shookfoil

We've all made it safely to Brooklyn. That's the good news. We also arrived to the filthiest, most cluttered, empty apartment I've ever laid eyes on. So lots of work there. And the apartment badly needed to be painted, which could not be scheduled until tomorrow. So we've been basically unpacked in an empty and dirty apartment for the week--with twins! My mom is also staying with us and helping mightily. Craziness notwithstanding, we've already managed to get some glimpses of the potential excitement and pleasure life and ministry here in Park Slope will offer to us. We're so glad to finally be here. I'll post more next week once we're better settled and I have internet access. Peace.

1) This page my look whacked-out to you. I don't know what's wrong (if it's still that way), and won't have time to fix it for a week (see below). Bear with me. I'll get it corrected as soon as I can if it doesn't correct itself.

2) Tomorrow I head out for my big adventure: packing up a U-Haul and driving across the country--St. Louis to New York. Look for me in a big ol' moving truck in Times Square some time Sunday.

Okay, I only used this title because a group of friends once argued for quite a while over whether my prior use of the term narratival was a neologism and, hence, out of bounds, or whether the term was a "real" one. I think the concensus was that if it won't score points on Scrabble it's not a real word. Too bad for me.

The real point of this post is to point your attention to two resources for thinking through the importance of story for a fully human life. The first is by my pastor-friend, Matt Boulter, in a post that is as provocative as it is brief. He explores here the meaning of sin for the Christian life-story.

The second and more important resource (more important due to its weight and the work represented therein) is the paper "Believing and Belonging" by my good friend Josh Anderson. He explains the purpose of the paper and makes it available in this post. Be sure to download and read it; it builds on some important recent work in epistemology and narrative and communal theology, but Josh makes his own contributions by exploring the use of the Exodus narrative in the life of Israel and then making helpful applications to the modern church.

Zidane was brilliant and such a pleasure to watch. There is a real poetic quality to his languid control of the ball. It was fun to see almighty Brazil get frustrated as they slowly realized that the game was slipping out of control. Sorry, Marshall and Sherron.

Redeemer Presbyterian Church in Manhattan recently interviewed the pastor of my new church, Matt Brown, on the current state of the church and on what he's learned during his two years of church planting in Brooklyn. You can read the interview here. It's a wonderful glimpse into the heart and vision of Park Slope Presbyterian Church.

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On a personal note, we've now moved out of St. Louis and are residing with my parents in Dallas for two weeks. We move into our Park Slope apartment on July 15th and 16th. Give me a call if any of you Texans want to drink a Shiner together while we're in town.