The real fun of was had on Sunday afternoon / evening. The fam and i met up with some friend at Arrington. It was amazing. I have posted a photo album of the day on Facebook and Flickr but thought i would share a few of them here as well because they are Aaaaa-mazing!

Here ya go!

All photography credit goes to the one and only Cody Springs (nick name… Well i can’t tell you)

Great day, with some great friends. I need it!

Until next time labor day. PEACE
erik

Now that the 1st confession is out of the way let’s get to the second one. I’m feeling bi-polar these days. Bursts of inspirations mixed with lots of lack of motivation and inspiration. It’s probably normal I know but it feel little extreme to me right now. I’ve got a lot of stuff going on, some really great opportunities coming up but sometimes day to day in hard. Feels like a grind, you know? Yea, you know.

So i’m wanting to ask myself, you, and God… what is the most faithful way to live when life feels like your days are hard, when you feel like life is a grind? Do you stop what your doing and do something else? Do you just keep plugging away? You figure out what needs to change? Do you take a spiritual retreat? Pray more? Read you bible more? Just stop and trust God cause there is nothing you can do? Or none of the above OR all of the above???

I ask this because not only do I feel this dilemma from time to time but I consistently hear this as the dilemma of friends and strangers… Life is hard, right.

I’ve got no answer on this gorgeous Sunday afternoon. It’s one of those Sunday’s that make you feel like life is good and what could possibly be wrong. But the beauty of this day is just a distraction from the bank accounts, marriages, relationships, projects, failure, stalled out lives that seems to be difficult more than not.

So this Sunday I’m reading this and asking, “how do we live faithfully when life feels like one big trail?

Reading and pondering this…

“Consider it pure joy brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, becaseu yo know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. And if any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.”

Wondering if there isn’t some wisdom for the moment here…

Grace and peace
erik

So yea, i’m glad the summers over but it was a great summer!
I’m working on a summer newsletter. The email will probably go out right around the 1st of September. If your not on my eNewsletter list, SIGN UP HERE!

Looking back i have been a pretty huge blog slacker around here this sumer. It feels like i’ve taken a blogging sabbatical or something. Which has kinda been nice! But i also miss it. I enjoy blogging! Sharing my thoughts, my randomness, and a little bit of the life i’m living. I’m enjoy living in community, this blog a is a little part of that.

But now it’s time to gear up for the fall! Which could be a the name of a rad album right, “gearing up for the fall” but instead it’s just what i’m doing. Lot’s of projects to be working on, events to prepare for, and a life to be lived! ??I look forward to sharing along the way!

grace and peace
erik

Recently i started listening to their Neue podcast. Just select episodes online.
In case you don’t know Neue is Relevant magazine’s publication for Church leadership and specific ministry / church content. It’s pretty good from the little i’ve ready but i really have started to enjoy their podcast. I’ve only listened to a handful of them so far but their good and address things that pastors  and leaders will benefit from.

My favorites so far…

NT Wright Conversation :: In this podcast NT (Tom) talks about his book After You Believe: Why Christian Character Matters. My favorite part of this podcast was to hear NT Wright talk about the bible! So refreshing to hear a color wearing Anglican Bishop talk about the scripture with a sparkle in his eye and love in his voice! The more i enter the Anglican world the more i run into people like this. I LOVE IT! And NT Wright represents well! Listen to this one, you’ll enjoy it!

Pete Wilson Conversation :: I know Pete (he has a blog) and he is a good dude! He recently wrote a book (that i hope to read if i can get Pete to give me a copy!!!  ;-)  And he talks a bit about this book and really just talks about his heart as a pastor and the  culture of honesty he is creating among his pastoral staff at Cross Point. I love it and think many churches could learn from Pete’s leadership / staffing model. A good chat for sure, you’ll enjoy this one as well.

Those are my 2 favorites so far.

You can also read previous issues of Neue magazine right there on their website, which is pretty sweet!

Check it out!

grace and peace
erik

Your thoughts…

And if you want to read the article over at ESPN and read some of the comments here’s the link :: FULL ARTICLE

Well now Don is hosting a seminar on Living a Better Story and i would LOVE to go!
Here’s a link to find out more about it :: Living A Better Story
And a sweet little video of Don if you want to hear more.

So i am submitting this little blog post / essay (below) with hopes to win the prize, a free trip to Portland!

Here goes nothing…

Writing a better story — in all kinds of ways

I feel like i have always thought telling a good story was important and unconsciously i thought i was living a good story as well. But like all good scripts the first tension and the first turn toward resolution are only the beginning.

The first chapter of my story consisted of growing up in a fatherless home, living in low-income housing while my mother worked 2 and 3 jobs at a times, having my birth name changed because the Muslim / Albanian name my absent father gave me was just going to be to hard for people to pronounce, among other reasons. I thought my tension filled young life was adequately resolved when i was introduced to Jesus in 8th grade. I became a Christian, received a “call” to vocational ministry and not long after started traveling the country preaching bible, telling the story of God in a way that hopefully challenged people to authentically follow Jesus. I believed I was living a good story.

