This is the title of the conference some friends of mine and I will be attending this weekend in Minneapolis, MN.  The conference is somewhat based off of David Wells’ book, Above All Earthly Pow’rs: Christ in a Postmodern World (Eerdmans, 2005) – which I haven’t read, but it might work its way in to the list.  You can read about the conference at http://www.desiringgod.org/Events/NationalConferences/Archives/2006/. The speakers include David Wells, Mark Driscoll, Voddie Baucham, Tim Keller, DA Carson, and John Piper. 

As Christians it is still necessary to be missional while still working to gain community among believers and unbelievers.  As for me, I feel local churches have a great sense of community, but lack in being missional because cultures rapidly change (i.e. postmodernism). 

I think this issue relates to most of our disgust of Wal-mart.  I’m not sure of the connection though.  Let me know what you guys think.

Did you know there is such a thing as the National Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce?  I heard about Wal-Mart hooking up with them and had to find out what they were.  Apparently they are “specifically dedicated to expanding the economic opportunities and advancements of the LGBT business community. “  You can all figure out what LGBT means.  See, Branden is not big on Wal-Mart and we have only gone there once to shop (not counting exchanging several wedding gifts) and that was very, very late at night.  He hates them for their business practices and their destruction of all things beautiful and communal.  That’s fair enough for me.  We try to avoid them.  Now I find out that they are getting in good with the “confused” chamber of commerce.  Yuck!  Wal-Mart was bad enough, now they’re just deplorable.

So, I went to the National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce’s web site (  http://www.nglcc.org/  ) to try and figure out who is associated with them and thus which businesses to avoid.   They’re everywhere!  From airlines to credit cards to phone companies. This makes being a thoughtful consumer all the more difficult.  Here I was just getting in to the idea of buying locally and BAM, nastiness all over.  I just see this as another call to be as self sufficient as possible and really know to whom your giving your business. The Lord bless us shopping wives.

Jennifer

There’s a lot of stuff going on in the near future with the Acorns. Let’s go in chronological order.

1) This Sunday night the babe and I will be heading into the City for a nice dinner date with our friends Andy and Abby. After dinner we’ll be strolling over to the Pageant to spend the evening enjoying the music of Sufjan Stevens, the world’s greatest living musician, live and in concert. Word on the street says Mr. Stevens has been touring with a blessed mess of string and brass musicians and wearing massive bird wings on his back. Sounds fun!

2) Our new house in New Town is scheduled to close next Friday, September 22. I’ve been sticking my head in everyday to observe the progress. In two weeks it’s gone from bare walls to trim and cabinets. We’ll be packing up all our crap over the next week and then we’ll be moving in shortly thereafter.

3) Antonia has reached her 2nd trimester and is doing awesome. She has a lot more energy now and has felt less sick. She’s also starting to show! People don’t think twice about asking about her pregnancy. I’d guess that in 2-4 weeks her tummy will turn into public property (once the baby starts movin’ and kickin’).

4) Super Party in New Town! Mr. Johnson, Tracy, and the Stones are scheduled to swing by our new home in mid-October. We’re quite excited about having these out-of-towners in our own little new town. It should be sweet and pimp.

5) Hay ride and political debate. Sometime in October/November my parents will be hosting their annual “Hay Ride.” We hope to also set aside the night before for an evening of good food, good beer, and good debate. We’ll keep you posted.

This week I’ve been watching the Civil War epic Gods and Generals. I’ve also been studying a bit about the war and all the social and economic causes and effects of it. I’ll leave my answer out for now, but I want to ask, what side would you have been on?

I ran across this fascinating article today and thought I’d share the love.

From here

Justo Gallego Martínez is building his very own Cathedral in Mejorada del Campo near Madrid, Spain

This is no “model” cathedral and he is neither a qualified architect, nor engineer, nor bricklayer — he is a farmer. “The plans have only ever existed in my head” and have evolved over time in response to opportunity and inspiration. Nor does he have formal planning permission from the authorities of Mejorada del Campo — the town in which it is located (20 km from Madrid under the flight-path to the Barajas airport).

Nor does he have the benediction or support of the Catholic Church. After eight years in a Trappist order — and just prior to taking his vows — he was obliged to leave, considerably weakened by tuberculosis and the monastic regime. His cathedral is dedicated to Nuestra Señora del Pilar, Madre de Jesús. He explains: “It’s an act of faith.” The cathedral has been bequeathed by him to the Bishopric of nearby Alcalá de Henares.
[...]

It’s official, Antonia is pregnant. Most of you all ready know so I now feel free to spread the news in blogland.

