Yo.
Thanks for your comments on the last topic everybody and thanks for your kind, but misinformed, voting on the drummer poll. John Bonham is the best there's ever been and ever will be when it comes to rock drumming. Every one else who beats the skins, from Brad Bryan to Neil Peart, is just trying to play like him.
And now, onto business.
This week the LPGA announced that they were instituting an English language test to be given to all golfers. Hey LPGA, WHAT THE....?!?! This isn't even closet racism, its just racism. Ethnocentrism, arrogance, racism. Pure and simple.
One may wonder why the lady golfers association decided to start this new program. Because, and I want everybody to listen closely to this, too many Korean players are winning championships. Korean women dominate women's golf. Over 60% of tournaments played are won by a Korean woman.
Here's an idea, American golfers who have chosen systemic racism to solve your problem...PLAY BETTER GOLF!
In a sporting world in which the US Open, tennis, is dominated by Russians and the best men's players are Serbian, Spanish and whatever Federer is, in which the US Redeem Team won its gold medal over a Spanish team with four NBA players on its starting lineup and the best players in that league are from the Virgin Islands, Spain, China, Argentina and Canada, yes, Canada and a world that can nominate a half-white-Kansan, half-African, raised-in-Indonesia-and-Hawaii man named Barack for president, the LPGA, instead of globalizing and expanding has gone back in time to 1950s Mississippi. Get with the times LPGA and if you're tired of getting beat by the Koreans...uh, practice, practice, practice.
Flabbergasted,
Brad
ps: no offense meant, but if you still think Barack Obama is a Muslim, then I think you're kind of an idiot. (this is the exact thing Mom warned me about, but come on people!)
Thursday, August 28, 2008
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
Question
Either I'm gearing up for another school year, or I have completely lost my mind. Either way, I opened St. Athanasius' book On the Incarnation the other night and read it cover to cover. In it, Athanasius makes the case for the divinity and humanity of Christ, the need for the incarnation and what it means.
Now, I'm an incarnation guy. Some people are baptism people, some focus on the cross, still others on the resurrection. Realizing that they all, of course, go hand in hand, the incarnation is the most important thing Jesus ever did in my opinion.
Like any good doctrine of incarnation, and therefore salvation, one must begin with the NEED of salvation. Why do we need saving? So, a question came to my mind reading Athanasius' account of original sin that lead to the incarnation and the salvation of all.
How does one form a sound doctrine of original sin while denying the act of the original sin itself? In other words, what's original sin without believing in Adam and Eve? And, maybe more important, does it matter?
I pose the question to the blogosphere...
Thanks, B
Now, I'm an incarnation guy. Some people are baptism people, some focus on the cross, still others on the resurrection. Realizing that they all, of course, go hand in hand, the incarnation is the most important thing Jesus ever did in my opinion.
Like any good doctrine of incarnation, and therefore salvation, one must begin with the NEED of salvation. Why do we need saving? So, a question came to my mind reading Athanasius' account of original sin that lead to the incarnation and the salvation of all.
How does one form a sound doctrine of original sin while denying the act of the original sin itself? In other words, what's original sin without believing in Adam and Eve? And, maybe more important, does it matter?
I pose the question to the blogosphere...
Thanks, B
Monday, August 04, 2008
The Wesley Project
Hey, everybody,
For the past couple of years, I've been writing new tunes to Charles and John Wesley songs from the United Methodist Hymnal. My friend Mark, http://www.stupidityensues.blogspot.com/, found out that this is actually a real thing done by a guy named Carl Thomas Gladstone. Check out http://www.carlthomasgladstone.com/wesleyproject.htm. I wrote mine completely unaware that this was going on, but its pretty cool. My big brother Andy has rewritten quite a few, as well. He says there's usually two types of Charles Wesley hymns, the "fight song" type and the organ opera that's way too hard to sing.
Here's the problem. Modern songs need a chorus. If you want a congregation to be familiar with a song and sing along, the song needs a catchy, easy-to-sing, memorable repeated section. The biz talk for this is the hook. The song needs a hook. Charles Wesley didn't write hooks, he didn't know what they were. So, you've got to find a line within the song to use as a chorus. "Amazing love, how can it be, that thou my God would die for me?" from And Can it Be that I should Gain, is a great chorus.
Another problem is the language. I don't change the thee's and thou's, I kind of like them. But, some words that rhymed when Charles wrote them, don't rhyme any more. And, the line above is actually shouldst die for me, but who wants to sing the word shouldst?
So, here's a little song list that I've got so far.
Maker In Whom We Live: This is the first one I wrote, and it sounds like it. A regular G, C, D praise song.
Thou Hidden Source of Calm Repose: Never heard this one done in its original form. Probably a reason for that. The backward, Yoda speech of this one called for a reggae beat.
Praise to the Lord the Almighty: Not a Wesley song, but I'm pretty proud of this one because it uses not one, but TWO capos (that's right Mustoe, I did it, two capos) Ask your nearest guitar player what a capo is.
Christ Whose Glory Fills the Skies: A Pearl Jam-y slow rocker, needs a full band and a Ryan McLouth lead guitar line.
Jesus, Thy Boundless Love to Me: #183 in the UMC hymnal, a poem translated by John Wesley who called it the cry of his heart. I like this one.
O Love Divine, What Hast Thou Done: A beautiful song about the passion of Christ. Naturally, I did this one as a blues song.
Christ the Lord is Risen Today: A St. Paul favorite and probably the most complex one. Andy, Ron and Joel sat in the back picking out the Pearl Jam section, the Dave Matthews Band part, the U2 bridge. Impossibly high pitched U2 bridge, why do I write music out of my own range?
Depth of Mercy: A clear Jack Johnson rip-off.
And Can It Be That I Should Gain (Amazing Love): The newest one. Just a classic rock song. Needs a full band to really be appreciated.
O For a Heart to Praise My God: An upbeat bluegrassy tune. Needs slide guitar and Mr. Clayton Peak on banjo. Actually had to write a chorus for this one.
Jesus Thine All Victorious Love: A bluegrass ballad. Screams for a fiddle part.
Jesus, United By Thy Grace: This one's for the boys of Blessed. A complete, exact rip-off of our 8-minute, four-chord jam.
I have some other arrangements of non-Wesley tunes: Holy, Holy, Holy. There's Within My Heart a Melody. Psalm 29. For the Beauty of the Earth.
There are passionate, powerful words in our hymnal. But, the music doesn't exactly speak to my generation. Looking forward to sharing these songs with you whenever I can.
Love, Peace and Rock n' Roll,
Brad
For the past couple of years, I've been writing new tunes to Charles and John Wesley songs from the United Methodist Hymnal. My friend Mark, http://www.stupidityensues.blogspot.com/, found out that this is actually a real thing done by a guy named Carl Thomas Gladstone. Check out http://www.carlthomasgladstone.com/wesleyproject.htm. I wrote mine completely unaware that this was going on, but its pretty cool. My big brother Andy has rewritten quite a few, as well. He says there's usually two types of Charles Wesley hymns, the "fight song" type and the organ opera that's way too hard to sing.
Here's the problem. Modern songs need a chorus. If you want a congregation to be familiar with a song and sing along, the song needs a catchy, easy-to-sing, memorable repeated section. The biz talk for this is the hook. The song needs a hook. Charles Wesley didn't write hooks, he didn't know what they were. So, you've got to find a line within the song to use as a chorus. "Amazing love, how can it be, that thou my God would die for me?" from And Can it Be that I should Gain, is a great chorus.
Another problem is the language. I don't change the thee's and thou's, I kind of like them. But, some words that rhymed when Charles wrote them, don't rhyme any more. And, the line above is actually shouldst die for me, but who wants to sing the word shouldst?
So, here's a little song list that I've got so far.
Maker In Whom We Live: This is the first one I wrote, and it sounds like it. A regular G, C, D praise song.
Thou Hidden Source of Calm Repose: Never heard this one done in its original form. Probably a reason for that. The backward, Yoda speech of this one called for a reggae beat.
Praise to the Lord the Almighty: Not a Wesley song, but I'm pretty proud of this one because it uses not one, but TWO capos (that's right Mustoe, I did it, two capos) Ask your nearest guitar player what a capo is.
Christ Whose Glory Fills the Skies: A Pearl Jam-y slow rocker, needs a full band and a Ryan McLouth lead guitar line.
Jesus, Thy Boundless Love to Me: #183 in the UMC hymnal, a poem translated by John Wesley who called it the cry of his heart. I like this one.
O Love Divine, What Hast Thou Done: A beautiful song about the passion of Christ. Naturally, I did this one as a blues song.
Christ the Lord is Risen Today: A St. Paul favorite and probably the most complex one. Andy, Ron and Joel sat in the back picking out the Pearl Jam section, the Dave Matthews Band part, the U2 bridge. Impossibly high pitched U2 bridge, why do I write music out of my own range?
Depth of Mercy: A clear Jack Johnson rip-off.
And Can It Be That I Should Gain (Amazing Love): The newest one. Just a classic rock song. Needs a full band to really be appreciated.
O For a Heart to Praise My God: An upbeat bluegrassy tune. Needs slide guitar and Mr. Clayton Peak on banjo. Actually had to write a chorus for this one.
Jesus Thine All Victorious Love: A bluegrass ballad. Screams for a fiddle part.
Jesus, United By Thy Grace: This one's for the boys of Blessed. A complete, exact rip-off of our 8-minute, four-chord jam.
I have some other arrangements of non-Wesley tunes: Holy, Holy, Holy. There's Within My Heart a Melody. Psalm 29. For the Beauty of the Earth.
There are passionate, powerful words in our hymnal. But, the music doesn't exactly speak to my generation. Looking forward to sharing these songs with you whenever I can.
Love, Peace and Rock n' Roll,
Brad
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
Shadows
I've spent my life living behind some pretty wide shadows. Not physically wide, of course, my brother can play hide and seek with a 2x4. But, you know what I mean. In two weeks, these shadows come together in what I alternately refer to as the perfect day and the perfect storm, depending on the kind of day I'm having.
The Bryan family is gearing up for our first family reunion in years. And, like all family events, the reunion begins at church. On August 10th, I will be guest preaching at Missouri United Methodist Church in Columbia, MO. Not only will this be the largest congregation to which I preach, but included in this congregation will be Bishop Monk Bryan, Rev. Jim Bryan, and Rev. Andy Bryan. And, since the Bishop Bryan will be in attendance, there's a good chance that the Bishop Schnase will be there.
This is clearly the biggest preaching day of my career. And while my sermon has been written for quite awhile, this is the most nervous I have ever been before any particular proclamation.
Let us dwell in the shadows for just a moment.
It is difficult enough to be a younger child. By virtue of age alone, your older siblings get things done before you. They graduate sooner, get jobs sooner, have children sooner. But, my brother Andy is no ordinary older sibling. An honor student, actually a rediculous honor student that worked hard and loved school. A proficeint musician. A "well-behaved" kid. Just about everything a parent could want in a child. And, a hero. One of the most profound moments of my life is seeing my brother cry after returning from a vacation and learning that his dog, Jackie, had died in the kennel while we were gone. Seeing my Superman break down tore me down. But what I was too young to know then was that my brother, instead of proving himself not a man, was redefining for me what it is to be a man. I actually wrote an essay for english about it called "Does Superman have super-emotions, too?" Sometimes, I can resent my brother. The pride in our parents' face, and specifically Daddy Monk's (that's the Bishop, our grandfather) presence at his ordination service. The collection of communion plates and chalices that mostly come from Grandfather's collection. The fact that Daddy Monk wants Andy to have his old piano even though he already has one. But, always, I love my brother. I am proud to be his brother. And I want him to be proud of me. And, there he'll be on Sunday morning, hearing the word from me.
Then there's Dad. Everything I know about being a man, being a pastor, being a husband (in 300 days), comes from him. Dad is a well-known, well-liked, well-respected elder in the Missouri Conference. A delegate to General and Jurisdictional conference numerous times. Exceptionally successful for a pastor. I live to make him proud. And I'll be preaching from his pulpit in two weeks.
I don't really need to go very deep into explaining why having Monk Bryan for a grandfather can be hard. I'm preaching at his old church, where he is the pastor emeritus. He's been going to Annual Conferences for 90 years, he was bishop of Nebraska. He is HUGE in the United Methodist Church.
So, yeah, little Brad has had a lot of shadows to deal with. I dream of the day that I can introduce myself at Annual Conference as Brad Bryan. Not Andy's brother, or Jim's son. I can't wait to have an interview with the Board of Ordained Ministry (the folks that kind of hold my career in the palms of their hands) that doesn't start with "I knew your Grandfather".
