Drumroll please...

Well you've probably wondering where I've been for the past few days (humor me). Well, I've been working on a little project. I've decided to start a new blog. Really, it's the same blog (as far as content goes) but moved to a different location, given a serious face lift and some new features. Why am I moving? Well, I'll talk a bit about that on my new blog, but for now, just take a deep breath and trust me. Nothing will change, I promise. Well, except for the web address. If you have any bookmarks or blogroll links to this blog, please make the appropriate changes so people won't get confused or irritated when they have to redirect themselves from this blog. Because as of now, The World As Best As I Remember It is signing off.

Now, please direct yourselves to the new and improved blog of Chris Merritt at...

BrewingThoughts.com

Oh my gosh

I think my heart just skipped a beat. I need counseling.

Church Visiting Series Finale

I should probably say that I'm not entirely sure that we're done with church visiting, but it sure feels like it. Let me explain a little bit. I'm aware that we haven't visited very many churches (only 5). And of those churches, we were only seriously looking at 4 of them. Now, in my mind, this is an answered prayer. I didn't want to spend all too long finding a church. It's hard to go to a church that you don't know and somehow gauge if you should sign up and join. It's fun to see how other people worship and how they do certain things, but it can also be frustrating to never find that church that you fit in with.

But we all knew that God wouldn't let that happen right? I must confess, I wasn't sure. I wasn't sure that we were going to find a church that had a powerful working vision, a tight community, and a good theology (not to mention good music/worship/preaching). I admit that I was a bit skeptical that we would find the "perfect" church. After all, there are no perfect churches.

But of course, God came through for us and we think we have found the right church for us. Enter Providence Church, a new plant that launched this past March and is located in Frisco/Little Elm. This is the church I posted about in my last episode of Church Visiting. It's a plant of The Village Church, located in Dallas. Now it's not a plant in the sense that it's an identical "daughter church" of The Village, with duplicate vision, theology, and purpose. It's actually very unique in those respects, yet it's receiving some sort of financial support from The Village.

The pastor is Barry Keldie, who was previously on staff at The Village and has had a desire to start a church for years. He is close friends with Michael Armstrong, whom he teamed up with to plant this church. Michael had probably been the most influential person in the formation of my musical worship style and philosophy of worship, so I'm obviously more than comfortable with his leadership. We also have our friends, the Bradshaws, who are actively involved and are excited to have some good friends to connect with. We've gone out to eat a few times these past couple of weeks and it's been nice to have some friends to hang out with.

We visited again Saturday night, with the mindset of prayerful consideration towards this church and God's will for us. Afterwards, we felt a good deal of confirmation in our hearts. The pastor, Barry preached an amazing message in regards to the hurricane disaster and the correct theological response. His thoughts echoed a lot of what I've discussed here, denying the idea that God had nothing to do with it, but also denying the idea that God was actively judging a geographical location for the spiritual sins of people. He was really "bringin' the Word" on this, examining Scripture in a responsible fashion, and sharing some solid theology. He had people crying on this one and God did some really cool things at that service.

So why do we feel led here as opposed to other churches? First of all, we trust the leadership. This may sound like a small thing, but if there's one thing that I've been taught about in the building of a biblical, effective church, it lies in it's leadership. There's nothing more frustrating than mediocre leaders and pastors who aren't passionate. The people leading this church are hardcore, bad-to-the-bone church builders who have a great deal of wisdom and that's something I value a great deal. There are other things that make this an easy decision too. Worship is great, and there's a good chance I can get involved at a fairly deep level (I'll know more on this next week). The preaching is amazing. We have friends there who are trying to start a small group. The church is still on the ground floor, so we get another chance at being a part of something great and being there in the beginning stages. We believe God can use us a great deal here. After all, we've already been through a lot of what they are just about to go through and we are more than passionate about helping emerging churches "emerge".

So, there is still much to be written about this, but I'll call it quits for now. I'll find out in the coming weeks what sort of opportunities might be available to us to volunteer and serve, when and how we will join, etc. and I'll make sure and keep everyone posted on it.

In other news, I just had a great cup of java. As noted in my sidebar, I'm drinking French Roast and this morning I finally did the math and decided to brew this morning with my french press. I'm a genius! That was some good coffee.

I also finally sat down and dug into Blue Like Jazz by Don Miller yesterday. I know I'm way behind the trend on reading this (Miller's new book is already out), but I never had the cash to buy it until recently. Man, this is a good book. I admit that I underestimated how much I would like it. I thought it was just going to be blunt, honest thoughts on faith that I could really identify with, but man, this guy can write. His language and imagery is amazing and he has a beautiful way with words. I'm enjoying it quite a bit.

Now I gotta go look for a job. How much fun is that?

New Orleans Before and After

This is a link to some "before and after" satellite photography of the New Orleans area.

