The Summer of Dustin

As many of you already know, coming this Nov. there will be a brand new Bagby in the house who will begin to rule our lives forever. And so, naturally I am going to try to get all that I can out of our last summer of non-parenthood. Some great things have already happened such as graduating from Seminary and having a bunch of visitors the last few weeks. But there is much to look forward too as we squeeze every drop of potential out of summer '09.

• Getting to go back to the Lompoc to hang with the guys!

• I just ordered a propane cooker and a new 8 gallon brew kettle so i can brew outside this summer! (thanks graduation money!). Bagby Brewery will be in full force.
  

• A trip with Kelli to Lake Tahoe. I love when she has work trips to sweet places.
  

• A trip back to Illinois in July for a baby shower. Bring on the diapers!
  

• And of course, a rigorous hiking schedule*

• Watching some Portland Beavers games.
  

• Continuing a weekly regime of basketball with the guys.**
  

*until Kelli cries "uncle".
**some may call it "bi-weekly"

Beer Talk

I haven't made a beer blog post in a while so I thought I would put a few things out there.

First, how long has the Horse Brass Pub been putting their beer offerings online?
That is fantastic!


Laurelwood Workhorse IPA
Laurelwood makes incredible beer almost exclusively! They're consistency amazes me. This IPA is one of my favorites this year, and also won the March Madness IPA contest head to head against 64 other IPA's spanning the country which says a lot in the land where IPA is king! A








Steve Lynch's Bike Town Nut Brown-Collaborator/Widmer
The description is as follows: A NW version of a British style Brown Ale. Medium bodied with a smooth, slightly nutty flavor, very drinkable. I semi-understand the British style Brown Ale and I'm not sure if it's that I simply don't like the style, or this beer tastes more like water than beer. Inconclusive at this point, but in any case I would give it a C- at best.


Full Sail Keelhauler Scottish Ale
I have never cared for Full Sail's regular offerings but their seasonals and Brewmaster specials are generally phenomonal. (For instance, the Black Gold Imperial Stout blew my mind, and I must have bought a 22 ounce of their Imperial Porter 4 or 5 times). This isn't quite up to those standards but is a solid Scottish Ale. Medium bodied, sweet malty goodness.

a few changes...

Graduating the MDiv program @ Western (Apr. 25th)
Three years and it's almost over. The time went fast (mostly) but I really enjoyed my experience. While I am a LONG way from knowing it all, my understanding of the complexities of life and theology has increased vastly. Looking back, I cannot imagine not spending the last three years in intense study. I feel like i've got a much stronger foundation now. How's that for a seminary promo?

I've heard people say in the past, "I didn't learn anything at Seminary" or "Seminary was a waste of time". I can now confirm that this says more about the person making that statement than it does about the value of seminary. Either that, or the seminary they went to simply sucked big time. I truly believe like most of anything else however, you get out of it what you put in.

Being a Father (starting on or around Oct. 29th)
So, does anyone know much about this fatherhood/parenting deal? Kelli is just starting her second trimester. We go again to see another ultrasound on Tuesday. It will be amazing to see the development that has happened in the past month! I've been mentally preparing for this for the last three and a half years of marriage. So there's not as much fear as there is simply excitement. I can't wait to be a dad.

The pregnancy this far has been very smooth. Kelli hasn't really experienced any morning sickness at all! Phew!

So, for those of you who are parents out there, let me ask you this:
what was the single most surprising thing about parenthood?

ReJesus - Hirsch and Frost

I just finished Hirsch and Frost's new collaborative effort, "Re-Jesus; A Wild Messiah for a Missional Church" and thought it was a fun, challenging, and insightful read.

Throughout church history there have been many "back to the foundations" type movements. The church heritage that I come from (Restoration Movement) was one of these. These movements emphasize the throwing off the unhelpful layers of church tradition and practice that have built up over the years and get back to being a New Testament Church. Part of this is a result of a general naivete of what the first century church looked like (have they read 1 Corinthians?). But part of it is a genuine desire to clear the way for people to know Jesus and to not be hindered by the crap that can get in the way.

In a sense this is what Hirsch and Frost have attempted to do in ReJesus. The difference however is their starting point. Many "back to the beginning" movements (and many of us pastors) start with making changes in or adjusting our ecclesiology. The authors take things back a few steps and start with Christology which they contend must be prior to our missiology or ecclesiology. And it is for this reason that I think they are on to something that, while we'll always be readjusting and recalibrating, would bring powerful change and break down some of the barriers for people trying to find their way back to God.

To read a sample chapter click here. 

Some other sites of interest:

Alan Hirsch's Blog

Michael Frost's thingy.