Daily Word

Ya, I know it's been awhile since I have posted anything at this blog... but trust me, I have been busy! Ever since we have been gathering (at The River) as a small group for the past few weeks, I set up a new blog at the church website with the daily gospel reading from the Revised Common Lectionary. There are some really good resources that teach about the Lectionary at The Voice. Anyway, I have been providing the Gospel portion of the Scriptures along with an image and short devotional thought. It's a quick read (about 5 minutes), and hopefully worthwhile in the lives of busy, overtaxed disciples of Jesus.

The church website is www.kvriver.com and the devotional reading for each day is on the tab (at the top of the page) called "Daily Word". Unlike this blog, there is not a subscription button for email. However, if you'd like me to add you to (or remove you from) the list, I can send you an email each day as I update the blog.

To all my adoring fans (:-) I'll get back to posting more at this site pretty soon... However, I'm having a lot of fun and getting challenged by writing these short, simple devotional thoughts each day. They are not terribly deep or profound, but nevertheless, the discipline is having a deep, profound impact on me... and so are our small group discussions. Your online comments are welcome and appreciated... assuming you're not trying to sabotage our efforts.

Finally, I'm also writing a weekly devotional thought each week for my previous employer (Children's Ministries) in Kansas City. They are posted at http://cmc.nazarene.org. These short sermonettes have proven to be fun (and challenging) as well.

Gee, all this responsibility is causing me to actually read the Bible once in a while!

Who woulda thunk it?

Open for Business

I wonder... why do people feel compelled to share their inner thoughts with others? After all, opening up and making yourself vulnerable to the world could lead to a whole lot of pain and regret... not to mention the dangerous whackos who lurk in the dark corners of cyberspace. On the other hand, we humans are deeply communal by nature, and we long to share our hearts with others we believe to be "safe." So to be perfectly honest, I'm not exactly certain why I opened Cafe Verona for business today... I suppose part of it was because my good friend Eric inspired me through his extremely consistent example. Part of it is because I have always wanted a good forum for writing a personal journal. Yes, I said personal... in a public kind of way (life is full of paradoxes). And finally, part if it is because the professor of my "Doctrine of Christian Holiness" class advised his students to keep a diary of their their journey of sanctification. Wow, now there's a big word that needs unpacking. It's an important one within my denomination... and yet, here I am three months from graduation and I still don't know exactly what it means. Scary.

Anyway, I suppose those are the primary reasons I set up shop with Cafe Verona. Yes, I know Starbucks spells it "Caffe" but Cafe Verona isn't a coffee, it's a place of my inner thoughts "loosely" based on my favorite coffee in the whole world! Ya, I know I'm a corporate sellout, but what can I say, I'm from Seattle, and live in Kansas City... home of Foldgers... 'nuff said!

One of my biggest problems with bloggers is that they either post very irratically, or they overwhelm us with six posts per day. Frankly, that doesn't do much for me except overload my Blog Reader. I think one posting per day would be a grand goal to acheive. However, I know myself better than that, and it's much more likely that I'll fall on the irratic side within a few days. Oh well, since I'm not planning to share Cafe Verona with too many folks, I'm sure no one will really notice if my blogging drops off the face of the earth.

If for some reason you are reading this post and you want to join me in my "private" spiritual journey, then by all means, pour yourself a cup of coffee (dark roast), pull up a chair, and join me! Your comments are welcome (unless they're really mean-spirited)... I love good conversation over a good cup of java!