What Caused Katrina?

I have a confession to make. Up until yesterday I had completely underestimated the devastation left behind by Hurricane Katrina. I guess this is because after it hit Florida as a tropical storm, I thought it was pretty much over. I figured it would just die down. But it didn't. It got stronger and stronger and finally made a right turn for the coast. Even then, I figured the damage was probably typical of what I had already seen this year in Florida. But finally I turned on the Today Show yesterday and I saw for myself how bad it really was. New Orleans has essentially drowned and it will probably be underwater for a couple of months at least. It looks like the whole area has virtually been "rinsed" off the map. It's unbelievable how many people are probably dead, and those who have survived are starving, thirsty, and homeless. No running water, no electricity, no plumbing. I would go on, but you can probably get this kind of stuff at any given time in the media.

But I do have a commentary on the subject. It seems that already, in the midst of this tragedy, people are trying to act like they actually know how and why Katrina did what it did. Why do people have this urge to explain the unexplainable? Why do we want to answer questions that we have no authority of answering?

For instance, I've already been bombarded by the media with the issue of global warming and how it relates to this disaster. People have been jumping up and down in excitement because they have another natural disaster on their hands that they can politicize for the sake of their agenda on global warming. Do they really want me to believe that we caused this? Is there really something we could have done or not done to prevent an act of God such as this? There are a lot of people out there on TV saying "yes" and it amazes me. First of all, it amazes me how many people take global warming to be a fact of life when it is actually just a theory at best. There is virtually no consistent scientific evidence out there that proves global warming. Let me clarify something here, though. When I say global warming, I mean it in the sense that the activists mean it. Sure, the earth has it's warming cycles, as well as cooling cycles---that's scientific. What I refuse to believe is that human activity (burning fuel, pollution, etc.) has some sort of effect on the global temperature and weather patterns. There is no consistent evidence for this. For every theoretical study suggesting this, there is just as much or more studies disproving it. In fact, if global warming was taking place, we should actually have fewer hurricanes.

I guess what really gets on my nerves is the trend these days of blaming people for things that we have no control over. People want to blame human activity for melting ice caps and severe weather. They want to blame Bush for high gas prices. They want to blame America for everything that's going wrong in the world. Why does the white American Christian male have to be the bad guy for everything?

I know this is getting to be quite a rant, but it just ticks me off when unjust blame is cast because people feel the need to cast blame. Katrina was the awesome finger of God that destroyed an entire region and thousands of people's lives. Why did it happen? Why does God create tsunamis and tornadoes and earthquakes? I don't know. But I'm ok with that. I understand a lot of people aren't and they don't share my beliefs and views on these matters, but that doesn't make me wrong. Heck, I don't care if I'm wrong as long as I'm proven wrong. So, for now, let's just accept that such disasters do exist and instead of casting blame, let's just pray for those who are suffering and look hopefully towards the future.

Back From Hiatus

Well, if you are on a daily frequency of checking this blog, then you know that it's been almost a week since my last post. I try to post on Mon, Wed, and Fri, but last Friday I had absolutely nothing to talk about, so I thought I would spare everyone the boredom of reading about what I was doing that day and what's on the menu for lunch.
I was supposed to post yesterday about how I opted for watching the Cowboys and skipping church last weekend, but I woke up Monday morning to a dead hard drive. And I'm talking dead. I've been anticipating this for some time now, due to some sporadic crashes and failed boot ups. I self-diagnosed the problem when I noticed that my computer crashes were preceded by a "clicking" and "scuffing" noise emitting from my hard drive chamber, plus, when my reboot failed, I was greeted by a message stating that my Operating System could not be found on the drive. As the crashes and noises became more frequent, I began to back up my personal files and make a list of software downloads that I would need if a new hard drive were to be installed. I thought it would last a little longer, but sure enough, Monday morning arrived with a black screen and some incoherent code on the top left corner.

So, I went off to CompUSA yesterday to pick up a new hard drive and spent the majority of my day replacing the drive and reinstalling Windows, drivers/apps, and the rest of my software. Although it felt like a very slow process, I am quite impressed with the fact that as of this morning, my computer is not only restored and running like a dream, but that all of my software and customizations have been restored to the point that it's almost as if nothing happened. A complete hard drive replacement and data restoration in just one working day....pretty good.

The good news is that I'm happy with the job I did, the new hard drive is bigger and faster, and it cost me less than a $100. Not bad, considering the severity of the issue. I guess the lesson is having good backups of your data.

I'll post about other stuff that's going on some other time, but for now, I need to catch up on some other blogs and listen to the current podcast of Metro and Lefty.

