http://jesusforpresident.org/blog Tue, 29 Jul 2008 01:12:21 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en What a finale – in the City of Love!  Hundreds of friends gathered at Broad Street Ministries (one of the beacons of hope downtown).  We had a dinner for several hundred folks and our friend Aimee Wilson and Tambor played some angelic tunes.  Then we did the whole fiasco one ... http://jesusforpresident.org/blog/?p=139 Hey anybody/everybody. If you are in our bioregion, we’d love to invite you out to Broad Street Ministries this Saturday--just a few blocks south of City Hall and across the street from the Kimmell Center. All sorts of fun--including the music of Aimee Wilson--will begin at 5pm. The big event ... http://jesusforpresident.org/blog/?p=127 We’re on the home stretch now – our last stop before Philly.  We were hosted by an old Baptist congregation.  The decision to host was one that created much discussion among elders and leaders in the community.  They told us stirred an important and fruitful dialogue, and they were proud ... http://jesusforpresident.org/blog/?p=128 A triune coalition of Mennonite Churches organized this evening with the help (and venue) of First Baptist Church. A great pack of folks came out. It took the crowd a while to get warmed up. But our friend said, “the Mennonites will just sit and listen quietly, but then they’ll ... http://jesusforpresident.org/blog/?p=126 A couple thousand folks piled into Discovery Church just outside Orlando.    We were able to give a shout-out to the Florida based Coalition of Immokalee Workers [www.ciw-online.org/], a movement of migrant workers just around the corner who pick tomatoes and other veggies for companies like Taco Bell, Burger King, and Subway ... http://jesusforpresident.org/blog/?p=125 Hotlanta! What a full stop! It can’t get more packed and sweaty than this one! Folks were stacked up in the isles, out the door, and even behind the projector screen. But we enjoyed it greatly. One of the lead organizers, Leroy Barber, is a great saint and mentor to many ... http://jesusforpresident.org/blog/?p=124 “Welcome to the buckle of the bible belt.”  That was our introduction to Dallas.  The venue was actually in Southlake, conveniently nestled between Fort Worth and Dallas, in a large old-school Methodist sanctuary gone mega-church.  Another great team on the ground did fabulous organizing work, everything from gathering grease for ... http://jesusforpresident.org/blog/?p=123 Sam Lamb took some great pics here too. Here’s one. http://jesusforpresident.org/blog/?p=131 Al Jazeera English spent a day with us a while back before the tour and included us in a larger documentary they are doing on US politics. It is two parts: Here's one, and here's two. For all those folks who forward wacky emails about Osama rhyming with Obama and ... http://jesusforpresident.org/blog/?p=120 Another wonderful stop! It was surprising to see hundreds of people pack out a little church in the middle of west Texas. Our host committee, Porchlight Coffeehouse, pulled off everything with top-notch ease and organization. Anybody hanging around Lubbock--give those folks a visit. Earlier this week they organized a team ... http://jesusforpresident.org/blog/?p=116 MMMMmmmmm. The Land of Enchantment. And enchanted it was. We had a blast driving through the desert, playing on some dunes, watching Scott try to tackle a cactus. Some of us were very disappointed that we didn’t get to ride down into ... http://jesusforpresident.org/blog/?p=121 Ventura was a great stop for us. We were at Ventura Vinyard Church who proved to be a fantastic committee. Par for the course, the house was packed with folks eager to dive into the story begun in Abraham and Sarah. And we had some great conversations with people afterwards. ... http://jesusforpresident.org/blog/?p=115 Yesterday, Grace Cathedral…   and now for something completely different -- Cornerstone Community Center smack down in inner city Fresno.  The walls of the community center were decorated with grafitti and hubcaps, definitely a different feel from the cathedral last night (both had their charm).  Many of the folks in Fresno ... http://jesusforpresident.org/blog/?p=114 San Francisco… The City of Saint Francis.  It was Shane’s birthday (33!), so we had some good grub and good times.  