Life of a Cook'n, HT Love'n, VG Play'n, Sushi Eat'n, Tech crazed, hairy Cultural Architect

I have a new blog........ Stopping coming here...please! R.I.P. blogger blog....

2008-02-20T23:33:00.003-05:00

OK kiddies! The time has come for me to move on to something with a little more humph when it comes to my blog... so I have decided to move to Wordpress to put my blog on... so if you are still watching this blog please stop...and head over to:

http://dg.hollums.com

you can add the "www" if you want, but it does not matter!

Oh and don't forget to change your RSS feeds to my new blog if your a RSS reader of this blog!

This will be the last blog post I post on this old blog... go to my new one:

http://dg.hollums.com

new Nooma Video for viewing only 48 hours though...

2008-02-19T13:03:00.004-05:00

And it is only on Facebook:

http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=588666405663&oid=21600640369

Well Tiffany is doing good after the infertility surgery!!!

2008-02-01T09:21:00.000-05:00

Thi sis Tiffany right after they gave her the drugs!! ha ha ha..... she is going to kill me for putting it up here, but if you woke up @ 4:00 am, haven't had anything to drink or eat...not even gum, and you just got a lots of drugs, I don't think you or me could look as beautiful!
(man I love my wife!)

Here is what the Dr. found out while fishing around in Tiffany:

1) little bit of Endometriosis on the Ovaries
2) Decent mount of gelatinous scar tissue behind the uterus (caused by reverse menstrual bleeding....it is the place that the eggs drop after the bleeding times)
3) possibly a little blockage in the fallopian tubes

The Dr. said that everything looked good now, and that he is hopeful and looking forward to the results that the next round of shots will provide. he was glad to know everything with what he is dealing with, and the results after this surgery are even better for most people than before it.. he seemed hopeful.

Thank you for your prayers and please keep them up!

(I will try to see if I can post the photos of the surgery just like last time, but until then please just pray for us and Tifany is heal up and take it easy for a few days!

A conference that might be worth your while, Visual bible, and Mahalo social....

2008-01-29T00:53:00.000-05:00

while in Orlando, Florida last week I found out about a conference that I going going to try to help at and attend. If you are UM and or Presbyterian and interested or got questions about the Emergent Church then this is the conference for you......

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Emerging Church for the Existing Church

To see the brochure for the conference click here.

This conference will provide opportunity for dialogue between younger leaders of the Emerging Church movement and leaders of the established church. It will be held on April 8-10, 2008 at St. Luke’s United Methodist Church in Denver, Colorado. Speakers include:

Doug Pagitt ... Dan Kimball ... Tony Jones

Bob Whitesel...Janet Forbes...Katherine Turpin

not pictured: Lilly Lewin, Karen Sloan and Don Payne.

This conference is being cosponsored by the Emergent Village, Clergy Uniting for Growth and Ministry, Iliff School of Theology, and the United Methodist Publishing House in cooperation with Denver Seminary. For more information send an email to info@leadershipnexus.net

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Also here are a few other cool things i found as of late:

That is a visual look at the bible and all of the cross references shown with different colors! How freaking cool is that, there are several more was of showing the bible visually, and I would encourage yall to go check them all out...very cool creative stuff (just go click on the pic and it will take you to the site)!!

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Well, I am trying to show in a new and different way all of my online life...and there is a new one out there called Mahalo...so here is a link to it, and it is just a better looking way to keep track of my online presence/life with tabs to several online things I am apart of. Go check it out here:

Do yourself a favor and go buy the movie, "Once"

2008-01-17T23:00:00.000-05:00

That is right I did not say rent, or even check out.. I said, BUY! This movie!

I just watched this movie that I rented via Netflix (and yes, as soon as I get some money I will buy it!)

But seriously, it is a date movie, musical, and tons of other words that would describe it as a chick flick, but I am telling you it is AMAZING! You would do wonders for your heart, mind, and soul to watch this movie.
Warning..it is shot like a documentary, and is rated R for the language (it is just like real life...crazy huh? heh heh)...but seriously if you have not seen it... you should not die without watching it!

yeah it is that good.... wow!

Ok and here is a quote from my friend Alan, who is quoting someone else that I just had to put up here!!!

Take it away Alan:

OK, please do yourself a favor and go read this. It's a fairly lengthy blog post by Fr. Al Kimel about our views of God's love, forgiveness, how we look at sin, etc. He's mostly interacting with thoughts expressed in a book by Dominican theologian Fr. Herbert McCabe. I've added a new book to my wish list now. Good stuff. It will be challenging for some to read, but it's good.

I snagged this particular quote from Fr. Alvin's post, just to wet the appetite...

"It is very odd that people should think that when we do good God will reward us and when we do evil he will punish us. I mean it is very odd that Christians should think this, that God deals out to us what we deserve. … I don't believe in God if that's what he is, and it is very odd that any Christian should, since there is so much in the gospels to tell us differently. You could say that the main theme of the preaching of Jesus is that God isn’t like that at all" (God, Christ and Us, p. 11)

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AMEN! I used this quote today, and it was for me... thank you God for not giving me something that I think I deserve! You are THE God I serve...not matter the circumstance! Amen!

Oh and BTW: Alan has just started his own graphic Design company..so if you need anything like that (web design, or business cards, or print material, or logos...he is your man)! Go give this guy some money so he can feed his family! Thanks! and God bless yall!

my dad is doing well!!!

2007-12-31T18:56:00.000-05:00

thanks for your prayers!!! The dr. Did a second colonscopy and found the bleeding had stopped and that the origional bleeding (2 liters worth) was caused by diverticultis and that he just needed to eat red meat to get his blood counts higher, and to just eat a high fiber diet!!! So, a very happy new year to everyone!!! Thanks yall for your prayers and thoughts!!!

problems for my daddy! He needs your prayers!!

2007-12-30T16:09:00.000-05:00

please pray for my father!!!

Last night we all went out to eat and on the way back we stopped at a Kroger. My dad went to use the bathroom, came back to the car, and told me he had a lot if blood in his stool. He then told me he probably needed to go to the emergency room. He told me to drive to the house and then maybe go to the emergency room. Well, on our way to the house he blacked out for 5-6 seconds, came to, and then started to sweat like crazy! We immediatly went to the emergency room, and he was admitted to the hospital last night @ 1:30 am.

So, now they are saying he will have a second colonoscopy (the first one was 12 days ago and they took two small polyps, (they did not think anything of them) today if the medican will fast enough you clean him out, and if not, then they will do it tomorrow very late.....

So, we as not sure exactly what is going on, but they want to go in there and find out where the bleeding is coming from.....

So yeah..... Please pray!!!! Love yall!

oh, and I baptized my little cousin this morning! It went well, except that my dad could not be there.

Merry Christmas! and Happy Birthday!

2007-12-25T02:23:00.000-05:00

Happy Birthday Jesus!

I miss birthday parties @ my Nanaw's house! Because every time anyone had a Birthday at my Nanaw's house, the birthday person always got money under their dinner plate, under their water glass, or even rolled up in the napkin! But the cool thing was that EVERYONE @ the table got money, not only the birthday person!!! So, I loved it when ANYONE had a birthday! ha ha ha...

but you know, it is like that with Christ. Here we all come to celebrate his birthday, and yet, when we show up, it is he that has these amazing gifts of love, acceptance, peace, joy, and grace! Everyone @ the party who knows him well enough to come (or even if you were just invited by a friend, he still gives you a gift! Everyone is blessed at this party!

So, welcome to the party! Happy birthday Jesus! And hey what did you get @ Jesus' Birthday party? I think this year I got a huge lump of love and grace!

Hey! Let me see what you got! Oh, and as you would guess, Jesus desires for you to not just keep the gift he gives, but to give it away to all those who decided not to come to his party!

Love yall! Merry Christmas!

Holy COW!!!! This is amazing...!!!! come on nintendo, Microsoft, and sony...lets get this tech rolling!!!

2007-12-22T14:41:00.001-05:00

THE HOBBIT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2007-12-18T14:39:00.000-05:00

official press release:

ACADEMY AWARD WINNER PETER JACKSON AND NEW LINE CINEMA JOIN WITH MGM TO PRODUCE “THE HOBBIT,” EAGERLY-ANTICIPATED FANTASY ADVENTURE EPIC

NEW LINE AND MGM TO CO-PRODUCE AND SHARE WORLDWIDE DISTRIBUTION RIGHTS

PETER JACKSON AND FRAN WALSH TO EXECUTIVE PRODUCE TWO FILMS BASED ON “THE HOBBIT”

Los Angeles, CA (Tuesday, December 18, 2007) Academy Award®-winning filmmaker Peter Jackson; Harry Sloan, Chairman and CEO, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. (MGM); Bob Shaye and Michael Lynne, Co-Chairmen and Co-CEOs of New Line Cinema have jointly announced today that they have entered into the following series of agreements:

* MGM and New Line will co-finance and co-distribute two films, “The Hobbit” and a sequel to “The Hobbit.” New Line will distribute in North America and MGM will distribute internationally.

* Peter Jackson and Fran Walsh will serve as Executive Producers of two films based on “The Hobbit.” New Line will manage the production of the films, which will be shot simultaneously.

* Peter Jackson and New Line have settled all litigation relating to the “Lord of the Rings” (LOTR) Trilogy.

Said Peter Jackson, “I’m very pleased that we’ve been able to put our differences behind us, so that we may begin a new chapter with our old friends at New Line. ‘The Lord of the Rings’ is a legacy we proudly share with Bob and Michael, and together, we share that legacy with millions of loyal fans all over the world. We are delighted to continue our journey through Middle Earth. I also want to thank Harry Sloan and our new friends at MGM for helping us find the common ground necessary to continue that journey.”

“Peter Jackson has proven himself as the filmmaker who can bring the extraordinary imagination of Tolkien to life and we full heartedly agree with the fans worldwide who know he should be making ‘The Hobbit,’” said Sloan, MGM’s Chairman and CEO. "Now that we are all in agreement on 'The Hobbit,' we can focus on assembling the production team that will capture this phenomenal tale on film."

Bob Shaye, New Line Co-Chairman and Co-CEO comments, “We are very pleased we have been able to resolve our differences, and that Peter and Fran will be actively and creatively involved with ‘The Hobbit’ movies. We know they will bring the same passion, care and talent to these films that they so ably accomplished with ‘The Lord of the Rings’ Trilogy.”

“Peter is a visionary filmmaker, and he broke new ground with ‘The Lord of the Rings,’” notes Michael Lynne, New Line Co-Chairman and Co-CEO. “We’re delighted he’s back for ‘The Hobbit’ films and that the Tolkien saga will continue with his imprint. We greatly appreciate the efforts of Harry Sloan, who has been instrumental in helping us reach our new accord.”

The two “Hobbit” films – “The Hobbit” and its sequel – are scheduled to be shot simultaneously, with pre-production beginning as soon as possible. Principal photography is tentatively set for a 2009 start, with the intention of “The Hobbit” release slated for 2010 and its sequel the following year, in 2011.

The Oscar®-winning, critically-acclaimed LOTR Trilogy grossed nearly $3 billion worldwide at the box-office. In 2003, “Return of the King” swept the Academy Awards®, winning all of the eleven categories in which it was nominated, including Best Picture – the first ever Best Picture win for a fantasy film. The Trilogy’s production was also unprecedented at the time.

This is VERY GREAT NEWS!!!! I hope you share in my excitement! Funny that I just mentioned the Hobbit in my last post and then this today!!!

round 2..... & no baby

2007-12-17T19:47:00.000-05:00

well, no luck or joy in the second round of attempted baby making with shots!!! @$:/-@$$"&$"&?!!@"&;;!!!!

it is very difficult! For me & tiffany, but I will live a life of thanks in the midst of live or death! It just makes it a little mire difficult to celebate God as a baby this time of year, heh. My heart breaks, & it kills me to see my wife's heart ache just as deep as mine.

Next step is to have Tiffany go through a second round of surgery to clear anything that might be causing the lack of fertility, I am sure that will come after Christmas, so thank you for your prayers and thoughts! Please keep them coming! Please.

The Golden Compass the movie reviewed...

2007-12-16T20:55:00.000-05:00

Well I went the last week to go see The Golden Compass...and I have a 5 word review for it......you ready? wait for it....wait for it....wait for it.....

I'd rather see The Hobbit!!!!!

I mean come on... just give up on the Lord of the Rings wanna bees and just give the people what they desire THE HOBBIT!!!!!!
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Oh well, the movie was good the CG was very good, (still no as good as I Am Legend), but the best part of the movie was the story plot of the polar bears! That part was awesome...the end fight scene... was something that I expected to occur in the middle...it did not give the feeling of a HUGE battle (that The Lord of the Rings did VERY well) and the ending was just arrogant in my opinion..... it was like they made the movie and they just told the movie producers to cough up the money for the next two...and assumed they would do well in the theaters enough to prove that they could... this ending was just flat out not as good as it could have been and I was just disappointed!

OK, now on to the other thoughts of the movie being anti-Christian....

(side note... I have not read the books!!!)

Well, yes, I can see how the Magisterium could represent the roman catholic church (or church in general) and I can see how an ignorant individual could see and say the things that he was hinting at... for example, in the first century people believed that Christians were cannibals...why you may ask...well if you over heard someone say, "This bread is the body of Christ and this wine is the blood of Christ.... and then people are eating them and drinking them!!!! Yeah I can see how people would think that, but if someone knew they would know that those things were a modified passover, a meal with tons of meaning and remembrance...just like the bread and wine were remembrance items in a meal with tons of meaning!

OK, so when someone says, "you must die to yourself and raise with Christ"... I could VERY easily see that someone would think that we were crazy, and then we tell our youth to do the same, and yeah most people would say that there is some brainwashing going on.

And when someone gives into the false battle between science and faith, then normal and Christian people would say you had to pick a side, and since faith is not measurable, then it would be thrown out as ignorance....

And you take these understandings along with the true ignorance of the church in the past (i.e. the crusades, and countless other stupid things that human beings who have misrepresented their God) and you get one persons understanding of the church...and a horrible viewpoint of it!

So, here are a few thoughts:

1. don't expect a normal person (non-Christian) to act, speak, look, or even slightly resemble a Christian..and this goes for their books or movies as well. STOP being pissed at them and start loving them and developing a relationship with them.

2. If you don't want your child to go see this movie, then don't take them, but please do the rest of the church a favor and stop judging anyone who believes differently.....trust me that is God's responsibility, and I bet he can handle it.

3. Why not try to go to a movie that you disagree with with the intention and purpose of striking up a conversation with someone that you can love and care for and possibly realize that they may be blessing you more than you are blessing them.

4. Realize that Christ disagreed with several people, and he never stopped loving them! Even those that he ran out of the temple! (why can't the church or those who cal themselves Christians actually live it, and start loving others, each other, and why not start taking care of the environment, or at least your neighborhood or city!

