the church at james' house

just got off the ph. with my friend james. I'm really excited for him and the small community of believers that meet in his home each week. they had started seeing more and more of eachother and hospitality was quickly turning from and event into a lifestyle. so they decided that since they are together so often, they would commit to having dinner together every night... that's right... every night. the table will always be set for 7 +. they all live within 5 miles of eachother. backyard bbqs in the summer... stay as long as you need to ... be open to the spirit's leading as to whom you might need to bring home with you that eve. real kingdom living here. i'm proud of him.

my late night sin EXPOSED

a recipe for instant gluttony

step 1. make sure everyone is in bed

step 2. go to fridge and leave cracked for ample lighting

step 3. mix leftover rice, butter, cinnamon and sugar in a mug

step 4. microwave on high for 45 sec.

step 6. pound it with a couple scoops of vanilla ice cream

step 7. rinse mouth with swig of milk (strait from container)

step 8. dispose of all evidence.

this is all to be done in your skivs!

Tilden Edwards:: "It is late evening. We are alone, perhaps for the first time since we awoke. Bits and pieces from the day dart in and out of our consciousness. Little desires and fears for tomorrow scatter us further. The more thoughts and feelings that rush through our minds, the more complicated and anxiety-ridden life seems. Maybe TV will help settle us down - or the newspaper - or some work - or sex - or food. Less may gnaw at us then. Life stays put for a moment. We feel in control again - we're "doing" something - anything.
The after-effect of the doing leaves us less anxious, but more drugged. We've exchanged a gnawing anxiety for a dulled sensibility. Maybe, at least, we can sleep now. We do, on the surface. But not below. Our dreams may be troubled. Fragments of life whirl round and round without a center. We wake tired and struggle out for another round."


How long must I wander through this jungle half crazed and blind before the clearing appears?

embrace life

"Embrace this God-life. Really embrace it, and nothing will be too much for you... That's why I urge you to pray for absolutely everything, ranging from small to large. Include everything as you embrace this God-life, and you'll get God's everything." - mark 11:22-24 > the message

I'm still testing this promise out.

the myth of personal holiness

read this good post

sickness as spiritual discipline

If spiritual discipline is a merging of the sacred and the secular into what Chist discribed as kingdom living, then the discipline is always awareness. The more I have begun to focus on what spiritual discipline means in the simple day, the more I realize that it is heavily reliant on my attention to the spiritual in the mundane and the spectacular. I am sick. I have symptoms of the flu. the temptation is to give up on spiritual discipline and awareness during these times of physical hardship. I chose tonight, however, to view my sickness and a chance to commune with the divine in ways that don't happen when I am "up."
Edwards writes in Living Simply Through the Day.

"Aching is very powerful. It has a way of crowding out everything else in our consciousness..."

today when i came home from work, i senced something "brewing." the usual joy of seeing Kerri, Riley, and Trey and talking about their day was replaced by a bare tolerance. No, I don't want to go to storytime,... no, I don't want dinner, ... you put the kids to bed, i'm cashing in...leave me alone.

so i medicated myself. that's why I can blog. but I'm definatly not in touch with the reality of my sickness. that's why the box says I can't drive. am I just muting what my body is trying to tell me?

the simple alternatives to medication are hard. but what if I did find what's at the center of this "dis-ease."

read Luke. story after story of sickness/healing. sickness shoked people awake both physically and spiritually. Prayer is hard to. Getting yourself motivated, asking others, if they ever get around to it... laying on of hands.

St Paul lived with a "thorn." he faced the suffering head on. Suffering is inevitable. It helps me not to take myself to seriously... "lay off for a while" "get someone to cover for you" " you aren't as important as you think"... It brings clarity.

Edwards proposes that pain is an "unwanted but real means of grace."

+++Peace Lord. In the midst of Life, sickness, health, lack, and mystery. Lavish me with your grace.+++

another wknd away

off to bowlinggreen with the whole family tomorrow.
we were invited to head back and see the new church building where we used to be on staff. can't say that i get real excited about the whole bricks and mortar thang. I get somewhat depressed by what others are impressed by (thankyou Denison Witmer) - but it will be good to see old friends.

on another note::
Maggie Brennan is an excellent host @ an excellent station with an excellent program (global village) and I missed what she had to offer today

telling places

I meet with palmer tomorrow morning for a short while. I can't really say what an honor it is for me to waste two hours of his time each week. All I know is that he has seen what I've seen, he's tasted what I've tasted and he's further down the "narrow" than I. Check out this article. He wrote that...beter yet, he lives that.

split pea it is

for those of you who stayed up late wondering who won the cook off, I defiantly heard a lot more BUZZ around the home about the split pea soup. In celebration of my victory, I shall post the cheapestsouptomakeforlargegroupgatheringsinyourhome recipe

24 servings

6 cups green split peas
3 cloves garlic (or 1tsp.garlic powder)
3 onions chopped
4 carrots chopped
4 potatoes cubed
8 stalks celery chopped
24 cups cold water
1 cup butter
salt and pepper to taste

wash peas. place peas and all vegetables in large soup pot. Bring to a boil. Turn down heat, cover and simmer for 2 hours. Season to taste.

option: you can use 1 Tbs. of coriander powder instead of garlic; it gives a robust flavor.

serve with croutons.

