Marriage Madness

Dave & Kara's Wedding last night- what a blast.
I have felt like complete garbage this week, that sinus funk hath got me good.
But thanks to rest and DayQuil, I was able to perform the wedding, and it charged me. Dave and Kara completely adored each-other is such an apparant way. These guys were completely radiant. The party was amazing as well. The place was populated by lotsa friends and family, and a ton o people from the soon to be launched Central Vineyard Church. After the Bride and Groom left for there first night (bow chuka wow wow), Jimmy Zartman cranked up the tunes and we had the most fun dance/clean up the reception time I've ever expereinced. Most of the people were from our home group. According to the custodial staff, this was the fastest wedding clean up ever. Many hands=light burden. I LOVE these guys.

Lately I have been confronted aney of the delicacy of marital relationships, so I have been asking God to amp up my love for Adrienne. I feel like He has been helping us to have more love for each-other. THose who new me BA (before Adrienne) would remember what a hopeless/cynical romantic I was. One of my then (and now) favorite bands was/is XTC. On their Oranges and Lemons album they have a song entitled Cynical Days. I remember putting it on a mix tape (remember those) for Adrienne. THis song was kinda like a prayer of sorts for me. I desperately lonely, going through a multi-year struggle with depression. Over the past 7/8 years my cynicism has wained and my hope has sky-rocketed. I attribute that to Adrienne's vitality and hope (she's sexy too), as well as her steadfast encouragment to get my eyes of my navel and onto God.

Cynical Days
by Andy Partridge (XTC)

Another year's gone by,
The world's grown older,
Sometimes I heave a sigh,
People grow colder.

Every day I do my best to show,
I can make it in this world I know,
But all the bad thoughts that people bring,
My faith in human nature's
Getting pretty thin.

Help me get through these cynical days.
Help me get through my cynical ways.
You say it's just a passing phase,
You've got to help me get through, these cynical days.

Another see through scheme,
People are shallow.
The dark night's closing in,
My dark thoughts follow.

I try and make my world a better place,
(my efforts seem in vain),
But I'm competing in a human race,
(falling deeper down the drain),
That value things that just don't count,
Makes me wonder what it's all about.

Help me get through these cynical days.
Help me get through my cynical ways.
You say it's just a passing phase,
You've got to help me get through these cynical days.

Yeah, you say it's just a passing phase,
You've got to help me get through these cynical days.

Yeah, you say it's just a passing phase,
You've got to help me get through these cynical days.

Yeah, you say it's just a passing phase,
You've got to help me get through these cynical days.

Cynical days.
Cynical days.

GK Chesterton from Universalis today:

On this day in 1936 died G.K. Chesterton, writer and journalist. His writings – stories, essays, poems, books, journalism – are infused with an unequalled joy and love of truth.
In youth, he went through a crisis of nihilistic pessimism and it was his recovery from this that led him to God and ultimately to conversion. “The Devil made me a Catholic”, he said – meaning that it was the experience of evil and nothingness that convinced him of the goodness and sanity of the world and his creator. His poem “The Ballade of a Suicide” celebrates the salvific value of ordinary things; his novel, “The Man who was Thursday”, narrates the fight for sanity in an insane world and ponders the paradox of God; and “Orthodoxy”, written long before he became a Catholic, highlights orthodoxy not as a dead and static thing but as the only possible point of equilibrium between crazy heresies any one of which would drive us mad.
He took part in all the major controversies of his age, and was a lifelong adversary and friend of socialists and atheists such as George Bernard Shaw. These controversies were conducted with passion but with unfailing charity: he never sought to defeat his opponents, only to defeat their ideas. He would never cheat to score a point: and his love for the people he fought against is something that all controversialists should imitate, however hard it may be.

I'm back!

Had a great flight back! I took a Bonine pill every day of the trip to avoid get motion sickness, and it worked! It can make you a little drowsy, but copious amounts of tea did much to counteract the effects.

I double dosed on the bonine for the flight. During the flight I read "The Crisis of Islam" by Bernard Lewis . It really helped me to have a clearer perspective on the relations between the US and the middle east. It was about a 4 hour read for me, I strongly recommend it.

For those who care:

This morning I woke up at 6:30 due to jet lag: (I woke up at 11:30am many days of this vacation, so sue me) Perhaps I'll continue this schedule. Oftentimes, not daily as of yet, I begin the day praying through the Psalms using the Universalis Web-site. I use the web-site because it is a lot less complicated than flipping through a prayer book, though I sometimes us the Anglican Book of Common Prayer (1928 version being my preference) the Universalis web-site is very handy but I am not converting to Roman Catholicism. I do think Evangelicals really throw the baby out with the bathwater when they reject praying through scripture, or any prayer written by another believer. I think I'm a pretty spontaneous guy, but early in the morning, after work, or late at night are times where my brain is so tired or cluttered that it helps to have arranged scripture to help jump-start my mind. The very reading aloud of scripture is an act of worship. What I really enjoy about praying through a prayer book is knowing that around the world I am joining with believers from many different traditions of Christendom in prayer and worship. I find I am a better husband and dad in the morning when I start out his way. I also have an easier time praying throughout the day when I pause in these ways. Check it out: Morning Prayer (this is better than Ritalin!)

After I pray I like to go into reading scripture, sometimes aloud. Today I read 2 Peter on the Bible gateway web-site. At your fingertips you can do your reading in any version you prefer, And Safari Browser users (only for Mac Cultists) can easily adjust print size, which beats straining your eyes. At the close of my Bible reading my tea or coffee is ready.

I don't think this is necessarily for everyone, but it has been working for me.

I'm still on vacation today, hanging with the kids. I've got lotsa personal business to attend to, but I hope to take Ian to Galyons to do the climbing wall (playing Spider-Man) and assembling a Cinderella Puppet theater with Kathleen.

UK tour winding up

The last couple of days consisted of lotsa rest and some short trips. Today we travelled to Box Hill (Where "Emma" was filmed)

Realaxed on the Hill, hiked in the woods, and climbed a tree with James. We got to see Venus as well!

In trying to update my template I needed to move my Blog, so I started I would try to retool a bit. Adrienne and I miss our kids horribly and look forward to getting back home and rejoining the fray. I'm thinking of retooling this blog more along the lines of Andy Warhols's journal. I hope too get some links back as well.

The Best of the England Pics

What we have done in the UK-
Visited Friends, Visited York, prayed a lot, read a lot, hagled in camden and weirded out drug dealers, watched all episodes of "The Office" including the Christmas Special, got lotsa ideas for church planting, reconnected with friends,etc.

oops

more on England later, but first . . .

more on England later, but first . . .

Let's try something new for blogdom:


This is a challenge for those of you who blog, as well as for those of you who only comment. Sometimes I feel like people will line up around the block for a chance to criticize the Church and redundantly point out her shortcomings, but it would be nice to see some communal advocacy for Christ's Bride. Even before Paul would would deliver some of his most severe criticism towards particular bodies of believers, he would articulate what he was thankful to God for in the particular body of believers he was corresponding with.

I would like to see all readers of this blog who find some affinity for Jesus to write a list of 5 or 10 ways you have encountered Christ through His church. Post them on your blog or leave a comment here.
(perhaps you can direct people to your blog in these comments.)

You don'y have to be super deap or poignant to do this, just real. Don't worry about ranking.

LURKERS ARE NOT EXEMPT FROM THIS REQUEST

"A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another." --Jesus quoted in John 13:34-35