But as I get older, the shadows that seemed to hide me, the one big giant carrot held out before me that it seemed I would never reach, have become the trusses that hold me up, my bulwark never failing. I am not my brother, nor my dad. Although I have learned from them, I am a very different person. And I know that no one expects me to be anybody but myself, but the shadows of legacy will always be there.
Our family has been blessed to be able to be involved in God's work for generations, but I, just like my father, will tell my children that under no circumstances should they become pastors.
I am proud of my family, I am proud to be a part of it. But, I want people to respect me, my gifts, and my call. In two weeks, at my father's current church, my grandfather's former church, with my brother doing music and my grandfather baptizing my sister's son, Braeden, I hope that I can show them, but mainly myself, that I can stand on my own two feet.
Monk, Cornielle, Glenn and Carmen's grandson, Jim and Caryl's baby boy, Andy and Stephanie's little brother, Cori, Wes and Braeden's uncle and Fiona's dad, Bradley James Bryan.
The Bryan family is gearing up for our first family reunion in years. And, like all family events, the reunion begins at church. On August 10th, I will be guest preaching at Missouri United Methodist Church in Columbia, MO. Not only will this be the largest congregation to which I preach, but included in this congregation will be Bishop Monk Bryan, Rev. Jim Bryan, and Rev. Andy Bryan. And, since the Bishop Bryan will be in attendance, there's a good chance that the Bishop Schnase will be there.
This is clearly the biggest preaching day of my career. And while my sermon has been written for quite awhile, this is the most nervous I have ever been before any particular proclamation.
Let us dwell in the shadows for just a moment.
It is difficult enough to be a younger child. By virtue of age alone, your older siblings get things done before you. They graduate sooner, get jobs sooner, have children sooner. But, my brother Andy is no ordinary older sibling. An honor student, actually a rediculous honor student that worked hard and loved school. A proficeint musician. A "well-behaved" kid. Just about everything a parent could want in a child. And, a hero. One of the most profound moments of my life is seeing my brother cry after returning from a vacation and learning that his dog, Jackie, had died in the kennel while we were gone. Seeing my Superman break down tore me down. But what I was too young to know then was that my brother, instead of proving himself not a man, was redefining for me what it is to be a man. I actually wrote an essay for english about it called "Does Superman have super-emotions, too?" Sometimes, I can resent my brother. The pride in our parents' face, and specifically Daddy Monk's (that's the Bishop, our grandfather) presence at his ordination service. The collection of communion plates and chalices that mostly come from Grandfather's collection. The fact that Daddy Monk wants Andy to have his old piano even though he already has one. But, always, I love my brother. I am proud to be his brother. And I want him to be proud of me. And, there he'll be on Sunday morning, hearing the word from me.
Then there's Dad. Everything I know about being a man, being a pastor, being a husband (in 300 days), comes from him. Dad is a well-known, well-liked, well-respected elder in the Missouri Conference. A delegate to General and Jurisdictional conference numerous times. Exceptionally successful for a pastor. I live to make him proud. And I'll be preaching from his pulpit in two weeks.
I don't really need to go very deep into explaining why having Monk Bryan for a grandfather can be hard. I'm preaching at his old church, where he is the pastor emeritus. He's been going to Annual Conferences for 90 years, he was bishop of Nebraska. He is HUGE in the United Methodist Church.
So, yeah, little Brad has had a lot of shadows to deal with. I dream of the day that I can introduce myself at Annual Conference as Brad Bryan. Not Andy's brother, or Jim's son. I can't wait to have an interview with the Board of Ordained Ministry (the folks that kind of hold my career in the palms of their hands) that doesn't start with "I knew your Grandfather".
But as I get older, the shadows that seemed to hide me, the one big giant carrot held out before me that it seemed I would never reach, have become the trusses that hold me up, my bulwark never failing. I am not my brother, nor my dad. Although I have learned from them, I am a very different person. And I know that no one expects me to be anybody but myself, but the shadows of legacy will always be there.
Our family has been blessed to be able to be involved in God's work for generations, but I, just like my father, will tell my children that under no circumstances should they become pastors.
I am proud of my family, I am proud to be a part of it. But, I want people to respect me, my gifts, and my call. In two weeks, at my father's current church, my grandfather's former church, with my brother doing music and my grandfather baptizing my sister's son, Braeden, I hope that I can show them, but mainly myself, that I can stand on my own two feet.
Monk, Cornielle, Glenn and Carmen's grandson, Jim and Caryl's baby boy, Andy and Stephanie's little brother, Cori, Wes and Braeden's uncle and Fiona's dad, Bradley James Bryan.
New Features
Hey guys,
I know its nothing drastic or anything but I've made a few changes to the ol' blog. First, I feel I've lightened up a bit since I started the Bustle, so I'm lightening the color. What do you think?
Also, I have finally put up links to some other blogs. If your name is not Adam and you'd like a link here, just let me know. And finally, I've started the poll of the week feature. I love reading comments. But what's the one negative thing about reading comments? Reading, right. So, each week I'll ask a different question and poll all you wonderful people and then explain why your wrong! For a while, it will be different variations of "Who's the Greatest?" This week, guitar players.
Hope you like it.
BB
I know its nothing drastic or anything but I've made a few changes to the ol' blog. First, I feel I've lightened up a bit since I started the Bustle, so I'm lightening the color. What do you think?
Also, I have finally put up links to some other blogs. If your name is not Adam and you'd like a link here, just let me know. And finally, I've started the poll of the week feature. I love reading comments. But what's the one negative thing about reading comments? Reading, right. So, each week I'll ask a different question and poll all you wonderful people and then explain why your wrong! For a while, it will be different variations of "Who's the Greatest?" This week, guitar players.
Hope you like it.
BB
Friday, July 25, 2008
Curse Words
Alright Mom, I love you, but let's do this.
I curse. I curse around my friends. I curse around my colleagues. And I curse in ranting blogs when my acceptance of the stupidity of our humanity reaches a boiling point.
I don't curse around you, kids, my parishoners and my professional/educational superiors.
There's a button inside that automatically switches off the bad words when certain people are around. So, yes, America, I use curse words. Just like most EVERYONE else. Oh, and any youth group kids that know I have a blog, they curse when we're not around too.
I'm not afraid of people in my churches knowing that I sometimes use these words, I think the percentage of people whose opinion and respect for me as pastor would go down is quite small. But where I agree with my beautiful, wonderful, loving mother and her incessant "mom" comment after a particular lar (long, angry rant) is professionally.
I learned at this Annual Conference that a lot of people read my blog. A lot of people in the ministry life will come over through the link on my big bro's blog. And I've heard the argument that you should treat your online persona-blogs, facebook pages, etc.-as a constant resume and job application.
Well, if Bishop Schnase or any members of the cabinet spend 5 minutes of their day reading my personal, ranting, insignificant thoughts on this hard-to-find, purposely-misspelled drop in the ocean of the blogosphere, then welcome. This is who I am. Sometimes I use extreme language when my feelings on a certain subject are extreme. AND if they do stop by and see the occasional curse word or insult thrown Bill O'Reilly's way and it has a negative effect on my career, then...well...I don't want to be something I'm not to get a job. (hmm, that sounds like another l.a.r. directed at the UMC, making people be something they aren't so they serve in ministry!)
So yeah, I curse. Not in conversation. Not for no reason. I curse when I'm mad, frustrated or in pain. Like a human. And when people are being stupid, petty, greedy and selfish my language can get judgemental. Like a human.
Mother, I love you so very much. I live to make you proud. And I never want you to stop "mothering" me about my taxes and language and eating habits. But, maybe if you could stop doing it on the comments page for all my friends to read!!
Human...being,
Brad
I curse. I curse around my friends. I curse around my colleagues. And I curse in ranting blogs when my acceptance of the stupidity of our humanity reaches a boiling point.
I don't curse around you, kids, my parishoners and my professional/educational superiors.
There's a button inside that automatically switches off the bad words when certain people are around. So, yes, America, I use curse words. Just like most EVERYONE else. Oh, and any youth group kids that know I have a blog, they curse when we're not around too.
I'm not afraid of people in my churches knowing that I sometimes use these words, I think the percentage of people whose opinion and respect for me as pastor would go down is quite small. But where I agree with my beautiful, wonderful, loving mother and her incessant "mom" comment after a particular lar (long, angry rant) is professionally.
I learned at this Annual Conference that a lot of people read my blog. A lot of people in the ministry life will come over through the link on my big bro's blog. And I've heard the argument that you should treat your online persona-blogs, facebook pages, etc.-as a constant resume and job application.
Well, if Bishop Schnase or any members of the cabinet spend 5 minutes of their day reading my personal, ranting, insignificant thoughts on this hard-to-find, purposely-misspelled drop in the ocean of the blogosphere, then welcome. This is who I am. Sometimes I use extreme language when my feelings on a certain subject are extreme. AND if they do stop by and see the occasional curse word or insult thrown Bill O'Reilly's way and it has a negative effect on my career, then...well...I don't want to be something I'm not to get a job. (hmm, that sounds like another l.a.r. directed at the UMC, making people be something they aren't so they serve in ministry!)
So yeah, I curse. Not in conversation. Not for no reason. I curse when I'm mad, frustrated or in pain. Like a human. And when people are being stupid, petty, greedy and selfish my language can get judgemental. Like a human.
Mother, I love you so very much. I live to make you proud. And I never want you to stop "mothering" me about my taxes and language and eating habits. But, maybe if you could stop doing it on the comments page for all my friends to read!!
Human...being,
Brad
Thursday, July 24, 2008
Are You Ready for Some...Whiny, Spoiled, Overpayed, Greedy, Selfish Grown Men Acting Like Babies
Well, football fans, its that time of year once again. Our favorite teams are going back to work, getting ready to bring us quality football for another season. And then there's Devon Hestor, Chad Johnson, Plaxico Burress and other NFL players who are refusing to show up for team practices until they get more money in their contract.
In what fantasy world does this work. How do they not just get fired? This isn't a union, by the way, they aren't striking. They are unhappy with the contract THEY SIGNED and are holding out for more money. Any other job in the world, the boss would say, "alright, see ya, good luck."
These grown men, these professional athletes who get paid for playing a game better than the rest of us, just are satisfied with the millions of dollars they recieve for running fast and catching balls. They want more millions. They are greedy, selfish a-holes. Excuse me.
Hey, NFL contract hold-outs, you look rediculous. You're acting like babies. Shut the frack up and play football.
What if our doctors wouldn't operate until they got more money? And, on the other side of that same coin, they are so many more deserving people who SHOULD not go to work until they get more money: teachers, police and firefighters, soldiers, the men and women who build our roads, maintain our bridges.
These men aren't just playing their fiddles while the world is burning, they want gold-plated strings.
So, you whiny little brats, shut your mouths, take your millions, thank your gift horses, go to practice and PLAY!
I love football,
BB
In what fantasy world does this work. How do they not just get fired? This isn't a union, by the way, they aren't striking. They are unhappy with the contract THEY SIGNED and are holding out for more money. Any other job in the world, the boss would say, "alright, see ya, good luck."
These grown men, these professional athletes who get paid for playing a game better than the rest of us, just are satisfied with the millions of dollars they recieve for running fast and catching balls. They want more millions. They are greedy, selfish a-holes. Excuse me.
Hey, NFL contract hold-outs, you look rediculous. You're acting like babies. Shut the frack up and play football.
What if our doctors wouldn't operate until they got more money? And, on the other side of that same coin, they are so many more deserving people who SHOULD not go to work until they get more money: teachers, police and firefighters, soldiers, the men and women who build our roads, maintain our bridges.
These men aren't just playing their fiddles while the world is burning, they want gold-plated strings.
So, you whiny little brats, shut your mouths, take your millions, thank your gift horses, go to practice and PLAY!
I love football,
BB
Monday, July 21, 2008
Camp Jo-Ota 2008/Batman Review
The extreme lameness of this post title is due to the myriad of possible titles floating through my head: "There's Still Mud in My Ears", "I Wanna Be like Mike", "Everything I Ever Needed to Know I Learned from a 12-yr-old named Kody", "The Most Exhausting Week of My Life", "B-Rad Jeezy", "Best Batman? Try Best Superhero Movie Ever", "Yeah, That's Right. Batman has Sonar Now". All equally potential titles.
So, first for camp. Thanks to Abby for asking me to be a counselor; it was a great week. Here's some highlights. Crazy Kickball/Mudpit night was thursday. First base: a bucket of water to dunk your head in. Second: a tarp full of cooked spaghetti, baked beans, chocolate and vanilla pudding with a mandatory slide rule. Third: A kiddie pool full of shaving cream. And home: the classic slip and slide. Awesome stuff. Still waiting for the sliding into home picture of me from Abby! Then we went to play around in the giant mud pit, tried to play some actual games but the communication skills of Sarge were, shall we say, lacking a bit, so we just had a free-for-all. The sight of our not-too-small everyjobman Donnie running at me through the mud is the scariest thing I've ever seen.