But that was only chapter 1.

In the middle of a living my nice little story I met a girl (positive turn), i was ordained (positive turn), i moved to San Diego (positive and sunny turn).
But then… I got married (tension : trust me, tension), i got excommunicated (NEGATIVE turn), I moved to Nashville (humid turn) and i unexpectedly had a kid (uncategorizable turn).

Now i find myself at a place in life that is beautiful and hard all at the same time and i just want to make sure i am living a good story. I want to be living a good story for my beautiful wife Andrea and for my amazing son Jack. I also want to be living a good story because i want to follow Jesus, who i believe is stirring authentic and riveting stories in all of us who are open to it.

I think this conference would be an amazing time to think, dream, and take in the elements of a good story so i can, by the grace of God, live them out in my life and with my family.

My wife, who i would bring with me, is a writer who needs some stirring to get out of the magazine world and write her first book, to live the story that is bubbling in her soul! We are also praying about planting an Anglican Church, tension / turn / who knows what that is. And among all the reasons that i feel like i would benefit from the reminder to live a daring story the most important one is my son. I don’t have a clue how to be a dad but i know i want to learn to live a great story so that i can teach jack to live a great story. I want our family to live the kind of story that people want to read!

So as much as i think this conference could inspire my wife and i to risk for the sake of our vocational stories i would hope this conference to challenge and equip us to live a story as a family that will be worth writing down someday.

Here’s to Portland
(i hope we get to go!)

Grace and peace
erik

I’m not a runner and despite the amazement with these fellows that can run hundreds of mile and be smiling as they reach the end of their run and my awe-inspired soul at a journalist who went from being a shabby, broken down want-to-be runner to running one of the hardest 50 mile courses you could image… so despite my amazement and inspiration i am not sure i will ever be a runner but i sure am convinced that we were indeed born to run.

In the midst of talking about the science of running, the evil of the shoe, and the evolution of running man (not the dance) author Christopher McDougall tells a compelling, page turning, epic story of a handful characters that were “born to run”.

The central figures of this story are the Tarahumara Indians from Mexico’s deadly Copper Canyons, most likely the best runners in human history. These crazy Indians run hundred of miles, some say they can chase deer until their hoofs fall off, and the idea of the persistence hunting by running is a really cool little section of the book. They live in peace, seclusion, and in the kinda of community i long for. They drink lots of beer, eat tons of junk, dress like kings and run like their existence depended on it. There are a lot of “teachable moments” in the book but the Tarahumara Indians provide a compelling story for running, living and simplicity.

I really did loved this book, little fascinating tid-bits like the persistence hunting, the idea that the shoe was the worst invention ever for the runner, and the component most runners lack is a simple love for running because wanting to look good or be healthy isn’t gonna cut it when your running 100 miles and could die at any moment along the journey. All these little nuguts weaved into an epic story lived out by the author really makes for a great book!

I’m not a fast reader by any means but i breezed though this one. And like i said, i might never become a runner but am glad i read this book.
And PS :: i’ve been online looking for running shoes –  thin and cheap ones… we’ll see!

Go get Born To Run

——————————————————-

I was sitting down with a good friend and another dude (friend / acquaintance), the other dude happened to be a CCM musician guy; trendy, hipster, semi-famous, and of course wise! Somehow we got to talking, I had recently gotten married, he had recently had his second kid. We were talking about family stuff, the joys of being a father and challenges of being a husband, at least a first year husband. At some point the conversation shifted and we began to talk about politics, faith, and then pacifism. And then the trendy Christian rocker stated, quite matter of fact, “Well I used to be a pacifist until I had kids.” Followed by a “you’ll understand someday.”

In case you didn’t know, I’m a pacifist. As I read the scriptures, especially the words of Jesus I think it’s fairly hard not to be. I mean if your going to take the words of Jesus seriously, “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.” “Don’t resist an evil doer.” The list goes on… just read The Sermon on the Mount. So for me it’s hard not to be a pacifist when i read these words. Now I respect people who have differing opinions than me but for me, I think it’s hard to read these word of Jesus and then pick up a gun and go kill people to protect the things I love; God, country, family, etc. That’s a hard move for me to make.

But like my trendy, wise, Christian rocker friend stated, “You’ll understand when you have kids.”

Well now I have a kid. And to be honest what my friend said has really stuck with me. I understand the difficulty with even the IDEA of being a pacifist, especially in our world. I really do. And when I’m honest and people ask me if i’m a pacifist my response is, “Well, I want to be.” I say that because I know in reality I am bent toward violence and reaction. I understand that about myself. But I also feel like I understand that the most faithful // Faith-Full thing to do is to follow Jesus and that’s isn’t always easy or the way i am naturally bent.

