results.

i have been reading through the book of acts lately(in the bible).

i have a new soap box.

"mars hill" " acts 17 churches" "engagement church movements" etc. i am certainly not against engaging a culture on all levels. going TO people before they come TO you as it were. engageing the post modern mind...etc.

"the mars hill experience" as one may say (the emergent movement is in someways a posterboy for this). i think there are a few "perceived" home runs (mars hill church, nooma, mcclaren, etc) in the movement... and many church planters are excited (sometimes drinking the coolaid - no more that "piper-ites" in mnpls). however... check this out.

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acts 17

32 Now when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked. But others said, “We will hear you again about this.” 33 So Paul went out from their midst. 34 But some men joined him and believed, among whom also were Dionysius the Areopagite and a woman named Damaris and others with them.

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did you see the church planted there? did you catch that church meeting at "________'s" house, the baptisms, the times paul stayed to teach and instruct the beleievers, the elders he appointed.... oh... did you miss that?

so then there is paul in corinth. haveing not had any REAL fruit from his visit to mars hill (actually that whole city)... unlike the good response from berea just verses earlier... he is poor, in need, and has to work a full time job (part time maybe living with two friends) as he continues ministry.. waiting for his friends to come (from the poor church in philippi) to bring ANOTHER offering. ( this my friends is one of the most amazing stories in all of the N.T. and sheds sooooo much light in the letter to the church at phillipi)

you see,

paul's M.O. was to have each church SEND him to the next... with a few months worth of money (or maybe a years worth.. we can only speculate).

the point? advancement depended on success at the last location (whether 2 months or two years at the "last" location).

and there was LITTLE success in athens... some... and, again, i would not recommend "NOT engaging the 'athens' of our current time" or any enclosed argument...

but i wonder if paul would say we are wasting our limitted resources on the wrong things..

why didn't paul set up and work a part time/full time job in athens? when did he push off?

luke doesn't explain all of these things... however i have noticed, after beingn a christian for 15 years and reading this book over 100 times now... something NEW!

this is my soapbox then currently.

why are we spending time on things that are "interesting" but not "producing" alot of fruit?

i fear that my intent to "understand youth culture" over the last 2 years was indeed spending 50% of my time in the wrong avenues, with the wrong kids/locations (actually), and not looking for the fruit ready for the picking, if that makes sense (what could have been established to carry on the work).

much of the growth of the resoration movement in the first 50 years was due to the expanse of a nation and people interested in spirituality but not loyal to their "denominations". sound familiar with today's spiritual climate.

i wonder if we can learn something here also. is the "simply christian" message a TRIPLE call to the "pagan" (far away from christ) and also to the "god fearer" those searching... and the "attendeer" or compared to a Jew ready for a messiah and finally learning that message... (ie: wanting a simpler church , a biblical one, and finally seeing the new testament mandates, suggestions, and evidences.... ).

question: is the academic and practical ministries world spending extra time in "athens" when paul would have moved on by now?

question: would early christian's in the first 2 centuries reference "mars hill" "acts 17" as much as we would? wasn't this story more damning of athens.... "woe to you athens..." and not luke suggesting "hey christians - check out this "way to do THE WAY" as he does earlier in the book of acts. i wonder if this was a "byword" for early christians.... "remembers athens" ... etc...

okay folks... several hundred words...

think for a while...

then get back to me. ( theparoubeks@juno.com )

Y.

so,
kathryn and i joined the family "y" of eau claire today for a month. they were willing to loosing the rules a little because of our circumstance. and why not, an easy $60 i say from us. and now we need to at least visit the why 10 times in the next 30 days to make it matter. however, i think now we will have a good exercise schedule for the remaining time here. and now that i have a goal to get down to a certain weight by the end of summer (or at least re-shaping my ... uh... current shape) this should be a good kick in the pants.

we are very glad to have a couple here (ed and charlotte) that are willing to allow us to ride their back for a month in order to relax, work out, spend time together, etc. RE-fuel. that is the word that seems to keep coming up.

though it is probably water weight. i am still glad that i have shed 6.3 pounds this last week. that's 2.75% of my body weight in one week. perhaps i will go for 5% this week... that would be 12.5 lbs. i think i usually push down about 25 lbs in a month and then plateau for a while. hopefully, as i start "power 90" in 6 weeks - i will have enough muscle confusion to keep the rate of decay... i mean... weight loss continuing. better health, better heath care costs, and a better outlook.

the right fuel going in (and limitted), the right fuel being used, and good rest (mentally, physically, etc) and we should be in business.

interest.

18 years old? invest 10K in a mutual fund.
average 10% growth over the long term.
retire at 68 (that is 10K for 50 years, not adding a dime).

retire with... $1,250,000.00

that is amazing!

birth.

slept in.
eggs and homemade hashbrowns.
haircut.
indiana jones.
park/petting zoo.
brewery tour.
meal overlooking a lake.
walmart.
myspace (my project86 fix)
movie.
massage.

happy birthday me!

settle.

today marks the end of our $300 (gas) midwest tour of friendship.

seeing friends, spending time together, games, fishing, movies, conversations, youth groups, laughter and sadness...  it has been a good time for us to remind ourselves how blessed we are with friends around the tri-state up here.

so we settle down into eau claire for about 6 weeks... occasionally traveling...

mostly working on life, marriage and preparing for the road ahead.

it will be a blessing to spend this time with some great friends... 

and to be of any help during their current rough/sad time of a parent's passing.

drill.

while we are building more nuclear.
while we are trying to bring solar and wind down to a good "collective" price.
while we are awaiting hydrogen cars...

let's drill.
check out the wonderful "Washington answers" to our oil...

we could get 90% (more if we go after the tar sands of Colorado, Montana and Canada)

and we wouldn't be supporting dictators...etc.

i am just so frustrated that the economy that represents 25% of the whole worlds GDP and over 35% of the worlds investments) is yelled at for creating 15-18% of the worlds pollution (can't you at least give us the grace to push out 25% of the worlds pollution is that is the role we play in the
total economy)

... really.

ah... why are we taking a whole day in congress to talk about state issues and not national ones!??!?!

sojourn.

and so begins a 10 long visit to friends houses, fishing, movies, cleaning, eating, laughing and probably many tears.

today we arrived at apple valley to visit friends, pray for those in Ecuadore, catch up on life in h.s. and college, play some wii... and catchup on the elections tonight.

and it is late... and what am i having a hard time turning off? this new burden to help BSSI raise funds so that the David and Lois Rees Hospital can keep functioning through this century... however, to then allow new money and people and talent and dreams to expand the work of BSSI/LIAT india... and to partner with more...etc.

it all seems so large... and weird to me... so why is it consuming me, and shaping me...

is this what it feels like for the Holy Spirit to shape you through circumstances also?