And then there was Mike. The 20-yr-old male model counselor whose only job was to make us chubby musically talented, movie geek counselors feel bad about themselves. Adam Fears and I gave him a pretty hard time all week, but it is out of pure jealousy. BUT THEN, when I said I could look like that by next summer Mike said, and I quote, "That's impossible." I request, Abby, that you have me back next year just to prove him wrong!
The conversations that 12 year old boys have late at night or in cabin time are simply astounding. We had politics, McCain vs. Obama, the true cause of the war in Iraq, how many of them had officially "made-out". But, especially enlightening was Kody. Ah, Kody. Kody is an expert on the origins of things like hotdogs (stolen from a guy in Italy and sold in front of Yankee stadium), an aspiring entomologist (the pegasus beetle has a horn like a unicorn) and a fishing pro (if you curve your hand into the water to mimic a feeding frenzy, the fish will come flocking). Thank you, Kody.
I'm still tired. I'm still sore from wrestling and throwing kids in the pool (sometimes six at a time) But it really was a wonderful week.
And now, to the main event. The Dark Knight. I'm going to talk about everything here, so if you care, read it after you've seen it. This is not only the best Batman ever, it is the best superhero movie ever made. Its dark, its powerful and its entertaining. Some reasons its the best ever? Sure. Batman's tougher than ever. He gets a new suit so he can turn his head and actually fight without the awkward turn-with-your-whole-upper-body moves of past Batman. He has freakin' sonar vision in his suit...redunkulous.
And then there's the Joker. The creepiest villian since lector and the best villian since Darth Vader. In one opening scene he says, "how 'bout a magic trick?" He sticks a pencil into the table and says he's going to make it disappear. When a thug comes up and tries to front on 'im, the Joker takes the guys neck and throws his head into the table, effectively making the pencil disappear into the guys face! Holy crap! The way he licks his lips, that voice, the way we never really know the real way he got those scars. Ew, creepy.
Other reasons: the damsel in distress gets blown to pieces, the final main fight is between Batman and the swat team not the Joker. And the questions! Can we be good in an evil world? Did Batman inspire good or inspire madness? Do we die a hero or live long enough to see ourselves become the villian? If given an impossible choice, what would we do? Does a hero have to play by the villian's rules to ever be victorious? Unbelievable. Batman, Joker, Two-Face, Rachael, Alfred, Comissioner Gordon, everyone was brilliant. Clearly, Heath should get the Oscar. His voice, his lip-licking tic, his eyes. Greatest bad guy performance in any movie...ever!
I've seen it twice already and it only gets better.
Well, there's an update from the summer of Brad. Coming up: family reunion, Lindsey's b-day, Jack Johnson.
Peace, B
So, first for camp. Thanks to Abby for asking me to be a counselor; it was a great week. Here's some highlights. Crazy Kickball/Mudpit night was thursday. First base: a bucket of water to dunk your head in. Second: a tarp full of cooked spaghetti, baked beans, chocolate and vanilla pudding with a mandatory slide rule. Third: A kiddie pool full of shaving cream. And home: the classic slip and slide. Awesome stuff. Still waiting for the sliding into home picture of me from Abby! Then we went to play around in the giant mud pit, tried to play some actual games but the communication skills of Sarge were, shall we say, lacking a bit, so we just had a free-for-all. The sight of our not-too-small everyjobman Donnie running at me through the mud is the scariest thing I've ever seen.
And then there was Mike. The 20-yr-old male model counselor whose only job was to make us chubby musically talented, movie geek counselors feel bad about themselves. Adam Fears and I gave him a pretty hard time all week, but it is out of pure jealousy. BUT THEN, when I said I could look like that by next summer Mike said, and I quote, "That's impossible." I request, Abby, that you have me back next year just to prove him wrong!
The conversations that 12 year old boys have late at night or in cabin time are simply astounding. We had politics, McCain vs. Obama, the true cause of the war in Iraq, how many of them had officially "made-out". But, especially enlightening was Kody. Ah, Kody. Kody is an expert on the origins of things like hotdogs (stolen from a guy in Italy and sold in front of Yankee stadium), an aspiring entomologist (the pegasus beetle has a horn like a unicorn) and a fishing pro (if you curve your hand into the water to mimic a feeding frenzy, the fish will come flocking). Thank you, Kody.
I'm still tired. I'm still sore from wrestling and throwing kids in the pool (sometimes six at a time) But it really was a wonderful week.
And now, to the main event. The Dark Knight. I'm going to talk about everything here, so if you care, read it after you've seen it. This is not only the best Batman ever, it is the best superhero movie ever made. Its dark, its powerful and its entertaining. Some reasons its the best ever? Sure. Batman's tougher than ever. He gets a new suit so he can turn his head and actually fight without the awkward turn-with-your-whole-upper-body moves of past Batman. He has freakin' sonar vision in his suit...redunkulous.
And then there's the Joker. The creepiest villian since lector and the best villian since Darth Vader. In one opening scene he says, "how 'bout a magic trick?" He sticks a pencil into the table and says he's going to make it disappear. When a thug comes up and tries to front on 'im, the Joker takes the guys neck and throws his head into the table, effectively making the pencil disappear into the guys face! Holy crap! The way he licks his lips, that voice, the way we never really know the real way he got those scars. Ew, creepy.
Other reasons: the damsel in distress gets blown to pieces, the final main fight is between Batman and the swat team not the Joker. And the questions! Can we be good in an evil world? Did Batman inspire good or inspire madness? Do we die a hero or live long enough to see ourselves become the villian? If given an impossible choice, what would we do? Does a hero have to play by the villian's rules to ever be victorious? Unbelievable. Batman, Joker, Two-Face, Rachael, Alfred, Comissioner Gordon, everyone was brilliant. Clearly, Heath should get the Oscar. His voice, his lip-licking tic, his eyes. Greatest bad guy performance in any movie...ever!
I've seen it twice already and it only gets better.
Well, there's an update from the summer of Brad. Coming up: family reunion, Lindsey's b-day, Jack Johnson.
Peace, B
Thursday, July 10, 2008
Come To My Window
Dear Melissa Etheridge,
I must begin by saying that I'm not really fan. It's no big deal; your stuff just isn't my stuff. But your obviously a brilliant song writer and seem like a great person. I want to talk to you about something you said in your Rolling Stone interview last month. I want to talk about it because in one sentence you rejected and affirmed everything I'm trying to do with my life. And I quote, "Religion is an oppresive form of crowd control, but what I understand now is the idea that we are all one, that we come from this one higher consciousness and that we are here to create the kingdom of heaven on Earth." You can probably guess what I'm going to say: I agree with the latter and reject the former.
Ms. Etheridge, I am an United Methodist pastor, a representative of religion, and I must apologize for the ways religion has been used in the past. Religion, as I understand it, is simply the search for a connection between humankind and the rest of creation to the divine. So, whatever, however, wherever, one connects to the divine, that's religion. And, again in my understanding, creating the kingdom of heaven on Earth is exactly what religion should be doing.
Your faithful friend,
Brad Bryan
I'm tired, my friends. Tired of the way secular society sees us. Tired of how Christians are portrayed in the media, tired of how Christians portray themselves on the street. This Melissa Etheride thing is really only the last straw. I first watched an episode of 30 Days that housed an Evangelical, anti-gay rights mother with a gay couple that had two adopted kids. While the gay couple seemed intelligent, open-minded and compassionate, the "good Christian woman" who wouldn't be moved or changed in any way seemed like an ignorant, hate-filled bigot. Since then, I've been watching the tv shows for portrayals of Christians and Christianity. We have Robertson of the 700 Club, we have John Hagee who says "God caused the Holocaust" (WHAT?!), Obama's former pastor with "God Damn America" from the pulpit. Last night on Nightline they interviewed a faith healer. A faith healer! What century is this? I'm not going to put a limit on how God works, or through whom, but as I listened to this man scream at me, scream, that Jesus wants me, I thought "this guy?"
Message to the secular world, those people who happen not to go to church, NOT ALL CHRISTIANS ARE CRAZY! Not all of us are hateful, ignorant, arrogant, spoiled brats. Yes, about half of us are against civil rights for homosexual people. But, that means half of us are for them! And even those people that I know who hold opposite positions than I on the subject, they don't object from a place of hate, they aren't hateful, bad people. Misguided and a little naive maybe, but not hateful.
In fact, Ms. Etheridge and the rest of you with a negative opinion of Christians, most of us are quite normal; intelligent, free-thinking, hard-working, fun-loving normal people. Like everyone else, we are trying to find our way in this world and through this live and we just happen to find meaning and purpose, love, hope and peace in the life and teaching of Jesus. I am sorry for the hateful and hurtful words and behaviors of some of my brothers and sisters in Christ. I am sorry for how we have represented our tradition. I am sorry for people like Robertson, Falwell and Hagee who say things that are, frankly, just stupid.
And to all my normal Christian friends out there, stand up and be counted. People are laughing at us. The people we are supposed to be reaching. Stand up! Anyone who doesn't have all the answers, stand up. Anyone who's just trying to figure out why we're here, stand up. Anyone who knows that reading Harry Potter does not, in fact, turn children into witches and wizards, stand up.
It is time, brothers and sisters, to take Christianity back from the crazy people.
Love, peace, rock n' roll, Brad
I must begin by saying that I'm not really fan. It's no big deal; your stuff just isn't my stuff. But your obviously a brilliant song writer and seem like a great person. I want to talk to you about something you said in your Rolling Stone interview last month. I want to talk about it because in one sentence you rejected and affirmed everything I'm trying to do with my life. And I quote, "Religion is an oppresive form of crowd control, but what I understand now is the idea that we are all one, that we come from this one higher consciousness and that we are here to create the kingdom of heaven on Earth." You can probably guess what I'm going to say: I agree with the latter and reject the former.
Ms. Etheridge, I am an United Methodist pastor, a representative of religion, and I must apologize for the ways religion has been used in the past. Religion, as I understand it, is simply the search for a connection between humankind and the rest of creation to the divine. So, whatever, however, wherever, one connects to the divine, that's religion. And, again in my understanding, creating the kingdom of heaven on Earth is exactly what religion should be doing.
Your faithful friend,
Brad Bryan
I'm tired, my friends. Tired of the way secular society sees us. Tired of how Christians are portrayed in the media, tired of how Christians portray themselves on the street. This Melissa Etheride thing is really only the last straw. I first watched an episode of 30 Days that housed an Evangelical, anti-gay rights mother with a gay couple that had two adopted kids. While the gay couple seemed intelligent, open-minded and compassionate, the "good Christian woman" who wouldn't be moved or changed in any way seemed like an ignorant, hate-filled bigot. Since then, I've been watching the tv shows for portrayals of Christians and Christianity. We have Robertson of the 700 Club, we have John Hagee who says "God caused the Holocaust" (WHAT?!), Obama's former pastor with "God Damn America" from the pulpit. Last night on Nightline they interviewed a faith healer. A faith healer! What century is this? I'm not going to put a limit on how God works, or through whom, but as I listened to this man scream at me, scream, that Jesus wants me, I thought "this guy?"
Message to the secular world, those people who happen not to go to church, NOT ALL CHRISTIANS ARE CRAZY! Not all of us are hateful, ignorant, arrogant, spoiled brats. Yes, about half of us are against civil rights for homosexual people. But, that means half of us are for them! And even those people that I know who hold opposite positions than I on the subject, they don't object from a place of hate, they aren't hateful, bad people. Misguided and a little naive maybe, but not hateful.
In fact, Ms. Etheridge and the rest of you with a negative opinion of Christians, most of us are quite normal; intelligent, free-thinking, hard-working, fun-loving normal people. Like everyone else, we are trying to find our way in this world and through this live and we just happen to find meaning and purpose, love, hope and peace in the life and teaching of Jesus. I am sorry for the hateful and hurtful words and behaviors of some of my brothers and sisters in Christ. I am sorry for how we have represented our tradition. I am sorry for people like Robertson, Falwell and Hagee who say things that are, frankly, just stupid.
And to all my normal Christian friends out there, stand up and be counted. People are laughing at us. The people we are supposed to be reaching. Stand up! Anyone who doesn't have all the answers, stand up. Anyone who's just trying to figure out why we're here, stand up. Anyone who knows that reading Harry Potter does not, in fact, turn children into witches and wizards, stand up.
It is time, brothers and sisters, to take Christianity back from the crazy people.
Love, peace, rock n' roll, Brad
Tuesday, July 08, 2008
Annual Conference 2008
So, I've spent a full month reflecting on the 2008 session of the Missouri Annual Conference. The following few paragraphs are quite simply those reflections poured out into the blogosphere.
