Here's what my church has been up to recently...

Hello?

Is this thing on?

...man, hold on a sec, I need to get a broom. The cobwebs in here are crazy...




OK, I'm back! Hey everypeoples! Just popping in to tell you I'm shutting this thing down. I'm not giving up on blogging, I'm just moving in with my wife! Yeah, after 16 months of marriage, we're gonna merge our blogs! By our blogs combined, we are ... something...

So, check back sometime in the next week for the new link! L8r! ("later")

'Pugapoo' is such a dumb name. I mean, Pug and Poodle should combine to form "Puggle." But the Pug-Beagle mix has already stolen that name. I'm choosing to make a new word: Poogle. I just hope Google hasn't copywriten that word for some reason. Hey, if they haven't, I could sell it to them! For a modest fee, of course... Anyway...

We got a poogle!

Kelly and I had been thinking of getting a puppy this spring, when outdoors will be a much more inviting bathroom. But, Kelly found a great deal on this little guy. He's the runt of his litter, but he was half the cost of his siblings. So, Wednesday night we drove to Newberg and got Max!

Meet Max, born October 1, 2007. Can you guess what Max is short for? Not Maxwell... No, not even Maximillion! It's Maxibillion! Maxibillion Q. Wilbanks. (Q for Quincy) Here he is in our stocking, because he's kind of a Christmas gift to each other. (We got matching stockings, so I'm not sure if it's my stocking or Kelly's...)

He's a good little puppy! He was trained to potty only on newspaper, and the other night we went right to sleep all night long. The first and third night, however, were like some sort of battle. He really has never been alone in his life; he hasn't even been the only dog around for his whole life. So he's really into the whining thing when he's all alone.

When we're all awake, he's really great! He's cute, and he's used to a cat in the house, so he like Butters a lot. Butters doesn't like him so much, but there've been no fights yet. We take him places with us, and he's really calm. Kelly took him to work yesterday, and he just chilled under her chair.

So, feel free to come on by and say hello! This week will be crazy with the holidays and Kelly's mom & sister visiting, but after the new year, we'd love for you to meet him!

Well, folks, Happy Thanksgiving! I hope you all have lots of coma-inducing foods!

In other news...

I'm going under the knife on Monday! Well, actually, the drill... I've gotta get my three remaining wisdom teeth out! I only have one left on the top of my mouth, and the surgeon is confident that'll come right out. The bottom two, however... "We're gonna have to drill."

So, for the first time, I'll be knocked out! I'm actually a little scared, but I'm sure that's just me being a wuss. I should swell up really big! I'll look like a cross between Charlie Brown and Stewie Griffen! Hahaha!

But then come the sweet painkillers...

...not quite sure what to think about this.

Dumbledore was gay.

Part of me wants to be revolted by the icky gayness. Part of me wants to be annoyed that Rowling just threw that into his character for sensationalism, and because it would fit a stereotype. Part of me wants to respect her attempts at giving him a secret, this tragic love and equally tragic error, because it seems to deepen the character. Well, except for the icky gayness...

Responses?

OK, so this post will be really long. I began writing down some thoughts a few weeks ago, and it's now grown to a 3-pager! Sorry, but I've gotta get it out! For the patient, or bored, I ask some feedback when you're done reading.

Thanks! OK, here goes!

What the world needs: More green churches. AKA Midori Ministry.

The hot word in the Portland food scene (along with most of the country) is not what I originally guessed it would be, though it’s closely related. ‘Organic’ isn’t really the focus anymore, though it was the posh thing to be a few years ago. ‘Organic’ hasn’t been abandoned as much as it’s been absorbed by the new emphasis: ‘Sustainability.’ Coming in a close second to ‘sustainability’ is another idea not far removed from organic; ‘local.’ The big push in the food-service industry is to provide foods that are produced locally and use production methods that guarantee those foods and the land they’re produced on will be around for a long time. These two foci, local and sustainable, constitute the larger idea of ‘green’ food practices.

Now, there are those of you who groan at the thought of looking to our society for advice on how to run church. To you I say poo. Church history is replete with examples of Church leaders looking to concepts well-known to the society they operated within in order to teach and lead the church. Christ’s use of agrarian metaphors and Paul’s reference to Greek logic and mythology are two good examples.

Anyway, back to ‘green.’ How would it look to apply the popular notion of ‘green’ practices to the church? What would ‘local’ and ‘sustainable’ look like in ministry?

