So, I told you that we were taking a vacation this summer to San Francisco. Well, today I was able to enhance our already spectacular trip immensely I was able to get outfield tickets to go and watch the Royals play the Giants on the bay! I know we’re going to stink this season but going to watch the Royals has been one of Tracy and my favorite things to do for the past 3 years. We can’t wait until June 9th!

You’ve got to be kidding me! And the best part is that the church will be posting pictures in the church.

This new site is awesome! Check out some of the shirts they offer…

I’ve just found a great new t-shirt site! I’ll blog about it next, but first I had to tell you about this specific shirt. I saw a guy at the hotel this weekend wearing it so I googled it and found it here. I want this shirt!

I am learning to become more and more frustrated with the “old guard” of the Southern Baptist Convention. To be honest with you, if I was to start a church today I would desire to be SBC simply to affiliate with the missions efforts and probably not for much else. I would say with some confidence today that I prefer non-sbc educational opportunities, non-sbc curriculum among other things.

I read this article today that caused my blood to boil just a bit. While I’ll admit that the SBC leaders that were quoted are accurate in some of their estimations, I am continually frustrated by the lack of creedence that they give to the church that is sensitive to culture. As Mark Driscoll says so well in Radical Reformission, the church must be steeped biblical accuracy AND cultural sensitivity equally in order to be effective. I’m afraid we’re becoming more and more of a convention adrift from effective outreach. While I am by no means aligning myself with those who fail to be grounded in biblical accuracy, and I am not interested in theological compromise, I am appalled that SBC leadership would dare say that the emergent church is a “threat to the gospel.” While there are certainly churches within this affiliation that are not accurately sharing the message of Christ, there are many, many more churches within the boundaries of the SBC that are either biblically unfaithful or just simply apathetic when it comes to evangelism and yet we’re not claiming that the SBC is a “threat to the gospel.” That claim makes me sick!

Our SBC president now says that the cure for all the ills within the SBC is to “win more souls.” While I agree that we must make evangelism a priority, this kind of good-ole-boy gusto and naivety is part of what makes it so hard for me to take my denominational leadership seriously. I have lost all desire to join together at our National Convention, State Convention or other meetings. It’s unfortunate that we have become a hierarchy of power and “old ways” in what used to be a vibrant, aware, and culturally relevant denomination.

Am I the only one who is struggling with our apparent bent towards fundamentalism? Is anyone else concerned?

Our Youth Pastor, Nick Drake, just had his first child last month. And now we get to say congrats to our Worship Pastor, John Haley, as his daughter was born yesterday. We seem to be in the middle of a baby epidemic. We’ve gone from one baby ni the nursery to 6 in the past year. It’s a good thing.

Today however we want to say: “Welcome to the world Karissa!”

I’m iTuned in! I love the Pepsi-iTunes promotion. I’m not only racking up on free music, I’m doing so as a direct result of my caffeine addiction (and most people said it was unhealthy) and in doing so I’m gaining some great classic music. I’ve just finished getting Beautiful Day, I’m in the process of getting, I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For, and I’m about to get, With or Without You. U2 is filling the house!

…about church membership. I am curious to know what everyone’s thoughts are about it. I’ve been thinking and I can’t really find any biblical precedent for actual church membership. The only things I can come up with are that it would be a legal mess if there wasn’t membership. You know, who would have ownership, how do you hire staff, bank accounts, etc. Can anyone provide any other support, biblically, for membership? I look forward to hearing what you have to say.