I would love to hear some baby name recommendations. So far we are considering:

Boy:
Henry David Acorn

Girl:
Ella Francis Acorn

I think I will put this as a problem on my next test:

If thou art diligent and wise, O stranger, compute the number of cattle of the Sun, who once upon a time grazed on the fields of the Thrinacian isle of Sicily, divided into four herds of different colours, one milk white, another a glossy black, a third yellow and the last dappled. In each herd were bulls, mighty in number according to these proportions: Understand, stranger, that the white bulls were equal to a half and a third of the black together with the whole of the yellow, while the black were equal to the fourth part of the dappled and a fifth, together with, once more, the whole of the yellow. Observe further that the remaining bulls, the dappled, were equal to a sixth part of the white and a seventh, together with all of the yellow. These were the proportions of the cows: The white were precisely equal to the third part and a fourth of the whole herd of the black; while the black were equal to the fourth part once more of the dappled and with it a fifth part, when all, including the bulls, went to pasture together. Now the dappled in four parts were equal in number to a fifth part and a sixth of the yellow herd. Finally the yellow were in number equal to a sixth part and a seventh of the white herd. If thou canst accurately tell, O stranger, the number of cattle of the Sun, giving separately the number of well-fed bulls and again the number of females according to each colour, thou wouldst not be called unskilled or ignorant of numbers, but not yet shalt thou be numbered among the wise.

But come, understand also all these conditions regarding the cattle of the Sun. When the white bulls mingled their number with the black, they stood firm, equal in depth and breadth, and the plains of Thrinacia, stretching far in all ways, were filled with their multitude. Again, when the yellow and the dappled bulls were gathered into one herd they stood in such a manner that their number, beginning from one, grew slowly greater till it completed a triangular figure, there being no bulls of other colours in their midst nor none of them lacking. If thou art able, O stranger, to find out all these things and gather them together in your mind, giving all the relations, thou shalt depart crowned with glory and knowing that thou hast been adjudged perfect in this species of wisdom.

My favorite band, hands down, is the Talking Heads.  David Byrne, the lead singer, is remarkable in his own right, and he recently played a benefit with many people, including Suf. 

From Byrne’s blog -”I asked Sufjan via e-mail if he wanted to do “Saginaw Michigan”, the song made famous by Lefty Frizzell, with me. (I thought many would think he wrote it for his Michigan-themed CD. I wonder if anyone fell for it?) He agreed and I sent him an MP3, chords and lyrics.

Anyway, the evening went well —Sufjan softly sang some of his catchiest tunes, and won over the crowd, many of whom may not have been familiar with him.”

Here is the video of that performance

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cLn8w44XGis

Tomorrow will be my first day off of work since I started January 3, 2006 – no vacation, no sick leave, nothing.  This week has been a busy week and will continue through the weekend.  I’m throwing a surprise b-day party for Tracey (my girlfriend) tonight.  I’ll be preparing for my first sermon tomorrow, then plan to have a fun weekend with some friends from this blog (Trevor, Antonia, Branden, Jennifer – in no particular order)!  Pray for their safety as T & A head West and B & J head East for their journey to the great town of Columbia, MO.  Columbia is a great town! God has amazed me with the grace he’s shown in leading me to a great church, Grace Church of Columbia (www.graceformissouri.org – a church startup from a year ago, and God is doing some amazing things with the current 16 members), introducing me to a great woman, Tracey Feroe, and providing for a wonderful job, Shelter Insurance.

 Have a great weekend!

I ran across this neat little website for helping people integrate into Savannah.

 Maybe you guys can use it.

http://www.thecreativecoast.org

I noticed that since the founding of this noble blog, there has been very little activity over at The Friars. This makes me sad. So I took it upon myself to post a new thread over there under the Politics section, regarding an issue I’d like to discuss. Just thought I’d let you all know.

Well, I’m finally making my first post on this blog. As you might have inferred from my title, I am fairly new to blogging. I’ve read a few of my friends blogs and posted comments a few times, but that’s about the extent of it. I’m actually only 25, but you would think I had never used a computer before with my lack of knowledge about technology. Thankfully I’m married to an engineer who more than makes up for my lack of “techie” abilities.

Other than being new to blogs, I’m a school psychologist, I live in Kansas City, I have been happily married for seven years, and have a wonderful dog that is a great cuddler (all 81 lbs.). I’m no philosopher, probably not even a good psychologist, but I do enjoy being surrounded by people who challenge me to think deeper and present new ideas that I haven’t explored. After reading through several of the blogs, I am humbled to be allowed to post among such great minds. Hopefully I can keep up with reading posts, however I do suffer from TBD (Too Busy Disorder), which often prevents me from such things that require me to sit and be still for more than a few minutes.