FAME!!!

Yes, I am a big deal. Check out a reworked version of a previous post published in the Bakersfield Californian, here.

Dancing at the End of the World

An Advent Reflection on Matthew 8.14-17, 28-34 from @EmmanuelBakerSt

That's great, it starts with an earthquake, birds and snakes, an aeroplane - Lenny Bruce is not afraid.  Eye of a hurricane, listen to yourself churn, world serves its own needs, don't misserve your own needs.  Feed it up a knock, speed, grunt no, strength no.  The ladder starts to clatter with fear, fight, down height.  Wire in a fire, representing seven games and a government for hire and a combat site.

Left of west and coming in a hurry with the furies breathing down your neck.  Team by team reporters baffled, trump, tethered crop.  Look at that low plane!  Fine. Yes.  Uh oh, overflow, population, coming to a little doom.  Save yourself, serve yourself. World serves its own needs, listen to your heart bleed.  Tell me with the rapture and the reverent in the right - right. You vitriolic, patriotic, slam, fight, bright light, feeling pretty psyched.

It's the end of the world as we know it
It's the end of the world as we know it
It's the end of the world as we know it and I feel fine

I know each of these lyrics to R.E.M.’s popular and apocalyptic song for one particular reason. This reason is inextricably wrapped up in an undeniable truth. The truth is that I am not a natural dancer. If you want to instantly see me squirm and lose all signs of composure you just need a strobe light, some music with a beat, and a dance floor. Assemble these ingredients and you’ll find me slowly creeping backwards, in half steps, searching with my hands out behind me, reaching for a wall to cling to for dear life. As you can imagine this truth did not make me extremely popular or active at middle school dances. I was and often still am accurately labeled as a ‘wallflower’ in any dance-related situation.

And a Shoot shall come out of the Root of the Sequoias

A sermon fragment from the 2nd Sunday of Advent on Isaiah 11.1-10 & Matthew 3.1-12 @EmmanuelBakerSt

Recently Hannah and I took a trip up to the Giant Sequoia National Monument. As we walked the trail of a hundred giants, I could not escape this week's biblical texts, full of roots and trees. An inch or so of snow covered the ground and a reverential silence fell upon everyone walking the trail woven among these towering trees. Even children could not help but to gawk in silent awe at the indescribable magnitude of these truly giant sequoias. Certainly, the divine was present in that place of biblical proportions.

Why its okay to hang a TARDIS on your Christmas[advent] Tree

an advent reflection on Matthew 24.23-35 & Isaiah 54.1-10 @EmmanuelBakerSt

Over the past couple of months the outreach team at Emmanuel has been discussing signage. We have been in discussion and conversation over how to best let people know that we are here. How do we let people know that this place is the place where the people of Emmanuel Baker Street meet and come together to worship, to pray, and to live?

Right now we have a very nice and what I would describe as tasteful sign. It’s humble enough, it’s not huge. It lights up at night, but doesn’t illuminate all of Baker Street. It allows us to put a short message up describing upcoming events, but it doesn’t have a scrolling display with pictures or videos. But sometimes, it doesn’t seem like it is enough. Occasionally the trees grow too big in front of it and it can’t be seen. Sometimes people say they have a hard time finding our church. And there is so much we want to say to the community, to the world, how can it all fit on our unassuming sign?