‘Local’ seems to be something many churches have been headed towards for a while. After the mega-church boom of the 90s, many churches, including those filled with baby-busters and GenX-ers, have moved towards a more local focus. Rather than trying to become the biggest church in the city, boasting people who travel from miles away to receive the ministry they provide, many of these churches have moved towards smaller numbers and impacting a more focused geographical area.

[I’d like to pause here and say that I have great respect for big churches. I do not, in any way, wish to sound like I’m bashing mega-churches, or the Christ-loving followers who may sacrifice their gas money and their time for the Kingdom in order to attend far-away churches. My first church, which I’ll always call my home church, was such a jewel in a dark valley that we had many people who drove 20-30 minutes to attend regularly, including mid-week ministries and meetings. Please don’t hear me bashing mega-churches, because I’m not. I’m just noticing a trend away from that model of church development.]

So, we see churches moving towards a local focus already. What about the other part? What does ‘sustainability’ look like in the local church? I think it means keeping some people in the dark about Jesus, so there’ll always be those who are ‘lost.’ Ha! Just joking!

Insuring sustainability in ministry takes me waaaaay back to a book I read in the early 90s about youth ministry, ‘The Ministry of Nurture’ by Duffy Robbins. I don’t think I ever even finished the book, but one idea of his that has always stuck with me is the idea that you can’t do youth ministry (or any ministry, for that matter) for the sake of the group. You can’t make the group the focus, the end-all of spirituality. Because, in four years or less, those being ministered to will no longer be there. If a student cannot differentiate Jesus from Youth Group, what is his/her relationship with Christ going to be like after they graduate? They usually shrivel up and die, or they try to stave off things for another four years by going to a Bible college. Not a place like Multnomah, but other colleges…

Similarly, if we run churches in such a way that those we’re reaching out to have no or little exposure to Christ in their lives, how is their relationship to Christ going to suffer when a loved one passes away, or they suddenly loose their job, or they find themselves sorely tempted by an attractive new friend their spouse will never know exists?

The problem is the same, it’s the immersion that’s different. In high school youth group, there are often small groups or accountability groups, perhaps theology classes or some form of deeper spiritual education, and copious amounts of fellowship and ministry opportunities. But then that all dries up when they graduate, and work schedules or college class schedules or relationships or any number of other distractions take life over. Some college ministries fight this valiantly, but many people simply, sadly, fall away.

If the high school youth is like a rock, dipped in water for a time but then removed, left to dry up, then the adult who only experiences Christ on Sundays is like a rock partially dunked in water, again and again. Most parts of this rock are never wet, never cleaned or cooled down.

Both ministries, and both classes of people ministered to, suffer from a lack of sustainability. It’s not about dunking them in the Water of Life again and again, it’s about setting the rocks down and letting the Living Water pour over them. The Water that flows never runs out; His cup never runs dry. Give people constant exposure to Christ in their lives. Make their relationship with Christ sustainable.

What does that look like? What things must happen?

For one, the idea of getting people into the kingdom must not be the only thing on our to-do list. Christians with no root shrivel and die quickly, and if we love them as Christ did we’d want them around a little longer than that. People need depth in relationship.

This brings up another idea I’ve come across recently in the food industry. It’s the idea that people aren’t going to go out to get what they can get at home. There needs to be an innovation, some aspect to what they’re getting at the restaurant, that they aren’t able or willing to get at home. This doesn’t necessarily mean ingredients in the food, either. Atmosphere, entertainment, pampering; these are but a few of the reasons people go out to eat other than for food.

What shall we in ministry do? What can we bring to church or offer our church family, that they aren’t able to get at home? We can’t just read the Bible to them, they can do that at home. We can’t just play good music for them either; they can also get that at home. So what can we offer? Why would people come to church when they can read their Bible or listen to a good worship CD at home?

Well, first and foremost, part of the issue is that people probably won’t read their Bible, or choose to worship in song or any other way at home. People on their own don’t generally do very good at that. Remember what I was talking about a few paragraphs ago, where some ministries inadvertently teach people to depend on the ministry for closeness to God. Part of the reason that happens so easily is that people generally don’t do well on their own. We need community, accountability, discipleship and education, all of which require other people.

So what does Church offer that people can’t get at home? Other people! You yourself are one of the reasons Church is better than no Church. That being said, what is there to do with ourselves?

