It's Official

The blog is moving. Everyone enjoys the new blogsite and I do to so there:)

The content at the new address is exactly the same. I have imported all posts, comments and categories from this blog into the new one, so all that new is look and address.

Here's what I would ask:

1) If you have me linked anywhere in your blogs (linked in a post or a blogroll) and you are able to, please switch my address to http://brenttrf.wordpress.com

2) If you are a subscriber, I am humbled. Here is the new feed:
http://feeds.feedburner.com/wordpress/GtAN

3) If you are not subscribed to this blog or my new one and would like to be, read this great post discussing how to subscribe. If you already have an RSS feeder/reader, would you be willing to add me to it?

4) Tell all your friends about the new address. This will be my last post at Blogger, but it will always be active in case you need to refer to this post for the addresses.

Thanks for any sort of inconvenience this has dealt you. I appreciate this community, lurkers and all!

Check Out The New Blog

Ok, here's the deal. I've been working on a blog over at Wordpress. My wife has too. I have always really enjoyed the look and feel of their blogs. I have built a blog at Wordpress and I need you to check it out and see what you think.

Just follow this link and look through. Then comment there and tell me which blog you like better. I will make the decision to move based on what Y'all tell me to do.

I haven't changed the content of the blog, in fact you will see exactly the same material there as you do here. it is just look and feel.

Let me know!

Post Surgery Update

Well, I think we have some good news today. They performed the angiogram on my Dad at about 7:30 this morning. We were told about 1 1/2-2 hours. To my surprise about an hour in, I went down to his room to grab my Mom her sweater and my Dad was there in his room awake and alert. It concerned me a bit that the surgery went so fast. Once I got back to the waiting room, the doctor was there talking to my Mom.

When my Dad had his bypass surgery, they did 5 bypasses. They new within a short amount of time that 2 of the bypasses had not taken. Our main concern in this process today was that the other 3 were failing as well. The doctor let us know that all 3 are in perfect condition. He noticed a lot of vasculitis in the original veins, which was expected. Lupus can attack the veins and scar them and they clog. The doctor was very confident that my Dad's heart is strong and he is not concerned at all of any heart damage or heart attack possibilities. The pain my Dad has been experiencing is caused mostly by the vasculitis. They are going to begin a process of daily pain management and lifestyle changes that should help my Dad be comfortable and allow him to live well for years to come.

There is so much positive in what happened today. I believe that God has answered my prayers of some good years for my Dad and Mom to retire. Also, I believe that my Dad will be well and able to leave the church here with a couple good weeks of teaching and leadership before he goes.

Thank you for everything you all are doing. the emails, calls, comments and most of all prayers have been heard loud and clear and I am grateful to you and to our God who heals and loves his children.

I will post later today and tomorrow with any updates!

More Info On My Dad

Many of you have been checking the blog for updates and I thank you. I apologize that this comes late in the evening, but some very good friends of ours, here in Eugene took us out to a great dinner. Excellent food and excellent company...Thanks Jeff and Amy!

We spent some time with my Dad this afternoon and we were there when the doctor stopped by so we were able to hear first hand what is happening and how he is doing. When we go there HE LOOKED GREAT! Tammy was here last week and at that time my Dad was looking and doing horrible. The new antibiotics have taken his temperature down to the 99 degree range. Better than the 104 temp he was dealing with for a couple of days. The doctor said that his X-rays look about the same, but he was happy with that. He would be concerned if had gotten worse, but he did not expect there to be a noticeable difference even if he was getting better. It takes time to clear Pneumonia. The doctor said my Dad has a lot against him (lupus, low immune system, medications that actually hinder him getting better quickly), but he is doing well. He is probably about 50% better. They are going ahead with the angiogram first thing in the morning. He will be in surgery at 7:45. They are expecting the surgery to take about an hour. I will do my best to post info as soon as I get it tomorrow.

Thank you SO MUCH for all your prayers. We are so grateful to have friends as all of you!

Update and Next Book

I just want to say thank you all so much! I just sounded southern...maybe I shouldn't frequent Mandy's blog so much :). I really do appreciate all the thoughtful calls emails and comments regarding my Dad. I was overwhelmed at church this morning. So many of you care and it shows. Thank You!

We have a long way to go, but he was doing a little better today. The doctor's gave him a new antibiotic and they felt that X-rays showed it was helping with the Pneumonia. We will head up in the morning to be with them for the Angiogram surgery on Tuesday. My mom is doing well. She worked at church all weekend. I know my Dad misses being able to be on stage teaching the church he is about to retire from. It is something he loves to do and does well. If any of you would like to hear him preach, you can check out the his latest teaching here.

In the midst of everything going on, I do not want to take a break from the amazing reading journey God has me on. I began a new book last night for the "Reading Rainbow". "The Dangerous Act of Worship" by Mark Labberton will be this weeks book. I saw this reviewed over here. It looked like something I really need to dig into after coming off the book I read last week.

So, thank you for the prayers. It is amazing to know that my Dad is being lifted up. Literally all over the world. I will post tomorrow with updates.


edit-that's a crap load of links...hopefully they are beneficial for you.

