William Lloyd Garrison

i realize that kevin rains posted this a couple days ago from chris smith's blog, but you may not have read either, so here's your chance:

William Lloyd Garrison writes...

We cannot acknowledge allegiance to any human government; neither can we oppose any such government, by a resort to physical force. We recognize but one King and Lawgiver, one Judge and Ruler of mankind. We are bound by the laws of a kingdom which is not of this world; the subjects of which are forbidden to fight; in which Mercy and Truth are not together, and Righteousness and Peace have kissed each other; which has no state lines, no national partitions, no geographical boundaries; in which there is no distinction of rank, or division of caste, or inequality of sex; the officers of which are Peace, its exactors Righteousness, its walls Salvation, and its gates Praise; and which is destined to break in pieces and consume all other kingdoms.

Our country is the world, our countrymen are all mankind. We love the land of our nativity, only as we love all other lands. The interests, rights, liberties of American citizens are no more dear to us, than are those of the whole human race. Hence, we can allow no appeal to patriotism, to revenge any national insult or injury. The Prince of Peace, under whose stainless banner we rally, came not to destroy, but to save, even the worst of enemies. He has left us an example, that we should follow his steps. God commendeth his love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

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comfest 2004

it's a beautiful day in columbus and the family is headed out to comfest for food, art, and the shantee. it's good to be home

father's day

riley woke me up with a sweet blue's clues card this morning for father's day (I made it home b/w conference and camp) We sometimes bust out the blue's clues fruit snacks (for the paw print clues) and a pad of paper (cuz you gotta record the clue) and make our very own go of the show. so it was fitting that he should choose such a wonderful card for his dad. a couple times to the park today and I've got a bruised butt and scrapped up arm to show for it. slide races got the best of me.

on another note: curtis, kyle, dan and I have been doing the band thing this past week. dan won't join us for the next but i'm excited that I will have a chance to get to know these fella's better.

speaker

i just experienced the most irritating hour and 1/2 "talk" i have ever experienced

... and now i'm depressed

time spent away

every time i agree to some production more than 10 miles from home i end up regreting it. i have to leave my family for a week and 1/2 and that sucks. i'll miss my wife... she's hot. i'll miss my boys...their cute. i'll miss my friends... my neighborhood... underground seminary... tues. night comm...
i belong in columbus, but for a short time i will be away.

Heaven in Henry County

 
Wendel on Merton... it doesn't get any better.

"Merton was a man who understood how to be a companion. He had a lot of humor, and I think he knew something about how to be happy or how to enjoy happiness when he had it. He had a very lively countenance; a very bright, curious, amused eye."

placemaking

if only I were better at this

a rant that resonates

1. America is not God, and Americans are not God’s chosen people. Prosperity is not proof of righteousness. If you would claim to be a Christian, then you are a Christian before you are an American. Period.

2. America was founded just as much or more on Enlightenment Deism as it was on the Bible. And even if it was supposed to have been founded on the Bible, its history of slavery, conquest, and Manifest Destiny should be enough to convince anyone that it did not remain true to any Biblical vision that may have inspired its beginnings. This does not mean there are no good things about America. This simply means that, as in any nation, there are many evil things, too, and Christians should be the first to recognize and condemn them. The support of Southern Christians for slavery, which still lingers today in the form of excuse-making and unapologetic nostalgia, is despicable.

3. If domestic policies like abortion should come under the scrutiny of the church, then so should foreign policies like wars and Third World debt. It is possible to be a patriot and disagree with my nation’s foreign policy. In fact, automatic support for American foreign policy simply because it is American is the very definition of unpatriotic - someone who doesn’t care enough for his country to try and stop it from going down the wrong path.

11. ‘Liberal’ and ‘conservative’ are useless terms. Equating Christianity with conservativism is profoundly ignorant and unhelpful.
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great demographical crap

where we live - if you care

new stuff

new links to the right for those who feel like exploring!

blogger mom

kerri's blogging.

after two years of hounding, she finally caved last night in a moment of weakness.

wanna move?

the apt. next to ours is for rent. any takers on a 2 bedroom townhouse and a kingdom mission?

2 or 3

it took a while, but thanks to doug, the kids in Gahanna are finally posting a group blog

bike trip

made my annual extended bike trip yesterday. last year it was a 40 miler in 3 hours (Mount Vernon to Gahanna), this year a 50 miler in 4 (MV to Grandview), maybe next year i'll just keep on going through to the west coast. needless to say... i'm sore.

available

i feel like i'm living the life of jason evans right now. If you want to know more about that check out his blog.

So, our plan is simple; we move down there and we do our best to watch what God places before us. We make ourselves available to the other saints in the area as much as we can by getting to know the churches in the area. We nurture the relationships we're given and form our lives around Jesus so that Kingdom may be seen in how we live. I'm no longer embarrassed about not having something more grand than that.

this is SO right on

assessment

a quick update... blogging from the cafe @ kenyon college. spent this whole past week at church planters assessment for the church of the Nazarene. i guess you could say that kerri and i were somewhat surprised at what happened this past week here. I you would have told us that we would actually like the kind of people that would show up at an event like this we would have told you that you "didn't understand." we totally expected to be misunderstood, rejected, and "red-flagged", but none of these things happened. the director took us aside half way through (just about the time Kerri and I had had enough and were ready to leave) and urged us to remain patient with the system and try and at least make some friends. He later mentioned to us that our presence was influencial not only to those involved in the assesment with us but also to the process itself! they affirmed our passion and calling and gave us unconditional approval to plant simple churches under the banner of nazarenedom. this, we did not expect. so this means that our relationship with the nazarenes is developing. it still isn't the focus by anymeans... they would like it to be, but if we begin to listen to the voices that say, "if you build this thing up, if you are a success, if you crack this case of 'urban planting', then we will hold you up as a model for the denomination..." then we have taken the bait of significance in the eyes and arenas of man... lord help us to continue to be us.