Coming to Texas...

I blogged about coming to Texas and started talking about seeking advice. If you want you can check out my blog and comment with any of your thoughts on the topic. See "y'all" in a couple weeks!

Ken's New Restaurant

It's weird that the things you think stay the same always seem to change. Friends going on paths that you couldn't 't see them on several years ago; yet they are still the same people you left behind. Family's that one once were very small now blossiming into something big and beautiful, and in the mist of all this you realize that something will probably always be the same, take for instance the diet of our own Dr. Ken W. Shuman. Tonight we ate at his new favorite restaurant here in Asheville, no meat, all vegetarian/vegan. After talking with my cousins who are devout vegetarians I think that this should be the path that Ken should go. No more sito's, no more dome dogs, and especially no more El Roacho Grande!!!
www.laughingseed.com

Missing Community

Wellspring . . . Space

Just a short note from Casa-Del-Napier:

I hope that everyone in Houston is well. We have seen some beautiful stuff in our journey across the middle of this great land. Judging by the remarks on Sundays gathering it looks like we missed a good (or challenging) discussion and time of gathering.

Our journey really started this past weekend in Arkansas. We stayed in a Christian missionary alliance camp ground and there were several things that got me thinking but one in particular:


Is there really anything better than simplistic living? This camp is run by a very few people who give it there all to make it a wonderful experience. This camp is not modern by anyone's standards. It reminded me and my brother-in-laws of the movie "The Village." We half expected there to be legends of creatures in the woods to keep people from wondering off. But as I roamed the campgrounds and the trails surrounding the grounds I forgot about the clamoring for the ways of modern culture. My phone had no service, we had no cable or TV (No World Cup or Astros highlights), and the sleeping arrangements were as basic as it comes. But in the short time that we stayed there all I could thing about was God:
*God the Creator, no matter how he did the creation thing it's a pretty cool creation. Hopefully we don't screw it up to soon.
*God the lover, the people who worked this camp love God and I think really reflect the love God has for us and the love he wants us to share with others. The were servants and it made me realize how reluctant I am to serve.
*God the mystery, we got into some good discussions on this trip. Several people we talked to held some very strong beliefs that I either question or don't agree with, but the fact is that we both could be wrong and maybe some day we'll get the answer.

I've gone over my time limit. We miss ya'll and hope that all is well in H-Town. We are in North Carolina and I think we'll have some great stories to share when we get back. BTW, simplistic is great but I'm not going to be able to shake my addiction to my Ipod anytime soon. That is the coolest thing ever!!!!

"and they'll know we are christians by our love"

juli never gives up. (she is patient)
juli cares more for others than for herself. (she is kind)
juli doesn't want what she doesn't have. (she doesn't envy)
juli doesn't strut, (she doesn't boast)
juli doesn't have a swelled head, (she is not proud)
juli doesn't force herself on others, (she is not rude)
juli isn't always "me first," (she is not self-seeking)
juli doesn't fly off the handle, (she is not easily angered)
juli doesn't keep score of the sins of others, (she holds no records of wrongs)
juli doesn't revel when others grovel, (she doesn't rejoice in evil),
juli takes pleasure in the flowering of truth, (but she rejoices in the truth)
juli puts up with anything, (she always protects)
juli trusts God always, (she always trusts)
juli always looks for the best, (she always hopes)
juli never looks back, (she always perseveres)
but keeps going to the end.

-the message (and the NIV)

it's horrifying how untrue this is...disgusting at times... and yet, this is my humanity. some days i do some of this pretty well, and other days... i just don't. some days i just don't even care. some days my heart is bursting with the love that christ has called me to have for God and neighbor, and those are the days i hang on to. this whole "following jesus thing" isn't easy and sometimes the reality of it is disturbing, but i'm thankful that i have a place where i can go and be honest and disgusting and i know that i'm still loved. thank you guys for committing to this community and this journey...and to me.

A New Law

i'm really digging this video guys. enjoy...

Wow, what an interesting week/weekend for our little community. We had a blast with the external elements (Stro's game, Kemah, Sunday's Gathering, Pappasitos, etc.) and getting a chance to gather with some new friends, especially Beth and Rodney.......But, for me, I think there was an entirely different element that started to co-exists in the mist of the fun; the element of community. We had differences of opinions, we had tension, and not everything went as smoothly as we had hoped. But in all the good and the bad there is a desire for all of us to continue moving forward. Love is an easy thing to talk about but when the rubber meets the road it becomes an entirely different matter. My hope is that as Wellspring (or FOTM) continues to move we learn more and more about love. We learn to love the day laborers, the homeless, our enemies, each other, and Jesus. I truly believe that within the heart of any community there is love and love is a better way. I think poet/songwriter Ben Harper sums it up pretty well in his song "Better Way":

