Only Wonder Grasps Anything

4th traditions

So, what did you grow up doing on the Fourth?

...to watch Portugal play England

Could I convince my dad to take a 90+ minute break from driving I-81 to watch Portugal and England face off at the World Cup this Saturday, 11:00 EDT? We'll be on the road to get my grandparents, and its about a 12 hour drive up I-81, but if we hit the road by 6:00 AM, it might be a welcome break...

Anybody know any good sports bars about an hour into Virginia from Tennessee where we could catch lunch and the game?

tomorrow

Tomorrow morning I'm running in the Riverbend Run 10K race, and I'm totally unprepared: I haven't run much this month, and expect to be slow. Anyhow, it should be a fun course to run.

After the run I'll check in on some stuff at work, and then I've missions stuff for church and some cleaning and sorting through old computers and such at home.

Next week I may be working close to 11 hour days each day, except Wednesday, when I've taken off to attend General Assembly in Atlanta. It'll be a busy week.

fishin' around

Last weekend my sister and I met some friends down at the Tennessee Riverpark to make fish mosaics. The folks who organized it had all the ceramic tiles, tile cutter/breaker tools, paper, colored pencils, and contact paper. We drew our fish, then broke and positioned the ceramic tile pieces on contact paper on our drawings. The finished mosaics, after they glue and grout them, will be placed on some of the newer buildings in the RiverPark.

The last week of July, 9:00AM to 3:00PM Monday through Saturday they'll be down there again if you want to make some, and its totally free.

Here are a few examples:

Mine was actually a Short Nosed Common Dolphin, not a fish.

My sister made a River Catfish.

Tuggy made a "cartoon fish" after making an eel with nasty-mean red eyes.

Our group working on the mosaics (except I'm behind the camera).

This is my fish under construction.

when your local church isn't your local fellowship

I'm committed to my local church. I believe that it is biblical to be part of a local congregation of believers, because the local church isn't just part of the church, it is the church, an outcropping of the universal church. If I love the Lord and his church, which I do, then I must love the local church--the people I've identified with as a member.

But what about when there's more than one solid, biblical, local congregation? And what if I find much of my fellowship and support with believers who are parts of other congregations, not the congregation of which I'm a member. What if my local church isn't my local fellowship?

Should folks from my local congregation be the first people I turn to when I have a problem, or need to discuss an issue? What if the issues I'm thinking through and want to talk about are issues they don't show much care for? For example, are the environmentalists right--are we trashing the planet? Have we obscured the gospel by insisting too much on our inculturated accommodation of it? Why does our congregation only marginally reflect the socio-ethnic make-up of the community around our church? Do we mix too much of our political views with Jesus' gospel? Is our emphasis on academic doctrinal standards sheltering us from the direct heart surgury God's living word would perform on us?