My Favorite Things... (In This Module)

We'll my favorite topic in this module didn't have much to do with raindrops on roses or whiskers on kittens.... but it does have to do with style of church and worship. As a worship leader I love to see how and why the church does what it does as it ebbs and flows through culture creating new art and teaching new generations about the love of God. It's amazing to look at the Charleston vs. Sandy Creek Movements and trace through to how my church does worship today.

Some background would be nice I guess. Charleston Baptists started in 1740 and grew mainly in the US state of South Caroline. Interestingly enough I've spent a fair amount of time in Charleston this summer doing missions and speaking to youth. Characteristically Charleston Baptists have a more liturgical style of worship. They value highly their education programs and believe that discipleship should be the main emphasis of all teaching in the church.

Sandy Creek Baptists, originally called Separate Baptists, started in 1755 were a bit more of a wild bunch. They were very evangelistic in nature and in their congregational methods. In general they were less educated and wealthy that the Charleston Baptists and had a more "extemporaneous" worship style. They emphasized evangelism and church planting over discipleship and education in ministry.

It would honestly say that my church falls somewhere in between. While there are deep Charleston roots it seems that our worship styles feel more Sandy Creek. Regardless of where they come from or which movement we claim for our roots the important thing is that both of these stylistic methods for "church" can point to Christ and draw others to Him.

It can be messy that's for sure... but, it's beautiful.

Vacation Day #2 - Downtown, Dogs, And A Porpoise

So today I took a few photos before my camera died.... dumb. We woke up a little later in the day had some coffee and bagels with friends and headed out to see Summerville and Charleston, SC. We had some amazing tour guides as the Gabriel's took us pretty much anywhere and everywhere there was to go.

We headed first to a picture spot in front of town hall in Summerville and then to the farmer's market in downtown Charleston which was awesome. My favorite thing about downtown is that I saw all kinds of dogs being walked all around the area. I mean everywhere we looked there were dogs. It was awesome. I stepped in a little bit of poop.... but it was dry from the sun so it brushed off my flips into the grass easily.

We checked out the Calhoun memorial (or gravesite) we weren't sure what it was but it was big. Emma pretended she was falling off it and we had some good photo opportunities together.

We made our way down a couple of blocks past the local college and found the Apple Store which we spent a good bit of time drooling over iPhones and the like. I really actually liked the new iPod shuffle. At first I thought it was dumb but after seeing it I really enjoyed it. I just won the former generation shuffle on Twitter a few days ago. Super stoked. Then I showed Jennifer and Darien the basics of GarageBand and have them both hooked. It was pretty cool to see them working it out and fiddling and playing with it. I love that app.

After our time there we headed out to a restaurant in Mt. Pleasant called On the Border. It was awesome. I built my own burrito and enjoyed every bit of it and the chips and salsa taste the best I've ever had. Really good stuff.

With our stomach's full we made our way out to Sullivan's Island for a walk in the sand. We saw a helicopter and a porpoise in the ocean. The helicopter wasn't in the ocean, just the porpoise but.... yeah. There's actually a really "wicked undercurrent" as Darien put it and apparently a few years back 2 kids got swept out to sea and were adrift for about a week before the coast guard picked them up. Can't imagine just drifting in the ocean for a week. They lived through it. Amazing. Well now there's a $500 fine just for wading in the waters at certain spots on the island. Craziness I know. From the beach, after my battery died in the camera.... dumb (still), we saw Ft. Sumter and some of the old barracks from the original battles.

Oh and I can't forget the CANNONS!!!! (see the pictures)

On our final stop we made our way down to what used to be the slave market and is now converted into a shopping market with all kinds of things we don't need but think are cool. Kristin and I picked up a little cat sculpture from Thailand (yeah right) for our printer's desk drawer that we have hanging in our kitchen. We always collect souvenirs on our travels for the drawer. Maybe we'll get one in Myrtle too.... we'll see.

I was a big fan of the free pralines everyone seemed to be giving out. Tasty.... GET IN MY BELLY!!!

I wish I had more pictures but, I'm thankful for the memories and time with friends regardless. It was a beautiful day and I'm so glad that Kristin and I could spend this time with the Gabriel's. I'm thankful to God for the friends He places in our lives and the time He gives us to enjoy each other and His creation.

This is my favorite picture from the day.