I'm at da beeeach.

Wanna get away for a while?  In a season that could be called "strained" I have driven to the Gulf Coast in search of some personal fulfillment.  Well, visiting my parents - but family has a way of both being comforting and encouraging, right?

What would you get away from if you could (but can't)?

There is certainly a difference between escapism and recharging.  Not sure which this is yet.

It can be hard sometimes, when there is such negativity about the system you are in.  And when I say system I mean the Methodist Church.  Brian McLaren said that he has never met Christians more depressed than Methodists.  And while I totally believe we should be Kingdom people and find joy in our faith in Christ, I also would have to say the Methodist Church has good reason to be depressed about how good of a job we've done as a church.  Loss of members, loss of respect, loss of direction.  Some would even say we've lost our savior for different reasons.

But all of that seems kind of behind me now, despite the fact it is directly in front of me.  

I recently completed my ordination papers.  I haven't blogged about it much, mainly because, to be honest, they were secondary to the work I have been doing in my church and the life I've been enjoying lately (married!).  There isn't much to say about them, but there is much to say about the future of our church.  As is true with everything else in life, the problem isn't the system, its the people in the system.  Capitalism could be perfect, but its not.  Democracy could be perfect, but its not.  The temptation is to throw out all those things that are not perfect until we find the one we fit best in.  Is there anything that would be as trustworthy as Jesus Christ?  Nah.  But does that mean we continue in an endless cycle of destroying those systems?

What the church will become is directly in front of me.  But right now, I'm expecting someone.  It is advent, afterall.