JonathanHerron.com

Back from Colorado

Amber & I arrived back in Ohio late today from the Acts 29 annual lead planters retreat.  What a week!

Mark Driscoll's wrap-up talk to the A29 church planters on Thursday was of particular encouragement to me... even if it was peppered with Ohio jokes.  Mark also blogged a bit about the week.

Looking forward to this Sunday at Catalyst and checking out the progress at the125 (painting is happening as we speak blog).

Adventures in A29 Bowling

So Ed Marcelle says, "Hey, let's go late-night bowling!"

Various caravans make the 30-minute trek.

My caravan was led by Ed.

15 minutes into our caravan, here was my view:

20 minutes into our caravan, here was my view:

Yes, my wife saved the day.  Ed said to blame Matt Chandler for the confusing directions.

Below is a snapshot of Game Two.  Check out my 10th Frame - - bowling is my sport:

Park Church & Diablo Wings

At 7pm, Amber & I made it to the first public worship gathering of Park Church.  Wow, great, great first gathering!

Park's lead worshiper has a phenomenal voice combined with deft musical choices.  The lyrics reinforced Brian Brown's message from Exodus 20 perfectly.

And Brian?  The dude is the next John Piper.  He provided everyone with handouts asking 4 pages of theological questions to chew on post-sermon.  Dang.

The team that moved from Texas to Colorado with Brian's family is inspiring. 
Electric.  United.  Focused like a laser on impacting Denver.

Afterward we had a late-night dinner at a mexican restaurant. 
I ordered the Diablo Wings. 
They truly were from Diablo. 
I experienced the pains of Diablo all night long. 
I hate Diablo. 
(This is my new evangelism spiel - - like it?).

Fellowship Denver

Sunday morning we rushed into downtown Denver for the 10:15am service of Fellowship Denver (led by Bono-hugging Hunter Beaumont).

Unfortunately, street parking was a significant hurdle due to the throngs headed to the next-door rainbow festival.

Now don't get me wrong, I enjoy rainbows like the rest of us.  I even watched Rainbow Brite on Saturday mornings growing up.  But a whole festival dedicated to wearing rainbows and waving flags?  C'mon.  That's just too much technicolor for one day.

Anywho, we made it to the Colorado History Museum the in time to grab a free doughnut and free fresh Starbucks.  Free stuff is cool.  This alone would bring me back for a return visit.

The music was acoustic and relaxed.  Very nice atmosphere.  Friendly people.  Hunter is a great communicator - his story about winning a free iPod at the supermarket stuck with me. 

I think I got saved during his message from Mark 10 (joking).  One quote I wrote down from Mr. Beaumont that will wrap up this post nicely (in reference to being a Christ-follower):

"You own nothing but you have everything."

Going to Church... in Colorado

Blogging from the "Business Center" of the Englewood, CO Sheraton.  Which is neither business-like nor central to anything.

But we're here and enjoying the 90 degree sun. 
And walking alot.

This Sunday there is no Catalyst.  We've sent our folks on a Field Trip - - it will be fun to hear people's experiences as first-time guests next weekend.

For us, we're going for the brownie points by visiting not one, but TWO churches tomorrow
(Double your pleasure, double your fun.  Doublemint, doublemint, gum).

First up, the 10:15am service at Fellowship Denver, an Acts 29 church headed by Hunter Beaumont, a cool guy who shared a beer with Bono once (and has a pic to prove it).

Then, at 7pm we're aiming to be at the launch of the newest A29 church plant, Park Church.  I had the pleasure of assessing Brian Brown & his wife last fall in Raleigh, NC and was surprised by the timing of his invite.  Pumped to see a fresh new church sprout for the Kingdom.

I'll try to snap a few pix along the way... so long as I don't look like a creepy weird guy taking pictures in churches.

Off to Colorado

Amber & I are catching a flight today to Denver, where we'll spend a few days relaxing.  I'm excited about searching for a church to visit this Sunday (that's right, I enjoy exploring new church environments).

Monday we head to Vail for the annual Acts 29 Lead Planters Retreat.  A29 takes care of their men with this all-expenses-paid yearly event.

We'll be back next Friday.  Email and cell phone are off for the week (blogging is my one holdout!).