( this is a recipe from the Wellspring silent retreat center: church of the savior Washington DC)

write them for more recipe books @

Wellspring Mission Group
11411 Neelsville Church Road
Germantown, MD 20876

"People do not live by bread alone but also do not live long without it. To eat is to acknowledge our dependence both on food and on each other. It also reminds us of other kinds of emptiness that not even the 'blue plate special' can touch."-Frederick Buechner | Wishful Thinking

cook off

kerri is making chili
eric is making split pea

it's on @ 6:30 and you can come over tonight to taste for yourself who's the better cook here at the Stetler's.

(possible special appearance by church planter friends Peter and Mandy Kevinson)

conversation

my son Riley and I had our first extended conversation tonight...
we talked about things like what he ate for dinner, being a big brother, Jesus' presence ("yezus is white ear"), diapers, and big beds... one of the best conversations I've had in a while. Just coming off of mayhem that is saying a lot.

refuge

some friends came over tonight and we ended up doing lectio with psalm 11::

1 In the LORD I take refuge.
How then can you say to me:
"Flee like a bird to your mountain.
2 For look, the wicked bend their bows;
they set their arrows against the strings
to shoot from the shadows
at the upright in heart.
3 When the foundations are being destroyed,
what can the righteous do [1] ?"

4 The LORD is in his holy temple;
the LORD is on his heavenly throne.
He observes the sons of men;
his eyes examine them.
5 The LORD examines the righteous,
but the wicked [2] and those who love violence
his soul hates.
6 On the wicked he will rain
fiery coals and burning sulfur;
a scorching wind will be their lot.

7 For the LORD is righteous,
he loves justice;
upright men will see his face.

we spent time rethinking >>refuge<<

refuge not retaliation
refuge as peace
refuge not fear
refuge as trust
refuge not timidity
refuge as bold confidence

interesting that both chris and tawd both posted on these themes this past week...

Mayhem

off to mayhem with the LP kids and then on to a meeting on Saturday. toodaloo

We're moving to Grandview

Yesterday was a hard day. You might say I had somewhat of a breakdown - yelled at God, broke stuff (not me at all) I got honest with myself. Honest with the fact that I had been saying no to radical discipleship and refusing to move when God said GO. Honest with the fact that I'm not as sure of where I am going and what I'm to be doing as I've made myself out to be. To some this may come as a surprise, to others, you know what Kerri and I have been wrestling with. 1 hour ago we sat in the living room and said "it's time." So let's make it official... we're moving to Grandview, OH.

a.jones:: Jesus tells us to Go but sometimes we also need to Go again, or Go somewhere else. We always need to keep in step with the Spirit, and we feel that God is telling us to Go, and that going is more important right now than arriving somewhere else.

The cleaning ladies are here right now and we just got and end-of-year donation from anonymous that will cover moving expenses and downpayment on space.

Anybody know of a good place to live in G-View?

spiritual discipline

I have been experiencing a serious lack there-of lately. so what I decided to DO (rather than fall in Love with Jesus all over again) is to get creative with the mundane events of my days -- the resource i will use is Living Simply Through the Day:: spiritual survival in a complex age by Tilden H. Edwards. time to dust this one off... it's been on the shelf since early college days. Edwards shows that in the simple rhythm of life... God is there. by eliminating "compulsive stimulants" in my life, I become more aware and simple activity becomes prayer.

new spiritual disciplines::

- eating
- entering / exiting sleep
- journaling dreams (not here though)
- relating (paying attention to others)
- serving
- play
- aching (listening to my body)
- blogging
- spiritual conversation
- playdo and watercolors with Riley
- domestics
- [add to the list}

a bit of Edwards:
Jesus invites us to come: "Seek and you will find, knock and it will be opened to you" (Mt. 7:7). "My way is easy [simple?] and my burden light" (Mt. 11:30). But he also says, "Enter by the narrow gate...for the gate is narrow and the way hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few" (Mt. 7:13).
The way of simplicity is open for everyone. But it requires "all" of us. Total attentiveness. If we play around with it, the result will be the same as with every game when it's over; "real life" is is the same. There is no transformation. The same dull suffering and delusion are still there.

++renew me body soul and spirit Father | i need transcendence that only comes from entering into the realm of the Kingdom with you | may i never seek you for what it benefits me but only for the sake of your glory | simplify me | remove all my dead weight and free me to run ++

Violence: Reflections from a Christian Perspective :Jacques Ellul

What troubles me is not that the opinions of Christians change, nor that their opinions are shaped by the problems of the times; on the contrary, that is good. What troubles me is that Christians conform to the trend of the moment without introducing into it anything specifically Christian. Their convictions are determined by their social milieu, not by faith in the revelation; they lack the uniqueness which ought to be the expression of that faith. Thus theologies become mechanical exercises that justify the positions adopted, and justify them on grounds that are absolutely not Christian.
[read more}


Ok... still buy those other books from billbean but here's some teaser material

04

sorry for the lack of posting lately, just haven't been in the "blogging spirit" as Chris Smith referred to it in a recent post...

hop over there, read his blog, buy those books, live different in 04.

as for me, my only news is that this year I plan on changing some things in my life - and I'm going to start with re-filling the ice cube trays... i struggle in this area...

i always say that no level of accountability can make me the man i want to be, but we'll call this a form of accountability.