Of Concrete and Church Conferences....

In the history of weird topics, this has to be right up there. I am, due to my infrequent blogging, going to attempt to combine my recent trip to San Diego for a church conference with an update on the status of our house addition. So here goes nothin.
August 12th through 14th saw me in San Diego for the Total Church Conference. This conference was created to talk about the "Gospel Centered Church" which is a concept popularized, and really created, by Steve Timmis and Tim Chester. These two blokes are from the UK and run a church planting network called "The Crowded House". In essence they believe that the most effective apologetic for the gospel is the Christian community. Living out everyday life with gospel intentionality in a community of Believers. This really just means that we should be involving unbelievers in our lives... it means being consistent, and living like a Christian whether we're around unbelievers or believers. I got to see this practiced, lived out, in San Diego and it's AWESOME. It's just a very comfortable, natural way to live the gospel in front of unbelievers. I think I'd sum it up with these principles:

1) Live everyday life with gospel intentionality - This just means that no matter what you're doing, whether working, playing, eating or watching TV you should be doing it with the gospel in mind. (Think Deut. 6 here) This means constantly being around other people (believers and unbelievers) and speaking truth when you're around them. This leads us to the next principle....
2) Live consistently, not compartmentalized - This means that you shouldn't be one person around believers and a different person around unbelievers. I know this isn't a new concept, but I also know it's easier said than done. The key to this one is that it's also easier done in community. It's easier to be consistent when you have the support of other believers. Which, again, leads to the next principle....
3) Live in community - This means that we should constantly be hanging out with other believers... but not just hanging out. Really it means hanging out with, you guessed it, gospel intentionality. So, you go to public places with Christians so that unbelievers see you interract and they see your love for one another. You have BBQ parties with Christians and you invite unbelievers. This kind of community is the only way for the "one anothers" you see in the New Testament (love one another, bear one anothers burdens, etc) to happen.

So, that's the basics... there's much more, but that's the Josh Report version. I'll add more as it comes to me.... If you want to know more I'd suggest either A) Email me. B) Read "The Gospel Centered Church" or "Total Church" both written by the aforementioned blokes.

As for our addition, well, we poured the foundation. And here's the pics to prove it. This first one is a pic of where our new bedroom, bath and closet will be. You can also see in the foreground where our nasty old porch used to be... that will be concrete very soon too.... The second pic is of the garage. Don't worry, it'll have a concrete floor... the dirt is temporary.