Notes from the Trail

If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!

Well, well, well… It looks like the blogosphere and friends have triumphed and been blessed at the same time. My incredible wifey has posted. She’s baaaaack. Thanks to you all for helping encourage her to resurrect her blog.

You can check out her come-back here. And by the way, I think I pick my nose more than I blog…

OK… this will be an under-handed, sneaky post. I’m sure to get in trouble for it at home. But here’s the deal. Carolyn - my wonderful, beloved and beautiful wife - (a necessary insert for the wrath this post may cause) has ceased blogging. However, she is an amazing writer, thinker, and has so much to offer in the way of a unique approach to blogging. For all my encouragement, I can’t get her to blog.

So here’s the deal. I want to marshal the forces of the blogosphere. Please visit her blog and post a comment there on her last entry - actually I did that one for her. It’s a YouTube video of the History of Dance. Pretty funny. Anyway, just post a quick, simple comment there for her that says, in essence, “please blog.” You might also mention how wonderful her husband is and how undeserving of her ire I am.

I’m gonna leave this post up until she blogs again. It’s the modern day blog-saga of Oral Roberts’ climbing into a tower until he gets $8 million…. In other words, Notes is stalled until Proof Positive begins to post again. We’ll see who cracks first. (However, if you’d like to send $8 mil, I’ll happily blog again and even name my blog after you. I might even send you a dish towel I’ve prayed over or something…)

I recently told a friend that I had pretty much stopped buying a lot of books. From the time I made that comment till today, I have purchased the equivalent of one Wendy’s restaurant full of books. Dadgummit.

I like blogs and other sites that have the “What I’ve Read” or “What I’m Reading” feauture, and ever since I saw it on Mark’s blog (posted as a comment by Angela), I’ve been experimenting with librarything.com. Very cool. In addition to that, I’ve bought a copy of Delicious Library - an incredible piece of software that enables you to hook up your video camera to your laptop and scan your books, CDs, DVDs and games in by bar code. I’m almost finished doing so. Whew.

What would be really cool is the ability to link librarything.com with DL so that what you scan in through DL is automatically updated online. Then, the ability to create Share Lists or Checkout Lists would enable people to put to use their extensive personal libraries in dynamic ways. No longer would you need to buy a new or used book when you could search for the book you want in your zip code, find a librarything.com user and borrow their book. Just thinking outloud. Heck, it would be fun to create such a network in my own community… (Anyone game?)

Books I’ve Bought or Borrowed
I’ve got quite a stack of books to read (who doesn’t?), but my stack grows faster than my reading speed. So rather than adding a book here or there, I thought I’d let you in on dum-da-dum-dum-da (anticipation-building music): Books I’ve Bought or Borrowed. These have all been purchased/snatched in the last three weeks.
? Creating Community by Andy Stanley & Bill Willits (I actually think I snatched this off Jackie Flakes’ desk in Fort Smith last month, but don’t tell him.)
? A Call to Spiritual Reformation by D.A. Carson
? The Kneeling Christian
? A Testament of Devotion by Thomas R. Kelly
? Planting New Churches in a Postmodern Age by Ed Stetzer
? Blue Like Jazz by Donald Miller (This is probably my third copy. I’ve read it, but no one ever returns it when I loan it out. Must be a good sign?)
? Church: An Insider’s Look at How We Do It by John Stackhouse
? The Templars and the Ark of the Covenant
? Relic Quest
? The Sign and the Seal by Graham Kendrick (these last three are going to be good brain candy as they deal with the question of “Where is the Ark of the Covenant today?” I was probably influenced to buy them by the DaVinci Craze.
? The Irresistible Revolution by Shane Clairborne - I saw this book recommended over at Andy’s blog and was so intrigued I promptly used up an Amazon.com gift certificate. Should be here in a day or so.
? Clash of Kings by George R.R. Martin - After reading the first installment, A Game of Thrones, I was hooked on this Tolkien-esque fantasy epic series.

