After almost four years of blogging (have I really been blogging almost as long as I was in college?) I decided it was time to recheck who I am because reading this page I realized that I am definitely someone different four years down the road than I was when I started this thing.
First things first, I am a pastor/preacher/teacher/counselor/leader/vision caster/systems analyst/amateur theologian/writer/sports caster wannabe/father/ husband/son/brother/uncle/friend/Nazarene/Redskins/Wizards/Terps/Caps/Fanatic/Missional/Emergent/Evangelical/Protestant/Wesleyan/CHRISTIAN/ SERVANT OF THE ONE TRUE GOD. (That last part seemed important enough to type in caps, out of respect, not because I was yelling.)
Here are a bunch of words that would accurately describe me: gregarious, optimistic, encouraging, forgetful, selfish, recovering know it all, merciful, patient, peacemaker, pilgrim, former coward, dreamer, idealist, problem solver, trivia storage container, romantic, filled with faith, steady, even keeled, increasingly humble.
I am an optimist. It takes a lot to make me pessimistic. Congratulations Dan Snyder, you have made me a pessimistic Redskins fan after 25 years of optimism. I love the NBA. Whatever your perceptions of the NBA are, you are probably wrong. There is no league in the world with a more skilled group of athletes doing more extraordinary things. They should put me on those TNT commercials about the NBA. If they do I hope it costars Charles Barkely because Chuck and I could have a good time together. I could help him get over his narcissistic self destructive tendencies and he could teach me to be the greatest 5’8″ power forward in the world.
I think the the two things I am best at in this world are being a husband and a father. No roles in my life matter more to me, nor do I work harder at anything else in my life. I am absolutely comfortable with this and what it means for my friends, my job, my service of the church, and my own life. Nothing gives me more pleasure or satisfaction than loving my family.
The third thing I bring to the world is sandwiches. I love sandwiches. I could eat three sandwiches a day. I consider myself something of a sandwich artist and maybe even a savant. I concoct them, devour them, and can name the best ones around. That being said, Subway can’t hold Jimmy John’s jock strap. JJ’s is way superior. Trust me, I am a sandwich savant.
I have been part of the emerging church for 6-7 years. I have read just about everything written by everybody involved in the emerging church and quite a bit from its critiques. I am part of this generative friendship because of the questions being asked and the spirit in which they have been asked. That being said, I don’t embrace all the answers people offer, don’t promote or support everything coming out of the emerging church and don’t pretend to speak for anyone in involved in the emerging church other than myself. If you are here to debate something Brian, Tony, Doug, or Phyllis said, you have simply come to the wrong spot. That is not my goal, job, or desire.
I am a Nazarene. This is shocking most of all to me. I never wanted to be a Nazarene, in college I ran to Willow Creek, then a Bible Church, then finally to an Anglican Church with a Wesleyan pastor to escape the Nazarenes. I didn’t go to Nazarene schools intentionally. But God is God and like I said in all capital letters earlier, I serve Christ as my Lord so here I am ordained as a Nazarene elder serving a Nazarene Church and doing everything I can to support and serve the Church of the Nazarene. I have great hope for the COTN because of my faith in the Holy Spirit and I think that we may be better positioned to actually make an impact in a postmodern world than most denominations in North America. That is, if we can remember we are Wesleyans and not Fundamentalists, Baptists, or Dispensationalists. I am not knocking any of those groups, I have nothing but love to offer you, but that is not who we are and that is not our path forward.
I love to read. I love to read multiple books at the same time. I love to combine the reading of a theology book with a non-fiction best seller in leadership and business and a spy novel. That triple play stimulates my mind fully.
I want to be a spiritual DJ. I want to help people find the theme song of their life. God has a song for each of us and I think I can help you find yours. My life’s theme song (at least right now) is Moment of Surrender by U2. Three years ago it was Swtichfoot’s This is Your Life. I can’t wait to find my next theme song. If you don’t have one try on Hillsong’s Inside Out, Bruce Springsteen’s Thunder Road or The Killers’ All These Things that I have done.
I’m Greg and this is me, last time I checked.
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