"Fools will be fools
And wise will be wise
But I look this world
Straight in the eyes

What good is a man
Who won't take a stand
What good is a cynic
With no better plan

Take your face out of your hands
And clear your eyes
You have a right to your dreams
And don't be denied

I believe in a better way"

heart wrenching...literally.

wow. i read the links that you gave us rodney and it really hurt. the hard thing is that i agree with both mark and brian. i see both of their sides...different parts of my life and my history resonate with the two of them, and it's almost as if my heart is torn between them. we've talked a lot lately about homosexuality, and although it might not be as predominant out here in tomball it certainly is out there in houston. i know KC and jean can attest to that. wow...

so the greatest part about it is that the last response to mark driscoll's piece was done by chris seay. he's the one that we spoke about last night in group that leads ecclesia in houston. it's funny to see all these people i respect so much come out of the woodworks for this. i like what he said here:

"1) We are conversing in a way that only polarizes people and opinions and this is a big mistake. We should be having a thoughtful and passionate midrash about this and many other issues with the humility that says we have something to learn. If you don't have something to learn about this issue you are utterly arrogant and completely un- teachable. Listen.

2) This issue is real for people and it is only wise to have the patience to wait for people to genuinely meet Christ and ask the gay question sincerely. If someone is baiting you into a fight do not take the bait. Instead, talk about Jesus, and extend a hand of love. If you follow this path (and I have many times) you can focus on the gospel instead of morality. Then when the gospel is central, morality will eventually become an issue."

i agree with him. something that has been so hard for me to learn in all my young, naive, argumentative way is to be humble and patient. ken has really been working with me on that, and i'm glad that chris called everyone out.

i want to "talk about jesus, and extend a hand of love" and i'm so glad for all of you that are helping me do that. thanks rodney for posting that & welcome to the family.

Homosexuality

I'm from Modesto and am sitting in Ken's house right now all jazzed about your community and being here and all. I heard you guys had a discussion about homosexuality recently and thought we could continue dialouging about it. If anyone's interested take a look at these two articles and let me know what you think. One is an article about Brian Mclaren's response to the question, and the other is a response + apology from Mark Driscol(not sure how to spell his last name; he's the pastor of the big mars hill church in seattle). http://blog.christianitytoday.com/outofur/archives/2006/01/brian_mclaren_o.html#more http://blog.christianitytoday.com/outofur/archives/2006/01/brian_mclaren_o_2.html Let me know what you think...

finally

so as D predicted this time has come. we officially met last night to discuss the day labor situation and how we can help. we not only had al, the pastor of a hispanic church right down the road from MSC, but also the pastor of the church of christ out there on 249. msc's owners wife was with us-terri davis, and from wellspring we had deanna, myself, don, ken & becky all representing. we got some great ideas from al and we're hoping to get started in 2 weeks....that awesome.

we've got a lot of great ideas on how we want to help and i'm hoping that someday we'll get to do all of them. for the time being, we're going to start taking the day laborers breakfast on fridays and saturdays. we're also going to provide them with a card that they can write down the address or license plate of the places they go to work. we found that some of these men have been taken advantage of and we're hoping to gain their trust by helping support them. we heard that some of these men only work 3 days and week-if they're lucky. i'm hoping that all of us at wellspring can get out there and help serve whenever we can. i know it's going to be tough with all of our busy schedules, but now we have the opportunity to serve christ in a brand new way. i hope all of you think this is as neat as i do...

i want us to pat ourselves on the back for us. i think it's a huge thing that we're embarking on and i'm proud. i think we've finally stopped talking about how we can do social service and we're finally getting our hands dirty. we're not just writing checks off to other people so they can go a serve while we continue our lives as usual, and we're not avoiding the issues that are literally right here at our back door. we're serving where we are in this moment in time, and i'm so happy to be a part of it.

i don't want us to congratulate ourselves too long, though. we've still got a lot of work to do and i really don't want any of this to fall through the cracks. there is still a lot more out in the world to do and as we move forward i'm hoping our service only continues to grow. i especially don't want us to get content and happy with where we are. i don't want to just feel good about myself...i want to honestly be serving christ. i don't want that burning discontent to go away just because i've decided to do one thing. i want that aching for social justice and for christ's kingdom to grow even stronger. i'm so happy we're doing this i could cry. thank you guys so much for being out there....i'm glad i found all of you.

this weekend is going to be awesome! we've got the game, kemah, modesto kids and maybe a few tattoos/piercings! yay us! there are going to be some new faces which will be really neat (i'm kinda gettin' sick of looking at ken-jk!) and i think we'll have a blast. i'm just going to be happy to hang out with my family :) for those of you that can't make it...we'll be thinkin' about you. we always do. love you guys!