yes I know...

A lot of 'building' posts lately.

I could be because I'm building...

More than one thing in fact.

(since I'm up at 5:23am--and have been up since 4:00am--I might as well be more transparent than usual)

I'm trying to build a relationship with God.  I realize you're not supposed to say that you 'build' anything when it comes to God.  I get that it's His initiation our response.  My theology is winsomely reformed but I do feel like I've ratcheted up my vain attempts at grasping His hand as it holds resolutely to mine and, like I feel (as father) when my baby girl wraps her arms and legs around me and squeezes when I'm holding her, it's my hope that the Lord is smiling some at my weak grasping.

(listening to a wonderful album right now)

I'm trying to build a relationship with my wife.  We've been married 12+ years and are still going strong.  Quite a few marriages around us--contemporaries of ours--are currently dissolving and that, if nothing else, has caused us to re-examine our life and be thankful for the joy we have together.  Certainly marriage takes work, but we've always worked at it and as a result (and largely due to God's kindness to us) we're doing fine.  I have noticed a tendency in me lately to be a bit more snippy with her than I should.  Note made.  Apology to follow later today.

I'm trying to build a family.  My kids both drive me crazy and make me nuts I love them so much.  It's like a tsunami came to live in my life permanently.  It would take more words than I'm currently willing to write to describe the messes they make and the dances they dance and the topics they discuss and the frustrations they express and the fights they get into and the disobediences they undertake and the kisses they give each day.  Suffice it to say they're glorious and 'glory' means 'heavy' and that's a right description of what it's like trying to live with, and lead, them.

I'm trying to build a career.  This is one of the toughest aspects of my life these days.  Looks like I'll be heading back into bi-vocationalism after a brief (three year plus--so maybe not so brief--sheesh has it been that long?) detour into living my life as 'just' a TV and film producer. Needless to say the journey back to embracing what it means to plant and pastor a Church has not been one casually undertaken.  I could say so much about it I'm thinking of writing a book. Problem is, I don't know whether to write that book first or this really fun adventure story I've been toying with for years.  I think the former is the more immediate and therefore might prove the most presently fruitful.  Anyway, it's enough to say that I've slowly, carefully, hopefully-humbly taken enough steps now that it's inevitable.  I've talked about the principle here before.  

You keep putting one foot in front of the other long enough and sooner or later you've walked off a cliff.

(and since I'm jumping anyway)

The Church will be called 'THE WELL'.  It'll launch (Lord willing--cause with these things you truly never know exact dates 'till a couple weeks out) the second week of September (the 13th) but I think we'll start meeting in the space to pray and dream the last Sunday of August then do a 'run through' the first Sunday of September (the 6th).  My hope is to locate our services in the heart of downtown Burlington (my home town).  I've locked a worship leader for the first four months.  He's my 'pseudo-godfather'.  A real musical genius (think James Taylor) and a man who knows a thing or two about suffering therefore knows the value of worship.  I've also got another genius friend of mine willing to help with the 'look feel' of the services and of the materials we'll use to help people know what we're up to.  We're also going to put together some simple promo stuff.  You can see his work here, and here.  I've also mapped out the sermon series for the first year.  I've never preached in series before but I feel strongly that this next 'season' should be oriented that way.  I'll be doing my best to connect the theme of each series to a key theme that's 'on the radar' in pop-culture each month while keeping the 'meat' of each series (and each sermon) firmly rooted in an exegetical study of portions of a book of the Bible.  

First series will be 'What IS Church' rooted in Galatians and connected to the whole 'Back to life (school) Back to Reality' ethic that drives our Septembers.

T'will be interesting to see how it goes.

If you're someone who likes the whole 'Church Planting' thing you'll enjoy this blog for the next while.  If you're exclusively a TV or movie person just be aware that my posts will reflect this reclaimed bi-vocationalism which will re-shape 'supernatural film school' a little in contrast to what it's been since I started 'cause I started the blog after retiring from my first Church plant--and probably because I'd retired from my first Church plant.

Hope that's cool with you.  If not--and you'll be leaving shortly--I'm glad to have spent some time with you and hope that my reflections on my journey have been useful to you in some way. I'd love for you to stick around and promise to not turn into something stupid and religious. The whole reason I do both preaching and producing is 'cause I think stupid religion and stupid religious folk (like I'd be were it not for God's kindness, a 'wordly'--in the best sense--wife and lots of suffering) are the last thing we need more of in Church or in entertainment.

(plus I'm still producing up to 208 episodes of TV this year, have a new drama series in development with the people who created this, am trying to executive produce a graphic novel based on a script I hope to produce as a film sometime in the next century, and I might have some 'one on one time' [as an INTERVIEWER, relax...] booked with this girl next month that I figure you're going to want to hear about...)

But you're going to do what you're going to do.

And I have a shed to build.

T