5. What if someone would have sat down with the writer of these books and got to know him, find out why he had a grudge against the church, and do some heavy lifting of apologizing, listening, or at the very least caring for him!

OK one more rant real quick... sorry I am having to get a little bit off my chest here..... Thanks for listening/ reading... or not heh heh heh.....

Why can't church signs be real? Why do so many of them try to have a cute saying, or an offensive one towards those that are not like them? Why can't there be a church sign that says, "We are sorry that Christians have hurt you, please let us make it up to you over a cup of coffee?"

Man, I long to read that sign!

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Ok Thank yall, and please feel free to join a discussion below...all thoughts are accepted as long and the language is appropriate. thanks and God bless yall! Oh and be looking for further movie reviews via the podcast or here. Thanks!

Merry Christmas 2007....The second round....and Munchkin!!!

2007-12-08T22:45:00.000-05:00

Merry Christmas Everyone!

Here is a picture of our Christmas tree this year. The Halo helmet I stole form a story in Digg.com, but the gender of the tree was all me...thanks to the help of Tiffany's favorite store Michael's! When I saw those balls I knew exactly what I had in mind for them! oh yeah!

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Here is the final picture of the aftermath after a game of Munchkin (I think on Tiffany's Birthday) I love this game, but I never win at it..and I did this time, so here is all my cards and the final 10 level on the dice! Oh man it was a great day!

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And last but never least is the note that Tiffany was artificially inseminated Friday...so here we go on the second round of trying to make a Baby! I try to make it a fun time when we go, so this time instead of walking into the Dr.'s office with the plain brown paper bag containing my "deposit for the bank of Tiffany" I decided that I would spruce it up a little bit and give it a little Starbucks packaging. I can't tell you how many people asked me if I brought them Starbucks.. i tried to tell them that they probably did not want what was in the bag, ha ha ha ha.... but come to find out the Dr. loves Starbucks and gave me a high five when he found out what we had done! I made everyone smile, and that is exactly what the Dr. ordered for that day since it is our second round...so here is the pea for you all to please pray for us, and that if this is what god desires for us to do/have...then please pray for us and the possible future baby! Thanks and God bless yall!!!! KUTPs!!!

well no baby this time around....

2007-11-25T07:19:00.000-05:00

Hey every one. Tiffany started her cycle yesterday so we will not be having a baby this time around. Please keep us in your prayers! Thanks & God bless you

Just a few photos from my iPhone for your enjoyment....

2007-11-19T11:23:00.001-05:00

Well, life has been going along wonderfully as of late! Tons of stuff going on, but nothing is new there. heh.... Well, I thought that I would send yall some photos of what has been going on , and even though it kills me to not use my Nikon D40 camera to take them...the iPhone does OK in a pinch...but I tell ya once you go digital SLR you don't go back.....anyway... here is a picture of Sushi! Wow...talk about flexible...and VERY funny!OK this next photo is of a friend of mine, but is what what is around him that makes my wife AMAZING!!!! let me explain, a friend of mine Scott, whom I shoot pictures with once a month in Cinci, was asked (or maybe he requested...not sure, but) has lots of his photos up on display @ his local Starbucks! I went yesterday and saw them...and Dang it was awesome!...anyway, I told the friend's of mine @ Starbucks, that I would love that someday, and Tiffany heard me say it...so Tiffany contacts the lady that allows them to be up and all, and while I went to go watch Beowolf!! (yeah it was awesome!) Tiffany and Kelly went and printed several of their favorite photos and framed them and put them up @ Starbucks in Crestview Hills!!!! And then we went to go eat and then Court and Kelly went with us there to go play Munchkin (and I did not think anything of it until I looked over to the wall, past a great singing guy with a guitar, and noticed one of my photos hanging on the wall where they put local artists' work up. And my first thought was, "I can't believe that someone stole my photo off of Flickr and had the guts to print it up and frame it and call it their own!", and then I noticed the picture next to that one was mine as well, and then the one next to that one, and I looked @ Tiffany, and she smiled and gave me a hug, and that is when I noticed that Tiffany for my Birthday (tomorrow) she printed off and framed several of her and others' favorite photos and put them up in the store. She contacted the store artist relations, etc...and got the permission! Unbelievable! I just could not believe it... I never thought anyone would ever think that my photos would be good enough to put up somewhere, and it was all my AMAZING WONDERFUL wife's idea! Man I love her!!! Dang... so here is the surprise friend Thor modeling in front of my photos!! (Man, I can't believe you were there Thor!! Crazy!)

And for those of you who don't know Tiffany and I are trying the fertility shots to try to have a baby, and after three rounds of this we will just adopt, but we (well she took them...I administered them) and Tiffany was inseminated last Wednesday! So, now we wait, if she does not have a "menstrual cycle" in two weeks then we go back into the Dr. and they take a blood sample pregnancy test. So far everything has gone wonderfully, and Tiffany has been have tons of pregnancy systems, but we both think that it is just the shots/meds....but it sure is hard not to get your hopes up!!!!! All I could ever do is ask for all of yall to be praying for us!

if you want to read Tiffany's thoughts...then go to her blog here!

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So, for all of this to work, I have to go make a deposit, and then they take "my boys" (my deposit) and put it into the bank of Tiffany....well, I have to say that the room that I make my deposit in is sure a little weird. Here is the photo of the room, with a couch, TV, and you can even see my (empty) deposit cup on the table in the back there...but the next photo is what is funny.....
This next framed picture was the only picture in the room, and look at what it was.... an arial photo of an Ohio State football game... I guess some guys just get excited about looking at a football game... ha ha ha ha ha ha.....

Well, here is my open book life! I hope to have a WONDERFUL birthday tomorrow, and I hope that yall are so blessed this week with family, food, and maybe even shopping! Love yall, and God bless ya!

Way to go microsoft winning over parents everywhere....

2007-11-07T22:58:00.000-05:00

But forcing husbands of non-child couples to pray that their wifes do not find this...ha ha ha......

http://news.teamxbox.com/xbox/15037/Xbox-360-Parental-Timer-Officially-Announced/

Very funy ad from Chipotle...

2007-11-05T17:00:00.000-05:00

I was checking out the Chipotle website the other day...yes...it is a very cool website...and I found this radio ad...and I thought it funny.... especially if someone Jewish heard the ad....

Pork MP3

Any green car entheusiests out there?

2007-11-02T09:13:00.000-05:00

I was looking through the Orvis catalog the other day and saw this! man I wish it was full size for this price, heh!

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speaking of gadgets...it is starting to be that time of year again, when my birthday, and Tiffany's birthday, and Christmas all hit together... and since I was jsut looking at gadgets... which I love I remembered something I saw on time on Webbalert....

So if any family are watching, I think this would be a great gift!!! wink...nudge, nudge, ;) just click the picture to go to the website, heh.

Project Offset...is still alive....

2007-10-31T22:31:00.000-05:00

Probably my most anticipated game second only to Y's book I and II in my mind is a new game in developement tentatively called, Project Offset.

I LOVE Fantasy books, Movies, and games! The Lord of The Rings is probably the greatest Fantasy books of all time..and I am a purest. no guns or lazes should ever enter these worlds, that is sci-fi and it should stay in sci-fi, but good Fantasy has magical creatures, magic, multiple races (i.e. elves, dwarfs, humans, halflings, etc.. no guns, gun powder, lasers, space ships, light bulbs, etc...) So, needless to say that is why I loved D&D growing up, and loved TLOTR, and loved most RPGs for games, but now that I am enjoying FPS's (i.e. Halo, BioShock, etc..) I am dreaming for there to be a really good game that is pure Fantasy, and like The lord Of The Rings movies...done right! Well, if any of yall think that sounds good, I have the game for you and it is probably 3-5 years away, heh... nah I just have no idea how long it will be until it comes out..but the code name for the project right now is:

Project Offset...and if you have not seen the videos of it..then you are missing out...so here is what you need to do:

Go to the Website and read all about the story and concept:

www.ProjectOffset.com

Then check out some of the screen shots:

http://www.projectoffset.com/screenshots.php

Then go find the videos:

http://www.projectoffset.com/videos.php

This Video says PS3, but that has not ever been confirmed yet...so it is still up in the air..and this video does not do it justice, being on You Tube...but it will do...anyway..have fun.

And then go tell the world and beg all gaming companies to make this game come to light! PLEASE I BEG OF YOU!

Hope your Halloween went well, and I will be sure to upload a few shots of my pumpkins with them glowing from the inside, heh. God bless yall!

Happy Halloweeen....

2007-10-31T15:43:00.000-05:00

Well for those who don;'t know, I love carving pumpkins. It is a form of art, plus it allows me to express my geek in pumpkin form...so I wanted to share with yall what I did this year:

on the left is the power button on the front of every Xbox 360...
on the right in the logo for Halo 3 the most popular video game for the Xbox 360.

Now, I just need to find green glow sticks for the Xbox 360 power button, and possibly blue L.E.D.s for the Halo3 one, heh.

Yall have a great night...loving on Children...just like Christ would.

Jesus said, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these."

God decided Tiffany and I needed a Sabbatical...

2007-10-30T13:18:00.000-05:00

R.I.P. Xbox360 and T.V.....well until you both get fixed, heh.

Well, the T.V. repair guy came over to our house today to pick up my TV to find out what is wrong with it...and for those of you in the know...that is a huge deal for me...AND my Xbox 360 is not sending out ANY video at all...so that is dead too. so that means it will be lots of quality time with my wife (more than usual) and lots of computer/reading/photography/podcasting!!! Woo hoo!

anyway... it is just a little frustrating. Because I was wanting to buy a new TV this year of after the Super bowl next year (when all the TV sales happen) But that would require that I sell the current TV I have as well as a few other things..but anyway... I guess I just wanted to let out the cry of not being able to enjoy my materialism! heh.

God bless yall, and pray for me to listen to God during this time and enjoy life without a TV for a while...it is a blessing in disguise, I just need to see it. Thanks and God bless yall!

I got Leopard (Max OS update)....and now I am scared....

2007-10-27T10:18:00.000-05:00

Well, I purchased Le0pard for my Mac Book pro yesterday, primarily for the (Time Machine) backup feature that will allow me to back up everything on to a hard drive, and be able to find it depending on the last time I remembered having it..very cool stuff, if you want to see what I am talking about then go to apple's website and you can see.

I also, loved chatting with Kevin this morning, with a roller coaster going on behind me:

heh...anyway... so I registered online with Leopard, and I got this email from Apple:

So, needless to say, I am very happy so far with Leopard...but I am sorry that Smiley face gives me the creeps! It is almost like, "ha ha... got your number sucker!"

Anyway, hope yall have a great day today!

A little bit more Flight of the Conchords... for yall....

2007-10-23T21:41:00.000-05:00

So I went to the Dr.'s office on Friday and saw this....

2007-10-21T17:21:00.000-05:00

I don't know if this is my Dr.'s , but if it is, I think I should not go as often to see him, heh... still amazing car...and these were all taken with my iPhone.

I don't know if this is my Dr.'s , but if it is, I think I should not go as often to see him, heh... still amazing car...and these were all taken with my iPhone.

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I promise I am finally getting around to my pictures from Washington D.C. trip...so those will be up soon, I am limiting myself to 4 pictures from each day....so it is a little hard to do, heh.... God bless yall....KUTPs!!!

Emergent email article...

2007-10-18T12:52:00.000-05:00

I received an email from Emergent the other day and it had a quote from an interview Brad Pitt did with Bishop Desmond Tutu... I just wanted to share it with yall....

The interview starts with Tutu explaining the
African concept of ubuntu...

Brad Pitt: What is this concept of
ubuntu I keep reading about?

Tutu: "Ubuntu is the essence of
being human [...] we say a person is a person
through other persons. You can't be a human
in isolation. You are human only in
relationships. [...] So we say that 'I need
you to be all of who you are in order for me
to be all that I am.' Because no human being
is totally self-sufficient. In fact, a
self-sufficient human being is subhuman."
[...] If you want to be human, we are not
going to be able to be human in isolation.
It will be that we are human together."

What do you think about this understanding of "Ubuntu"?

oh and yes, this just so happens to be a Linux operating system as well, heh ... never knew the history behind the word, and what an awesome name sake for an open source operating system!

Anyone seen this before...M.A.S.K.....and speaking of TV...

2007-10-11T08:44:00.001-05:00

I am digging deep in my favorite cartoon series from my childhood, but this cartoon, I remember being a very close second (to transformers) in my mind. it was like a mix is transformers, and G.I. Joe.... very cool, and I remember the theme song to this cartoon almost as good as Transformers....so enjoy the clip: man this is making me wish I had the Toys again, heh.

===============================

OK here are the shows out of all the new shows on that i have seen and do/do not care for:

BAD:
Carpoolers
Cavemen
Chuck (it just makes me mad that they are playing him off as a nerd, geek, and it is obvious that this guy have never played D&D or taken an advanced class in anything....Tiffany likes it though, heh...)

Good:
The Office (still VERY funny)
Pushing Up Daisies (This show is awesome! If you like Big Fish, and Stardust...i.e. fairy tales...then this is the show for you...voice over narration and all!)
Heroes (of course..duh)

Have not seen yet:
Bionic Woman (I still need to see this one on the DVR... but I will find out soon.

So do yall agree with the shows I like or would add another one? let me know!

NY Times artice with Halo 3 and churches...

2007-10-10T13:49:00.000-05:00

Thanks to Steven for this article:

Thou Shalt Not Kill, Except in a Popular Video Game at Church

What really amazes me is that the article seems to be saying, "See look not even the Christians can keep what they say they should". But of course, look who they interview. The second page is a little more balanced, but the authors words seem to resemble the ultra conservative words more than then the youth leader's words, heh heh...

Anyway... what do you think? Do you think that Christians need to be able to know what is of God and what is not, but also, stop being offended by everything and start loving the people of this world, who do not look, act, and talk like you?

If you are a Christian does your love for other people outweigh your being offended? (not just mature rated games but rated R movies, or people that cuss, or people who do drugs, or dress in all black, or are illegal immigrants, or not mentally well, etc...) Where does the cost of crossing over "the line" motived by love start?

Oh and did anyone see this amazing grenade toss in Halo 3?

more stuff from the emergingumc: a gathering MP3s, presentations, and a few great stories!

2007-10-09T18:21:00.000-05:00

(cool logo Carl...or who ever made it!)

Hey everyone here is a great link to summarize a few of the sessions and a few power points from the sessions at the event!

http://emergingumc.blospot.com

if you just want the MP3s/podcasts then go here:

The Emerge Detroit Podcast

This is a freaking awesome site and podcast BTW! (love ya Carl!)

And I think this is the first official podcast with my voice in it! So enjoy!