I first want to say a few words about the logistics of Annual Conference. We need to decide if the AC is a business meeting or an educational opportunity. Because attempting to make it both takes away from both. I am of the opinion that the AC should be strictly business and that we should strengthen minister's school which is supposed to be our educational opportunity. I admit that the planners and facilitators of AC have probably the hardest job in the state. But, the Conference should take the responsibility to make Minister's School a stronger and more productive time and stop trying to make AC be Minister's school. (Some of this has to do with not bookending Minister's School with other conference board meetings so that no one cares or has the energy for learning together)
OK, that's it for the logistics. Now for a little deeper reflection.
The question is not, my friends, "And Are We Yet Alive?" The question has become, "What Are We Living For?" Are we living to save the institution and corporation of the United Methodist Church? Or, are we living to serve the mission of God? Um, I'm going to go ahead and not answer that question; just putting it out there. Seriously, what are we, the United Methodist Church, living for?
I also learned that a lot of people read this blog; more people than I thought. Most of those people find me through Andy's blog I'm sure. So, Andy, I'd like this blog to reach some people. Perhaps you can link 'em my way. Thanks for reading, folks. I'm going to try and keep a more regular and meaningful blogging schedule.
I also learned that Matt Miofsky is my new hero. Matt, I was one of those people who was sick of hearing your name, talking about your church at every District and Conference event, seeing your picture in every issue of the Reporter. But then you go and do something like this...and TOTALLY REDEEM YOURSELF. No formulas, no magic secrets, no books. Just community. Just culturally, personally, scripturally, ethically, spiritually relevant worship. But the best, nay the most profound, thing you said and I quote "We're doing fine with the new wineskins, but what is the new wine we are offering?" Fantastic. Amen. So say we all.
Staying with the theme of young adult pastors that I had at one point been tired of hearing about and now have an unmatched respect for: what Emmanuel Cleaver III did with the hip-hop worship service is EXACTLY my vision for a rock and roll worship service. The pillars of hip-hop around which the service is built, the culture to which it speaks, all of that can be done in the rock community. Electric guitars, tatoos, slam-dancing, its all the rock culture and needs to be spoken to by the church.
While I stand with my brother on the overall theme, attitude and success of this year's Annual Conference (the theme of "you guys suck and why can't you do it like this") I am trying to stay more positive, so I want to talk about the best thing of the weekend. If we needed any proof that EVERYTHING we know about church is wrong and EVERYTHING we're doing is on the wrong path, it was the choir of orphans from Uganda that sang and danced for us and shared their overflowing joy. First of all, the choir started BEFORE the actual session started so a lot of people missed it. But as they were singing and dancing and telling their stories, I turned to my brother and said those words, "Everything we're doing is wrong." When's the last time you were joyous in worship? Or joyous anywhere? Thank you, Thank you, Thank you, my brothers and sisters in Christ for opening your souls to us and opening my eyes to my own.
The best and holiest conferencing that happened: in the back, conversing with my friends, Joel Kidwell, Michael Dunlap, Richard Fine, Dennis Harper, EC3, David Hutchison and all the others. Thanks for sharing your time with me.
What are we living for? Are we living for the survival of the institution of the United Methodist Church? Are we growing because if we don't we'll die? Or are we living to simply serve the mission of God in this world, EVEN IF, that mission means the death of the denomination?
What good is a man who won't take a stand, what good is a cynic with no better plan? I believe there's a better way.
Brad
ps; to whom it may concern, can we PLEASE not have some megachurches anonymous boring praise band play our opening worship? And can we PLEASE have more worship? My better plan...uh...ME! I'll play, I'll play, I'll play.
I first want to say a few words about the logistics of Annual Conference. We need to decide if the AC is a business meeting or an educational opportunity. Because attempting to make it both takes away from both. I am of the opinion that the AC should be strictly business and that we should strengthen minister's school which is supposed to be our educational opportunity. I admit that the planners and facilitators of AC have probably the hardest job in the state. But, the Conference should take the responsibility to make Minister's School a stronger and more productive time and stop trying to make AC be Minister's school. (Some of this has to do with not bookending Minister's School with other conference board meetings so that no one cares or has the energy for learning together)
OK, that's it for the logistics. Now for a little deeper reflection.
The question is not, my friends, "And Are We Yet Alive?" The question has become, "What Are We Living For?" Are we living to save the institution and corporation of the United Methodist Church? Or, are we living to serve the mission of God? Um, I'm going to go ahead and not answer that question; just putting it out there. Seriously, what are we, the United Methodist Church, living for?
I also learned that a lot of people read this blog; more people than I thought. Most of those people find me through Andy's blog I'm sure. So, Andy, I'd like this blog to reach some people. Perhaps you can link 'em my way. Thanks for reading, folks. I'm going to try and keep a more regular and meaningful blogging schedule.
I also learned that Matt Miofsky is my new hero. Matt, I was one of those people who was sick of hearing your name, talking about your church at every District and Conference event, seeing your picture in every issue of the Reporter. But then you go and do something like this...and TOTALLY REDEEM YOURSELF. No formulas, no magic secrets, no books. Just community. Just culturally, personally, scripturally, ethically, spiritually relevant worship. But the best, nay the most profound, thing you said and I quote "We're doing fine with the new wineskins, but what is the new wine we are offering?" Fantastic. Amen. So say we all.
Staying with the theme of young adult pastors that I had at one point been tired of hearing about and now have an unmatched respect for: what Emmanuel Cleaver III did with the hip-hop worship service is EXACTLY my vision for a rock and roll worship service. The pillars of hip-hop around which the service is built, the culture to which it speaks, all of that can be done in the rock community. Electric guitars, tatoos, slam-dancing, its all the rock culture and needs to be spoken to by the church.
While I stand with my brother on the overall theme, attitude and success of this year's Annual Conference (the theme of "you guys suck and why can't you do it like this") I am trying to stay more positive, so I want to talk about the best thing of the weekend. If we needed any proof that EVERYTHING we know about church is wrong and EVERYTHING we're doing is on the wrong path, it was the choir of orphans from Uganda that sang and danced for us and shared their overflowing joy. First of all, the choir started BEFORE the actual session started so a lot of people missed it. But as they were singing and dancing and telling their stories, I turned to my brother and said those words, "Everything we're doing is wrong." When's the last time you were joyous in worship? Or joyous anywhere? Thank you, Thank you, Thank you, my brothers and sisters in Christ for opening your souls to us and opening my eyes to my own.
The best and holiest conferencing that happened: in the back, conversing with my friends, Joel Kidwell, Michael Dunlap, Richard Fine, Dennis Harper, EC3, David Hutchison and all the others. Thanks for sharing your time with me.
What are we living for? Are we living for the survival of the institution of the United Methodist Church? Are we growing because if we don't we'll die? Or are we living to simply serve the mission of God in this world, EVEN IF, that mission means the death of the denomination?
What good is a man who won't take a stand, what good is a cynic with no better plan? I believe there's a better way.
Brad
ps; to whom it may concern, can we PLEASE not have some megachurches anonymous boring praise band play our opening worship? And can we PLEASE have more worship? My better plan...uh...ME! I'll play, I'll play, I'll play.
Friday, June 27, 2008
At the Movies
I just know that the world is dying to know all of my wonderful ideas about recent motion picture activities so here goes.
We're gonna focus on three movies, Indy, the Hulk, and Iron Man, and I am going to talk about the endings so, if you care read on, my friend.
First, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. Eh. It's alright, not great. Here's the thing. Harrison Ford was awesome, Indy's back. It's Speilberg and Lucas that screwed the pooch on this one. The writing, Lucas, wasn't great. Plot, eh. And the directing, Speilberg, too much computer. What was great about the first movies was that when Indy was being dragged behind a truck, Indy was being dragged behind a truck! And now there's sword fights straddling two jeeps and some weird Tarzan moment swinging through the trees with the monkies, both clearly CGI. And, do I really need to talk about the aliens and the UFO? I know, I've done my research, those elongated skulls are a real thing in a real tomb in Mexico somewhere. But, come on, do we really need to see the UFO take off? This isn't Close Encounters, Stevie! This is Indy, stunts, sarcasm, Nazis. I figured it out: Indy's One and Three, Dr. Jones is looking for the Ark of the Covenant and the Holy Grail, respectively. Indy's Two and Four, Sankara stones and the crystal skull...uh...who cares.
Now, the Incredible Hulk. Oh, Hulk, I don't know big guy. I just don't think you're a leading role. Now, the last 20 minutes, the fight between the TWO hulks, un-freakin'-believable. But, the whole rest of it. Eh. Again, it was good, it was a fine movie. Not great. But, can we please talk about the ending?!?!?! At the very end, as a kind of coda, none other than Tony Stark (Ironman) walks in to the bar and tells the general, "What if I told you we're putting a team together?" What?! A team!! Whose team, what team? Are the Hulk and Iron Man making a movie? Are there more Marvel characters joining this team? Next summer, will there be an Iron Man, Hulk, Wolverine, Fantastic Four, Daredevil, Elektra, and Spiderman movie!!!!?????? Oh the possibilities. I'm salavating.
Oh yeah, and Iron Man!! Awesome. Just awesome. Like my brother said, there's not one once of estrogen in the entire film. To which I said, I know, I thought it was awesome too! Robert Downey Jr. is perfect. Jeff Bridges (the dude abides) is perfect. Terrance Howard and Gweneth, flawless as always. You know why Iron man and Batman are my favorites? They have no powers! Uh, Superman is an alien people, how fair is that? Iron man and Batman are just smart, and rich, with an attitude. And Iron Man, the movie, was rediculous. Awesome, awesome stuff.
Well, that's it. Two "eh"s and one "heck yes". Had a good weekend at the Mustoe's wedding and having fun/stressing out getting ours in order. Lots of things are falling into place, and we are saving a lot of money in a lot of areas, but it is still astounding to me how much money is invovled in this day. Its like people sit around and only think about how they can take your money. People are starving around the world, but we have to pay the caterer A DOLLAR PER FORK!! Uh, no thanks, next please. But, we're having fun and its endlessly exciting.
Hang in there, Dru. Hang in there, Melody. Congrats and good luck, Andy. Congrats and good luck, Mustoes.
Peace, BB
We're gonna focus on three movies, Indy, the Hulk, and Iron Man, and I am going to talk about the endings so, if you care read on, my friend.
First, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. Eh. It's alright, not great. Here's the thing. Harrison Ford was awesome, Indy's back. It's Speilberg and Lucas that screwed the pooch on this one. The writing, Lucas, wasn't great. Plot, eh. And the directing, Speilberg, too much computer. What was great about the first movies was that when Indy was being dragged behind a truck, Indy was being dragged behind a truck! And now there's sword fights straddling two jeeps and some weird Tarzan moment swinging through the trees with the monkies, both clearly CGI. And, do I really need to talk about the aliens and the UFO? I know, I've done my research, those elongated skulls are a real thing in a real tomb in Mexico somewhere. But, come on, do we really need to see the UFO take off? This isn't Close Encounters, Stevie! This is Indy, stunts, sarcasm, Nazis. I figured it out: Indy's One and Three, Dr. Jones is looking for the Ark of the Covenant and the Holy Grail, respectively. Indy's Two and Four, Sankara stones and the crystal skull...uh...who cares.
Now, the Incredible Hulk. Oh, Hulk, I don't know big guy. I just don't think you're a leading role. Now, the last 20 minutes, the fight between the TWO hulks, un-freakin'-believable. But, the whole rest of it. Eh. Again, it was good, it was a fine movie. Not great. But, can we please talk about the ending?!?!?! At the very end, as a kind of coda, none other than Tony Stark (Ironman) walks in to the bar and tells the general, "What if I told you we're putting a team together?" What?! A team!! Whose team, what team? Are the Hulk and Iron Man making a movie? Are there more Marvel characters joining this team? Next summer, will there be an Iron Man, Hulk, Wolverine, Fantastic Four, Daredevil, Elektra, and Spiderman movie!!!!?????? Oh the possibilities. I'm salavating.
Oh yeah, and Iron Man!! Awesome. Just awesome. Like my brother said, there's not one once of estrogen in the entire film. To which I said, I know, I thought it was awesome too! Robert Downey Jr. is perfect. Jeff Bridges (the dude abides) is perfect. Terrance Howard and Gweneth, flawless as always. You know why Iron man and Batman are my favorites? They have no powers! Uh, Superman is an alien people, how fair is that? Iron man and Batman are just smart, and rich, with an attitude. And Iron Man, the movie, was rediculous. Awesome, awesome stuff.