It’s been said before, but Christ doesn’t send us to make Christians of all people. It’s disciples He wants. There’s an aspect of living life, of modeling principles and ideals, of teaching and of learning, to discipleship. These must be present for a sustainable relationship with Christ. Where do we find ourselves in the cycle of discipleship? Are you in need of being discipled? Or are you at a stage where you can disciple others, teaching and challenging and growing them up? Perhaps you are poised in the middle, able to disciple some who are very young, but in need of some guidance yourself. Regardless of where you are, you need other people in order to live life as God desires to give to the fullest.

So what other innovations does Church offer? Other people to influence and be influenced by is one thing; what else? I think another aspect Church offers is closely related, perhaps so close that it’s easy to confuse with the other.

I’m talking about community. Yes, that’s very similar to what I just said, other people. But I’m speaking of the aspect of choosing to be a part of a community, of letting yourself be known to a group. In the paragraphs above, I was talking about other people as individuals, able to influence us or be influenced by us. But now I’m talking about community as a whole, as an organism of its own, different than a group of individuals. The interplay of individual to group is wholly different than the interplay of individual to individual. In community, people become part of something larger than themselves, and they are fundamentally affected by it.

So, perhaps ‘sustainability’ in ministry means paying attention to what people need and will always need: other people, both as individuals and as community.

Am I just stating the obvious here? I feel like I’m talking in circles… Am I resonating with anyone out there? Do you all have any thoughts on my thoughts? Let me know!

At last! I have a few hours to kill, I have wedding pics, I have no excuses but to update! So, for those of you who weren't able to be there...

The Wedding

It was great! Not too many people, the weather was perfect, the church looked awesome, everybody looked real good... Not as good as Kelly, mind you, but pretty good nonetheless. After the seating of the grandparents and parents, Kelly's sister and sis-in-law lit the candles. What nobody told me was that the mothers and Kelly had decided at the last minute to have the candles for the Unity Candle ceremony lit at that time, instead of by the mothers. I almost went and blew them out!

Then came the processional. Our small army of attendants came on stage, but I hardly remember that because I was so nervous and waiting to see Kelly. Our flower girls were adorable! One looked at her feet the whole way, one got a petal stuck in her dress and veered off into one of the aisles as she tried to get it out, and the third had to come down with her mom at the end because she was so nervous! Oh, and our dapper little ring bearer is a heart breaker already!

Then came the moment I'd been anticipating for 32 years. My bride came down the aisle.

It really is a blur after that. I can only write what happened here because I have one of the programs...

My youth pastor from high school prayed an opening prayer, our pastor spoke a little, then I washed her feet, which is something I've done a few times in our relationship. After which, she washed my feet. We tried to light the unity candle, but there was no wick!!! We tried melting a hole in the top for a few seconds, to see if it was just hiding under a little of the wax, but we found nothing. So, I had the great idea of sticking my candle in the small puddle of wax, and just blowing her candle out! (When we got back from the honeymoon, we found out that the candle had simply been upside down!)

Then we exchanged rings, with no pranks or tomfoolery, and finally we took communion. Our pastor announced us, my youth pastor prayed for us, and we took off!

We hopped in my Mom's convertible, and drove off to take some pics along the gorge. Then we ended up at the Corbet Grange Hall. We had a fantastic time, just hanging out and mingling with friends and family. It was great! We were toasted by the friends we love most, we tossed her bouquet and garter belt, we ate much cake. Mmm, cake...

Then it was off to the honeymoon!

We started with a short hike to Larch Mountain, where we had a great view of God's creation. Then dinner at Multnomah Falls Lodge, then our house. We opened our presents the next morning, the hit the road for Lake Chelan, WA. Sunday night we spent at a cute little Bed & Breakfast, then we rode the ferry 50 miles up the lake to Stehekin. It was gorgeous! On the way up, we tried to find a nice trail and campsite in their little brochure. There was one called Rainbow Basin, which has a great view of 5 waterfalls surrounding it. The brochure said the trail was 3.5 miles long, but we got there and it turns out it's 3.5 miles from the trail head, which is like 17 miles from Stehekin. Luckily, there's a shuttle bus that runs 11 miles of it, but we settled for a shorter 5 mile hike to Bridge Creek. That's when we had our first little adventure!