Funny Stuff

In case you haven't heard about this site, Lark News is a satirical newsletter poking all kinds of fun at church culture. The stories are hilarious and even the "advertisements" crack me up. Make sure and check your daily horoscope and FAQs. And don't forget to check out the t-shirts for sale! Check it out!

Church Visiting Episode 4

Well, let me give you a quick rundown of what we ended up doing Sunday: We were able to sleep in a bit, then we got up and made pancakes. After that, we put our coffee in travel mugs, then we went out and drove around town for about an hour. When we returned home, we went swimming for a while, then we went to the mall, had some lunch, and then finally returned home for the rest of the Law & Order:SVU marathon on USA.

What a great day that was. Rest, relaxation, and coffee. But I guess you're wondering about church. Oh, we went....Saturday night. Man, I could get used to Saturday night church. If anything, it made my Sunday the most definitive "day of rest" that I can remember having. Unfortunately, the church that we visited is only meeting on Saturday temporarily. Too bad. Because now I'm a fan of Saturday night church.

So let's talk about this church. I found out about it via The Ooze again, but as soon as I saw the website, I realized that I knew more about it than I thought. I knew we had friends there, plus I knew the worship pastor. It's a new church start and it's not far from home. So, it was obviously something we wanted to check out. But I should mention again that this church's website was impressive. Something that I'm learning is that I can figure out what kind of DNA a church has, just by perusing their "Recommended Reading" list. Now, not all church websites have this, but I've found that's it's extremely helpful. I understand that this can be "judging a book by it's cover" (pardon the humor), but hey, when you want to know as much about a church's identity/DNA as possible without having to use a Sunday to visit it, it can be very useful. It's going to save me time if I can rule out church possibilities because I can see that they're beginning a year-long study on The Purpose Driven Life, or have a small group reading The Prayer of Jabez. This may be judgmental, but I'm ok with that, alright?

So we went to church Saturday. They meet on Saturday because they are currently meeting in another church's facility. We were greeted at the door, received out "handout", and we immediately found our friends there. We stood around and caught up on things, while I perused the church's "core values" as described in the handout. From what I could tell, this was going to be a good experience. The service began with worship music, led by someone I know and respect as a worship leader. I can't tell you how comforted I was to know that the guy leading worship was not only talented and passionate, but that he had a great theology and understanding of worship and of church. It's just nice to know that the person leading this congregation wasn't just a musician---he was a pastor.

After one song, the lead pastor got up and greeted the crowd and invited us to greet each other. Then we continued to sing. The music was great, with a full band, tastefully and reverently done. Song selection was very good (this is probably due to the fact that my taste in worship songs has been partially shaped by this worship leader).

After the music, we were seated and the pastor began his sermon. For one thing, I was glad that the pastor was actually going to preach, because we got ripped off in that area with some other churches we visited. It turns out that this pastor has been going through 1 John and he picked up where he left off last week. It was also really comforting to know that this pastor preaches via exposition. If anything, it communicated to me that this guy was at least devoted to the Bible. He did a great job preaching. He's a great communicator, very dynamic, a little like a college pastor. This doesn't bother me, but it's just how I would describe him. He knew his Bible, and obviously studied a great deal in preparing the sermon. He was biblical, funny, and passionate. I did noticed a few teary eyes towards the end, and I don't think it was just "over-emotional" people. I think God was really convicting His people through this message.

At the end, they took communion, making us 4 and 4 on communion and visits. This church takes communion every week, which I am learning is pretty common among the newer churches I've looked at. They also offered juice and wine, so you could have your beverage of choice to compliment your breadcrumb.

At the end, I was able to chat with the worship pastor some and visit again with our friends. We hung around a while, until we were almost the last to leave. I was hoping to meet the pastor, but I never had the opportunity. Well, actually he found his way into our "mingle bubble", but he never introduced himself and neither did I.

The congregation was fairly even for a church like this. Several young college types, but mostly young couples and young families. There were plenty of children (I was told that they launched with 20 kids, plus some infants) and they obviously had some sort of children's program. The people were very nice and we felt pretty comfortable, considering we were visiting. This is probably due to our friends there. As a matter of fact, we were invited to dinner afterwards. We went to a local Tex-Mex restaurant with about ten people, including the pastor and his wife. Unfortunately again, they sat on the other end of the long table and they never said hi. This was a little disappointing, but not enough to really bother me.

At the end of the night, Katy and I talked and we both felt pretty good about this church. I don't think we're going to stop looking, but I think this church definitely moves to the front of the pack. I guess I just wish I could sit down with the pastor for two hours and talk about who they are and who we are, but I know that's a luxury we are used to having and that is not so common in other churches. We'll look into it more....I'll visit with our friends more and hopefully get together with the worship pastor sometime.

Conclusion: Great church. Great worship. Great preaching. Great community. Definitely worth a closer look. But you never know---something better might be around the corner next week!