Well, that's it. Two "eh"s and one "heck yes". Had a good weekend at the Mustoe's wedding and having fun/stressing out getting ours in order. Lots of things are falling into place, and we are saving a lot of money in a lot of areas, but it is still astounding to me how much money is invovled in this day. Its like people sit around and only think about how they can take your money. People are starving around the world, but we have to pay the caterer A DOLLAR PER FORK!! Uh, no thanks, next please. But, we're having fun and its endlessly exciting.
Hang in there, Dru. Hang in there, Melody. Congrats and good luck, Andy. Congrats and good luck, Mustoes.
Peace, BB
Sunday, June 15, 2008
For Melody
Psalm 121
I lift my eyes to the hills-
From where does my help come?
My help comes from the Lord,
who made heaven and earth.
God will not let your foot be moved;
God who keeps you will not slumber.
God who keeps Israel
Will neither slumber nor sleep.
The Lord is your keeper;
The Lord is you shade at your right hand.
The sun shall not strike you by day,
Nor the moon by night.
The Lord will keep you from all evil;
God will keep your life.
The Lord will keep your going out and your coming in
from this time on and forevermore.
Peace, Courage, Strength. I love you, Brad
I lift my eyes to the hills-
From where does my help come?
My help comes from the Lord,
who made heaven and earth.
God will not let your foot be moved;
God who keeps you will not slumber.
God who keeps Israel
Will neither slumber nor sleep.
The Lord is your keeper;
The Lord is you shade at your right hand.
The sun shall not strike you by day,
Nor the moon by night.
The Lord will keep you from all evil;
God will keep your life.
The Lord will keep your going out and your coming in
from this time on and forevermore.
Peace, Courage, Strength. I love you, Brad
Saturday, May 31, 2008
1600 Miles, 12000 ft Elevation, 1 Diamond Ring
Well, friends, vacation '08 has come and gone, and I think you could call it a success.
The Drive:
Normally, I wouldn't include the details of the mind-numbing, not to mention butt-numbing, drive across the vast wasteland of Kansas. Lindsey and I set off from KC to Limon, CO after church on Sunday and, on the way, experienced the most exciting thing Kansas has to offer-tornados. You know that storm that destroyed towns in Iowa last week? Well, we drove through it. Even pulled off the road and parked under a bridge, because that's what all the cars with KS plates were doing. Under the bridge, we were aided by a nice and nervous young KS man who really took us under his wing, updating us about the status of the tornado, scaring the heck out of us with his nervous energy, telling Lindsey to "put the notebook down 'cause hell on earth is coming our way", and then relaying that his Mom said if we were driving west we'd be ok. We did, and we were
Day One:
Thanks to Mom and Dad for the recommendation of Grand Lake, CO for our pre-National Park day. Ignoring that suggestion, we instead decided upon Winter Park, which, as it turns out, is pretty much dead when the ski resort closes. The locals call this time of year "mud season", which is aptly named, but to us it was "cheap and private season." We had the Vintage Hotel, the resort hotel of Winter Park, absolutely all to ourselves. Nobody even at the desk. Highlights: Hernando's Pizza with over 20,000 dollar bills with messages written on them taped to the walls and tables and great pizza. Then, drinks and cigars in the outdoor hot tub as the cold rain sprinkled our heads. Oh, and a very informative sign on our hike that explained, complete with bronzed representations, the difference between moose, elk and deer scat (poop).
Day Two:
Into the wild. Instead of going around, we went to our campsite at Moraine Park campground in Rocky Mountain National Park, by taking the highway through the park and over the pass. It was a wonderful drive, complete with an up close, safe-in-car, sighting of a young bull moose and plenty of elk. We wound our way through the park, up to the continental divide and back down. We were driving through clouds for a while and then we broke through and could see most of the CO part of the range from the top. This is when we started to realize that in May, there's still A LOT of snow on the ground in the mountains. We got to our campsite, set up Andy's "no-trick-to-it" tent, finding out that the only trick was that it takes four adults to set up the thing easily. We had a perfect site, across from bathrooms but behind rocks as to hide us from other campers and back up against a valley that was full of elk. Elk 20-30 feet away. Well, that night was cold, a little wet, and cloudy. But we had a fire, the best one I've ever built by the way, cooked s'mores, played guitar, went to bed covered head to toe in sweatshirts, pants, socks, stocking hats and gloves. I have to say that through all of this, Lindsey was awesome. I love camping, and even I was pretty miserable. It was too cold. But she was a trooper.
Day Three:
I woke up on the ground. I went to sleep on an air matress. Aparently, 225lbs is the limit for this thing. To start our first full day in the park, we went to Estes Park for breakfast, shared an awesome omlet, brushed our teeth and washed our faces with a group of Korean vacationers in the McD's bathroom. Then we went to Bear Lake trailhead, where we spent most of the day. I can't really explain hiking across mounds of snow, but where it wasn't snow-covered the path was muddy from melt. But it was a beautiful morning, Bear Lake was gorgeous. We hiked to Alberta Falls, Nymph Lake and Dream Lake. This part of the park really could be the most beautiful place on earth. Dream Lake has a tree on the bank that is bent in such a way that it is the perfect chair and we spent a lot of time there. For those of you who know, we couldn't go to Emerald Lake because the entire trail was covered in snow and we couldn't even find it. As we got back to our camp, we made the difficult decision to not camp another night. FYI, Lindsey didn't wuss out, it was my suggestion. Rain was coming, I didn't want to wake up feeling fat on the deflated air matress again, and it was just too cold. So, we went back to Estes and got a little cabin. That night we enjoyed White Russians (THE DUDE ABIDES) and silver casserole, a dish introduced to me by my father of hamburger patties with carrots, potatoes and onions all wrapped up in foil (silver) and thrown on the fire. It was a wonderful night and we definately made the right choice.
Day Four:
And now, the moment you've all been waiting for. We decided to hike to Bierstadt Lake in the morning, partly because it's called Beer Place and partly because I'd been there before and knew how beautiful it was. The hike was 1.2 miles, not a bad haul, but in those 1.2 miles we climbed 650 feet in elevation. Exhausted, we reached the top and took the wrong fork in the trial "around the lake". We figured that it would be around the banks of the lake, but it wasn't. Finally, we found the trail to the waters edge, broke through the trees and were standing 25 yards from a cow moose standing in the lake and walking toward us. We were awed and amazed by the closeness and size of her and then we saw her two kids following her in the lake and our amazment went to fear. A mother moose is one of the most dangerous animals on earth. I have to admit, I probably scared Lindsey more than the moose did, but I wanted to get out of there. So, with the moose moving in toward blocking the trail, we went off-trail keeping the lake to our left and pounded slowly through the forest getting away from the moose who had sensed our presence by then. It was stupid, we could've gotten lost, or hurt but it was better than encountering an angry mother moose. Eventually we found the trial again, and started back. Passing a few other hikers, and one family asking mysteriously "did you see two boys up ahead?" which we did not and one family from Nebraska that knew someone that Lindsey knows. On the way back down the switchbacks, as I looked across the valley to our left and up at four peaks to our right, an idea started to blossom in my head. About three/fifths up the mountain side, we stopped for a break, I saw a bottle dangerously off the trail down the slope and, of course, went to retrieve it. Pictures of my friend Justin sliding down the mountainside in Steamboat Springs came to my head, but only briefly. (He was fine, btw). I got the bottle and came back up with a smile on my face that Lindsey had never seen before. She said she almost cried at that moment, thinking that I just loved CO so much and was so proud of myself for getting the bottle. I put the bottle into the backpack, and brought back out a little red box with a diamond ring inside. And so, on the side of a mountain, with the valley to our left and the magestic Rocky peaks to our right, I got down on my knee and asked Lindsey to marry me. She giggled. And giggled. And teared up. And giggled. And said YES! At high noon, mountain time, Thursday the 29th of May, 2008, in one of the most beautiful places on earth, I asked the most beautiful girl on earth to be my wife and became the happiest guy on earth.
Day Five:
The rest of the trip really doesn't matter. We spent some time in Estes Park, then drove to Boulder, one of the coolest cities ever. We stayed at Boulder's waste-free hotel that produces, clearly, no waste and minimal carbon emissions. Our first meal as an engaged couple was at Walnut Brewery, steak and unbelievable asiogo cheese dip and a beer that was the perfect middle ground between Newcastle and Guniess, so yeah, I was in heaven. Spent the next morning on Pearl St. in Boulder, a world famous prominade and outdoor shopping/dining area. Then we decided to make the drive all the way from Boulder to KC. I highly recommend getting engaged a day before having to spend 9.5 hours in a car, 'cause we have a pretty freakin' awesome wedding planned already!
Well, there you have it. Bradley James Bryan and Lindsey are engaged! Pictures of the trip will be on Snapfish and Facebook if you have the time.
Next up, Mustoe's big day-June 21st!
Peace, Happiness, Colorado. B
The Drive:
Normally, I wouldn't include the details of the mind-numbing, not to mention butt-numbing, drive across the vast wasteland of Kansas. Lindsey and I set off from KC to Limon, CO after church on Sunday and, on the way, experienced the most exciting thing Kansas has to offer-tornados. You know that storm that destroyed towns in Iowa last week? Well, we drove through it. Even pulled off the road and parked under a bridge, because that's what all the cars with KS plates were doing. Under the bridge, we were aided by a nice and nervous young KS man who really took us under his wing, updating us about the status of the tornado, scaring the heck out of us with his nervous energy, telling Lindsey to "put the notebook down 'cause hell on earth is coming our way", and then relaying that his Mom said if we were driving west we'd be ok. We did, and we were
Day One:
Thanks to Mom and Dad for the recommendation of Grand Lake, CO for our pre-National Park day. Ignoring that suggestion, we instead decided upon Winter Park, which, as it turns out, is pretty much dead when the ski resort closes. The locals call this time of year "mud season", which is aptly named, but to us it was "cheap and private season." We had the Vintage Hotel, the resort hotel of Winter Park, absolutely all to ourselves. Nobody even at the desk. Highlights: Hernando's Pizza with over 20,000 dollar bills with messages written on them taped to the walls and tables and great pizza. Then, drinks and cigars in the outdoor hot tub as the cold rain sprinkled our heads. Oh, and a very informative sign on our hike that explained, complete with bronzed representations, the difference between moose, elk and deer scat (poop).
Day Two:
Into the wild. Instead of going around, we went to our campsite at Moraine Park campground in Rocky Mountain National Park, by taking the highway through the park and over the pass. It was a wonderful drive, complete with an up close, safe-in-car, sighting of a young bull moose and plenty of elk. We wound our way through the park, up to the continental divide and back down. We were driving through clouds for a while and then we broke through and could see most of the CO part of the range from the top. This is when we started to realize that in May, there's still A LOT of snow on the ground in the mountains. We got to our campsite, set up Andy's "no-trick-to-it" tent, finding out that the only trick was that it takes four adults to set up the thing easily. We had a perfect site, across from bathrooms but behind rocks as to hide us from other campers and back up against a valley that was full of elk. Elk 20-30 feet away. Well, that night was cold, a little wet, and cloudy. But we had a fire, the best one I've ever built by the way, cooked s'mores, played guitar, went to bed covered head to toe in sweatshirts, pants, socks, stocking hats and gloves. I have to say that through all of this, Lindsey was awesome. I love camping, and even I was pretty miserable. It was too cold. But she was a trooper.
Day Three:
I woke up on the ground. I went to sleep on an air matress. Aparently, 225lbs is the limit for this thing. To start our first full day in the park, we went to Estes Park for breakfast, shared an awesome omlet, brushed our teeth and washed our faces with a group of Korean vacationers in the McD's bathroom. Then we went to Bear Lake trailhead, where we spent most of the day. I can't really explain hiking across mounds of snow, but where it wasn't snow-covered the path was muddy from melt. But it was a beautiful morning, Bear Lake was gorgeous. We hiked to Alberta Falls, Nymph Lake and Dream Lake. This part of the park really could be the most beautiful place on earth. Dream Lake has a tree on the bank that is bent in such a way that it is the perfect chair and we spent a lot of time there. For those of you who know, we couldn't go to Emerald Lake because the entire trail was covered in snow and we couldn't even find it. As we got back to our camp, we made the difficult decision to not camp another night. FYI, Lindsey didn't wuss out, it was my suggestion. Rain was coming, I didn't want to wake up feeling fat on the deflated air matress again, and it was just too cold. So, we went back to Estes and got a little cabin. That night we enjoyed White Russians (THE DUDE ABIDES) and silver casserole, a dish introduced to me by my father of hamburger patties with carrots, potatoes and onions all wrapped up in foil (silver) and thrown on the fire. It was a wonderful night and we definately made the right choice.
