We're Moving to Colorado

At the beginning of our senior year of college people always asked us what we were going to do after graduation. Truth be told, we had no clue. We had some faint ideas, thoughts, and wishes, but nothing was set in stone.

That has now changed.

In October, we were approached by Mark and Lauren Shepherd and Nate and Julie Lamb with the opportunity to join them in planting a church in Denver, Colorado. It was a lot to think about at a busy time in our lives. We committed to praying about it and tried to put it on the back burner of our minds.

...that didn’t happen

It was at the forefront of our conversations as a couple. We loved the idea of moving somewhere for something more than a job. Moving to Denver means moving somewhere with purpose, with a mission.

After 4 months of prayer, conversation, thought, and more prayer, we know that God has confirmed our desires and directed our steps to Denver. We will be joining the launch team of Front Range Church in August of this year.

Please visit Front Range Church’s website to learn more about our mission and vision for what God is and is going to do in Denver.

Now, when people ask us what our plans are after graduation, the answer is simple…

We’re planting a church in Denver, Colorado.

Mission: To be a "Rooted and Reaching" movement of local churches in Denver and the Front Range through which our communities are reached, disciples become deeply rooted, and culture is redeemed through the truth and power of the Gospel." 

http://www.frontrangechurch.com/ 

{"why conservative christians flock to a gay bar"}

"He believes that too many Christians don't understand the complexity of the small number of Bible verses that mention homosexuality - he also thinks that gay people are often too quick to dismiss Christianity....

He admits that some churches will continue to focus on "healing'"gay people of homosexuality - while others will simply welcome and affirm gay people on their own terms...

He says that the Marin Foundation simply wants to get gay people thinking about Christian spirituality in its broadest sense, without a disproportionate emphasis on sexual morality."

Read this article

This man's ministry gives me some hope that the church might be able to turn around and change its actions towards the gay community. The church has caused so much damage already, but this picture is a sign of reconciliation, forgiveness, and love. I am so glad to hear stories like this one. 

sex and spirit

A man named Richard Carson came and spoke to us a few weeks ago during one of our weekly chapels. He said some things that I really agreed with about sexuality and everything that comes with it. His ideas were similar to what Rob Bell talks about in his book Sex God, a great read if you haven't picked it up yet. I was refreshed and inspired, because the more this topic comes up, the more I want to tell everyone about it. The old way of thinking needs to be thrown out. We need a transformation of the mind and soul.

I'm going to give you some of the highlights from the one hour chapel that day.

First of all, we have to get rid of the default assumption that all Christians are going to marry. Marriage is elevated falsely in the Christian world. What if we thought of this differently?

Marriage is wonderful and a great way to glorify God, but it is not the only way, and it is not necessarily the best way for everyone.

singleness does not take away your sexuality. You are sexual. but sexual does not equal the act of having sex.

It is so so much deeper.

“Conservative churches have only themselves to blame that
they failed to communicate a biblical vision for sex to post-war young adults. It takes a quite extraordinary degree of skill to take a vision of satisfying, wonder-filled sex, and the possibility of intimate committed friendship and make it all sound miserable. But that is precisely what many pastors, nuns and youth workers somehow achieved.”
(Mike Starkey in God, Sex and Generation: A Search for Lost Wonder)

What a great quote! Sad but true.

Richard talked about the link between sex as body-mind-spirit.
Sexuality--spirituality. They are extremely close to being the same thing.



wait ----------------------------------- reorder/redirect
abstain ------------------------------- adventure
starve --------------------------------- live
stay pure ----------------------------- become pure
purity=absence of sex -------------- purity=presence of life
wedding is the end ------------------ wedding is the beginning
celibacy is asexual ------------------- celibacy is sexual.
Jesus, sexual? what?! --------------- Jesus is the most sexual person ever


see the difference in these two perspectives? On the left we have the standard way sex is taught in the church, which humorously is more of a Buddhism method of suppression. But on the right we have a radically different view that parallels with what Christianity really is about.

sex is a perfect gift saved for marriage, or sex is a journey during marriage?

Sexuality can't be reduced to sex.

St. Patrick

St. Patrick is very very very important here in Ireland, as you would probably already know. This week we have been learning his story, which involved his being captured from Britain by raiders, taken as a slave to Ireland, then escaping and return again to bring Christianity to the country.

Our celebration of the holiday looked a little different than usual.

On Wednesday, we did something called "Monastic Day." This was lead by our professor of Celtic Christianity, who split up our time doing various monastic-like things, one being practical work and labor - my job was peeling potatoes for dinner. We read different passages from the Bible, journaled, spent time in prayer, walked down to the Irish Sea, and sang sections of St. Patrick's hymn, "The Breastplate." We had liturgical readings, shared a meal together, and ended with a short service and communion. All of this, aside from the planned speaking, was done in silence. It was a beautiful and sacred time for us to truly experience what the life of a monk was like, and also to become stripped of everything that is comfortable, normal, and distracting in everyday life.

But on Thursday, we headed for Dublin. We went to the parade, a Gaelic football game, hurling match, and then dinner in Temple Bar area. And boy was it crazy. The streets were filled with green and drunkards. You could say we had plenty of entertainment for the night.















"I bind unto myself today
the power of God to hold and lead,
his eye to watch, his might to stay,
his ear to hearken, to my need;
the wisdom of my God to teach,
his hand to guide, his shield to ward;
the word of God to give me speech,
his heavenly host to be my guard."
- Breastplate, St. Patrick's hymn