The trail suddenly split, with no signs and no indication on the map as to why. On a whim, we decided to split up, since it we thought the trail should come back together after a little bit. After about 25 minutes following a trail that looked like cut down to join her trail every 20 feet, but never did, I decided I needed to find my wife! I started blazing a trail in the direction of her trail, which included walking along a fallen log 10 feet above the ground (with my 70 pound pack). Oh, and I'm shouting her name at the top of my lungs every minute or so. Finally I double back, meet my trail, and doubled back further to where we split up. I follow her trail, watching for her footprints. Finally I come to where our trails would have come together, and 40 feet past that is Kelly, pack off and feet soaking in the creek.

Anyway, we went back down to Chelan the next day. Wednesday we rented a jet ski and played on the lake. I got thrown off like 4 times when Kelly was driving, and I lost my sunglasses. I decided to tread water for a while and let Kelly ride on her own, which was a totally different experience than when I was on it.

The next day we went to Slidewaters, a water slide park in Chelan. We did some slides, but we also spend like 2 hours just reading and soaking in the sun. It was fantastic. Except for loosing my cel phone... Oh, and I got a sweet tattoo! I had it for a few days, but then it went away... After Slidewaters, we did some wine tasting and had dinner at a vineyard.

Our last night we spent in Leavenworth. We watched Harry Potter 5, and ordered pizza in the nicest hotel room we'd ever stayed in. It was cool. The next morning, we met her parents for breakfast, then drove to Yakima where my family threw us a BBQ.

Well, that's about it! We're here now, at home in our cute little house. We're pretty much all set up, except for our office, of course. We have internet all set up, I'm using an old cel phone, life is hitting its stride.

Well, that's all for now. We'll update as things progress around here. Feel free to call us if you want to come hang out! I'm work Tuesday and Thursday nights, and we have Home Fellowship on Wednesdays, but we should be open all other nights. We'd love to hang out with you!

Update: I've re-activated an old phone, so my number is active again, however I had to get a new SIM card, which means I don't have anyone's numbers. I got a few from Kelly, but I'm still missing a lot. So, if you could all e-mail me your numbers, that'd be great! Thanks!

PS Wedding photos are coming as soon as we get them from the photographer...

Hey everybody! We're back! The wedding was awesome, the reception was fun, the honeymoon was great!

Special thanks go out to all of you who helped with the wedding or reception, you all rock!

Sorry for the short update, I'm actually at work right now, so I don't have much time...

The honeymoon was a lot of fun! A full update is forthcoming, but here's a few quick thoughts:

1) Kelly can be mean when I'm driving and I have to go to the bathroom! She mocked me and pointed out every drop of flowing water within sight for nearly an hour until I was able to find a place to go!

2) I think I'd forgotten that hiking can be an end in itself. We hiked for about 5 miles on Monday, then 5 back on Tuesday. We didn't get to go where we were headed, but the trip was great anyway!

3) Stuff gets lost easy. Here's a partial list of things I lost on the honeymoon:

• My sunglasses
• Kelly (But I found her again!)
• A spoon (I also found it again)
• My cell phone
• My virginity

Yeah, I lost my cell phone on the trip. So, if any of you have tried to contact me recently, it probably hasn't worked. I hope to replace it soon, but for now you'll all have to try Kelly's phone. I'm not posting that here, but e-mail me if you need it. E-mail takes a while, because we don't have internet at the house yet, but at least it's something.

Yikes, I've gotta go!

Hey folks! Sorry it's been so long since I've blogged. I actually moved into the house Kelly and I will be living in a couple weeks ago, and since I'm here on my own I've not yet set up internet... However, my silly neighbors have an unsecured network with internet access, so here I am!

Wedding planning is going well. Invitations resulted in the worst fight we've ever had, but we made it through. If you haven't received one yet, it may be because we had a wrong address for you, or we didn't get an address for you until after the postage hike in May. We haven't sent any out since then, what with me moving and all...

Speaking of wedding plans, I just spent the last 3.5 hours scanning pics for our slideshow. Man, I was a cute kid. Check this out:


Note the excessive ruffles on the white-on-white tux! Man, I wish I still fit into that thing...



Here's another more recent one, from a play I was in where my character worked for the antichrist:


Justin, I hope you appreciate that shot! That's not a bald cap I'm wearing, I actually shaved my head like that. The tattoo is fake, though. It is supposed to be Greek for '666.'

OK, last one. It was the 80's, and I was trying desparately for a flat-top haircut. How did I do?