united campus ministry @ ecu

story here

The amount of info on the middle east is overwhelming. And there are many, many sides to the issues... sometimes (oftentimes) we in the USA are presented with only one side and especially as Christians... so here's an article by the dean of a Baptist school in Lebanon.

Pray for Israel... but also pray for all of God's children... after all He created us all

more to come... if I have time...

Here's an article about Riverside Church. I have worshipped there three times in the past fours years. It's definitely an interesting church with lots of history. They have a Wednesday evening contemporary service that i would probably go to if I lived in NYC and it was convenient for me to get there. Last summer, when I attended the campus ministers gathering which met in NYC, we went to the service and Forbes and the congregation prayed over us and our campus ministries.

Other churches I have worshipped in:
St. Paul's Chapel
Chinese United Methodist Church
Brooklyn Tabernacle
Cathedral of St. John the Divine

This is what Jesus might have looked like in 1st century Israel... Here are more images.

Last night I went to OKC to hear Rob Bell (of NOOMA video fame) speak at the Diamond Ballroom. (If only I had my camera with me to show you where this place is... although some of you may already know!) Bell is the pastor at Mars Hill in Michigan and he is currently on a speaking tour.

Bell's talk was nearly two hours long and although it was very good, it was hot inside the ballroom. They shut the AC off about twenty minutes into his talk because the back half of the room could barely hear the presentation.

I can't even begin to cover all the topics Bell discussed. He began with a commentary Genesis 1 (basic inductive Bible study stuff, but excellent presentation!) and then moved to talking about astronomy and the vastness of the universe. He quickly began discussing sub-atomic theory and then string theory. About that time I began to nod off due to the heat. I know he talked about the resurrection of Jesus and wrapped the whole thing up by talking about sabbath and "being" a disciple (in addition to the "doing" of the Christian faith.)

I will have to start listening to this guy's messages online, and if I lived in Michigan, I would definitely check out this church.

But tomorrow I will be speaking at this church:



Have a good Saturday. Say a few prayers for the Middle East

i had the strangest dream last night.
i was driving around oklahoma city with some friends.
we had a t.v. in the car and were watching a movie.
the setting of the movie was okc in the 1970's.
the next thing i know, we are actually driving around okc and it is the 70's!
we see landmarks that are familiar to us, but of course all of the progress that has been made in the past couple of decades is missing.
we end up in downtown okc trying to get into a banquet (we are late).
i woke up before we got to the buffet line.

weird.

Wabi-Sabi says that the ipod revolution has jumped the shark...

This morning I went to church in Wewoka!

A good friend of mine is the new pastor at the United Methodist Church. When I was at Blair & Lone Wolf, she was in high school. It's been seven years since she graduated. During that time, she went to college, got married (they asked me to perform the ceremony) and then seminary and now she pastors in Wewoka and Bowlegs.

After lunch at a local diner (which was full of Methodists!), we watched the World Cup, I almost fell asleep and then I came back home.

[On my way to church this morning, I passed the "Coney Island Tabernacle" (I kid you not!)]

One families experience at the *big church in town*

see here

Center Stage for a Pastor Where It's Rock That Usually Rules

Governor Henry visits Falls Creek

Kent, how much do you get paid for your pics?

20 WAYS TO MAINTAIN A HEALTHY LEVEL OF INSANITY


1. At lunch time, sit in your parked car with sunglasses on and point a hair dryer at passing cars. See if they slow down.

2. Page yourself over the intercom. Don't disguise your voice.

3. Every time someone asks you to do something, ask if they want fries with that.

4. Put your garbage can on your desk and label it "IN".

5. Put decaf in the coffee maker for 3 weeks. Once everyone has gotten over their caffeine addictions, switch to espresso.

6. In the memo field of all your checks, write "for smuggling diamonds".

7. Finish all your sentences with "in accordance with the prophecy".

8. Don't use any punctuation.

9. As often as possible, skip rather than walk.

10. Order a Diet Water whenever you go out to eat - with a serious face.

11. Specify that your drive-through order is "to go".

12. Sing along at the opera.

13. Put mosquito netting around your work area and play tropical sounds all day at work.

14. Go to a poetry recital and ask why the poems don't rhyme.

15. Five days in advance, tell your friends you can't attend their party because you're not in the mood.

16. Have your coworkers address you by your wrestling name, Rock Bottom.

17. When the money comes out the ATM, scream "I won! I won!"

18. When leaving the zoo, start running towards the parking lot yelling, "run for your lives, they're loose!!"

19. Tell your children over dinner "due to the economy, we are going to have to let one of you go."

20. And the final way to keep a healthy level of insanity . . e-mail this to someone to make them smile and laugh. Its called therapy.

The myth that expository preaching is more faithful to the text is simply not true.

Check out what some Christians in the South have done with the Statue of Liberty

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness."

Declaration of Independence (1776)

Tucson church expands on U2's spiritual messages

While I don't disagree with using a variety of music in worship, I can't imagine a service where all the music is from one band. Doesn't this really take the focus off of God and put it on U2?