An event I'm sure won't surprise any of you: I've moved again.

http://www.bradtaylor.tumblr.com

Keaton was born 12/04/08 at 7:32 AM, weighing 9 pounds 8 ounces and measuring 21 1/4 inches. He was delivered via C-Section, and mommy and baby are doing great!

I'm sitting at Panera listening to Alli Rogers' song "Eden." I recommend it.

I've really been dwelling the last couple days on what it means to be incarnational. I was just replying to a great question from my friend Andy, who really got me to thinking about this. Does incarnation mean anything to followers of Jesus? I mean, besides the obvious? I don't think it has meant much to me...I can say it has meant a lot, but unless it changes the way I live, it just doesn't really matter. I wonder what it would look like if, instead of short term missions and giving money to overseas missions getting all the attention (not saying those things are bad), we shifted our focus to incarnational mission. I wonder.

My toes are cold.

Today I was in the drive-thru at Chick-Fil-A. I love me some sweet tea. Anyway, the decorations on the car in front of me caused me to chuckle. On the left side of the rear windshield was a small, rectangular bumper sticker. It read: "________ ________ Church: Passionate About Jesus!" (names removed to protect the innocent). Fantastic!

On the right side of the windshield was this large sign:

You can't make this stuff up.

I thought to myself, I'm not sure how those two things go together. However, on my return trip from Portland, during my brief layover in Chicago, I took a picture of two things which go perfectly together:

Fannie Mae and the Cubs!! Two pathetic entities in hopeless slumps desperately in need of a bailout! (I know it's not the same Fannie Mae, but humor me!)

Anyway, you're not going to get me to say much about politics, but if you want to know how I feel about it, read my friend Andy's recent blog.

I'm sitting in the Portland airport after a week of simply mind-boggling classes. Here is a brief list of what we've covered:

• APEST (Apostolic, Prophetic, Evangelistic, Shepherding, Teaching) Leadership
• Decentralization of Leadership
• What really belongs in dogma? (Hint: not as much as you thought)
• A thousand years of church history
• Pelagianism, Perichoresis, Ecclesiology, Soteriology, Ontology, Phenomenology of Movement, the Problem of Evil and how to make Core Values matter

My friend Doug has been asking me for months to post some pictures of our compost bin, I think because someone is interested in making a similar one. So, without further delay, here you go.



We got the instructions for this bin from Rodale's Guide to Composting. You can easily pick it up at the library. (By the way, I don't want to give anyone any misconceptions here...I had someone build this for me...I'm quite mechanically disabled.)

Total cost for the bin was $85, including the steel drum. We've been at it for probably four months, and probably have 10-12 pounds of ready compost. We'll let it continue to cook for the winter and should have over 30 pounds when spring rolls around.

I am by no means an expert, but I'll be happy to give tips to anyone who is interested in getting started with this.

For about as long as I can remember, I've wanted to begin hunting. I'm not exactly sure why this is the case, but I've had this undeniable desire to go hunting for years and years. I've learned, though, that hunting is often something you do if your family does it, and my family doesn't. My dad and grandfather used to take me fishing all the time growing up, and it was a blast...that was our thing. I had many happy moments out there on the boat. (Speaking of my Dad, he's been the director of the barbershop chorus in Ashland, KY, for about 17 years, and he finally decided to step down. You can read about him here.)

Well, anyway, now I have a great buddy here at BCN, Jason, who is a longtime hunter, and he'd been offering to take me. So a couple months ago I got a license, and we've been hunting three times now. We've already had many great times and some adventurous moments, but hadn't had any luck with getting anything...until yesterday.

Here is my personal project for the missional ecclesiology class at George Fox Evangelical Seminary.

Part 1:


Part 2:

...in the spirit of Christmas.

Some of you may have known that Kari and I were expecting our second child in June. We found out Friday that we've lost that little baby. It was a sad day.

We appreciate your prayers...

Peace.

The move over to wordpress was nice while it lasted. The features were too hard for me to navigate. I must be stupid.

Anyway, I changed up the look here a little. I hope blogspot doesn't hold a grudge.

There are 27 million slaves in the world today. 27,000,000. More than at any other time in history. You can go here to do something to help.

And check out this sobering info from my friend Brandon's blog.

Braden turned 2 a few weeks ago, and it's high time you all got a look at him.

Mommy and Braden headed toward the pond at Delco Park


Daddy and Braden on the way to the Dragons' game


Braden trying out his first tricycle


Birthday lunch!


Birthday Cake!


A popsicle with JoJo


Making homemade birdfeeders with Mommy and JoJo


Riding the school bus with Papa (our favorite photo!)

...were walking down the street. One looked toward the heavens and said, "Sometimes I just want to ask God why He allows poverty, famine, and injustice when He could easily do something about it. Know what I mean?"

"Sure," his friend replied. "It's just that I'm afraid He would ask me the same thing."

Yesterday was Jackie Robinson Day, celebrating 60 years from the day Branch Rickey and the Brooklyn Dodgers made Jack Roosevelt Robinson the first African American baseball player in Major League Baseball. Click on the picture above to visit Jackie Robinson's website. Can someone tell me how to post a link to a song on here so I can let you all hear the two or three great baseball songs that have been written to celebrate this hero?

On a much more somber note, what a terrible tragedy today at Virginia Tech. Please join us in praying for the entire situation.

Man, it has been a while. Two months? Really? Hard to imagine.

A few things to catch up on:

1. I was able to be part of something really cool on Thursday night here at BCN. Our church joined with Church of the Messiah to celebrate the Passover with a Seder meal. (Two of my other friends, David and John Ballenger, have had their own Seder experiences this week. Read about them here and here, respectively.) I was incredibly moved by the experience. Kari and I found it so meaningful that we purchased one of the Seder plates. The tradition is rich and meaningful.

2. That led up to yesterday's service, which we celebrated in EPIC with six planned baptisms and one spontaneous one. The church family truly celebrated the risen Christ together.

3. Braden is doing great, growing quickly, talking like crazy...He's an amazing little gift. Kari and I grow to love him more and more each day.

4. I've been accepted into the Masters of Ministry Leadership program at George Fox Evangelical Seminary, where I'll have the privilege of studying under Len Sweet, Joe Myers, Brian McLaren, and others. I am very excited to begin this journey this fall. This experience will include two trips per year to Portland, Oregon. The only time I've been to Portland is when I flew in there for my friend Obadiah's wedding.

5. Baseball is back, and I'm really happy about it.

Hope all is well for everyone out there in the blogosphere. Peace...