------------------------------------------------
I think this is a FREAKING cool logo:

------------------------------------------------
OK, Tiffany and I were in Michael's the other day and I just had to buy these:
There will not be any question as to the gender this year of our Christmas Tree! Can't wait to hang them!
-----------------------------------------------------

Oh and this one has a great story behind it!...As some of you know, I was at an "emergingumc: a gathering" event in Nashville, TN this past weekend! It was great and a fun time was had by all!

Now a few of you need some background on this picture. The unofficial headquarters of most of the world wide denomination of the United Methodist Church is found in Nashville. And the building that we had all of our sessions and discussions in was the General Board of Discipleship of the entire United Methodist Church. (GBOD for short). The building that the beer truck is parked in front of is this building! It was so funny that i just had to get a picture of it!

(now, please know that the truck was unloading across the street to a restaurant, and NOT to the GBOD, but it was too classic of a statement!) God bless yall, and KUTPs!!!

Now this is funny......

2007-10-08T10:13:00.000-05:00

Here is a Lark news article about Emergent church spoof!......

Oh an yes, lark news in The Onion of the Church news world.

Thanks and great to meet you!

2007-10-07T09:42:00.000-05:00

Hello to everyone who finds this blog from the, emergingumc: a gathering event! This past weekend! It was great getting to know you all and meeting most of you! I pray that we take the discussions and passions that were shared and expressed to the rest of the communities that we find ourselves in, or find ourselves called to move into. Blessings! And KUTPs!!!

Please feel free to contact me or any one else to keep the relationships up and going!

Oh and were you not there? then please head over to the emergingumc blog to read a few of the suggested resources that the presenters suggested...they can be found here on this post.

Also, it is a possibility that a few podcasts might be made available for a few of the breakout sessions and such, but they might take a little time to get the post production set up and working..but look for them soon on the blog....God bless yall!

so next week life should look a litle more normal....maybe...

2007-10-03T08:16:00.000-05:00

(photo by B Tal)
Well for those of you who don't know, My parents have been visiting us for a month!!! It has been awesome getting to see them and be with them, and I would not have traded there visit for the world, but it has messed up our schedules a little bit here and there, but it is so worth it. And last week we went with them to Washington D.C., and Tiffany and my Mom had never been there before, so that was an awesome experience too!

(I promise pictures are coming, I just need to find some time)

And, so this weekend I will be traveling to Nashville to attend the EmergingUMC: a Gathering. Gary and I will be speaking, and the entire gathering will provide a bunch of presenters that are doing "Emerging/missional" Kingdom work. Taylor intentionally desired to bring in people who are doing and being the work and not so much those that stay in the ideology realm. So, I am looking forward to getting to know and meet fellow co-servants in the Kingdom and hopefully sharing a little bit about what God is doing in Th3 Waters and I believe in the UMC, and the Kingdom as a whole. I hope to blog a little bit more often while I am down there.

Oh and Did I mention that Halo3 came out and I beat it last night! I did not get to play it at all the week it came out due to the trip, and so Brad (a GREAT FRIEND) decided that he would play it through with me online and let me experience the main game, before I started to get too deep into multiplayer. So anyway... if you are a halo3 fan...be sure to beat it on Legendary, there is a different

My new favorite thing....Man I wish I had HBO...for this...Flight of the Conchords!!!!

2007-09-17T09:42:00.001-05:00

enjoy the best laughter in the world...right now at least.

I want to ing this song in church when we talk about laughter and love..... Seriously, anyone other guy out there that wants to sing with me? oh and we probably need someone that can play a few instruments by ear...cool thanks!

EmergingUMC: a Gathering conference updated schedual...

2007-09-15T09:00:00.000-05:00

Here is the updated plan of events for the time in Nashville:

thursday october 4

Preconference Option: a gathering with the Nashville Emergent Cohort
11:30- 1 @ the flying saucer

Registration 3:30-5:30 p.m. at scarritt-bennett

Dinner and conversation at scarritt-bennett 5:30-6:30 pm

Evening Prayer and Plenary: 7 p.m.
“Streams in the emerging landscape and your ministries:
a conversation and cohortation”

missiology
worship
spiritual formation
theology

Facilitated by Taylor Burton-Edwards

Night Prayer: 9:30

friday, october 5
Breakfast at scarritt-bennett 7:30 am

Morning Prayer: 8:45
emerging ministries 1 9:00-10:00
Organic Gatherings in Greater Cincinnati dg hollums and gary gibson
Indigenous mission in an urban arts community jim walker
Emerging in a traditional congregation in west virginia melissa rudolph

Break 10-10:15

a key group conversation 10:15-11:30
Women and emerging/Emergent Elizabeth Buxton

noon prayer and lunch options 11:30
Love feast hosted by DG Hollums

emerging ministries 1:00-2:00
What Jesus is teaching us in New York-- Don and Pam heatley
Indigenous mission in an urban arts community Jim Walker
Emerging in a traditional congregation in West Virginia Melissa Rudolph

break 2-2:15

a panel conversation: emerging and the institutional church 2:30-3:45
Emerging and ELCA Kevin Anderson
Emerging and PCUSA Chip Andrus (via podcast/video)

Emerging and Wesley Jay Voorhees
emergingumc and GBOD Taylor Burton-Edwards

mid-afternoon eucharist 3:45-4:30

emerging ministries 4:30-5:30
Organic Groups in Greater Cincinnati DG Hollums and Gary Gibson
What Jesus is teaching us in New York-- don and pam heatley
Resources from/for emerging churches—Kevin Anderson

dinner and evening with your cohorts
or bible fight club hosted by jim walker

night prayer (for those who are back) 10 p.m.

saturday, october 6
Breakfast at Scarritt-bennett 7:30
Morning Prayer 8:30

Spiritual formation options 9:00-10:00
lectio divina
confession
labyrinth
healing
intercessory prayer
study

A panel conversation: theology and missiology 10:00-11:00
An Emerging Methodist Billy Watson
missiology and organic groups DG Hollums
Attractionional, extractional,
and missional/incarnational taylor burton-edwards

Cohort time and covenant affirmation 11:00

Mid-day Prayer and Sending forth 11:30

Oh and here is a little blurb on the Nashville Cohort on Thursday:

you come to the Nashville cohort you get your first meal paid for.. :~)

all should come

http://nashvillecohort.blogspot.com

October, 4
Place: The Flying Saucer (in the pool room) 11 10th Avenue South Located behind the Union Station hotel Nashville, TN 37203 (615) 259-3039
Time: 11:30-1:00
Topic:Emily Synder and Steven Miles lead our discussion about immigration issues and the Kingdom of God

------------------------------------------------------------

oh and here are some new photos I took Thursday:

As always you can check out my photos and even put them in an RSS feed here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/dgsflickr/

Apple has three new toys....

2007-09-05T14:19:00.001-05:00

OK, now I want a few new things on my iPhone, and I know it could happen! here is the new toys:

Apple.com

Yeah, now the iPod world has jumped into the iPhone world! heh... but man i would love to be able to bu from iTunes from my phone! Come on apple I want to give you more money!!! heh heh

The Sushi post has been corrected and updated.....

2007-08-28T22:11:00.000-05:00

My Sushi guide blog post has recently had a visitor that corrected a few mistakes I made in the post (thank you very much anonymous commenter..please, lets go eat some Sushi sometime!!!), and so I made the corrections that needed to be made, and I just wanted to throw it at yall again one more time.... man I love sushi, and seriously if anyone wants to go get some just let me know.

Sushi...."thannnnkkyouverymuuuuch"

so every now and then I head over to the Quicktime website...

2007-08-28T10:59:00.000-05:00

I love movies and I love movie trailers, it started with the ones before the movies, and now of course it is either through HDNETs "Nothing but Trailers" show, or the ever greatest, "Apple QuickTime website for trailers" And so here are a list of movies that I am looking forward to watching:

Beowulf

Horton Hears a Who

National Treasure: Book of Secrets

The Seeker: The Dark is Rising

Lars and the Real Girl

The apple Site has HD trailers for your viewing, if you have a computer that can handle them... Way to go Brad!

The Last Legion

Life Together by Dietrich Bonhoeffer...

2007-08-27T10:12:00.000-05:00

I am reading this classic right now by Dietrich Bonhoeffer and here is a thoughtful quote that I mentioned in my own way yesterday in church during the announcements, but I think he says it better:

"Only he who gives things for little things receives the big things. We prevent God from giving us the great spiritual gifts He has in store for us, because we do not give things for daily gifts. We think we dare not be satisfied with the small measure of Spiritual knowledge, experience, and love that has been given to us, and that we must constantly be looking forward eagerly for the highest good.....How can God entrust great things to one who will not thankfully receive from Him the little things?" Bonhoeffer, "Life Together:The Classic Exploration of Faith in Community", page 29

This reminds me of Brother Lawrence's "Practicing The Presence of God", as well, being so thankful in the little things in life, and while the rest of the world may not think that he received great things, I have a feeling that in his life he received GREAT things.

I know that for Bonhoeffer, when he wrote Life Together he was a part of a underground Seminary training young Pastors (or I would say, "desiring to go deeper disciples") right in the middle of the Nazis. I can only imagine how thankful he was for his community, and the little things, and later one it served him well to be thankful for the small things, because that might have been what kept him going while serving God in the prisons in Germany. I know it looks to be that way for John in Revelation, and Paul when they were in prisons.

Sometimes it is in the difficulties in life and especially in the difficulties in community/church in which when we live into the thanksgiving of the small that God shows us the great right in front of us!

Thank you God for the little things, clothes, health, community, and even disagreements when ever they arise, for it is in our thanks you can work in and through us!

My life is yours, and so is the life of community and relationships you have placed me a part of!

BTW: my own way of saying "be thankful in the little things" was my request for the church to take tie out of their lives this week, look up @ the clouds and tell God what they look like and thank Him for them!...here is something to get you started:

Playing around on the Simpson's movie Website...

2007-08-24T09:37:00.000-05:00

Here is Tiffany and I "Simpsonized"

No one can ever get my hair, but it will have to do. And even though I know I am fatter than that, Tiffany would not let me put the fat one up, because, "your sholders are still wider than the rest of your body." heh heh

Oh and guess what? I will be on vacation with my parents the week Halo 3 comes out and the first episode of Heroes (and that new show called Chuck that looks good) comes on!!!! I can not believe it! I will have to play the game for the first time while my friends are playing it the second and third...on line together with them. Oh well, Life goes on! Vacation should be fun still none-the-less, heh.

Love yall and as always..... KUTPs!!!

Don't mess with Texas!!!!

2007-08-23T21:38:00.000-05:00

In the last game the picture (12 years old) threw a 100 mile an hour pitch!

So I was reading another blog....

2007-08-23T14:30:00.000-05:00

My friend Alan had a Myers-Briggs kind of assessment on his blog, and so knowing that they change all the time in one's life, I decided to go ahead and see what I was now-a-days. here it is:

And here is the description...yall tell me if it is right or wrong....(sometimes I wonder if my wife should fill this out fro me instead of me, heh.)

Here is the website's description:

ENTP - The "Originator"

ENTPs are logical, innovative, curious and downright inventive. They see possibilities for improvement everywhere and possess the ability to understand complex concepts. ENTPs are introspective and carefree nonconformists. They often neglect the more common areas of life while pursuing new solutions. ENTPs can be good conversationalists and exciting company.

If you want to know uch more about this personality type just go here.

funny video from my friend Eric...

2007-08-23T12:35:00.000-05:00

I was reading Eric's blog today and if any of yall know me you know that I really love Revelation (the last book in the bible) and of course you know that I am not a freak when it comes to reading it, but it is just cool, well here is a video that I thought was cute enough for yall to see about one man's challenges with all the interpretations, thanks Eric!

Oh, and Happy Anniversary (yesterday) Tiffany! 9 years and counting! Woo hoo! Love you girl!

Interesting article...

2007-08-09T16:04:00.000-05:00

Here is an article/blog post by Aaron Flores:

The New Big. Small's In.

So what do yall think?more needs to be fleshed out, but it is worth thinking about deeply.

Hey everyone I have a new saying for yall to use.......

2007-08-07T22:36:00.000-05:00

Blend it up......I'd drink it!

While gone to Guatemala, me and the guys came up with a saying that I think has the potential to catch on and who knows maybe someday we will be hearing it in movies, etc... so here it is...simple easy and fun...

if you see something you like you just say, "I'd drink it". Or if your really adventurous, "Blend it up...I'd drink it"...................

So lets try it out......lets say you just saw a sexy picture of me, you would say, "Blend him up, I drink it"...ha ha ha ha......

It is much better if you say it like you saw it first on the Blue Collar Comedy Tour (similar to, "Here's your sign", or "Git eR Done"...say it with a little hick and it works. Well, OK thanks and let's see if it catches on.

Oh and you can also join the facebook group I created too, called yep you guessed it, "I'd drink it"

Life is so crazy...

2007-08-01T15:34:00.000-05:00

Well, go on a Mission Trip for 10 days and all hell breaks loose. Please pray for me, Th3 Waters, Tiffany's hip, and just life in general. It is nothing that can not be fixed or dealt with, but it is just overwhelming and frustrating.

Oh and here is a little something for yall to chew on:

"What is common to Christianity is more like an immune system than a one-size-fits-all set of beliefs and practices. like an immune system, Christian doctrine and practice grows over time and develops through both internal and external challenges. Without challenges an immune system does not grow, but remains weak and cannot adapt to new challenges. An immune system sometimes rejects and sometimes incorporates elements of those viruses and diseases it confronts.............
We ouirselves, and those born again, we live on the fault line of the now and not yet kingdom of God. this kingdom of God or new creation is not something that is completely different from what we know or an alternative universe but our creation transfigured."

--From the book "Remembering our Future: Explorations in Deep Church (this chapter is by Luke Bretherton, pages 50 and 51.

So what do you think about the quote? like it? Hate it?

trip is still going good......

2007-07-21T08:27:00.000-05:00

We went to the prison yesterday and then climbed a volcano! Both were amazing, both were very hard. Lov eyal and thank you for praying for all of us... mor eto come I promise! KUTPs!!!

It was very funny when I was asked 10-20 times if I want a joint to smoke, heh... God is good..... even in people that are a little misguided, heh. love yal!!!! KUTPs!!!!

Guatemala Update!

2007-07-20T07:32:00.000-05:00

Yesterday was probably some of the hardest yet. We went back to La Limonada to try to finish the was for the three teachers and also to speak encouragement to the teachers of the school, and then we did a few home visits and then last night is what killed me. We went and made sandwiches for the street children that live in and near the trash dump. I think there might have been two of the 30 that were not high on glue or rubbing alcohol. And there were all there and singing songs with this amazing guy who just went out there and loved on them with his wife/girlfriend. The glow sticks wet over amazingly! of course I am sure they really loved the trip of a glowing stick when they were high, heh heh..

please continue your prayers for us! We are going to spend most of the day with gang members in prisons today! Then we get to go walk on a volcano! If your reading this then I must say that we will never know how blessed we are. Never. B ut there is always hope in this world and life, and I pray that you can keep searching for it and find it! Because it is worth the journey and challenge of the chase! Love yall...soo much and please I beg of all of you, KUTPs!!! of us and for the world around you!