These are all in addition to the four books I’m currently reading, which include:
? From Jerusalem to Irian Jawa by Ruth Tucker
? Eragon
? A Conspiracy of Kindness by Steve Sjogren
? Not Even a Hint by Joshua Harris

In our small community of 10,000, there were two deaths over the weekend. One was Jordan Newman, a 24 year-old guy who died in a motocycle accident, after having just gotten the cycle the same day. The other was Martha Tucker, an 87 year-old woman who had been to the Newman’s home on Saturday, helping with things and who had a car wreck on the way home, killing her. Jordan was a member of First Baptist, while Mrs. Martha was a member of Journey.

Two deaths. Two families. Many friends.

After delivering the message at Mrs. Martha’s funeral today and helping serve lunch to the family at Journey (still meeting in the Wal-Mart shopping center here in Monticello), I arrived home exhausted but surreally content.

I served as a campus minister to collegians for 8 years at the University of Arkansas at Monticello before helping start Journey, and since I have been in ministry (almost 20 years!), I’ve never had to do a funeral. Before today, I was a funeral freshman. That’s highly unusual. I’ve spoken at gravesides and presented eulogies, but until today, I never was “the preacher.”

Meeting a family in the middle of their grief is a daunting task. It was not one that anyone, much less me, is ever truly prepared for. However, all day today I had the calm sense of God’s abiding presence and power. The family was deeply grateful, and I was truly moved.

I was exceptionally proud of the people of our church who brought food, helped with details, sang at the funeral, provided lunch and dropped by to visit family so often over the past few days. From what I understand, although their hearts are a little empty tonight, their fridge is full.

People - created by God - are not just earth-occupiers. They are time-bound gifts. I’m grateful for having known both of those who have stepped across spiritual thresholds this past weekend. May their lives continue to resound with vibrancy to those of us with ears to hear.

We’ve been on this journey together for a while now; however, to the new folks just sitting down on the logs beside the camp fire, welcome. Thanks for dropping by. You’re welcome to partake of some of Taylor’s nasty coffee or some of my own weakly brewed stuff. There’s also some Diet Cokes back there on the chuck wagon, as well as some dukey cookies to munch on (some call them “no-bake” cookies, but I just call them like I see them).

One of the strange things about Notes is that it’s rarely very focused. You never know what you’ll get from day to day. Sometimes it’s about gadgets. Other times, you’ll find thoughts about the church here. Other times, musings about my ear hair. The blogging world tells you that the most successful blogs have focus - which is why Notes is not one of the most successful blogs. But it does have readers - good folks who enjoy coming back, sitting around the fire and sharing about life, the deep and the shallow.

While the fire is hot and the coffee is warm, I wanted to share with you what’s on my mind today. It’s personal but applicable…

The title of this entry says it all. Frenetic is defined as “fast and energetic in a rather wild and uncontrolled way,” and I believe “fragmentation” is self-explanatory. Since August 2003, my family and I have been on an extended faith “journey” with a wagon train of incredible folks. We’re daily deeply grateful for this liberating life adventure that we know God has called us to.

Being bivocational means that I have to say “yes” to a lot of things I’d rather not do. For instance, I’m good at graphic design, but I don’t necessarily enjoy doing it for a living. I find myself torn between competing priorities all the time. Bread on the table or leadership of a church. It’s not quite that bad or that distinct, but you get the picture, right?

I continually live with this overarching sense of being a “jack of all trades, a master of none.” It’s a feeling of letting everyone down… all the time… because I can’t focus or prioritize a schedule that’s by nature full of expectations, people, interruptions and ministry. How do you “schedule” ministry? You just respond to it with a heart of faith and hands of service.

Anyway, I wanted to throw out this topic of “frenetic fragmentation” for you all because I suspect that I’m not the only one sitting here feeling this way.

Now you folks talk while I go get me some more weak coffee. And don’t touch my cookies.