Disqus - Latest Comments for McHonza

Re: Make: Bike Shop — Bike Repair Book Giveaway

McHonza — Tue, 03 May 2011 09:52:15 -0000

Most of my riding is on a road bike, but I'm doing more commuting on a hybrid. I'm curious about fixed gear bikes. They seem like a whole different ball game. Any advice for getting started in that niche?

Re: Make: Bike Shop — Bike Repair Book Giveaway

McHonza — Tue, 03 May 2011 09:26:37 -0000

I have a messenger bag for regular stuff that I carry, it seems to generate less sweat than a backpack. Recently got a rear rack & double-sided pannier bag (like saddlebags) for groceries & bigger loads. Much easier to transport more stuff with the rack & panniers in my opinion.

Re: Shooting in Arizona

McHonza — Sat, 08 Jan 2011 16:12:47 -0000

Idiot Palin still has gun-sight targets on her FB page. http://tinyurl.com/Clueless...

Re: adam moore - blog - I was going through some of my old blog posts and...

McHonza — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 10:01:02 -0000

Is this representative of any particular statistics or an artistic interpretation of a feeling?

Re: Trajectory

McHonza — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 09:58:19 -0000

What a great picture of your journey.

Re: Church as the work of the people

McHonza — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 18:09:19 -0000

That would be fascinating to try in a traditional church setting. My guess
would be that a congregation that would buy into it would already be doing
some non-traditional stuff as well. I guess that's one of the reasons I
enjoy youth ministry. You can experiment much more easily with different
ways of addressing faith with students than with people that have gotten
into a rigid routine. Our congregations is pretty open to different things
that our youth and children's ministries try. It is opening up some room for
us to get another Sunday service that will take a more contemporary route.

I do get frustrated with taking such small steps. Sunday night at Pub Church
we were talking about change. A common element between us all is a
dissatisfaction with business-as-usual-church. Connecting with people
looking for a change AND willing to take the necessary steps has been a
challenge for all of us.

You see the kind of stuff going on with Kimball, Pagitt, Bell, & Rollins and
you just wonder why the whole church doesn't look like that. Not copies of
any of them, but with that same kind of feeling. There are some very
different ways of doing church here in Waco; Crowder & UBC, Dorrell & Church
Under the Bridge, the mission focus of Antioch, 30 Minute Worship at
Victorious Life Church, and a New Monastic group tied in to the Hunger
Relief Farm. Even the stuff we're each doing with Pub Church & VOID
Collective are part of that strain for a new connection.

I wonder sometimes if all this stuff is a way of validating our own
weirdness? You know how you reveal more as you fall more in love with
someone. It's like each step is a test of how true the love might be. If you
reveal too much, too soon it blows up. If you show something vulnerable and
you are still accepted, love grows deeper. There's a lot of trust that goes
with faith. It's good to be sure that we're in it with people we can count
on. People who will stick with us when it gets ugly.

Re: Church as the work of the people

McHonza — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 14:43:07 -0000

I'd like to think that this is the direction that Waco Pub Church is about
and is headed. We've been at it for over 6 months now and it is an important
part of the faith life for those that have become regulars. There is very
much a collective sharing of ideas and the participation of all present
gives direction to discussion, occasional music, concerns, and prayer. There
is slight structure, but it feels more like a rhythm. In practice there is
very little planning, most often just a topic with some questions to point
in a variety of directions. Occasionally a "homework" assignment given
before we meet to encourage thought and participation. Conversations seem to
indicate that this is a good way to close out the week.

Re: Church as the work of the people

McHonza — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 03:21:28 -0000

Beautiful.

Re: You want to listen to my problems, right?

McHonza — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 17:33:07 -0000

Think about things in terms of art.
We almost always have some opinion of art and/or artists and can consider our own capacities as an artist.
There is probably lots of art that we don't like or even understand that brings the artist a great deal of satisfaction.
Most artists seem to communicate a sense of being driven or a need to create the art that they engage in.
Additionally, they may have art that they sell, but other works that are priceless to them. (I would contend that an artist that regularly sells has become a manufacturer)

Regarding the use of the word "ministry."
I would agree that the word has been stretched beyond being descriptive of it's original intention.
The best definition that I've heard for it is "meeting needs with love."

I've been working for churches part-time & full-time for over 7 years now. Been fired from one. Almost quit all of them at one point or another. I'm working toward unplugging from taking a salary. From a business point of view, they can brutal.

I put up with the crap for the opportunity to help connect others to what I have found to be my authentic faith.
Which I keep questioning and doubting.
Seems to keep things honest.

Re: Terry Eagleton

McHonza — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 11:35:23 -0000

I've been involved in some discussions at http://unreasonablefaith.co...
Just got through reading "The God Delusion" by Richard Dawkins.

Overall my impression is that the atheists that I am in conversation with have been hurt by religion, have adopted a stand against it, and have found solace in the comfort of humanism and reason.

Their rationalization against any religion is to take the most extreme parts of the faith, apply scientific principle, and then ask you why you are not as enlightened as them. It seems to follow the same pattern as gnosticism.

Re: Mourning to Hope

McHonza — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 17:40:36 -0000

Sherri & lost a baby between our kids, now 22 & 19.
That experience threw the slow decline of my faith over the previous years into a nosedive that took me far away from any kind of faith.
Eventually I found some comfort based in ethics and morality.
That served well as a basis for work and raising our family for quite some time.
Ultimately though, there was still an emptiness to be filled.
I'm not sure exactly what part of the giving up has to do with the strength of my connection now.
The path back into faith was challenging and uneasy.
Plenty of it still doesn't make sense, but I know that I am not responsible for all the answers, just the ones I need.

Re: Post-Elephant

McHonza — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 17:03:59 -0000

My take on Elephant http://mchonza.blogspot.com...

Looking forward to the next.

Re: James Dobson’s ‘Letter From 2012 in Obama’s America’

McHonza — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 12:49:19 -0000

For most elections, there are 2 basic directions to choose.
One of those directions has got to follow, at least slightly closer to, the teachings of Christ than the other.
So learn about what Jesus taught, learn about the candidates and be part moving toward a solution.
That goes for national, state, and local elections, every time.
Regardless of beliefs or rhetoric, actual policies should be looked at rather than whatever lip service a candidate may give to Christianity.
In other words, I would vote for an atheist who's decisions result in policies that follow the teachings of Christ rather than a candidate that professes belief, yet does not follow Christ's message with action.

Re: Jesus is not an Essene nor a Herodian

McHonza — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 12:46:49 -0000