We made it here to Guatemala

2007-07-18T07:26:00.000-05:00

I will probly only be able to do this once or twice on the trip, but I love yall and beg of your prayers. We will be joining amazing things that God is already doing, but the places we will be going are not place that most Guatemalans or Missionarys go, becasue of the gang presence, corrupt government, and scared people, but we bring hope and the liht og Christ. More to come later! God bless yall, and pleae KUTPs!

Off to Guatemala......

2007-07-16T22:48:00.000-05:00

Well, I leave tomorrow morning @ 7:15 am for Guatemala...so please keep us all in your prayers/thoughts as well as the people God desires for us to minister to. Thank you all for making this trip a reality and possible! Now it is time for yall to all kick up the prayers a notch! Thanks and God bless yall!
I promise that there will be many stories to come after I get back!...I might try to blog while gone, but if not i will try to make up for it..and I can't wait to show yall the pictures! KUTPs!!!

Oh and if any of you have time..call Tiffany, I am sure she could use the company! Thanks!

so Harry Potter is actually good!

2007-07-11T11:56:00.000-05:00

Well, I finally got to go watch it last night (this morning) and Harry Potter met all of my expectations...and they were high! So good news! Go see the mvie, it is worth your money and the story is just getting better and better in the movies. I know they leftout a lot to fit it into a movie, but I thought it was good, but then again I have not read the books and the main reason I went was for my wife. (i figure if I force her to go to mid-night showings of lord of THe Rings, then I must go for Harry. There were only a few people that dressed up like the characters, not enough for me to go back tot he car and get my camera, but still fun none the less.

So go watch it, the acting is great, direction great, cinematography great, and of course the story is wonderful. tiffany loved it of course and it is amazing to see how many high school and college adged people were there. I think think it was a generation that starting reading them when the first book came out and that is how old they are now. Anyway...now I have to go see Transformers. Man I loved them
as a child and I am even wearing a tee-shirt of Soundwave right now (thanks to Tiffany), heh... anyway yall have a great day, God bless yall and KUTPs!!!

Harry Potter...is it good, I would not know...

2007-07-10T09:11:00.000-05:00

yeah available now...but not available to view yet!

So four of us jump into our car and travel up to the northern side of Cinci. to go watch a preview showing of Harry Potter! The ticket says: 12:10am 07/10/07....now to me that looks like the show is going to be LAST NIGHT!!!! Well, nope the theater is filled with either VERY worng computers or wrong employees! I went yesterday morning to go buy the tickets to the show (that I thought was last night) and the girl told me after I clarified several times that the movie was tonight (last night) and she said with another employee beside her that, "Yes it is tonight..it even says here on the ticket," she says! So I drove twice in one day all the way up to northern Cinci for very little excitement...so guess what...yep, we get to go back tonight to get to see the movie that Tiffany is dieing to watch! Ouch! Oh well, So, pray for us to be able to make it back up there without killing a theater employee!

this might need be my T-shirt the entire time while I am in Guatemala.....

2007-07-06T10:06:00.000-05:00

This is the shirt that will do the speaking for you when you travel... at least the necessities, heh. just point at the item you need (hotel, money exchange, hospital, food, etc...) and then the question mark and your off, heh. Here is the link to the site that has the shirt explained:

Sunday Night Live with Th3 Waters......

2007-07-02T09:25:00.000-05:00

Well, yesterday was awesome once again! During both Services Tiffany and I sang a duet ("The Valley Song" by Jars of Clay), and then Th3 Waters met up and served our King and The Kingdom by going downtown and feeding and getting to know the homeless and low income families of Covington. I took pictures and here are a few of them. Do me a favor and look into their eyes, there is something special in there...almost like caring for Jesus. It is such an amazing opportunity!

God bless yall and please KUTPs.....

For the entire set of photos go over to My Flickr. Thanks!

Guatemala MissionTrip Update....

2007-07-01T09:27:00.000-05:00

1st off.... Thank you soooo much to everyone who has helped make this Kingdom Event a reality! Your financial and prayer support is amazing, and beautiful to witness God's love flowing through you all!

Financial support update! We are have way there! Woo hoo! I have got a total of $755!!!! Woo hoo! Thank you all so much and if you would like to still give please fell free to give via the PayPal button over there on the right for a non-tax deductible gift...or you can send me a check, and if you do want to make sure that your gift is tax deductible please send me (Florence UMC, 8585 Old Toll Road, Florence, KY 41042) or to Vineyard Central (Vineyard Central, 1757 Mills Avenue, Norwood, OH 45212) a check made out to Vineyard Central and make sure no matter how you give to put on the check in the memo line that it is a gift for D.G. Hollums' mission trip to Guatemala. Thank you all so much!

So want to know what we will be ding? Here is a few thoughts from those that are getting everything ready:

"We are so excited that you will be making the journey to Guatemala in just a few short weeks! Sarah and I have been working hard to make sure this will be an unforgettable experience. In this email you will find a tentative schedule of the week, some ideas for packing, and a couple of questions we will need your response on immediately in order for us to make reservations.

First let me give you an idea of what you will be doing while you're here. Guatemala is a country ravaged by violence, and just got out of a civil war only a little over a decade ago. There are so many broken families, resulting in a ton of gangs, specifically the 18th Street Gang and the MS-13. Part of our work will be to observe the work of the prison chaplaincy that Joel Van Dyke organizes and find ways to support them. We will also spend a good portion of time in La Limonada, one of the poorest neighborhoods in Guatemala. An amazing woman named Tita Evertsz started a school in La Limonada after spending several years doing gang ministry and seeing so many gang members being killed. Her work now is to try to prevent new gang members, and La Limonada is one of the biggest places gangs recruit in Guatemala. We firmly believe that some of the greatest kingdom work going on in Guatemala is with Tita and Joel. We will likely tackle a work project in La Limonada as a way to support Tita, either in the school itself or possibly by blessing one of her teachers with a bathroom in their home. I will be able to give you more information about our project shortly."

And here is the tentative schedule:

July 17- Arrive in Guatemala at 12:35pm, drop off luggage and head to Antigua for dinner.
July 18- Begin project in La Limonada
July 19- Finish project in La Limonada, visit Amor Del Nino in late afternoon/evening.
July 20- Visit gang prison in morning, climb Pacaya Volcano with gang Chaplains in afternoon, dinner with Chaplains
July 21- Free Day which could include Antigua markets, another visit to La Limonada, or Mayan ruins.

(The rest is still being planned.)"

--------------------------------------
So, as yall can see we will have our hands full, but we are all getting very excited about the trip! please continue your prayers and support! Grace and peace to yall and don't forget: KUTPs!!!

I mentioned this in the past but...............

2007-06-27T16:33:00.000-05:00

I just wanted to know if any more thought has gone into the question I posed on an earlier post:

What effect (if any) has Postmodernism/Emerging/Emergent/Missional mindsets affected other cultures other than white America/UK individuals and communities? Has there been any discussion around the effects of a Emerging church discussion with-in the Hispanic/Latino or Black communities in the U.S.? Send some links if you know of any discussions, or if you would like to be a part of the discussion here.... Thanks and KUTPs!!!

Flickr has been updated.....

2007-06-26T22:40:00.000-05:00

Ok I just posted around 40 new pictures on My Flickr..... go check it out yall! and KUTPs!!!!

oh and here is a picture of Shane Claiborne when I went to go hear him quote his book, heh:

BTW: The Simple Way (the community that Shane is a part of), burned to the ground the other day... if you would like to know more about this amazing story or support them then follow this link.

Oh and this pic is for Alan Creech and all of those who love Thomas Merton who I know would appreciate it... I saw it during Annual conference while taking some street photography in downtown Louisville.

And yes... I felt the same way...I even took a few photos of the people I was falling in love with:

and (next too) lastly this one is for Sean who I know loves the fat that he works right next to the UMC cross and flames logo each day:

Oh and I went to my Travel clinic today for the last of the shots I need to go to Guatemala!!! but you have got to check this out... now this is the view when I turn around the corner looking for the place I am to receive my shots (5 total!):

Yes, that is right...The Poison Room is next door to my clinic, heh heh... that just cracked me up!

OK so go to My Flickr and read the funny commentary of the NASCAR race and Annual conference! (It might just brighten your day/night!) KUTPs!!!!

More Guatemala info coming soon!

Happy Father's Day!!!

2007-06-17T09:48:00.000-05:00

No that is not my baby in the picture...but it sure is a cute picture of my Dad!

I love you Daddy! Your the best in the world!

Annual conference was great and now more work...

2007-06-15T15:56:00.001-05:00

Well, annual conference went well, and we finally got all the elections of General and Jurisdictional Conferences taken care of. A friend of Th3 Waters Sean went to the conference and was amazed at how many people made up the UMC just in the KY conference, (there were probably around 1,000 people representing each church/charge in the KY UMC) It really is a great way to see the connection of the UMC in a very real way. And I must admit, that I loved getting to see and visiting with friends there. It is a great understanding of conferencing in it's real sense!

Well, I am back hard at work, and I am attending a NASCAR Busch series Race (first one ever) tomorrow, so I will be sure to take lots of pictures and put them on Flickr...so be looking for them.

one of the things I did this week was present a small discussion on what emergent/emerging/missional church and what is it's implications for the UMC and especially the UMC of KY.

While there I listened over and over again to older black men and women taking about how bad the need is for young black men for preachers...and how it is vitally important to have stong male role models as preachers in the black churches so they can become a role model for younger black men to grow up and be preachers....well, granted I have no ideas about the black culture in the US here, but I wonder how much postmodernity and emerging ideals are affecting the black young culture? (and for that matter, Hispanic, Latino, and Mexican cultures as well)

anyone know of anyone's work of the Emerging church with-in other cultures?

Now you can give donations to the Guatemala trip via Pay-Pal right on my blog.....

2007-06-09T09:28:00.000-05:00

Hey everyone:

My friend Eric taught me how to offer pay-pal donations for anyone over the internet for the trip. I have added the button over there on the right side of the page (just under the "cool stuff" area----->...but please note.....

If you choose to donate this way, it will not be Tax exempt (it will be the equivalent of just writing me a check ) And there will be a small % that pay-pal will take out of the total amount for offering this service.... but the amount is small something like $2 out of a total giving of $100. So just keep that in mind if you give.....

And again thank you all so much for your support in giving financially, and your prayers! None of this could happen with out you all! And I hope to take lots of pictures and bring back lots of stories of the Kingdom showers for everyone to see where their support went towards. God bless you and KUTPs!!!

I am going to Guatemala July 17th - 27th...& I need your help!

2007-06-08T17:01:00.000-05:00

Dear Friends, Family, and Lovers of Christ...and everyone else (heh),

I greet you and invite you to join me in bringing The Kingdom of God into the lives of others.

For some time now, I have been feeling a call to be the hands and feet of Christ in some form of foreign missions. One of the places that God has been teasing me with is Guatemala. I have never been to this country, but it just kept on coming up in conversations and in my thoughts for the past few months. Then, I went to a worship service with some friends and the topic arose that they were sending a group of guys and maybe a few gals to Guatemala to bring the Kingdom into fruition in the hearts and lives and communities in Guatemala! I knew that God wanted me to go!

I will be following the lead of God traveling to Guatemala July 17th through the 27th. While there, I will be serving alongside friends that serve Vineyard Central (a network of house churches in Cincinnati. And a cousin church to Th3 Waters) Currently, it looks like we will be serving Christ by helping gang prisoners, orphans, schools, and any other ministry that might need our assistance. The amount of money I am trying to raise to go on this mission that includes airfare/shots/food/lodging is $1,200, and any extra money raised will go towards any other missional needs in Guatemala!

But, please above all else, shower us and those God desires for us to minister to in prayer!

Two ways you can financially support this Kingdom event:

1. Directly to me: D.G. Hollums, 8585 Old Toll Road, Florence, KY 41042 (by mail/check)

OR

2. for a tax deduction: Vineyard Central, 1757 Mills Avenue, Norwood, OH 45212

Here are stories from Vineyard Central from previous mission trips

We will be staying with a friend Jeremiah and his family who live in Guatemala as missionaries.

Please go to his website to learn more about how he and his family are making a difference and a sample of what we may be doing.

Thank you again for all your help, prayers, thoughts, and financial support.

Thank you for your support! God bless yall...and now more than ever KUTPs!!

Wow I have been busy..and there is no end in sight.....

2007-06-08T14:48:00.000-05:00

OK, so thank you for everyone that has contacted me giving me a hard time about not blogging as of late. Well, I went to Sheila and Steven's wedding (for those who do know know her, she is my brother's widow) (is that still true now that you got married Sheila?...not sure oh well anyway) If yall would like to see what I have been up to, then just go to my Flickr page, there are pictures of the wedding, Jay's headstone, Jay's old church, and even one picture from the butterfly exhibit that I went to yesterday during lunch with Scott! Here is a photo re-cap:

OK... so there is a little bit and much more can be found on my Flickr page:

My Flickr

Oh, and I will be gone all next week @ the always fun, famous, sometimes boring, never duplicated, Annual Conference of the KY Conference of the UMC!!!!! Oh and BIG news and I need you help! What is it you ask? read the next post.......coming soon.

a comment....

2007-05-21T09:36:00.000-05:00

Here is a recent comment I left on the deep church blog:

It is interesting that i just heard a pod/net cast from Wired parish of an interview with Peter Rollins (his blog is here)(northern Ireland) author of the new book, “How (not) To Speak Of God”. And in the podcast he talks about being in Geneva last year at some square in the city. At one end of the square there is this great church…the church of St. Peter: a symbol of the institution, creeds, doctrine, and tradition of Christianity. But on the other side of the square was a statue of Jeremiah who was turning away from the church in shame and disgust……and when one stands in the center of the square, one must ask yourself, “whom do I run too?”

It is in this center that we find ourselves in as pilgrims in this current age.

This is why I find myself drawn to deep church. It is wiling to not just stand in the center, but passionate about living there, growing there, and encouraging the universal church to struggle in that place.

Any thoughts?

I love Halo 3!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! woo hoo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2007-05-20T09:48:00.000-05:00

Holy cow this game is fun...not the best graphics I have seen on the Xbox 360 (better than Halo 2, but not as good as Gears of War), but I promise you that the fun factor makes up for it... here are a few shots:

Click on the images to enlarge them. (if the link does not work then just go to Bungie.net for movies and pics.)

Oh and here is a wonderful case to support:

Shane Bernier has a wish! Please help him make it true!

great quote from a friend....

2007-05-19T00:38:00.000-05:00

Leave it to a kid to say something funny without meaning to. I recently brought my son along with me to help a friend do some moving, afterwards we stopped for a bite to eat. As we were eating my son notices a man with dreds a little past the shoulders a and a close trimmed beard and says “Look it’s Jesus, to save our lives on DVD and VHS.”