Now I often tell people who roll there eyes at me for even suggesting the idea of pacifism that, “non-violence isn’t necessarily non-action.” I think that is an important caveat to the conversation, but another conversation altogether.

As I reflect on my stance as a pacifist and my now status as a father I’m trying to decide if my wise rocker friend was correct. Does the love I have for my son negate my ideological position as a pacifist?

For the first few months of Jacks existence (Jack is my son) I would take him when he was crying into my office and play a few of his favorite tunes. The 2 songs that seemed to calm him the most were, 1) The Hope That Lies Within 2) Oh How He Loves – both recorded by The Glorious Unseen. (great album, you should get if you don’t have it). But I would blast these songs and sing them into my infant sons ear and he would, miraculously, calm down. And almost every time I would sing these words,

“He is jealous for me (I would sing you)
Loves like a hurricane, I am a tree
Bending beneath the weight of his wind and mercy
When all of the sudden I am unaware of these affliction eclipsed my glory
I realize just how beautiful you are and how great your affection are for me

O, How He love us so
O how he love us
O, How He love us so”

…almost every time I would sing these words I would think about that comment, “You’ll understand once you have kids.” As I would sing those songs into Jacks little ears, telling him how much God loves him, I would realize how much I love him and how I would do anything for him and to protect him. And I would think, “was he right? Do I now understand?”

But in the midst of those thoughts I would realize that my love for my son can’t be stronger than God’s love for my son OR God’s love for his son. And in the mystery of the Trinity God’s love for God’s self which, more often then we are aware of, is turned in our direction and lavished upon us. This infinite and incomprehensible love that’s exists within God’s self and is poured out on humanity with undeserved regularity. This love that I can’t even fathom is directed from the heart of God to my son Jack every second of every moment and in the same way it was directed toward Jesus in every line we read of scripture, every space we ignore, every pause we skim over, and in every possible way we don’t even think of, God was in constant Love for his son. Even when his Son was hanging on a tree, bleeding and hurting, being killed by the enemy, LOVE WAS THERE. I don’t understand that but I pray God would fill me with the faith to embrace that moment of divine love that we witness in the crucificition of Jesus and I pray even harder as a father that God would gift me with even a small portion of the love I witness in that cosmic even of the cross for my son Jack.

And if I can receive that gift, even in part and as feebly as I am capable of, I believe I can continue to be faith-full to the words of Jesus, living the way of a hopeful, aspiring, would-be pacifist father. Which might be the only way any of us are capable of doing it anyway.

So was my friend right?
I don’t think so. Not if I believe in the power of the resurrection and the hope that lies within! I don’t think he was.

Grace and peace
from a would-be pacifist and an awestruck father!

erik

PS :: if you would like a resource to further this conversation here is a REALLY good one!

This little book entitled :: What Would You DO is a great resource to help you think through the challenges and questions of being a pacifist. It’s a great read from a few voices, put together by John Howard Yoder. Who is a stud and somebody you should read! Without a doubt!
:: Politics of Jesus
:: The Original Revolution
:: Body Politics
// TO NAME A FEW…

My good friend Jake Edwards called me today. He’s getting married in a couple hours. When he called me he said, “I’ve got four hours till i get married.” And as we talked about the joy and fear, the anticipation and emotion of the day all those feelings came rushing back to me, as if i were experiencing them all over again.

I remember my train ride into the city, where i briefly shared some of my thoughts. Oh the emotion! Those 3 or 4 days were probably some of the more FULL days of my life.

I hope for my friend Jake! I hope that these days and in-particular this day will be as FULL for him as it was for me!

remembering those moments…
erik

One thing they do differently than most camps i speak at is they assign a text to preach each day. They do this so that they can tie other elements into the message. And that’s great but in reality it does make my job a bit harder.

I mean think about it, during my busiest summer i think i did, 8 – 9 – 10 camps, something like that. A normal busy summer for me averages 7 camps. If each of those camps gave me the text to preach for each message i would have to prepare around 56 message for one summer. That would be crazy my friends! Typically i spent April and May preparing 10 or so messages that i will share all summer, that’s my method.

BUT! with that said, some of the text i was given to preach on really excited me and i feel like the Lord gave me some great nuggets to share.

Especially for the thursday and friday messages! The messages went awesome! i think students were really responsive and i sensed that Jesus was up to some big stuff! Because most of the response was done in cabin time i didn’t get to see that part but i heard that at least one student give his life to the Lord and started following Jesus for the 1st time. AMAZING!

So yea, I love preaching the gospel and when i find a nugget that is new, that feels like it’s a direct revelation from Jesus i get so pumped to preach it’s not even funny! I have at least one of those for this summer! Can’t wait to share it some more!!!

So, one week down (it was awesome) and a few more to go!
Be praying that God would continue to move and act and we would see the fruit of his Spirit growing in lives like a weed!

Grace and peace
erik