Change Your Bookmarks and RSS Feeds

I'm resurrecting this blog and moving it to a new website:

www.ben.bechurchne.org.

Look for new posts in the new year!

Thanks to Leonard Sweet for this idea:

One woman uses her celebrity to draw attention to global poverty and has adopted a child from a third world country.

One man formed one of the most explosively successful anti-poverty organizations in the Western world and who reminded lawmakers in Washington D.C. that:

God is in the slums, in the cardboard boxes where the poor play house. God is in the silence of a mother who has infected her child with a virus that will end both their lives. God is in the cries heard under the rubble of war. God is in the debris of wasted opportunity and lives, and God is with us if we are with them.[1]

Another man lives without refrigerator, trash, or electricity in the middle of New York City, so as to better respect the environment.

Can you guess who they are?

Angelina Jolie. Bono. Colin Beavan.

How many are Christian?

None of them.

Angelina Jolie doesn’t practice any religion. Bono is a lapsed Christian who is not involved with a church. Colin Beavan is a non-practicing Jew.

Where are the churchgoing Christians in this picture of courageous witness?

Still thinking?[2]

If God can’t use the church for God’s work, God will use the world.

---

[1] This is from Bono's speech to the National Prayer Breakfast.

[2] Here are a few names: (there are distressingly few): Jim Wallis, Shaine Claibourne.

Post-Wedding Thoughts

It's been a wonderful past four weeks, since Melissa and I got married. We received generous gifts and thoughtful messages and the love we felt from those who surrounded us was one of the best parts of the post-wedding experience.

In many cases, it was clear that people had given something of themselves. We received a couple paintings, several personalized gifts (a clock, etc.), and a few photos that were taken by our givers.

For instance, Marion Fuller, who I have known from church since I was a little kid, gave us a set of salad bowls.




They were made by her husband Harley, who passed away just a little while ago. She wrote in her note that "this was the only set that he made...he would have wanted you to have them".

These gifts are tangible reminders of community as we enter our married lives together. Every time I see them, I give thanks for the wonderful community God has blessed us with.

An Article

Hello Everyone,
I know this isn't an update so much as it is shameless self-promotion, but if you're online today, check out umc.org. If you log on later during the week, check out this link and then give me feedback!

MIA- Wedding

Quick bullet point update on my life

1) Life is good, but crazy- less than four weeks to go before the wedding. Melissa and I were at a high school friend's wedding this weekend, and it was a very "real" moment for both of us. As you might imagine, both stress and excitement are definitely up.

2) I finished the final Harry Potter today and really enjoyed it- thought it was the best book of the series. (And, for those of you who haven't read it and plan to, that's all I'll say!)

3) Wedding planning is also stressful- I finish up tuxes and hopefully finalize the service this week, and then have tons of details to wade through in the next 3.5 weeks.

4) Needless to say, blogging is not the top priority for me now, unless I can do it in ten minutes or less, so expect me to reemerge more once August 18th is past!

Beauty

Forgive Me, For I Have Sinned

And not posted for a full 22 days. Quick update on my life:

1) Annual Conference was wonderful- Melissa and I did two postmodern-y presentations, one on the shift from modernity to postmodernity and the church's response and the other on emerging worship. Despite being given the worst slots available, we did relatively well in terms of attendance, with 12 coming to our presentation on postmodernity (despite it being directly before the ordination service) and 40 coming to our presentation on emerging worship.

2) The Generation X/Y Conference, as I have mentioned before, was utterly wonderful- thanks to Cameron, Laura, Amy, (who are all online, so I have to mention them to make them happy), and all the other fantastic people who made it one of the best conferences I've ever been to. I have to write an article for GBHEM about it, which should be completed this week- I'll post it here once it's completed.

3) We sinned horribly and got another bookcase, a dish rack, two sets of plates and bowls, an office chair, the largest candle I've ever seen, and a small deep freeze for about $300 (oops!). That would have been the case except for the small detail that we actually got it all at garage sales, and made out like bandits, getting all of the above for about $40.

Why I've Disappeared

Not a good idea to have links driving traffic (like a whole extra 12 people to your blog!) and then not post. In my defense, my computer's monitor has decided to stop working and so had to be sent back to the Repair Gods of IBM for fixing. Naturally, my notes from the conference, e-mails, and life are stuck on a now impotent hard drive. Hopefully, this will be a temporary condition!