It was also the Feast Day of Saint Benedict, the holiday that Christians around the world celebrate the life of Benedict, another cultural refugee who went to the desert ... http://jesusforpresident.org/blog/?p=108 Hey there. We’re just enjoying the bay area for some downtime and fixing the bus before our gig tomorrow. The film crew documenting stuff along the way found some nice pics of our attentive audiences. http://jesusforpresident.org/blog/?p=103 This was an amazing stop. The Tracy Howe/Restoration Project folks played at the half time show, making for an even more jovial event. (They combined forces into a Voltron that was known as the “Tapioca Pearls”. Trace Bundy, a guitar virtuoso, joined in the mix.) The hosting church and committee were ... http://jesusforpresident.org/blog/?p=104 Twas truly a gift to be at the 25th anniversary of the Cornerstone Festival, hosted by our friends at Jesus People USA.  It was one a mighty fine line-up of presenters – folks like William Cavanough, Mimi Haddad,, Jonathan Case, Miroslav Volf, Jim Fitz and the Christian Peacemaker Teams (oh, ... http://jesusforpresident.org/blog/?p=78 We’re taking a few days off at Chris’ home in Crystal Lake, IL before we go to Cornerstone. Rest. Very nice. The Psalters are going ahead of us to Cornerstone--playin some music and all that. We’ve run into more friends on the road who share our sadness in missing Lucy. For ... http://jesusforpresident.org/blog/?p=65 Crossing that border was fun! The border patrol had a good time with us. A fully armed and sunglass-shaded officer came onto the bus and said, “what’s going on here?” We proceeded to explain our shady business with this dirty-record organization called church. He then asked, “have any of you ... http://jesusforpresident.org/blog/?p=64 (Woops, we forgot to post this one) It’s almost too much fun.  Every town we go in is like a big reunion, with all sorts of communities converging to dream about the Kingship of Jesus.  But every city is also a gathering of new friends and political misfits – there’s no ... http://jesusforpresident.org/blog/?p=77 5th Avenue New York City!!! Today we kicked up to New York City and JFP hit Manhattan on Saturday night in the belly of it all.  We were hosted by a brilliant group of folks including New York Faith and Justice, Restore, Radical Living community, One House, All Angels Episcopal, ... http://jesusforpresident.org/blog/?p=63 Calvary Baptist Church was fantastic. Many of these sanctuaries we’ve been visiting have been gorgeous with loads of stained glass, hearkening to a period when much discipline and honor was devoted to the church’s gathering spaces. Stanley Hauerwas has said that if you want to find places that emphasize strong ... http://jesusforpresident.org/blog/?p=56 A wonderful stop! We, again, met an amazing pack of people who were organizing and attending the event. The Open Door at the Union Project is a great collaboration. They have the best pottery studio we’ve ever seen in their basement which produces tons of great ceramics and even ... http://jesusforpresident.org/blog/?p=57 The day began with rain and clouds, a nice break from the heat and the gloominess felt appropriate for the mourning of our dog, Lucy. It was hard to leave her in Indianapolis but the good people from Lockerbie will take good care of her place in the garden. As ... http://jesusforpresident.org/blog/?p=36 So technically our “day” started with a post-midnight grease adventure.  Folks headed out in the early hours of the morn to get some waste veggie oil so we can kick on to Indiana.  We scored over 50 gallons… so on we go. Indianapolis – twas a day filled with emotion.  We ... http://jesusforpresident.org/blog/?p=8 Our first stop was at the corporate headquarters of Zondervan in Grand Rapids, MI.  We led a company-wide morning devotion (Chris and Shane spoke and our Psalters, Jay and Scott, rocked out a few songs).  We were able to have some hang-time with all the folks at Zondervan who have helped ... http://jesusforpresident.org/blog/?p=14 We had an official commissioning service at the PAPA (People Against Poverty and Apathy) Festival. PAPA Fest was a little “convergence of communities and movements” in the rolling hills of Illinois on a Mennonite farm known as Plow Creek (started about 50 years ago by Reba Place Community in Chicago-land). ... http://jesusforpresident.org/blog/?p=5