience — and many of the folks I’m talking about are either MK’s or have been heavily involved in youth missions — mission is all about convincing, converting, and making someone be … {read more…}

Okay, y’all know Jen Lemen right? She’s such a champ. Last year she spent all her free time (and then some) and most of her dough on working with other women to get the Emergent Women’s Leadership Network up and running. Their breakfast at the Emergent Conference last year was a big hit — among men and women — and watered a very thirsty place in our collective souls.

Well this year Jen is scraping together the $200 to get to EC San Diego. She thought she was going to make it by pinching a twenty every now and then from her grocery budget. But then, Dave’s Grandmother began the process of passing on and there were … {read more…}

Well I’m getting ready for the Emergent Convention. This is my first convention to present at, so I’m a little nervous. At first I was afraid that I wouldn’t have enough material. But now that I’ve started working on it, I feel pretty good about it.

I’m facilitating a seminar (medium sized) called “We Speak Art: Rituals and celebrations from a NeoMonastic Postmodern Tribe.” In Nashville I’ll do a second seminar as well, “Modeling Missional Living: Leaving the castle and living in the real world” I also get to help out with a couple of the Critical Concern Courses, with Kelly Bean and Jim Henderson. And best of all, Jen Lemen is going to come and … {read more…}

Senator: ” Do you believe the Bible is literally true?”

Tobey: “Yes I do. I just don’t think either one of us is smart enough to understand it.”

So, we are not having ThPM tonight. I am just too damn sick. I had this little break from my migraines, and I got all happy. But this month I’ve had them non stop for almost two weeks. Chemo didn’t help. Pills don’t help. Acupuncture, nope. If I could do yoga 24 hours a day, I think I’d be okay.

I’m losing the emotional battle right now.

I had this whole lovely plan for ThPm. First, we were going to read an awesome essay on Epiphany. Maybe “Only a Rumor” by Soren Kierkegaard in Watch for the Light, or maybe “Betty’s Manger Scene Collection” by Debbie Blue in Sensual Orthodoxy. Then we were going to have a time of … {read more…}

1) Eden has be coughing for two weeks and no one in the house has been able to sleep for the past 3-4 nights. Her fever was 103.9 but is down now that she is on antibiodics. She still snores and coughs all night. She’s been sleeping in our room to spare Catie and to spare Sharon, who’s room shares a wall with Eden’s bed. This means Paul and I aren’t sleeping.

2) And neither is Sharon…because Catie is having terrible nightmares. Last night she woke up screaming “it hurts! It hurts!” Sharon went in to get her and she wouldn’t open her eyes or wake up all the way. Later that night she had another nightmare and I went to … {read more…}

Q. What did the bird say to baby Jesus?
[conspiratorially] It’s from God; it’s a talking bird.
A. Are you going to heaven? Hahaha [in a cackle]

Q. This is a funny one. What did the slippers say to the bathrobe.
A. He said Can you please put me in the right spot?

Q. What did the let me think. What did the can say to the bottlecap?
It said Can you please close your. No I mean what did the drink say to the bottlecap?
A. Can you please spin your lid on. ‘Cause on my box I spin the lid on? Get it? Hahaha!

Q. This is a funny one. what did the baby Jesus say to his mom,
A. He said, [in a faux baby voice] … {read more…}

Reach for the Sun!

(This is the only thing that helps me feel hopeful about the global forecast for 2005. But dang, it works good!)