Day Four:
And now, the moment you've all been waiting for. We decided to hike to Bierstadt Lake in the morning, partly because it's called Beer Place and partly because I'd been there before and knew how beautiful it was. The hike was 1.2 miles, not a bad haul, but in those 1.2 miles we climbed 650 feet in elevation. Exhausted, we reached the top and took the wrong fork in the trial "around the lake". We figured that it would be around the banks of the lake, but it wasn't. Finally, we found the trail to the waters edge, broke through the trees and were standing 25 yards from a cow moose standing in the lake and walking toward us. We were awed and amazed by the closeness and size of her and then we saw her two kids following her in the lake and our amazment went to fear. A mother moose is one of the most dangerous animals on earth. I have to admit, I probably scared Lindsey more than the moose did, but I wanted to get out of there. So, with the moose moving in toward blocking the trail, we went off-trail keeping the lake to our left and pounded slowly through the forest getting away from the moose who had sensed our presence by then. It was stupid, we could've gotten lost, or hurt but it was better than encountering an angry mother moose. Eventually we found the trial again, and started back. Passing a few other hikers, and one family asking mysteriously "did you see two boys up ahead?" which we did not and one family from Nebraska that knew someone that Lindsey knows. On the way back down the switchbacks, as I looked across the valley to our left and up at four peaks to our right, an idea started to blossom in my head. About three/fifths up the mountain side, we stopped for a break, I saw a bottle dangerously off the trail down the slope and, of course, went to retrieve it. Pictures of my friend Justin sliding down the mountainside in Steamboat Springs came to my head, but only briefly. (He was fine, btw). I got the bottle and came back up with a smile on my face that Lindsey had never seen before. She said she almost cried at that moment, thinking that I just loved CO so much and was so proud of myself for getting the bottle. I put the bottle into the backpack, and brought back out a little red box with a diamond ring inside. And so, on the side of a mountain, with the valley to our left and the magestic Rocky peaks to our right, I got down on my knee and asked Lindsey to marry me. She giggled. And giggled. And teared up. And giggled. And said YES! At high noon, mountain time, Thursday the 29th of May, 2008, in one of the most beautiful places on earth, I asked the most beautiful girl on earth to be my wife and became the happiest guy on earth.
Day Five:
The rest of the trip really doesn't matter. We spent some time in Estes Park, then drove to Boulder, one of the coolest cities ever. We stayed at Boulder's waste-free hotel that produces, clearly, no waste and minimal carbon emissions. Our first meal as an engaged couple was at Walnut Brewery, steak and unbelievable asiogo cheese dip and a beer that was the perfect middle ground between Newcastle and Guniess, so yeah, I was in heaven. Spent the next morning on Pearl St. in Boulder, a world famous prominade and outdoor shopping/dining area. Then we decided to make the drive all the way from Boulder to KC. I highly recommend getting engaged a day before having to spend 9.5 hours in a car, 'cause we have a pretty freakin' awesome wedding planned already!
Well, there you have it. Bradley James Bryan and Lindsey are engaged! Pictures of the trip will be on Snapfish and Facebook if you have the time.
Next up, Mustoe's big day-June 21st!
Peace, Happiness, Colorado. B
Friday, May 23, 2008
In Case You Missed It...
Well, I've been gone for awhile, friends. Lost in a world of pages and pages of theological discourse and end of semester seminary busywork. So, here's some things that have been on my mind lately.
Good show, John McCain, for rejecting the endorsment of Hagee and that other pastor. Let's say one thing, these guys, who claim that the Koran (english spelling, not traditional) mandates that all Muslims (who Hagee calls Islamics) kill as many Christians and Jews as they possibly can, are just as crazy as Jeremiah Wright and much more dangerous. Hagee believes, in clear conflict with Jesus' words, that the end times are immenant and that Christians should be actively working towards starting a war between the Iranians, the Russians and the Israelites; that it is only after Israel regains its pre-Roman empire power, at the expense of countless innocent Palestinian lives, that Jesus will return. Of course, all true belivers will be raptured and miss out on the carnage and agony of the war of wars. Believing this is not crazy: calling on Christians and the American people to work towards, hope for, pray for, war is absolutely insane. Good work, John. I'm not going to vote for you, but good work.
While we're on politics, I want to say one thing to the democratic candidates: STOP IT!! When this whole thing started, getting a democrat in the White House seemed as easy as some funny reference that's really easy to do. Now, because of Hilary's never-ending scratch and bite for the nomination, the party is divided and THE ONLY THING that she's doing is taking votes away from Obama. What kind of presidential candidacy platform is, "I'm still in it"? You missed your chance to bow out gracefully; now you're just going to lose. There is another thing in which Hilary is succeeding: white people are racist. I know not everyone who votes for Clinton votes for the white chick. But, come on. Clearly, there are a lot of ignorant people out there who still, in frakin' 2008, won't vote for a black person. Sad. Just sad.
On to church politics. Another General Conference and not all that much has changed. Some little stuff about retirement, candidacy, who can serve communion where, and a list of other stuff that really means nothing to ministry at the local church level. Not that anyone's listening but here goes. The words, "all people are of sacred worth" and "incompatible with Christian teaching" can NOT go together. They don't cancel each other out; the latter cancels out the former. Isn't reason one of the quadralateral. Well, these two sentences don't make sense together.
Here's some AWESOME stuff:
1. Iron Man...awesome. Unbelievable.
2. Looking forward: Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, The Incredible Hulk, Prince Narnia, The Love Guru, Sin City 2. Gonna be a good summer for movies.
3. Next week, Lindsey and I head to Colorado and Rocky Mountain National Park. Can't wait. Haven't been in the mountains in a long time. The forecast is for cool weather, and might get a little wet, but Wednesday, the day we're planning on spending all of in the park hiking, is 68 degrees and partly cloudy. Perfect.
4. On the 13th of May, in Kansas City, MO, I saw Elvis Costello and the Police. It was amazing. Highlights: Elvis and Sting singing Alison togther, the multi-instrument percussion of Wrapped Around Your Finger and the encore performance of King of Pain. Amazing.
Looking forward to this summer. Gonna read some books, write some devotionals based on rock songs (maybe for a book someday), play guitar, working a camp, going to Musty-Must's wedding, getting together with the ENTIRE Bryan clan, preaching for that clan at Missouri UMC and just being and doing awesome.
I'll be back periodically. Peace.
BB
Good show, John McCain, for rejecting the endorsment of Hagee and that other pastor. Let's say one thing, these guys, who claim that the Koran (english spelling, not traditional) mandates that all Muslims (who Hagee calls Islamics) kill as many Christians and Jews as they possibly can, are just as crazy as Jeremiah Wright and much more dangerous. Hagee believes, in clear conflict with Jesus' words, that the end times are immenant and that Christians should be actively working towards starting a war between the Iranians, the Russians and the Israelites; that it is only after Israel regains its pre-Roman empire power, at the expense of countless innocent Palestinian lives, that Jesus will return. Of course, all true belivers will be raptured and miss out on the carnage and agony of the war of wars. Believing this is not crazy: calling on Christians and the American people to work towards, hope for, pray for, war is absolutely insane. Good work, John. I'm not going to vote for you, but good work.
While we're on politics, I want to say one thing to the democratic candidates: STOP IT!! When this whole thing started, getting a democrat in the White House seemed as easy as some funny reference that's really easy to do. Now, because of Hilary's never-ending scratch and bite for the nomination, the party is divided and THE ONLY THING that she's doing is taking votes away from Obama. What kind of presidential candidacy platform is, "I'm still in it"? You missed your chance to bow out gracefully; now you're just going to lose. There is another thing in which Hilary is succeeding: white people are racist. I know not everyone who votes for Clinton votes for the white chick. But, come on. Clearly, there are a lot of ignorant people out there who still, in frakin' 2008, won't vote for a black person. Sad. Just sad.
On to church politics. Another General Conference and not all that much has changed. Some little stuff about retirement, candidacy, who can serve communion where, and a list of other stuff that really means nothing to ministry at the local church level. Not that anyone's listening but here goes. The words, "all people are of sacred worth" and "incompatible with Christian teaching" can NOT go together. They don't cancel each other out; the latter cancels out the former. Isn't reason one of the quadralateral. Well, these two sentences don't make sense together.
Here's some AWESOME stuff:
1. Iron Man...awesome. Unbelievable.
2. Looking forward: Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, The Incredible Hulk, Prince Narnia, The Love Guru, Sin City 2. Gonna be a good summer for movies.
3. Next week, Lindsey and I head to Colorado and Rocky Mountain National Park. Can't wait. Haven't been in the mountains in a long time. The forecast is for cool weather, and might get a little wet, but Wednesday, the day we're planning on spending all of in the park hiking, is 68 degrees and partly cloudy. Perfect.
4. On the 13th of May, in Kansas City, MO, I saw Elvis Costello and the Police. It was amazing. Highlights: Elvis and Sting singing Alison togther, the multi-instrument percussion of Wrapped Around Your Finger and the encore performance of King of Pain. Amazing.
Looking forward to this summer. Gonna read some books, write some devotionals based on rock songs (maybe for a book someday), play guitar, working a camp, going to Musty-Must's wedding, getting together with the ENTIRE Bryan clan, preaching for that clan at Missouri UMC and just being and doing awesome.
I'll be back periodically. Peace.
BB
Tuesday, May 06, 2008
If you don't have anything nice to say...
I just wanted to let everyone know that I'm not blogging because I'm smack in the middle of finals weeks, not because of my pledge to be more positive.
I have a lot of things on my mind and a lot of positive things going on, just don't really have anytime to blog.
Once my marathon of assignments is complete for another semester, the Bustle will return in regular fashion.
Thanks for the patience,
BB
I have a lot of things on my mind and a lot of positive things going on, just don't really have anytime to blog.
Once my marathon of assignments is complete for another semester, the Bustle will return in regular fashion.
Thanks for the patience,
BB
Wednesday, April 09, 2008
The Pledge
I, Brad Bryan, hereby pledge to not post about what I see as negative aspects of the structure and system of the United Methodist Church, my personal frustrations with the candidacy process, the present and future of young adults in the church, or my concerns for the future within the itineracy connection for ONE MONTH. From this day, until the end of school, I will not mention the United Methodist Church at all, excluding any unforseen interesting things that happen within the building of a UMC or inspiring comments or actions by a member of the UMC.
I invite my brother Andy at Enter the Rainbow, my friend Adam Mustoe at Internationally Known, my friend Mark at Stupidity Ensues and all you other blogophiles out there to join me. (Zach, delegates to General Conference are exempt and we expect nightly updates!)
And so, slightly inspired by my friend Justin's dance this morning (Where is the Love?) and my friend Katie's overall cheerful countinance (sp), here's some things that are making me happy:
1. Compiling a spring and summer reading list of books that have absolutely nothing to do with pastoral care, eccumenism, liberation theology or seminary. I'm not only tired of reading those books, I'm also tired of reading my same favorite Stephen King books over and over. I've decided to go back to the classics. First the classics of my favorite genre: Bradbury, Asimov, Poe, Ayn Rand. Then other classics: Hemmingway, Faulkner, James, Stevenson, Twain, Dickens. I want to spend my summer reading the best novels ever written, and that makes me happy.
2. The new Black Crowes, Jack Johnson, Matt Costa, Dropkick Murphys, Flogging Molly, Black Keys and reissued Elvis Costello records. Great, great stuff all around and that makes me happy. I am always looking for new music to pick up and discover, so if anybody has found any recently that you love, please share.
3. The Police and Elvis Costello concert in a month makes me extremely happy.
4. Planning the summer vacation, summer concert and lake house days with Lindsey makes me happy.
5. Being able to play Elvis Costello, Ben Harper and Bob Marley in chapel today makes me happy.
6. Actually finding a pretty, peaceful place to go IN ST. JOSEPH!
In fact, I think I'll head up there now.
Woke up this morning, smiled with the risin' sun.
Three little birds, sit on my doorstep.
Singin' sweet songs, of melodies pure and true.
Sayin', this is my message to you-oo-oo.
Don't worry...'bout a ting.
'Cause every little ting's, gonna be alright.
Peace, BB
I invite my brother Andy at Enter the Rainbow, my friend Adam Mustoe at Internationally Known, my friend Mark at Stupidity Ensues and all you other blogophiles out there to join me. (Zach, delegates to General Conference are exempt and we expect nightly updates!)
And so, slightly inspired by my friend Justin's dance this morning (Where is the Love?) and my friend Katie's overall cheerful countinance (sp), here's some things that are making me happy:
1. Compiling a spring and summer reading list of books that have absolutely nothing to do with pastoral care, eccumenism, liberation theology or seminary. I'm not only tired of reading those books, I'm also tired of reading my same favorite Stephen King books over and over. I've decided to go back to the classics. First the classics of my favorite genre: Bradbury, Asimov, Poe, Ayn Rand. Then other classics: Hemmingway, Faulkner, James, Stevenson, Twain, Dickens. I want to spend my summer reading the best novels ever written, and that makes me happy.