I love it! want to read more form my friend (Matt)...he has a good blog here.

A beautiful life remembered..... Melissa Mansfield:

2007-05-16T22:26:00.000-05:00

One of my best friends in Seminary (at least one of my friends that I look up to the most was and still is Aaron Mansfield. He is by far the one I turn to if I have a question about Leviticus, and he reminds me so much of my Good-Old-Boy West Texas kind-of-guy-great-friend. Well, his wife passed away yesterday...a beautiful woman inside and out. She was an inspiration to me, because he too like my brother Jay had cancer, and yet it looked like she was going to kick it's ass....but I think the chemo (just like my brother) got the best of her body. I just read the first of many posts by Aaron as he takes the long never ending journey of life living after one has crossed the thin space into "actual" reality and presence with Christ. I read it and of course I cried, because I hear the echos of jay in his grief, and passionate love of God and his wife. It is personal, and it is hard..but it is life, and life well living... And I wanted to share his heart with you in the hopes that you to will be blessed so that you in turn can take your blessing from the memories and life of Melissa and bless this world... for we are here only for but a short time. God bless you all...and God bless you Aaron.

(please pray for Aaron, and their two children little Joseph and John) God bless you and KUTPs!!!

Here is Aaron's letter:

Hey folks, I'll put this on the blog, I guess, but maybe some people don't get there, and this will be easy enough to froward. Please pass it on to anyone you think would want to know.

On Saturday, we saw the first signs of a problem. Didn’t know it was a problem. She had received an injection in the back of her arm that morning. Later that evening, it started bleeding and it took a while to get it stopped. Not a huge amount of blood, but a steady flow from a pin-prick hole. I thought, “Well, her platelets must be really low.”

Got it stopped, no more problem. She went to the clinic for her usual visit Sunday. We knew her liver numbers weren’t great. But when she got there, they were worse and with the bleeding, they admitted her.

Apparently, your liver has a huge role to play in clotting, and even if your platelets are good, if the liver is not helping, you’re in trouble. I stayed with her Sunday night. We watched The Big Lebowski on tv. We saw it for the first time Friday night, and were laughing that it was on again.

She was weak Monday morning. I went on to the church. Came back, got the boys settled, returned to the hospital about 7:30 or so. Connie (Sissy’s mom) told me she was not so good. And she wasn’t. But, I thought, she’ll get past it. She always did. I had seen her weaker.

She had liver problems right after the transplant. She did not look as bad as then. Her eyes were a little yellow, but not bad.

Through the night, she’d get up and I’d help her to the bathroom. She was still getting up, still strong enough to get up and walk. We didn’t talk much—I was tired, she was, too, and I had no clue how things were.

Her levels of different things were spiking up and they tried to get them down. Some of the clotting numbers were improving. Then at 5 a.m. or so, she started bleeding massively—her heart rate went sky high, blood pressure dropped. The crash team came in and after about 40 minutes got things under control, but Sissy was never really responsive much after that. You could call to her, and she’d look at you. I told her I loved her. Melissa’s parents came in as soon as her nurse told me she was doing bad, and they needed to be called. We had to make decisions—she might need to be on a ventilator.

We knew from long before she ever got sick she didn’t want that. And thru this all she told me that if it got to the point where she was fading, let her go. She stabilized. Dr. Geoff Herzig won’t give up, and he felt like if she could get her past this, the liver would regenerate and we’d be back where we were, a positive place where she was doing good in recovery. But by noon, it was clear that was not working. We could give her blood, blood products, clotting drugs and all it would do was work a little. The liver just didn’t have anything else in it. Her kidneys did not seem to be functioning.

So I had to say things I never thought I would. I broke my own heart and said, let’s let her go.

I left about an hour after that to go get the boys. To tell them something. To take them to be with my parents and brother who had come in. I knew that Sissy might not last until I got back. But I also knew she would want the boys taken care of. I knew her love for them is what would send me. My goodness, what love she gave to us, that even in the most desperate moment in my life, when all I wanted to do was stay with her, to watch her, to touch her, to speak to her, I knew I could leave because she loved those boys. And there has never been anything left unsaid between us. There was nothing more to say to her that she had not know long before she ever got sick.

My brother drove me to the house. Got clothes for the boys, got them from school. I told them that Mommy was really sick, that her liver was not working, and when that happens, people don’t live. John fell into me and Joseph jumped around like he head not heard and then snuggled with Nathan. As I had been told, they would hear it and then move on, trying to deny it. We sat around loving on them, then took them to Dairy Queen. Dropped them off at the hotel with my parents.

The boys were so glad to see them. It was a great distraction, a great aid for them to be with family, where the grief would not be so open and raw all the time.

My dad drove me to the hospital. When I came onto the unit, one of the nurses, Shellie, came and got me and rushed me back. I stepped into the door way and Sissy stopped breathing. Y’all, she waited for me to come back. She knew I had that darn squeaky left shoe. Could hear it coming down whatever hall I walked. I prayed over her. And then there was so much crying. My dad held me like he has never had to in probably 30 years. “I wish I didn’t love her so much.” He said, “no greater love…” a reference to his favorite verse. Jesus laid down his life that we might live.

But now let me tell you about what I am calling “Melissa’s Holy Week.”

I think she knew something was up. I am not sure she knew she would die. But I think she knew that she might have something going on she would not recover from. So it was time to hang out. Monday, she had the best day ever, as she said. We left the clinic, ate at Skyline, got the boys. She did not want to go home and sit or sleep. So we all went back to town, dropped off her handicapped parking permit, went and got some periwinkles. We came back and planted them, me and the boys, while she sat in the garage and watched. We had a picnic outside.

Maybe that day she really did feel good. She wanted to hang out with us. Periwinkles—a chemo drug Melissa took is made from African perwinkles. They are my favorite annual flower, I guess. And now, like all things, they are freighted with memory.

Tuesday, she hung out with her mom. Wednesday I think, she drove around with her dad, more energy, doing more things. I think she knew she had to soak up some time.

Friday was the last good day. I took her home from the clinic, we got the boys, planted what was left to plant while she sat in the garage.

There was nothing but patience with the boys, where I was a little impatient. Then she wanted to watch the boys ride their bikes at the school down the road, something she had not done yet. She was really quiet as she watched them, and me. I should have known.

We had another picnic. She told me, “I am glad you like to be outside.” She knows this is important to the boys. I think she was telling me, as she had in a million other ways, even literally, “You’re a good Daddy, and thank you.” Dummy me, I said, “When you get better, maybe we can adopt some kids,” because all we wanted was a lot of kids.

Connie bought her some new clothes, and we see now that Melissa looked at her with a look that said, “Why buy these now?”

What a good week it was. She spent her time with us. She didn’t say how she was feeling. A mother and a wife to the end—her love for us spent time with us. She took care of us to the end.

I married Melissa because: we were good friends; she was the most beautiful woman; she was funny; she accepted me for who I was; when we held each other, all was right in the world; I knew she would be a good mother; she loved Jesus; I knew she would stand beside me.

Melissa and I were submitted to each other before we knew of the biblical doctrine of submission, that each would seek the other’s good before his/her own.

She was never more beautiful than when she had her babies. She loved them more than anyone could. They know it, and it’s our task that they remember it. That’s what she told her mom when she came out of the hospital in June after the transplant. “If I don’t make it through this, you have to tell them how much I loved them, how hard I fought for them.” Do this in remembrance of me.

I am as heartbroken and beat down as I have ever been. But I have peace. I can’t explain this power of Jesus. It’s not only that I know her faith, her trust, and how it grew these two years. She is a model of grace under pressure, of the power of faith in Christ in times when it’s easiest to give up, to ask where is this God everyone keeps talking about. My peace also comes from knowing that if her love sustains me now, to the point I could go to the boys, not knowing if she would die before I returned, how much will Christ’s love sustain us?

Y’all, I am beat down. Crushed. There are no words for my grief. But there are no words for my peace. He lives. She lives in Him. John and Joe have kept saying that they know she is with Jesus and one day they will see her again. “Jesus has better food even than Mammaw.”

But Melissa might beg to differ.

During the day, I read her favorite Scriptures to her. Revelation 5, esp 5:8. Matthew 11:28-30. Psalm 62. Then some others. John 12, the seed that dies to produce fruit. 1 Corinthians 15 on the resurrection and the resurrection body. Philippians 1, because she says she wins either way—she got that from Ann Orr, when Ann was dying of cancer.

Remember us, especially my boys. It’s a long road. One that will need light on the path. I’ll need wisdom and discernment to discover how I live now, how I continue in my calling. There was a time in the desperate days before and right after transplant when I said, “Maybe I should quit and take a regular job where the time demands are not as great or at least not as demanding in times when you could spend it wit you or the boys?” Or when we talked about what might happen if she

died: “Do I quit for a while, find a regular job, something where I can take care of the boys in the best way?” She had a quick answer, “You wouldn’t be happy doing that.” She always supported me in everything.

Always will.

Let me tell you one of those stories you hear, a strange moment. I was coming back from my parents’ hotel, going back to Waddy to be with my in-laws, make arrangements, etc. I turned on our (the four of us) favorite tape, Jars of Clay’s Redemption Songs. I like, “God Will Lift Up Your Head.” John likes “On Jordan’s Stormy Banks I Stand.” Joe’s favorite is “It is Well With My Soul.” Sissy’s favorite is “I’ll Fly Away.” I turned it on in the car. I said, “Sissy, I am playing your song.” Then I did what I too often do: start talking too much, analyzing, thinking out loud. Do they hear what’s going on down here?

Do they care up in heaven about this miserable place? I was wondering, “What would Aquinas or Chrysostom say?” Then I heard clear as day, “Be quiet and let me listen!” How many times has she said that? I’m a ranter and raver, a think-out-louder, and so many times she would just ask me to be quiet for a spell. Or, one night when she could not sleep she said, “Tell me about Pol Pot” (because I know just about everything there is to know about Pol Pot…) and she went out.

I looked over in the passenger seat, a seat she sat in all the time, we would hold hands all the time. And it was empty. But my heart is full of love for her and her love for me. Folks, it’s like I get a clearer picture of the gospel: the disciples (loved ones) don’t quite get it, that the end is coming. Jesus spends some real time with them, even tho He always had anyway. Some last words, some powerful love. He dies. Then we go about keeping the memory alive. Keeping the love and the power of the love alive.

One day, things will recede. I won’t be constantly heartbroken. The devotion to her memory will not be as fierce. But it will be there, I pray, a constant source of strength. She loved me, the boys, her family, like no one else. I floated around constantly, did whatever, had confidence in all things because I knew simply that at the end of the day, no matter what, I could go home to love.

I suppose I will say a lot more. It’s how I process things, I guess.

And more: I want you to know her.

You can read Aaron's blog here: www.p-over-g.blogspot.com

Here are the arrangements if you live near Lexington, KY:

Visitation will be at Shannon Funeral Home in Shelbyville, Friday from 3-9.

Funeral Service will be Saturday at First United Methodist in Lexington, Ky at 1 p.m.

Burial will follow in Bagdad, KY.

Happy Mother's Day!!!

2007-05-13T17:05:00.000-05:00

Well, Tiffany and I made it though this special day again.... it is usually very hard for us, because we want Babies so bad, and yet no luck in the 7 years of trying, but every now and then God just gives you a blessing and lets you know that even though life might not look like or feel like the way you desire it to be, he still loves you like a mother and lets you know everything is OK, and The Kingdom is in working order. Thank you God, and we love you too, Happy Mother's Day everyone!

The front door of our church has fake flower wreaths hung on them with suction cups. And the main office door one bird decided to build her nest on the top of that wreath, no matter how many times a day people open and close the door. Well, today we noticed at least three baby birds in that nest all trying to sty warm and begging for food, I had to try to get a blind picture of it. So this was the best shot I got... Happy Mother's Day!

BTW: there are several pictures I have posted as of late...go check them out @ D.G.'s Flickr photos.

What is that you did not know that I put up new photos? Well, get on my Jaiku lifefeed and find out what is going on in my life.

"Church" verses/and/or/both/ "Kingdom"

2007-05-12T09:49:00.000-05:00

Well, Ken a very good friend (and fellow pastor) of mine left a comment to the last blog post just talking about the emphasis of the "emerging" church (by the way: I really desire to focus on "emerging" and not "emergent"...there is a difference and it sounds more and more to me that even the "emergent" people and using the term "emerging" because of some of the negative connotations of "emergent"...that is a whole other post...but anyway.. I wanted to put Ken's comment to the last post up and since my response was getting too long, I decided to make it another blog post here instead...so here goes:

this is Ken's comment to the last post (below):

"D.G., not having read the book, my comments are more about the whole "emergent" movement and are probably a bit out of context with your post -- BUT... With regards to point #1, I think that is my biggest issue with some of the writers/leaders of the emergent movement. Regardless of how the established Church (or denominations) have or still do miss the point -- the Church was God's idea. I don't think that just means some loose confederacy of people who make vaguely the same confession about Jesus Christ and then just stop worrying about the rest of orthodox belief. I believe that the organized Church is a vehicle of Christian community, of orthodox truth rooted in Scripture and Christian conversation, of commissioning and equipping people's calls to ministry, and of engaging the world in corporate mission and witness. I also believe that right belief is critical to right action!

I've been reading a book called "Evangelicals on the Canterbury Trail" by Robert Webber and another called "Working the Angles..." by Peterson. I think both of those books offer a healthy counterbalance to the McManus, Easum, McClaren, Sweet etc. crowd. ~Ken"

(I added some links to the books you suggested) (oh and here is another post talking about the Peterson book from a friend of mine Todd)
And here is my response:

Awesome Ken! Now I will have to add two more books to the shelf that I will never get to read, heh. But I see your point and that is kind of what this book (and you will find out in the next posts) is dealing with,and says that we need to stop thinking about emerging church, and see that the emerging church is just another expression of a larger deep church. Thanks for reading and please keep up the discussion..... but here is my thoughts to your point....

I do not think that "emerging" movement is doing away with the church....it is just putting it's focus on Kingdom...and not church...they realize that the church is a part of the Kingdom, but not vice versa. And when you realize that the kingdom should be the main focus, then you realize that the church is not the end, but it is a means with-in the Kingdom to be (all the things you listed: "a vehicle of Christian community, of orthodox truth rooted in Scripture and Christian conversation, of commissioning and equipping people's calls to ministry, and of engaging the world in corporate mission and witness"

And when Kingdom language is used it does promote a larger sense of the place of the church in the kingdom..and in my mind promotes more of an understanding of living missional in this world.

