ZOE Conference, Day 1

Actually, I'll start on Day 0, yesterday. Got up, got the kids ready and Nina and I took them to school. Then we went and had breakfast at Baker's Square before she took me to the airport. My first flight, from Oakland to Ontario, was very easy; only about 40 people on the flight, and I got a window seat on the over-wing exit row, with lots of leg room. It was my first time to see or ride on a 737-700, with the upturned wingtips. Nice plane. Second flight was a little more full, but I was in the "A" group, and headed to the back of the plane to get a row by myself. Snoozed a little, read a little, listened to music a little, and the flight went by reasonably quickly.

Got into Nashville, got my luggage, and went to the rental car counter. The young lady who gave me my key said that she'd already met four other folks coming to the conference!

Checked into the hotel, and got in touch with Owen Burgess to meet at Cracker Barrel for dinner. We had a good chat and great food. I stopped by the Harris Teeter store to get a few groceries, and headed back to the hotel. I called home and talked to Nina and the kids, and turned in as early as I could manage -- but didn't sleep so great.

I woke up this morning early, and decided to get out and about. I went driving down Franklin Pike to the town of Franklin, and looked around a little. One thing I love about this area, south of Nashville, is the history. Granted, it's not as aged as most of Europe, but there are lots of signs noting Civil War sites, buildings with dates that go back almost two hundred years. Not as much of that in my part of California.

Took a swing through the Cool Springs Galleria, and did a little shopping. Found a really colorful shirt to add to my wardrobe, and had a light lunch at Chik-Fil-A -- another thing I don't see much in California.

Then I headed back to my room to change, and went up to the Woodmont Hills church for the conference.

Ken Young and Hallal led worship first, and we heard from Brian McLaren, who challenged us to be sensitive to listen to people who are looking for God, instead of trying to talk them into our way of thinking about God. Instead of teaching people to be "churched," we need to let the Holy Spirit move them to become faithful, by listening and encouraging them to keep seeking through God's word.

In the Worship Leader's breakout track, Kip Long and a group of teens led us in praise, and we then heard from the spouses of two worship ministers about some of the challenges they face, and the blessings that have come through their spouses' ministries. In our small group, we reflected on some of the challenging things that Brian McLaren had said.

The dinner break took me and several folks I've gotten to know through WorshipForum.com to Cracker Barrel (where else?) for more great food, and more great conversation.

The evening worship was led by Randy Gill and one of the praise teams from Woodmont. Then we heard more of the continuing story from Brian McLaren.

This is a very bland report, I realize. The best part of the day has been hearing McLaren speak. He reaffirmed some things I think I knew intuitively, but haven't been able to articulate. He didn't give me the answers, but he's given me better questions. What do churches need to do to prepare for the next generation? How do we reach out to post-modern people from a construct that is very modern in its patterns and attitudes? How can we spur on their faith, and help them grown into a vital group of believers, when they don't want to "do church" the way we have for the past few generations? My guess is that churches as we know them will begin to decline rapidly in the next ten years or so, and something new will arise. Then the generation after that will probably build something a little different.

I have enjoyed meeting people face-to-face that I have known from the blog community and from WorshipForum. This is a great 'family reunion' for me.

Now to sleep.... I hope.

Ummm....

Yes, it's been a whole month since posting. Not that I haven't tried; I had written copious amounts one day (two or three sentences) when my computer decided to be naughty, and it all went away. Between that and not having any ideas about what to write, I haven't really tried that much.

I've had a bunch of mental dust bunnies that have traipsed through my brain. Stuff that comes to mind, and won't go away until I bother someone else with them. For example:

"And now, a man who puts the 'goober' into 'gubernatorial, ...." .

Now if stuff like that isn't an incentive to NOT write, I don't know what is.

I've been much busier lately with computer support calls. I've got a little ad in a small local paper, and it's apparently getting noticed a lot. I've been out to clean up spyware, hookup DSL connections, setup new computers, upgrade some hardware, and to generally pontificate about what people ought to be doing with their computers. It's made me feel like I might be able to grow this side consulting bit into a viable job. I've come up with a flyer to advertise, and now I just need to find places that'll let me post it. A local coffee establishement comes to mind, as does the library and the adult school.

Speaking of the adult school, I've started another couple of classes there. Last year, I took a class on Macromedia Dreamweaver MX, a great web editor. Now I'm taking a class on Macromedia Flash MX, so I can learn to do cool animations on websites (though I have no artistic ability), and also a class on Web Design with Databases, in which I'm learning to use PHP and MySQL. The latter class is far more up my alley; programming and data structure design fits in my head a lot better than visual design.

Taking the classes is fun, if only for the opportunity to kibbutz with the other geeks (and some normal people) in the class. It's making me wonder if I couldn't find some opportunity to teach in such an environment. I think I'd prefer a junior college, where the people in the class might be a little more intent on learning something. A computer class at an adult school will generally have a broad range of people in classes, from those who say, "I want to learn this tool so I can get a promotion at work." to "I'm in this class to learn how to make a website for my kids' scout troop" to "I needed an excuse to get out of the house, now that Friends is off the air, and it's just too depressing to watch TV that night."

One thing that's frustrating about this particular school is that the computer systems are ancient, and the network needs some real help. I could fix the network for them, if they'd let me, but the school district's IT department is a union shop, and they're pretty protective of their turf. Seems odd for a school district in California to not accept any help they can get from volunteers, don't'cha think?

Nina is trudging along in her job, despite personality conflicts, micromanagement by administration, and a general sense that she'd rather be at home more. She's a trooper.

John is doing well in third grade. Part of his homework every day is to do some writing. At first he was struggling for things to write about (gee, that sounds familiar), but now he's got an ongoing story about an old west sheriff dealing with an ongoing series of bad guys. He's a very creative kid.

Natalie says she doesn't like kindergarten.... she LOVES it! She doesn't have homework, most days, so we try to get her working on some of the basics, while John is doing his homework. She's also practicing her R's -- she hasn't learned to say that letter very well yet. It may have something to do with her missing front teeth, I suppose. She's still working on it, with gusto sometimes. "Wwwwwwwrwwwwwrwww-ice! Wwwwwwwrwwwwwrwww-ocket!" So cute.

Next week, I'll be attending the ZOE Group conference in Nashville. I'm looking forward to being there again, even though Nina won't be with me this year. We've made a lot of friends there over the past few years, and have really gotten a lot out of the conference. This year, Brian McLaren will be speaking at the leadership conference. I've not had a chance to read his books, but I'm hoping to get a chance to do so soon. Mike Cope and Jeff Walling (Hey, Jeff! Where's YOUR blog?) will be keynoting the general conference. And of course, Brandon, Randy, Jeff Nelson, and others will lead worship times. I'm looking forward to seeing lots of the folks I've known online from WorshipForum and the blogging community, like Clarissa, Matt, Val, and others whose writings have been a real blessing.

Well, the day begins; we're going to my wife's company picnic today, so it's time to find the sunscreen and hats. Ah, fall in California!