2. The new Black Crowes, Jack Johnson, Matt Costa, Dropkick Murphys, Flogging Molly, Black Keys and reissued Elvis Costello records. Great, great stuff all around and that makes me happy. I am always looking for new music to pick up and discover, so if anybody has found any recently that you love, please share.
3. The Police and Elvis Costello concert in a month makes me extremely happy.
4. Planning the summer vacation, summer concert and lake house days with Lindsey makes me happy.
5. Being able to play Elvis Costello, Ben Harper and Bob Marley in chapel today makes me happy.
6. Actually finding a pretty, peaceful place to go IN ST. JOSEPH!
In fact, I think I'll head up there now.
Woke up this morning, smiled with the risin' sun.
Three little birds, sit on my doorstep.
Singin' sweet songs, of melodies pure and true.
Sayin', this is my message to you-oo-oo.
Don't worry...'bout a ting.
'Cause every little ting's, gonna be alright.
Peace, BB
Tuesday, April 08, 2008
Encouraging Words....with just a little Spin
Encouraging words in this issue of the United Methodist Reporter. That's right, I read the Reporter. Former President of St. Paul School of Theology, Lovett Weems was interviewed concerning the importance of young adult clergy. And, guess what? He gets it!
Why are young clergy important?
"Energy, vision and vitality. More adept at reaching emerging generations. Closer to the culture."
What motivates younger people to a call to ministry?
"A call to serve, to be a part of something larger than themselves. It's not primarily organizational or institutional. It's a mission focus. IT'S NOT WELL DEFINED."
Explain the "lifesaver mentality".
"They're a bit uncomfortable with that. They can't do it themselves."
What about the gap?
"Sometimes there will be a two generation gap between the congregation and the clergy. You're young, you should be able to reach young people. But there's no expectation that the church should change."
What about appointments and itineracy?
"[Younger clergy] tend to be made last. The options available for those appointments are very limited at that time. There is a paying-our-dues mentality, but we can't afford that if less than 5 percent of our clergy are under 35. Less than 5 percent believe [itineracy] works well. [Its] an issue causing younger clergy to choose other traditions. It is feeling so out of control of one's destiny and how it impacts spouse and family and spouses' employment. The system is looked at skeptically by younger clergy."
What about the sense of unfairness in accountability?
"They are paying the price for inefective older clergy, so there are more and more restrictions that get put on them. They feel the primary factor in advancement tends to be years of service."
Wow, thank you. Love it, Lovett. He's nailed it. Just this week, I got a letter from my mentor about an interview with the District Committee of Ordained Ministry that I missed. I missed this meeting, because ALL the meeting times were during my class time. Not one meeting was set for Thursday, when students at Saint Paul have NO CLASS. I was also, apparently, supposed to request from him a letter of recommendation to the committee. His e-mail was the first I had heard of any such requirement. The e-mail went on to say that if I don't make the make up meetings in May, basically, my career is over and I won't even be able to go to any other conferences.
Here's the deal: I have no idea what I'm supposed to be doing with the process of candidacy. Am I a pastor, am I a student? What is the conference doing to respect my time as a seminary student? Where's the liturature that tells me clearly and without question what my role in the process is? And, is there really such an emphasis on the system and the institution that missing one meeting, held at a time when no student could attend without missing class, ends my career?
Dr. Weems gets it. We have to do some SERIOUS work to recruit, support, uphold, train, connect and empower young adult clergy.
Here comes the spin. At the top of the page with the interview, there's a picture of our Bishop (who I think gets it, too) at a meeting of young adults. The caption reads: "Bishop Schnase makes it a habit to meet with all the young adult clergy from his conference." Hear the spin.
1. A habit is something you do so often you don't think about it anymore. As far as I know, this is the first such meeting of large group of young adult clergy. There have been other, smaller meetings of certain powerful, or fruitful, young clergy. But, an invitation to "all" the clergy, i think this is the first one.
2. ALL the young adult clergy in the conference? Well, I guess I'm not clergy. Me, or any of my classmates, for that matter. Only commissioned and ordained clergy were invited. In other words, only those who have gotten so far into the system. They actually had to raise the official age of young adults to 37 to get the turn out seen in the picture. Instead of inviting actually ALL the young adult clergy, including lisenced local pastors and student pastors, they raised the age!
I am encouraged and happy and excited to read Dr. Weems keenly accurate assessment of how we treat, and how we should treat, young adult clergy. I am, shall we say, interested in those words "habit" and "all" in the caption of the picture.
I would just like one chance to put my money where my mouth is. I talk a lot about this. And I know, when the time comes, it'll be time to put up or shut up. But, I guess I don't have to worry about that now, 'cause nobody's asking. And, I worry about what putting up and shutting up will look like. Will I have to show weekly signs of fruitfulness by filling out forms of worship numbers? Will I have to wait ten years to get a chance, when I'm not technically a young adult anymore, pay my dues, work my way up? I don't know.
And you know what, even after all this...I have to go to class and Thursday I have to go to work. I have people to take care of in the hospital, I have a Baccalureate service planning meeting. I am called to ministry. I choose to be a part of the United Methodist Church. There's a difference.
Brad
Why are young clergy important?
"Energy, vision and vitality. More adept at reaching emerging generations. Closer to the culture."
What motivates younger people to a call to ministry?
"A call to serve, to be a part of something larger than themselves. It's not primarily organizational or institutional. It's a mission focus. IT'S NOT WELL DEFINED."
Explain the "lifesaver mentality".
"They're a bit uncomfortable with that. They can't do it themselves."
What about the gap?
"Sometimes there will be a two generation gap between the congregation and the clergy. You're young, you should be able to reach young people. But there's no expectation that the church should change."
What about appointments and itineracy?
"[Younger clergy] tend to be made last. The options available for those appointments are very limited at that time. There is a paying-our-dues mentality, but we can't afford that if less than 5 percent of our clergy are under 35. Less than 5 percent believe [itineracy] works well. [Its] an issue causing younger clergy to choose other traditions. It is feeling so out of control of one's destiny and how it impacts spouse and family and spouses' employment. The system is looked at skeptically by younger clergy."
What about the sense of unfairness in accountability?
"They are paying the price for inefective older clergy, so there are more and more restrictions that get put on them. They feel the primary factor in advancement tends to be years of service."
Wow, thank you. Love it, Lovett. He's nailed it. Just this week, I got a letter from my mentor about an interview with the District Committee of Ordained Ministry that I missed. I missed this meeting, because ALL the meeting times were during my class time. Not one meeting was set for Thursday, when students at Saint Paul have NO CLASS. I was also, apparently, supposed to request from him a letter of recommendation to the committee. His e-mail was the first I had heard of any such requirement. The e-mail went on to say that if I don't make the make up meetings in May, basically, my career is over and I won't even be able to go to any other conferences.
Here's the deal: I have no idea what I'm supposed to be doing with the process of candidacy. Am I a pastor, am I a student? What is the conference doing to respect my time as a seminary student? Where's the liturature that tells me clearly and without question what my role in the process is? And, is there really such an emphasis on the system and the institution that missing one meeting, held at a time when no student could attend without missing class, ends my career?
Dr. Weems gets it. We have to do some SERIOUS work to recruit, support, uphold, train, connect and empower young adult clergy.
Here comes the spin. At the top of the page with the interview, there's a picture of our Bishop (who I think gets it, too) at a meeting of young adults. The caption reads: "Bishop Schnase makes it a habit to meet with all the young adult clergy from his conference." Hear the spin.
1. A habit is something you do so often you don't think about it anymore. As far as I know, this is the first such meeting of large group of young adult clergy. There have been other, smaller meetings of certain powerful, or fruitful, young clergy. But, an invitation to "all" the clergy, i think this is the first one.
2. ALL the young adult clergy in the conference? Well, I guess I'm not clergy. Me, or any of my classmates, for that matter. Only commissioned and ordained clergy were invited. In other words, only those who have gotten so far into the system. They actually had to raise the official age of young adults to 37 to get the turn out seen in the picture. Instead of inviting actually ALL the young adult clergy, including lisenced local pastors and student pastors, they raised the age!
I am encouraged and happy and excited to read Dr. Weems keenly accurate assessment of how we treat, and how we should treat, young adult clergy. I am, shall we say, interested in those words "habit" and "all" in the caption of the picture.
I would just like one chance to put my money where my mouth is. I talk a lot about this. And I know, when the time comes, it'll be time to put up or shut up. But, I guess I don't have to worry about that now, 'cause nobody's asking. And, I worry about what putting up and shutting up will look like. Will I have to show weekly signs of fruitfulness by filling out forms of worship numbers? Will I have to wait ten years to get a chance, when I'm not technically a young adult anymore, pay my dues, work my way up? I don't know.
And you know what, even after all this...I have to go to class and Thursday I have to go to work. I have people to take care of in the hospital, I have a Baccalureate service planning meeting. I am called to ministry. I choose to be a part of the United Methodist Church. There's a difference.
Brad
Wednesday, April 02, 2008
Facts
Months after the attacks of 9/11, Bush-Cheney-Rumsfeld-Powell, found and displayed clear and unquestionable evidence that not only had Saddam Hussein been involved in planning the attacks, he was currently producing and stockpiling weapons of mass destruction.
Iraqi people would clearly welcome any force offering them freedom from this oppressive dictator, and the US had a duty to answer.
After the shock and awe beginning of the war, a tactic that in no way purposely targeted civilian positions, stories of heroism flowed in: from the clandestine, Tom Clancy resque of Jessi Lynch to the heroic sacrifice of pro-football player Pat Tillman. These great acts of heroism culminated in the end of the fighting in Iraq, declared by President Badasss in a flight suit on a aircraft carrier.
The fighting, just like he said, did stop. The killing of Saddam's sons and the ultimate capture of the dictator himself, defeated the insurgents resisting liberation and the people of Iraq sung our praises.
The fighting, somehow, came back, but the US was, of course, prepared-country of Boy Scouts that we are. The administration took the smartest road possible: take troops out of Afghanistan and Pakistan, where clearly no one important to the extremists was hiding in the mountains, and flood them into Iraq. This move again, was a great success.
The reporting of the war has been absolutely fair and balanced and truthful. The pentagon's program to partner each press agent with a "marine buddy" provided the press the freedom they needed to report with outstanding journalistic integrity. The pentagon, wisely, requested that names, faces and numbers of the dead US soldiers be left out of the press; national secruity was at stake.
As the war comes to a swift end, the Iraqi people are more than ready to run and maintain a secure democracy, having had great experience, opportunity and education in the work of politics under the previous government. The American diplomats are more than capable to bring the sectarian violence to an end, due to their vast knowledge of the religion and history of the region. Iraq will be just fine!
Back at home, our veterans, many who rightly joined the service after 9-11 because the commander and chief had given his word that US justice is swift and sweeping and always righteous, will be treated with the utmost respect, given the best medical care our nation has to offer and provided for for the educational opportunities they missed by boldly following our Commander into battle.
The attacks of 9/11 have been answered justly, the culprits brought to justice, the planners stopped from planning another attack. The people of Iraq are free, are liberated, and now feel completely safe to send their kids to the high quality schools, go to work in their not-destroyed office buildings, eat Whoppers, shop at Target and buy enormous gas-guzzling monstrosities from America...just like they've always wanted!!
April Fools,
BB
Iraqi people would clearly welcome any force offering them freedom from this oppressive dictator, and the US had a duty to answer.
After the shock and awe beginning of the war, a tactic that in no way purposely targeted civilian positions, stories of heroism flowed in: from the clandestine, Tom Clancy resque of Jessi Lynch to the heroic sacrifice of pro-football player Pat Tillman. These great acts of heroism culminated in the end of the fighting in Iraq, declared by President Badasss in a flight suit on a aircraft carrier.
The fighting, just like he said, did stop. The killing of Saddam's sons and the ultimate capture of the dictator himself, defeated the insurgents resisting liberation and the people of Iraq sung our praises.
The fighting, somehow, came back, but the US was, of course, prepared-country of Boy Scouts that we are. The administration took the smartest road possible: take troops out of Afghanistan and Pakistan, where clearly no one important to the extremists was hiding in the mountains, and flood them into Iraq. This move again, was a great success.
The reporting of the war has been absolutely fair and balanced and truthful. The pentagon's program to partner each press agent with a "marine buddy" provided the press the freedom they needed to report with outstanding journalistic integrity. The pentagon, wisely, requested that names, faces and numbers of the dead US soldiers be left out of the press; national secruity was at stake.
As the war comes to a swift end, the Iraqi people are more than ready to run and maintain a secure democracy, having had great experience, opportunity and education in the work of politics under the previous government. The American diplomats are more than capable to bring the sectarian violence to an end, due to their vast knowledge of the religion and history of the region. Iraq will be just fine!