As a (loose) quote from Reggie McNeal says, "Christ did not say that he came to bring church and to bring it in abundance, he said 'life'...people do not wake up in the world and think to themselves, "man I need more church"', ha ha ha... Christ came to bring life in the world...and the church is not the end result of being in the kingdom, it is a life lived in relationship with allowing Christ to be your king. Now sure we all need support, equipping, encouraging, being help to our full potential, and that is the place and role of the church, but the church is in existence to take us to the next "place/level" in the Kingdom. The church is not the desired location for the end of the journey, it is just the airport hub (image from Reggie again) to help us get from here(our current faith/depth of relationship with Christ) to there (a deeper relationship with Christ that is missional at the very core of our being....i.e. Wesley would call it, entire sanctification)

But with all of that said, I do think that we are all saying the same thing, but putting the emphasis on a different terminology.

ALSO, Ken seriously keep reading the posts I put up from this book,because they are proposing that we should be seeing much larger in these regards (i.e. I read Kingdom mindedness) and think of the church in a much larger context, and they call it "deep church" (including all of church history, and high church, and house churches)...so anyway... anyone else want to add to the conversation?

Hey you! Jump on in! The friendship is warm and the discussion deep, welcome to growth! KUTPs!!!

emering church/deep church...

2007-05-09T07:51:00.000-05:00

Yes, it is one of those rare occasions that I actually talk a little bit about my passions in my profession here on my blog. But I have been reading a book as of late, and I would love some more thoughts and insights with those of you who actually read this blog and are a colleague or one who cares about the Kingdom, church, Christianity, people, world, etc.... so here goes..

I was reading Jason Clark's blog I first ran into Jason when Markus and I went to the Off The Map conference in Seattle. He is a great man, passionate and authentic and truly echoes with my soul, when it comes to "deep church". The blog post I read was this one...and so of course I decided to order, Remembering our Future: Explorations in Deep Church (a UK only book and pay an arm and a leg in shipping but it is very worth it.

And so of course, I read the same chapter Jason was talking about that he read, "Beyond the Emerging Church?" by Luke Bretherton.

and here are some of my thoughts (and BTW, no I am no where near finishing this book, and like good books I need to really digest them and re=read them if necessary, so don't just now ask to borrow it, heh)

Bretherton uses the 9 core emphases with in the emerging church found in Gibbs and Bolger's book, Emerging Churches: Creating Christian Community in postmodern Cultures.

and they are:
1. Emphasis on Kingdom of God as apposed to "church/denomination"...(including emphasis on right practice over right belief)
2.engagement with contemporary 'secular' culture at all levels so that it is reflected in and transformed through worship.
3. Emphasising personal relationship and community over and above institutions, structure and bureaucratic forms of organization.

subsidiary emphases:

4. welcoming the stranger primarily in the form of humble openness to other faiths and the culture at large.
5. holistic service to the wider society, with an emphasis on embodied action as a gift as distinct form a consumer service or evangelistic technique.
6. participating in and taking responsibility for worship as producers rather than passive consumers
7. emphasis on art and creativity as a central part of Christian witness
8. encouraging all-member ministry and collective or team forms of leadership
9. emphasis on spiritual disciplines and liturgical practices both individually and in community.

OK wow... that was long...and maybe some of yo might like to stop there and comment...and fell free to do that because I am tired of typing...and this blog post is too long as it is right now...

OK, so do you personally see these things in your Christian community? If not do you think that it is possible to make these changes if you think they are good ones? how would it happen? do you agree or disagree with Gibbs and Bolger's 9 key emphasis of emerging churches? My critique of the rest of the article will follow...thanks for reading?

Well, I have officially joined Jaiku.com....Welcome to the life feed of D.G. Hollums....

2007-05-07T11:22:00.000-05:00

Well, if you know me then you know that I will jump on internet application band wagons faster than you can spit...and it has happened again. lets run down the history of web apps I am a part of:

Blogger
Flickr
Myspace
Facebook
Virb
Frappr
del.icio.us
Youtube
Digg
and now.....

Jaiku!

Jaiku is basically the sum of a lot of my web stuff. It will show you every time this blog is updated, my Flickr is updated, Th3 Harbor (Th3 Waters blog) is updated, my del.icio.us tags are updated.....so....

I beg of you all to stop coming only to my blog....yeah I know sounds weird..but on Jaiku you will see when I update my blog, as well as my links, photos, videos, etc... so please change the main link for your connection to D.G. Hollums...to now be this web address:

book mark it now:

http://argon52.jaiku.com/

Man I love this ad!!!....

2007-05-03T21:43:00.001-05:00

This one is for you Court...and yes I agree it is one of the best ads I have ever seen:

The Purple People Bridge shoot....

2007-05-01T22:49:00.000-05:00

Here are a few photos from my shoot today while Benjie (the only one that showed) and I walked across and back. Every Tuesday (around 3:30 @ The Newport Levee) I meet with a group of local pastors (yes..you are welcome to come...yes...you!) I had fun...and it was the first time since moving to the Cincy area that I got to go on it. (also, below are a few photos of Halo/Sushi, and Tiffany (woo woo!)

More from the shoot and be seen here:
D.G.'s Flickr

And here are the two I told you about above:

=======================
Can yall tell that I am enjoying my camera? heh heh... Man I love it..and it is really fun remembering all of my college stuff.... I need to go find my college photos and scan mn to show off my mad skills when I was young and not fat, heh..... anyway... yal take care, God bless, and KUTPs!!!

Free 411....booyeah! Take that money grubbing telephone companies....

2007-04-29T09:31:00.000-05:00

Here it is Google's free 411....just dial one 800 #: 1-800-GOOG-411 (1-800-466-4411) number and you get to use 411....and it even includes dialing the number for you! It is my new address book number in my phone book...right alongside Jott.com!! Woo hoo!

And if you have not signed up for Jott.com...then seriously do that NOW!!! you have no choice...do it! KUTPs!!!

More pictures...Help Build Hope.....

2007-04-28T17:21:00.000-05:00

Just a few pics from today...if you would like to know more about what we did today go to Th3 Waters' blog Th3 Harbor.

for all the rest of my photos just go to my Flickr page....and while you are there just leave a comment of two on a picture. God bless and KUTPs!!!

EmergingUMC: A Gathering...update....

2007-04-23T23:38:00.000-05:00

Here is the latest from the EmeringUMC blog. (go there for the original post)

thursday october 4

preconference option: a gathering with the nashville Emergent cohort
11:30- 1 @ the flying saucer

registration 3:30-5:30 p.m. at scarritt-bennett

dinner and conversation at scarritt-bennett 5:30-6:30 pm

evening prayer and plenary: 7 p.m.
“streams in the emerging landscape and your ministries:
a conversation and cohortation”

missiology
worship
spiritual formation
theology

facilitated by taylor burton-edwards

night prayer: 9:30

friday, october 5
breakfast at scarritt-bennett 7:30 am

morning prayer: 8:30

emerging ministries 1 9:00-10:00
organic gatherings in greater cincinnati dg hollums & gary gibson
indigenous mission in an urban arts community jim walker
emerging in a traditional congregation in west virginia melissa rudolph
an emerging regional young adult network carl thomas gladstone

break 10-10:15

a key group conversation 10:15-11:30
women and emerging/Emergent elizabeth buxton

noon prayer and lunch options 11:30
love feast hosted by dg hollums

emerging ministries 1:00-2:00
organic groups in florence ky dg hollums & gary gibson
indigenous mission in an urban arts community jim walker
an emerging regional young adult network carl thomas gladstone
emerging in a traditional congregation in west virginia melissa rudolph

break 2-2:15

a panel conversation: emerging and the institutional church 2:30-3:45
emerging and the um connection susan cox-johnson
pcusa: an ic (formerly) supporting a movement chip andrus
emergingumc and gbod: confessions and hopes taylor burton-edwards

mid-afternoon eucharist 3:45-4:30

emerging ministries 4:30-5:30
organic groups in florence ky dg hollums & gary gibson
indigenous mission in an urban arts community jim walker
an emerging regional young adult network carl thomas gladstone
emerging in an institutional church chip andrus

dinner and evening with your cohorts
or bible fight club hosted by jim walker

night prayer (for those who are back) 10 p.m.

saturday, october 6
breakfast at scarritt-bennett 7:30
morning prayer 8:30

spiritual formation options 9:00-10:00
lectio divina
confession
labyrinth
healing
intercessory prayer
study

a panel conversation: theology and missiology 10:00-11:00
an emerging methodist billy watson
emerging and arminianism jay vorhees
attractionional, extractional,
and missional/incarnational taylor burton-edwards

cohort time and covenant affirmation 11:00

mid-day prayer and sending forth 11:30

so who are these people and why should i care?

dg hollums is the cultural architect for th3waters, a network of organic gatherings based in florence, ky(pastored by Gary Gibson). A recent missional concern is the need to redeploy leadership to make way for more organic gatherings to start multiplying. You can learn more on his blog/website at http://www.th3waters.com

jim walker is a united methodist pastor on pastoral leadership team at hot metal bridge faith community in pittsburgh, pa. One serious missional concern of this community is that it may be growing too fast. See their website at http://www.hotmetalbridge.com.

melissa rudolph is the united Methodist pastor of Leetown UMC, a “traditional” UMC in rural West Virginia that is re-engaging in indigenous ministry in its community. The congregation is online at http://leetnmeth.org

carl thomas gladstone is a united methodist deacon, leader of an emerging young adult ministry at birmingham first umc (detroit area), composer and publisher of new settings of charles wesley hymns, and coordinator of what’s becoming a region-wide network of young adult ministries in the greater detroit area. You can see these ministries online at http://www.emergedetroit.org and http://www.carlthomasgladstone.com.

elizabeth buxton is a united methodist pastor in virginia (farmville district) and has been the leader of the women’s gathering in Emergent

chip andrus was on staff with the office of theology and worship, presbyterian church usa, with a particular focus on nurturing emerging missional churches in the denomination. he is now pastor of first presbyterian church, harrison arkansas.

susan cox-johnson is a united Methodist district superintendent in the missouri annual conference, and an advocate and proponent for emerging missional churches in the um connectional system. her blog is here.

billy watson is associate pastor at st. peter’s umc in katy, texas. the church website is http://www.stpeterskaty.org.

jay vorhees is a united methodist pastor in antioch, tennessee, an active participant in Emergent, and keeper of the methoblog.

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I really hope that as many of you can make it, it really should be a great discussion and a needed one especially in the UMC...but for all of the church as a whole. Thanks, take care and God bless! KUTPs!!!

We have couch feet.....

2007-04-20T08:58:00.000-05:00

Well, since we moved in we have been trying to open every box in the garage to find the feet to our couch! Well, yesterday i was trying to rest (because I have been feeling a litte under the weather) ( and yes instead of resting I was out in the garage opening boxes searching through all kinds of stuff (mostly Tiffany's pictures/cards/sewing/cross stitch/knitting/etc....) but anyway, there was one last box that I had not opened, and Tiffany shows up...opens it up and sure enough there they are. So, needless to say our garage is getting better. We need to have a garage sell soon, and once we do, then we should have enough room to park both cars in the garage...I think we could get one in right now...if i could move everything around....but oh well, I just wanted to give everyone an update. And I might try to take a few more pictures of the house now that we have got a few rooms looking the way we like. Yall take care and it is now off to a conference.

Newest member of Th3 Waters....

2007-04-17T09:32:00.000-05:00

Hey everyone John and Sylvia Choi had their new baby last night Sophia!!!!

Here is a sample of Sophia:

Tiffany: "That is one of the cutest babies I have ever seen!"

To check out more pictures and send your love and prayers to them....then go check out John's Flickr page and leave a few comments for them.

Prayer for the shootings....

2007-04-17T09:28:00.000-05:00

Prayers In The Face of a Rampage Shooting
by Taylor Burton-Edwards

Rutree.com......is now live!!!

2007-04-14T18:46:00.000-05:00

Well, I got a beautiful gift today...and it is my Dad's birthday! heh... but anyway... Sheila my brother's widow just finished the final touches of a website that she created to honor the life of my brother Jay. So, do yourself a favor and read some of the funny stories and see the pictures of a life well lived.

Rutree.com

Thank yall for your love and support and please know that I pray for anyone who reads this blog everyday... so seriously you are blessed (to be a blessing to others) KUTPs!!!

Photos of the weather from Wednesday.....

2007-04-14T13:13:00.000-05:00

yep, more mammatus clouds

a little closer pic.

another view

less sunset colors

double rainbow that same evening

lastly the sunset after the rain

It was amazing...and I wish yall could have been there...feel free to click the pictures for larger versions. God bless and KUTPs!!!!

seriously... watch the movie Children of Men.....

2007-04-12T22:48:00.000-05:00

Children of Men!!!

it is rated R, with lots of cussing and a very small amount of non-sexual nudity...but please do not let that stop you...wow what an amazing movie.... (follow the link about for a trailer on the official site)

Symbolism is king in this movie (not to mention AWESOME sound) ..and it is much more artsy fartsy than I am sure that most of you could appreciate..but I must say there are AMAZING scenes in this movie..and deep theology/psychology/philosophy and I loved it!!! Even with all of Tiffany's questions during the movie...and that is saying a lot... seriously Markus if you watch this movie then you must email me and let me know your thoughts. Man I wish I would have waited for the HD-DVD of this movie to come in Netflix...but Tiffany was sick today and we went to Blockbuster, heh...

Well, love yall and I have more pictures of the awesome weather we have been having around here up soon they are already at my Flickr photos, but I will try to remember to put a few on the blog as well, well take care and God bless yall! KUTPs!!!!

what an amazing story!!!!

2007-04-12T10:26:00.000-05:00

The Washington post decided to put the greatest violinist in the world in the subway of Washington D.C. and see what would happen and how much he could make...the article is fascinating...and it makes me wonder if Jesus puts on a baseball cap all the time and joins us back here in this earth...and we just miss the beauty of our creator's presence everyday... read the article and be challenged and look for opportunities to bless other people each day!

here is some scripture to read before the article to keep in mind as you read it:

Matthew 25:31-46
31"When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. 32All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.

34"Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.'

37"Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?'

40"The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'

41"Then he will say to those on his left, 'Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.'

44"They also will answer, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?'

45"He will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.'

46"Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life."

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And now for the article!!!:

Peals Before Breakfast by Gene Weingarten

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KUTPs!!!!!

So I was surfing around the net and.....

2007-04-11T15:42:00.000-05:00

Well I was enjoying the blog of my good friend Markus: StreachyChurch and saw this video called Mr. Diety...and here it is just incase you want to watch it:

(Disclaimer: This theology is WAY OFF, but man this really is funny. The old guy is God (the Father) the young guy is Jesus, and Larry is Holy Spirit)

So, then I found this video that some one shot @ Lake Louise where Tiffany and I went on our honeymoon...and man this made me miss being able to be with my wife for longer than just a date night here and there:

Anyway and it got me thinking.... I just got off the phone with another friend Aaron (disclaimer: he has not updated in a long time), and I was talking about the importance of Sabbath (and we talked about this in staff today too @ Florence UMC) and I realized that Tiffany and I have not been on vacation since we graduated from Seminary. All the vacation time that we build up during the year we take during Christmas and New year to spend with our families. and while i love that time...it really is not necessarily a true vacation. And to be honest, planting a church and being a part of a traditional church at the same time is a very tiring and time consuming thing. I really think that I need a vacation. But even if we did carve out a time for a vacation, we would not have any money to take one. It is just frustrating and honestly we do not see any sabbath or vacation time in the future. Plus moving and Tiffany starting up a new job is not helping anything either. but i am really sensing that I and we need some good marriage vacation time. We have talked about in the past going to Walt Disney World before we adopt/have kids and then get to save up and go back with kids....and we have also kicked around the idea of going with other couples on vacation together...kind of like a Sr. trip with adult married friends...and how much fun that would be....but then all of our dreams are dashed against jagged rocks when we look at our lives, and lack of funds.... anyway...just talking out loud here... and if you feel the same way a little bit..... I would say just go for it... really be intentional and start saving up now and set a desired date to go and work for it.... you deserve it....and Lord knows I will try to join you and take some of my own advice. love yall and God bless!!! KUTPs!!!!

Our people die well.....

2007-04-10T13:45:00.000-05:00

The following is an email I got form a UM pastor in the KY conference that just found out that she is dieing. She sent it to the pastors of the Covington district in the KY Conference.... and all I could remember is Wesley's quote when he said,

"our people die well"

Here is the email:

"On Apr 9, 2007:

Well, it’s official. I’ve turned the corner from chronically ill to terminally ill. My chronic kidney disease is now diagnosed as renal failure and I have been given a life-expectancy prognosis of less than six months.

I’m 52 years old and I’m dying. Without the assurance of God’s grace and salvation, this news would be devastating. However, if I really believe what I say I believe about God and heaven and eternal life, this is sad, but not scary.

My friends and family weren’t prepared to hear the “H” word – Hospice – but my body has been preparing me for the news for some time now. One of my doctors asked me why I am so brave. I’m not brave, but I am weary and always in pain and ready to go Home. And – thankfully – I have a pretty good idea of what Home will be like.

I’ve officiated at dozens of funerals and at every one I have said something like this: “At 6:03 Sunday morning George became more alive than any of us sitting here today, because he walked out of this life and right into the heart of God.” That had better be true.

Abandoned to His grace and anchored in His love,
The Reverend (name removed)"

I do not know this pastors as well as I would like, but she is in inspiration! Thank you for your honor, sacrifice, joy, and passion in death. You show that relationship with God is the first and foremost when it comes to eternal life, and your helping others to see that it can happen now and in the future.

He is RISEN!!! KUTPs!!!!

He is risen!!!!!

2007-04-08T07:18:00.000-05:00

He is Risen indeed!!!!

Dream: the sorrowful battle cry.....

2007-04-06T08:17:00.000-05:00

On Monday of this Holy week I had a really deep and profound dream. I won't go into the entire dream...mostly because I can not remember it, but the one part I do remember felt like it was real. (you know the kind...when you wake up you just knew that it was real and wonder how you got into bed...instead of wondering how you go in the dream)

Well, I remember that I walked up into a war torn town square (it felt like Europe but nothing made it seem like a specific town...maybe Rome or somewhere in Italy?) I walked up to a single man standing in the center of a gathered group of people. I noticed that the people were not average people. They were all mentally handicapped or homeless. I thought it weird, but i felt like I was destined to see the event take place. The Man in the center moved like what I would think an Angel would move...just so smooth and yet purposeful. Each movement was almost like a dance of pure grace.

I noticed that he had a small mentally challenged girl that was wobbly holding a glass...almost drunk like. And the man was pouring wine or grape juice into the cup and as she swayed and bobbed he perfectly joined her in her movements pouring the wine/grape juice into the cup. Not a drop was spilt on the ground, it was almost like he joined her in her debilitating movements and showed us all that he could dance with her. But this was not a dance in the sense that most of us think of dancing, it was so close to liturgy that no one could tell the difference. And all of us were in awe of the beauty that was unfolding before us.

After he finished pouring the wine (funny I don't remember him having a container to pour from) he perfectly matched the girls movements to take the glass from her. And in that movement there were two drops that just barely dropped over the rim of the glass, and everyone watching (in amazement) gasped at the thought of this blood colored wine dropping on the floor, not because the man would not be able to finished this feat with out spilling any, but because this wine was precious...beautiful....sacred.

Then the man with his thumb and middle finger saved both tears of wine from going any further down the glass and brought them back home to the inside the glass. Then out of nowhere it started to rain blood and my view point changed to following two drops of the blood falling from he sky and as they danced down spinning through the sky they feel right above the man and he proceeded to move the glass so as to catch the two drops with the wine glass. And then everything went into slow motion. The two drops of blood hit the wine and changed the entire glass to blood. nothing seemed gross or disgusting, but beautiful. And immediately the homeless man I was standing behind yelled out, "JESUS!!!!!". And in that one moment everyone knew no matter their mental abilities, that we were witnessing Jesus. It all just became clear. And the cry from the homeless man, was one of sheer pain and passion.

It was a sorrowful battle cry.

We knew that the man was filled with sadness, but at the same time he was invigorated by the battle the man was having with death. Jesus immediately fell to the ground spilling the blood filled wine glass all over the ground and everyone joined the homeless man, including me with lifting our hands to the heavens. Then the body of Jesus started to float up to the heavens, and as his body was coming back to life and floating to the heavens, I awake.

I woke up with my face towards the ceiling and my arms lifted with tears in my eyes. I worshiped, and desired so much to go back to the reality of my dream.

May you all live in the ultimate reality of Christ this Holy week! Worship with your life! Worship with your life! And join the homeless, widows, orphans, socially unaccepted and live a sorrowful battle cry. Live with the same passion that he lived for us!

Amen! Glory to God!

It is snowing right now!!!

2007-04-04T20:41:00.000-05:00

Woo hoo! it is snowing right now...as I type...very cool for this West Texas boy! love yall KUTPs!!!

A few photos from the past few days....

2007-04-04T15:59:00.000-05:00

Well, life is moving along nicely. We have unpacked the majority of boxes that were already in the house when we made the first move and now we just need to start tackling the boxes that are taken up our garage space! Right now we can not park either car in it and it is killing me...I am not one of those people that use their garage fr storage...it is a 2 car garage and I want to use it for that purpose. So, still we have lots of work ahead, but it is al happening and going well.

I mowed the lawn yesterday before the rain and cold temps hit, and I realized that was the first time I mowed a lawn since High School. (the past few years we were in school, living in Santa Fe (where there is no grass), or living in the parsonage in Cold Spring where the church paid for someone to come and mow it for us...and so we had to go buy a lawn mower and I mowed yesterday.

(man it really hurts when you have to buy something that you know you need, but will always hate using it) ha ha ha ha.....

Well, OK here are the pictures I promised:

Here was the flowers in front of Florence UMC last Sunday... man thsis was amazing! I think that it might die now with the next 5-6 days dropping below freezing, but it sure was nice to look at while it lasted!

I love st. E.'s and I do not think that I could take enough pictures of the building... I really love it there...so here is a few straight up looking at it's highest dome window.

(if anyone is interested please join us @ the Easter Vigil to be held there this Saturday evening from 9:00pm til 12:00 midnight...for more info go to Th3 Harbor.

i saw this car in the parking lot of Joseph-Beth Booksellers, and man I had to take a picture of it...what a repair job!! nice tape work going on there...I just had to show of someone's skills at car repair. (this is almost as god as Tiffany's Dad fixing the paint job of his car with a Sharpie marker.

And ow for the highlight of the week (so far)
For anyone that does not know this about me....I LOVE the weather!!! i serisouly considered being a meteorologist growing up along with a chef, Dr., and Christian Music marketing man).... but the weather has always thrilled me...mostly because growing up in West TX tornadoes are a fact of live each year right around this time of year...and man, if I was not chasing them, I was wanting to... and that is how I got my love of weather... well, one day while looking at a book about clouds, I saw an amazing cloud formation that I thought was just too cool. They were called Mammatus Clouds! (to learn more about them just follow that link) And I saw something that looked like this picture:(yes, this is a real picture)

And that is why I freaked out yesterday when I got to see these clouds in the sky with my very own eyes, and I had to take my own pictures of them:

and lastly:

So needless to say my day was awesome yesterday! Anywho... I hope your Holy weeek is going well! I know it will get very busy starting tomorrow night for me:
Thursday: Maunday Thursday Worship 7:30 pm
Friday: Friday night OG
Saturday: Easter Vigil 9p-12midnight
Sunday sunrise: 7am
Sunday 2 services: 9a and 11a
Sunday evening OG: 5p
and then Monday OG: 7:30p

So, I don't know what your weekend looks like, but I hope it is not as tiring as mine will be, but more importantly... I pray that you do worship somewhere this weekend, and may you be blessed so you like Abraham before you can be a blessing to others! KUTPs!!!!

Here is a video of the clouds too:

sitting in a cubical and desire to waist time...here you go....

2007-03-27T15:48:00.000-05:00

Desktop Tower Defense!

The new Abigail Elizabeth Dorn!!!!

2007-03-23T22:52:00.000-05:00

Well, this afternoon Tiffany and I spent in the waiting room for Kim and Steve to have their little baby girl!!! And what a blessing it was for Tiffany and I to be there! Here are a few pictures of the awesome event!!!

Very happy Daddy telling the good news....to the waiting family and friends....

Grandmother and Great Grandmother loving the news!!!

The sweet breath of life! Abigail Elizabeth Dorn Two hours old and beautiful!!!

Now that is me and as soon as she laid in my arms she fell asleep...man I love that, heh!

Here is a happy Aunt(Surrogate) Tiffany

The brand new parents!!!

Feast of St. Patrick, and general life.....

2007-03-23T22:39:00.000-05:00

last Friday i went to an awesome free gathering/conference @ St. E.'s. Here are a few shots of the worship time and of St. E.'s the building...(one that I love!!!)

(here is worship Friday night.)

the Friday night was wonderful, and Saturday morning was great too! I wish I coulf have made it to all of it...but oh well. Still looking forward to the Easter Vigal with these guys!!!

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Oh and want to see our new washer and dryer...that we had a fun story around? heh...here they are....

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And Wednesday i went into work to have a goose try to scare me...it did not work, but I caught them on camera.....

and here is the one that got mad at me:

you can even hear the hissing noise in the picture, heh...

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Monday or Tuesday I went to Dayton to meet with Ben one of te guys that did Th3 Waters website....(you know the most amazing website in the world!!!) Anyway we went to a downtown very hip and cool Thai Sushi place and as we were leaving I got this shot of the Salmon he was preparing for that evening!! oh man I love this shot!!!

=======================
Well, OK the next post was what I did this entire afternoon!!! And man It was a blast! So until next time..... God bless and KUTPs!!!!

What's in your Nugget....

2007-03-23T08:31:00.000-05:00

Well, I am a McDonald's generation guy. I grew up eating it and I still do eat it......(and my fat belly shows the excellent results of such eating, heh.... but after this article it is a little scary.....

What's in your nugget?

Now I have been known to eat a nugget or two or ten...and every time I have ever ordered one my wife yells out that they are made of mouse meat..... so here is an article that proves her wrong...and make me never want to eat any more...woo hoo... maybe I will loose .02% of my body fat!

Well, the house is coming along and we plan on trying to have a big push today and Saturday to get all the stuff from the old house over here to the new house. (anyone bored and want to help? heh.)

We also almost have the furniture for the office @ Florence and Tiffany and I will be sharing...and those two will be nice.

I have up graded to Windows Vista here @ my house and I like it
(mainly because it is a Mac OS X wanna be, heh)....except for the fact that very few programs are Vista ready....and for some reason my Sound Blaster audio card is not working properly...so I will cal them for the third time today and see if they would be willing to replace the card for me and let my computer be able to sing....

For those of you who don't know I through my back out two days before our big move a week or two ago and the pain has moved to my lower right side and it is only there when I wake up in the morning...so I might try to go see the Dr. again and see what is up. If he gives me the OK I will try to start working out and see if I can find a track around here to run on. If not...the I might look into going where ever Tiffany goes for her water aerobics to work out.....we shall see.....

Well, other than boxes...life is going very good. we are starting to deal with the boxes that we have in the house from the first move...and almost to the point that we can start to grab a few of the boxes from the garage ad start working on them too. Who knows maybe by this time next year we could both pull into the garage! heh.....

oh I almost forgot... I went to the pre-opening party @ Guitar Center here in Florence...and I must say that is an amazing store!!! I went in thinking that they would carry guitars...but I got in there and they carry everything! speakers, monitors, mics, sound boards, mixers, guitars, percussion, song books, etc.... the store is big...and I heard that when they opened that the line was almost a mile long outside! So, after I get back with Kevin I hope to start looking into the tech we will need to d a good podcast and provide the room and equipment as a ministry to others to allow them to enter the world of podcasting...and hopefully have our own podcast or three to share with the world. I am very excited about this opportunity.

Th3 Waters is going well, and now that the website is up and running I just need to start the blogs up ad going and we should be ready to rock and roll!!!!

Well, yall take care and God bless ya! KUTPs!!!!!

Ok here is the rest of the story.......(little Paul Harvey joke there).....

2007-03-21T07:43:00.000-05:00

So, that night all I could do is wait to call the insurance company the next morning and then find out what they said..... and see if H.H. Gregg could help out with replacing the laptop. Well for some reason I have set y cell phone to silent and I charge it in the office room of our house so I never heard it ring...but after I woke up that next morning I went into the home office and I saw that I had 2 cell phone messages. I immediately grabbed my phone and held down the number 1 button to get into my voice mail and low and behold there was the Affinity rep. guy (the one who came over to my house the night before) and he told me that he had good news and that they recovered the laptop, and he was heading over to my house with it and a small gift from H.H. Gregg to apologize and let me know of their appreciation of the entire ordeal!

The next message was from the loss prevention guy @ H.H. Gregg to make sure that I got the other guys message and to make sure that the laptop was OK and in good shape.

I immediately called back the Affinity guy and told him I was thrilled that he got the laptop and that I would be here at the house until he arrived and that i could not wait to hear the story.

Ok before I tell you more I must tell you what else happened the day before:

After the two police men heard the description of the truck and the two guys they immediately called Affinity and after lots of talking they finally found out the next two places the truck was going to deliver stuff too and questioned the two guys and searched the truck all over the place and they found nothing. So, this then made the story my word against their word. And I think that is why the H.H. Gregg general manager and the Affinity man came over to my house to see if I was legit and if my story panned out. (and there was no other way my laptop could have been lost unless I just lost it and could not find it.

OK, so the Affinity guy shows up to my house that morning with the laptop...and tells me the story.....