Back at home, our veterans, many who rightly joined the service after 9-11 because the commander and chief had given his word that US justice is swift and sweeping and always righteous, will be treated with the utmost respect, given the best medical care our nation has to offer and provided for for the educational opportunities they missed by boldly following our Commander into battle.
The attacks of 9/11 have been answered justly, the culprits brought to justice, the planners stopped from planning another attack. The people of Iraq are free, are liberated, and now feel completely safe to send their kids to the high quality schools, go to work in their not-destroyed office buildings, eat Whoppers, shop at Target and buy enormous gas-guzzling monstrosities from America...just like they've always wanted!!
April Fools,
BB
Monday, March 24, 2008
Spring Breakin' Two, Electric Boogaloo
Sitting here on Monday of reading week from school, trying with every ounce of mental will power to not open my books until I absolutely have to.
Spending this week doing nothing with Lindsey, which is EXACTLY what I want to be doing. And, cleaning and packing my current domicile for a move this Saturday. My new place is the top floor of an old Pony Express era, Victorian style house closer to downtown St. Joe. I have not played my drums in over a year because I moved too quickly into a house with no room to set them up and I realized as I sat down behind the school's drumset that, well, I kinda suck now. The new place is bigger, has a perfect place for my music room with the drums, guitars and keyboard, a place for my kitchen table I haven't seen in three years and a shower that doesn't make you feel dirtier as you use it. I'm pretty excited, but its gonna be a hell of a moving day. Top floor of a big old house+big screen tv=not so much fun.
Getting excited about concerts coming up: The Police with Elvis Costello in May, Swell Season (the couple from the movie Once) coming up, and summer jams with Jack Johnson.
Well, sorry to bore you with my so-called life. I'm actually bored writing this, so I think I'll stop. All St. Paul have a great break. Mary Alice, stop reading right now, close the book and go outside.
Peace, B
Spending this week doing nothing with Lindsey, which is EXACTLY what I want to be doing. And, cleaning and packing my current domicile for a move this Saturday. My new place is the top floor of an old Pony Express era, Victorian style house closer to downtown St. Joe. I have not played my drums in over a year because I moved too quickly into a house with no room to set them up and I realized as I sat down behind the school's drumset that, well, I kinda suck now. The new place is bigger, has a perfect place for my music room with the drums, guitars and keyboard, a place for my kitchen table I haven't seen in three years and a shower that doesn't make you feel dirtier as you use it. I'm pretty excited, but its gonna be a hell of a moving day. Top floor of a big old house+big screen tv=not so much fun.
Getting excited about concerts coming up: The Police with Elvis Costello in May, Swell Season (the couple from the movie Once) coming up, and summer jams with Jack Johnson.
Well, sorry to bore you with my so-called life. I'm actually bored writing this, so I think I'll stop. All St. Paul have a great break. Mary Alice, stop reading right now, close the book and go outside.
Peace, B
Friday, March 14, 2008
Young Adults
Here is the original comment I was going to post in response to my brother's young adult post, but then realized it was longer than the post itself. Bad blog ettiquite.
I would absolutely love to abolish "us and them" language and thinking, but, sadly, it's not the reality right now. I hate to use the word nieve, partly because I don't know how to spell it and partly because my brother is much older and much wiser than I. I will say this, I have never felt as voiceless within a system as I do right now. I have daily conversations with classmates and colleagues concerning the state of the UMC and mainline Christianity, but they simply don't leave the classroom, because I haven't progressed far enough in the process. One the other hand, AGL told me of recieving heart-felt and standing applause along with other 35 and younger clergy people in the Mississippi conference. So, is it either be largely ignored or singled-out. I don't like either. A world without "us and them" is always something to work towards and something for which to hope and strive. But, I don't feel it, I don't see it happening. (you probably knew the pessimistic side would come from me)
I know that of all my gifts and graces the thing that was considered above all else in my current appointment was my age. They need a young pastor, here's a young pastor (who happens to know nothing about the context of farming communities, hates country music and feels called to urban ministry) but, hey, he is young. *I love the people of my congregations more than I love myself and will serve them as faithfully as I can for as long as I'm here* So, while my brother and my friend Jenn are both correct in hoping for to end the language and attitude of "us and them", it's not the reality I feel right now.
Point two: young people ARE different. The world has changed. Younger generations speak a different language, know a different reality than older generations. Here's a fact: (you also might have known that the absolute generalizations would come from me) if a congregation is in a context where there are young adults in the population and does not have an online presence, your capacity for inviting young adults to share in the ministry of God through that congregation goes down. If a pastor who desires to create messages that are meaningful to young adults does not know what The Office is or who Bright Eyes are or what the God Delusion is or what issues are facing the music business right now or what the hell the Colbert Bump is, the illustrations in the message will be less meaningful. The stories in the front of Christian Century and The Upper Room are wonderful resources for certain contexts, but maybe not for most young adults.
Point three: the problems and issues facing the church right now ARE NOT generational. They have nothing to do with age. They are cultural, contextual. The world has changed, the church has not. Questions of authenticity, relevance, community and application-take a deep breath for all the buzzwords-are questions each individual church, each conference, each denomination, each CHRISTIAN should ask constantly. Is what we are doing most faithfully serving the message and ministry of God in today's world? For example, there's a current conversation going on in my Early American Methodism class about the itineracy process. Yes, for early America, itineracy was the best method of placement for local ministers. It served a purpose, it was effective in that purpose, it worked within the context of that world. The question for us today is, what is the purpose of itineracy, the mission, and is it, in its current state, serving that purpose? We should always be in conversation with each other, across generations and demographics, asking each other if we are serving God the best we can. It is not a every 50 years question; it should be constant. Are we providing genuine and authentic and powerful worship experiences? Are we using language and media and subject matter that is relevant to the context in which we serve? Are we creating and atmosphere of true community, of acceptance, respect, support and love for the congregation and the context of our churches (btw, community is very different nowadays!)? And are we constructing worship, preaching and learning experiences that people leave from and act on that very day? These are the key questions, no matter what your context is.
No group of people, no Signs of Fruitfulness worksheet, no special taskforce is the secret key that unlocks the floodgates holding back young adults from participation in the church.
I can hear the questions: Brad, you complain a lot, but what should we be doing about this.
1. The clergy and lay leaders of the church must be in constant connection and conversation apart from the constraints and divisions of THE PROCESS. I was actually insulted by not being invited to a young adult clergy conversation with the bishop. BTW, I heard the meeting was great and the right questions were asked and the conversation has begun. But when you consider the earliest age of possible ordination, 29, restricting the participants in the conversation to commissioned and ordained clergy only isn't wise. I'm 25 right now!
2. The candidacy process is twice as long as should be and the difficulty of your interviews and papers depends on which group of board members you get on which day. I've heard wonderful stories of affirmation and respect and I've heard horror stories that remind me of cocky seniors taking stuff out on the freshmen because somebody did it to them when they were freshmen.
3. Why isn't there an Office of Contextual Young Adult ministry at the conference level? I know I just said the problem wasn't generational and there is no formula, but for a conference that is so concerned with YA's, it seems odd that this hasn't happened. I would love to sit in my office in Columbia, pick up the phone and explain to someone what an MP3 is. "Brad, I've got a new batch of 14 yr old girls, who in the world is Avril Lavigne?"
Just a few ideas, (I don't have time or inspiration or words to talk about what should happen to the itineracy process).
Look to Andy's blog for an optimistic sign off. I believe in the power of God to change lives in today's world. I believe in the connection of the UMC and mainline Christianity as a part of God's ministry in today's world.
And as far as "missing the mark" with the Rock Church stuff. That is just one idea for a particular context within the connection of the church. It is the beginning of re-shaping and re-defining worship in my own head. My big bro's just jealous that I rock harder than him. jk, i know what you're saying RAB, and we're on the same page, believe it or not.
Imperfect man in an imperfect world trying, imperfectly, to serve our perfect God, BB
I would absolutely love to abolish "us and them" language and thinking, but, sadly, it's not the reality right now. I hate to use the word nieve, partly because I don't know how to spell it and partly because my brother is much older and much wiser than I. I will say this, I have never felt as voiceless within a system as I do right now. I have daily conversations with classmates and colleagues concerning the state of the UMC and mainline Christianity, but they simply don't leave the classroom, because I haven't progressed far enough in the process. One the other hand, AGL told me of recieving heart-felt and standing applause along with other 35 and younger clergy people in the Mississippi conference. So, is it either be largely ignored or singled-out. I don't like either. A world without "us and them" is always something to work towards and something for which to hope and strive. But, I don't feel it, I don't see it happening. (you probably knew the pessimistic side would come from me)
I know that of all my gifts and graces the thing that was considered above all else in my current appointment was my age. They need a young pastor, here's a young pastor (who happens to know nothing about the context of farming communities, hates country music and feels called to urban ministry) but, hey, he is young. *I love the people of my congregations more than I love myself and will serve them as faithfully as I can for as long as I'm here* So, while my brother and my friend Jenn are both correct in hoping for to end the language and attitude of "us and them", it's not the reality I feel right now.
Point two: young people ARE different. The world has changed. Younger generations speak a different language, know a different reality than older generations. Here's a fact: (you also might have known that the absolute generalizations would come from me) if a congregation is in a context where there are young adults in the population and does not have an online presence, your capacity for inviting young adults to share in the ministry of God through that congregation goes down. If a pastor who desires to create messages that are meaningful to young adults does not know what The Office is or who Bright Eyes are or what the God Delusion is or what issues are facing the music business right now or what the hell the Colbert Bump is, the illustrations in the message will be less meaningful. The stories in the front of Christian Century and The Upper Room are wonderful resources for certain contexts, but maybe not for most young adults.
Point three: the problems and issues facing the church right now ARE NOT generational. They have nothing to do with age. They are cultural, contextual. The world has changed, the church has not. Questions of authenticity, relevance, community and application-take a deep breath for all the buzzwords-are questions each individual church, each conference, each denomination, each CHRISTIAN should ask constantly. Is what we are doing most faithfully serving the message and ministry of God in today's world? For example, there's a current conversation going on in my Early American Methodism class about the itineracy process. Yes, for early America, itineracy was the best method of placement for local ministers. It served a purpose, it was effective in that purpose, it worked within the context of that world. The question for us today is, what is the purpose of itineracy, the mission, and is it, in its current state, serving that purpose? We should always be in conversation with each other, across generations and demographics, asking each other if we are serving God the best we can. It is not a every 50 years question; it should be constant. Are we providing genuine and authentic and powerful worship experiences? Are we using language and media and subject matter that is relevant to the context in which we serve? Are we creating and atmosphere of true community, of acceptance, respect, support and love for the congregation and the context of our churches (btw, community is very different nowadays!)? And are we constructing worship, preaching and learning experiences that people leave from and act on that very day? These are the key questions, no matter what your context is.
No group of people, no Signs of Fruitfulness worksheet, no special taskforce is the secret key that unlocks the floodgates holding back young adults from participation in the church.
I can hear the questions: Brad, you complain a lot, but what should we be doing about this.
1. The clergy and lay leaders of the church must be in constant connection and conversation apart from the constraints and divisions of THE PROCESS. I was actually insulted by not being invited to a young adult clergy conversation with the bishop. BTW, I heard the meeting was great and the right questions were asked and the conversation has begun. But when you consider the earliest age of possible ordination, 29, restricting the participants in the conversation to commissioned and ordained clergy only isn't wise. I'm 25 right now!
2. The candidacy process is twice as long as should be and the difficulty of your interviews and papers depends on which group of board members you get on which day. I've heard wonderful stories of affirmation and respect and I've heard horror stories that remind me of cocky seniors taking stuff out on the freshmen because somebody did it to them when they were freshmen.
3. Why isn't there an Office of Contextual Young Adult ministry at the conference level? I know I just said the problem wasn't generational and there is no formula, but for a conference that is so concerned with YA's, it seems odd that this hasn't happened. I would love to sit in my office in Columbia, pick up the phone and explain to someone what an MP3 is. "Brad, I've got a new batch of 14 yr old girls, who in the world is Avril Lavigne?"
Just a few ideas, (I don't have time or inspiration or words to talk about what should happen to the itineracy process).
Look to Andy's blog for an optimistic sign off. I believe in the power of God to change lives in today's world. I believe in the connection of the UMC and mainline Christianity as a part of God's ministry in today's world.
And as far as "missing the mark" with the Rock Church stuff. That is just one idea for a particular context within the connection of the church. It is the beginning of re-shaping and re-defining worship in my own head. My big bro's just jealous that I rock harder than him. jk, i know what you're saying RAB, and we're on the same page, believe it or not.
Imperfect man in an imperfect world trying, imperfectly, to serve our perfect God, BB
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