He said that when he visited our house last night that the one thing that really hit home wiht him was that we could careless about the laptop itself...(the church has insurance it could be replaced) but all the ministry on it could not be. That killed us...there is a ton of work that has gone into Th3 Waters and most of it was one this laptop and in my head...and I need the ministry on the laptop more than anything else on it. And the Affinity guy said that he realized that this was a horrible situation and really hit hard on his heart.

So apparently, they had a (heart-to-heart) talk with one of the guys and one of them must have been touched in some small way and called up the other guy who had the church's laptop @ his house. After talking to him for a while he went over to his house and "softened his heart" a little I guess and he eventually gave it over to the one guy who gave it over to his boss who had just given it to me wrapped in bubble wrap.

I got the laptop, opened it...and signed in and everything was there! The laptop had a few scratches on it...but it woluld have gotten those over time anyway...so I was not worried about it at all...and then the Affinity guy went back to his car to get me the small gift from H.H. Gregg. It turns out the other guy the GM from H.H. Gregg felt like we needed some kind of compensation from them to say they were horrified and sorry for what happened. And he handed me a $200 gift certificate to only be spent @ H.H. Gregg in 6 months!

And that blew me away. They kept telling me that I was one of the nicest guys they had ever met and that any number of them would have been throwing things into the walls and much more upset, heh.... well then I decided to call the other loss prevention guy to tell him the laptop was fine and to thank them for the gift...and I told him I was going to give him a hard time...and he said go ahead that it fine with me, heh... so I told him that it sure was funny that they were going to be willing to replace a $2,700 laptop, and then all they gave me was $200? ha ha ha ha... i really was just joking....and he had a good laugh and we hung up the phone...but then the GM called me and asked if everything was OK, etc... and I told him the whole story and then i gave him a hard time too....and he said....wait...your right... I agree with you. And so, he proceeded to tell me that he would sent out another $300 to go with the $200 and make it an even $500!!!!

I was blown away! I know that when I was in corporate America we could do things like this, but man oh man that was very cool.....and he said that when ever we decided to make the purchase for me to call him and he would get the product at cost!

so, that is the rest of the story, and now I have no idea what I am going to do with $500 in a store that sells electronics (insert ironic tone here, heh) again if anyone of you know me then you know that I love my tech...and home theater especially)....the only problem is that I am not sure if I can save up enough money in 6 months to get what I would want, heh....

but isn't it amazing how people even when they have been bad....might all have a small soft for him?

I will not press charges against the guys, what I told the police was i would love to take them out to eat and get to know them and show them grace! I have no idea if the policeman will put out a warrent for them or not.... he has plenty of evidence to do it and it would at least go on their record...and that might not be a bad thing too. And the one guy I know for sure does not have a job...and the other guy I am not sure about...but anyway...what a wild ride.....heh

Well, it is off to Staff meeting...the 1st one with Tiffany as the new youth and children's pastor!!!

Oh and the KY Conference has officially accepted us to join their conference so at this annual conference they will vote us in....and we will both be officially members of the KY Conference of the UMC! Very cool indeed if you ask me! Praise be to God!

And I must apologize for taking so long in getting this post up...several of you begged and some of you ordered me to put it up, heh... but life is just a little busy right now. we are not totally out of the old parsonage yet, we are trying to move into the new office @ work, and our house is filled with boxes that seem never ending! So, thank you all for putting up with my crazy life and until next time... God bless you just as much or more so as he has blessed and is blessing me, and never forget to KUTPs!!! love yall!

i got it back...crazy yeah I know...

2007-03-18T00:22:00.000-05:00

Well, I can't believe it either...but I got the laptop back and a small gift from H.H.Gregg!!! More about it all later.....but thanks for your prayers and thoughts...and please pray for the guy (and maybe guys) who stole it.
Thanks...and when I have time I will tell the rest of the story....Love yal!!! KUTPs!!!

We got a washer...but they took my laptop....

2007-03-15T21:34:00.000-05:00

Yep, you read that one right.... 2 guys came again today to install the new washer (that replaced the broken one they tried to install yesterday) and here is how it went down.

I was working on my laptop checking email and about to start work on the Saturday evening worship talk...when the door bell rang. I cosed the laptop (and with a Mac it went to sleep mode) and set it in the Home theater chair beside the other one I was sitting in. I went to the front door holding Halo back...and it was the H.H. Gregg delivery team here to install my new washer and stack the already existing dryer on top of the washer!!! Woo hoo...(Tiffany and I have been living out of out suitcases we were in desperate need for clean clothes!)

Well, I watched them most of the time while they installed the appliances. And then I asked them if they would like a drink...and the new guy (one of them came last week) said that he would like to taste my new favorite drink "Bawls"....so I left them and went up stairs and got him the drink. I brought it down to him and everything was fine... Well, I had needed a wrench to take the shower head off upstairs and I thought that maybe they would have brought one with them...and sure enough they did have one...so they let me borrow it and I went upstairs to go and take of the shower head.

I guess it was during this time that they finished and walked into the Home Theater room to find a Mac Book Pro just sitting there in the chair. Sleeping...not doing anyone any harm... just laying down there with it's little glowing white light in the front...and I guess one of them (or both of them) decided that it would be fun to steal a $2,900 laptop ($2,500 with two programs on it that were not cheap). Well, I walked down stairs to find the new guy waiting for me to sign the paper work so they could leave. I noticed that the other guy was already in the truck and the truck was running. Then we walked back into the Home Theater room to sign the papers and I noticed that they put the washer's instruction booklet on top of the laptop in the chair... I signed the paper and they told me it might be a good idea to just let the dryer and washer go through one cycle to make sure that they were working...I said OK, and walked the new guy out of the garage door and watched him get into the huge white box truck.

Well, I went back inside and turned them both on to make sure everything was good and then I sat back down and reached over for my computer to find that my computer was not covered up by the washer instruction manual, but had been replaced by it!!!! I freaked out! I torn the chair apart hoping to find it in the cracks or under the chair with no luck...then I tore apart my other chair the one I was originally sitting in and nothing....then I decided to just go up stairs to look all over the place for the laptop..............nothing.... then it dawned on me the only person inside the house other then me, Halo(the dog), and Sushi (the cat)? The H.H. Gregg guys!!!! then I got mad! So the first thing I did was cal the H.H.Gregg 800 number to tel them the installers stole my laptop....after waiting for an operator ad being transfered 2 times, I talked to Vinnie (sp?) he proceeded to tel me that I must have made a mistake because these guys have been on the job for a long time and all of there workers go through background checks, etc...I told him that they did it and he sad that he would call them and call me back....I proceeded to tell him that that was not the best idea...because it they did steal it...they would never tel their boss they stole it and they would know that i was on to them......bu the guy would not help me at all and so I got off the phone and proceeded to call the previous home owner (who just so happens to be a cop!) I told him and he was @ my house in a matter of mins. I told him everything and he took the invoice and called and talked to Vinnie (who would not help him either (at all) and really ticked us both off. He hung up the phone and told me to go ahead and call in the theft and they sent an Elsmere policeman to the house to make an official report. I told the policeman everything and he got eh serial number of the laptop, etc. and all the info. They started to look for the huge white box truck, and I don't thin they found them. Well, long story long... I have to call the church's insurance company tomorrow and make an official report to them, as well.

And to top it all off the washer was leaking after they left... I fixed it myself...bt still I mean come on...this is stinking horrible! The loss prevention guy @ H.H.Gregg called me and apologized profusely, and told me that he was contacting the general manger for the area and would do the best he could to take care of the situation. Then about 45 mins. after that conversation, a rep. from the delivery company Affinity,and a rep from H.H. Gregg. showed up to my house and wanted to see first hand all about the incident etc... so I walked them through the house and told them everything and gave them the police report, etc... So, we will see what comes of all of this.

so, if anyone sees a MacBook Pro laying around anywhere that has all of my stuff in it's programs...could you just get it to me and bring it back. We (Tiffany and I) went to tonight to have our date night and I told here wen we get back maybe the laptop fairy would bring us a new one...and sure enough....I guess he/she forgot my house...oh well. It is a laptop after all, and not a human being...so I have a good view point on all of this..but it still sucks!

And the funny thing is, man I would have given these two guys the money in my wallet if they just would have asked for it. I really liked them and if yall know me at all I would have invited them to dinner if I had seen them again.....but even now I love them. I wish I could just talk to them. Let them know what I know about grace, love, and forgiveness. I would have done (and still would) almost anything for them. Oh well, please pray for all involved. the two guys, all the H.H.Gregg people, the Affinity delivery guy, and the policemen who help throughout this whole ordeal. God loves them too.

Well, please pray for Tiffany and I, as well. We are interviewing with the KY Conference tomorrow afternoon to be transfered over the the KY Conference of the United Methodist Church! We are excited about it and can't wait to tell more people about Th3 Waters.

Thank you all for reading my blog. your thoughts and prayer are always greatly appreciated! and please KUTPs!!!! God bless!

We are home!!!

2007-03-14T23:53:00.000-05:00

Well, the past few days have been a blur..and it looks like the next few might just be the same...but life is good and fun...right now. I am happy, but very stressed...and stressed makes me a little angry...and angry makes me less of a Christian...or maybe I should say makes me act less like a Christian. It is weird...ever since Jay's death.... there are just times out of no where that I cry, and other times, that I laugh, and other times still, that I just get very mad. I hate getting mad, and I know that I could control it if I wanted to, but I do not sometimes...and I just get angry...and then turn green and muscles grow, and my pants rip, heh... just kidding, but Anytime I feel like this it is usually a good indication that i am stressed and tired, and eve more so I know that I need now more than ever to spend time with God. Please forgive me God, and Tiffany for getting angry over the smallest things in the world and even though sometimes it may feel like I am yelling at you... I promise I love you and I am not yelling at anyone...just yelling...that is all.

Anyway... we have internet, the computers are up and going, the guest bed is up and needs to be made, the kitchen is coming along nicely (thanks to Tiffany) and the home theater is getting up and going too. (I still need to hang the side surround speakers and buy/put up the cable management stuff, but all in all I think that everything is coming along swimmingly.

We bought a washer and dryer:

(click on each picture to read more about what they can do)

The washer was brand new and the dryer was a scratch and dent floor model...and when they delivered it this afternoon...guess what? Yep...the dryer was just fine...not evena scratch on it, heh...and the (BRAND NEW washer) had a broken door......so, it looks like tomorrow I will get to sit around again and wait for them to deliver a new washer...and we have asked them to stack the dryer on top of the washer....I think it will just be better for Tiffany to have at least one of them higher up...if it does not work, then I will have a few people help me to make drawer/pedestals for them both to be placed on...and that way both of them will be higher.

Well, other than that...I have got to find some time to work and unpack at the same time... and I have to say that I loved the movie 300....it is not the best movie in the world...but it sure was on kick donkey (in the Biblical sense) action flick and anyone who loves battle scenes and a few good manly lines needs to go see this movie. Next up for me will be Pan's Labyrinth, and maybe a few more...then again... I could just wait fr them to come on DVD and I can not wait t get to see the next Heroes that I DVRed!!! woo hoo....well, I must got to bed... I am stinking tired...God bless yall and KUTPs!!!!

The moved went well!

2007-03-11T09:38:00.000-05:00

Thank you to everyone who helped and prayed for us. The moved was successful...and now we get to have months of boxes all over our house. woo hoo! heh... pictures will be coming soon, but we will not get internet or cable until Monday. oh well, I guess I will have to unpack a box or maybe even read...aaaahhhh heh. Thanks again! KUTPs!!!

We have a new house!

2007-03-05T22:21:00.000-05:00

Well, today Tiffany and I are offically home owners!!! And in the matter of minets doubled our debt!!! woo hoo! heh....

oh well, so I wanted to show yall what it is like....

Here is the view of the buyers (I bet we signed our name or initialed it around 40-50 times)And here is us:

And here is the view of the sellers (they might have had 4 signatures they had to put on paper):

So, anyway...we are officially homeowners...and guess what? I ....am sick! What great timing on my part, heh... oh well, it i mainly in my head...and I have ache in my muscles...but all in all it really means for me that I get tired fast. So, needless to say our packing has not been what I had hoped for at this point...but we help coming almost everyday of this week and we would appreciate prayers. We hope to have 4 rooms painted and the other house packed by Saturday so we can attempt to move this Saturday!....yeah I know it is a big goal, but if we are a few days behind we can take it. Thank you in advance for everyone who will be helping! We hope to take care of everyone soon!

Oh and BTW: While we were @ Re-Max they had this really nice big painting of two houses in the front...and then I realized that one of the houses had a ReMax sing in front... now that is funny! Here it is in it's fully glory:

KUTPs!! God bless yall!

Totally agree....

2007-03-04T17:25:00.000-05:00

Here is an article in the New York Times about how Wi-Fi is becoming the new air conditioning of the market place world. And I totally agree!!! I decide where I will go to "hang out" most of te time on if they have FREE Wi-Fi internet connection or not. Here is the article...and let me know what you think:

What Starbucks Can Learn From the Movie Palace

Looking up....

2007-03-03T11:58:00.000-05:00

I have been looking up a lot more lately...not sure why...but I sure have enjoying doing it. It is almost a spiritual thing for me! I think I love mountains so much because they force you to look up! Well, the other night I was (walking Halo) and looking up and the clouds and moon were VERY cool...so of course I took a video of it and here is what I saw...man when the moon broke through the 3 separate levels and layers of clouds it was awesome...and my little poopy camera can not do it justice...but here it is anyway....

Then yesterday I was cooking Jambalaya (we used chicken instead of Duck) (thanks to Alan who has made me crave it ever since I went to his house and while cooking the entire thing... I went outside to cool off and I looked up and was amazed at how cool the clouds were that were moving so fast over head...so here are two videos of that....and even though they are short...just spend some time in awe of God and this world....

this was the view when I looked straight up!

And this was the few looking up at the trees and clouds together:

And lastly here is one more video of Sean..... he was the only one to vote for more of himself...but what can I say i love the guy (in a manly, heterosexual, Christan, way of course!)!

OK... well, we are planning on closing on our new home Monday morning....so I better get back to pacing up the one we live in right now!!! Love yall, God bless, and please KUTPs!!!

-----------------

oh, and I took off the cross wall that we had...and all that was left were the nails...and Tiffany wanted me to take a picture of it because it had a small spiritual significance for her...and so I did and this is for her...but maybe in this Lent season you can find purpose in it as well....(remember this used to be covered in crosses and now all that is left are nails)....

Th3 Waters site is live!!! Go check it out and send other to it as well!

2007-03-03T00:58:00.000-05:00

Sean my botha man get'n his DDR on....

2007-03-02T10:30:00.000-05:00

Well, I promised Sean that i would put his crazy amazing DDR (Dance Dance Revolution a interactive video game) skills on video and pot it to the web...so Alicia will not be the only one that I have put up....here is Sean free styling:

Oh and I have more videos of Sean... but I just need to know if yall want more of him?

In the next video Sean go much faster, heh.