I'm Asking For Prayer

Some of you have followed along on either my blog or my wife's blog. If you have you know that my Dad has had a rough year health wise. He has been fighting an extreme case of Lupus. It has taken it's toll on him. Today he went back into the hospital. About 2 weeks ago he had a massive seizure caused by his fight with lupus. During his seizure, he aspirated and now is fighting pneumonia. We heard from my mom tonight that he is not well. The doctor's are concerned as he is needing to have an angiogram done as soon as possible to possibly put stints in to alleviate stress on his heart due to the damage lupus has caused to his arteries. Things have been progressing downhill over the last couple of months and I don't like to think negatively, but things are not getting better. The doctor's are concerned he will make it through the angiogram, because his system is so weak. They need to get him in on either Monday or Tuesday and the pneumonia is holding them back. He is 6 weeks from retirement, brought on by his health. I don't have a specific to pray for, just that as God leads us through this time that we would be patient, sensitive to His Spirit and that we would know how to provide for my Dad and my Mom in all of it.

Baby Leino

I was looking through my blog reader today and I read a post by NewBoxes. After reading his post I immediately went over to check out the blog he referred me to.

There is a blog for Baby Leino. Issac Leino is a little guy that was born to loving parents in February of this year and he went home to be with the Lord this last Sunday evening. Issac was born with many medical issues and his parents decided to create a blog archiving his journey. As I read through post after post, I was impacted, saddened, in awe and most of all encouraged by this little family that found such hope and faith in God through this journey. And seeing the response to the blog, God has used them to impact 1000's.

When you have a chance read through Isaac's journey. It will bless you

Marriage Meme

Some of you may be saying...What the heck is a meme? I know I did the first time I saw it. Simply, a Meme is a series of questions passed around from blog to blog. There are a whole lot of other definitions to it, but we will leave it at that.

So my wife and I have a friend named Mandy. She tagged us yesterday to participate in this meme. Mandy is a worship leader a a church in New England. She is attending seminary. She authors two blogs, one personal and one that highlights the discussion regarding blended worship. Mandy asked me yesterday how I have time to read books...back at you :)

Anyway, I am to tell you 8 things about my marriage. I am sure these will be quite profound and littered with depth and wisdom...or not.

1) I am married to my dream girl. I dated a few girls through my high school years. One I was very serious about. And let me preface, they were all wonderful women. When I met Tammy, and got to know her I had found everything I was looking for. I didn't even know I was looking for it. When she and I got together, God blessed me. She makes me a better person.
(I could probably stop right here, but I will continue on :)

2)Tammy and I met at church. When she walked in (remember this was 1989), she was an LA Gear ad. She wore a tank top with a high cut jean jacket, a jean mini skirt and LA Gear high tops. I melted.

3) Our first official date was in a car driving back from JesusFest in Riverside. We then went to In-N-Out and had dinner at like 1AM, after that we headed to her and her rommates apartment and stayed up all night talking.

4) We were engaged after 5 weeks of dating. I was not the one who "popped" the question. But my answer was yes! We didn't marry for another 10 months.

5) Our favorite thing to do is to enjoy Friday mornings together. I have Friday's off. During the school year when the kids are gone, we have nothing to focus on but ourselves. We may window shop, run errands or grab our computers and go down to the local WiFi coffee shop and relax. We may not even talk much, we just love to be together.

6) The best vacation we ever had was to Hawaii. One year we had a tax refund that allowed us to go to Waikiki and spend a week there. That was one of the most relaxing things we have ever done together. We have been back since with the whole family (In-laws included). it was amazing...but not as relaxing. It is my goal to spend our 25th there.

7) We will be married 16 years on the 18th. I our 16 years of marriages we have lived in 5 apartments and 6 houses. That is ridiculous!

8) The greatest thing about our marriage is that we are best friends. i have never once wanted to hang out with someone more than my wife. We love to talk, think through ideas, we are both dreamers, we both have a passion for our gifts and our relationship with God, we have amazing children that bless us every day and we love who God is making us into. Love ya Tam!

Daily Dose Of Imagery

I have a link for the Daily Does Of Imagery Blog in my Blogroll. I Don't know if you've checked it out, but you need to. I am a fan of great photography. The ability to know your equipment and what it can do, use the natural lighting that God provides and then frame up exactly what we need to see, is amazing! This guys has done this well. Everyday there is a new picture he's taken and they are always exactly what I described. Todays picture is gorgeous. Makes you want to disappear from city life forever.

Check Him Out!

Christian On-Air Personalties Are From Mars...Or Are They?

Based on a lot of the discussion the other day over here, here and here.

I thought this was kind of another...thinking about it...post.

Table Rock on Facebook

If you are not famliar with Facebook, it is time to check it out. It is a new contender in the online community movement. I've been playing with it for about a month now. At one time I was a part of MySpace and found it to be too juvenile and sexual. It was not the place I wanted to blog and find relationship. Face book was originally created to connect students at a college, but now has grown to one of the largest and definitely fastest growing online community. It's kind of fun to invite friends and meet new people, like-minded people and reconnect with old friends. I've created a new group on Facebook for Table rock Fellowship people. If you'd like to join and add me as a friend, head here. If you are an attender of TRF and you'd like to join the Table Rock Fellowship group, head here. If you'd like some great practical info on getting started with Facebook, head here, here and here
Enjoy!

Jesus...On Sale, Aisle 6

Have you seen shirts that have the really clever phrases that speak of our "Christian" culture? I am sure you have. There are all kinds. Some look good, some look terrible. Some are clever, some are dumb. I have been ranting in my head lately over what seems like and increased volume of "Christian" marketing. It drives me nuts that there is a "Christian" music style. What is that anyway? Does that mean that it is a certain musical style? Does it mean it is because the lyrics are Christian? Does it mean that the person performing or writing the songs is Christian? (unfortunately, most CCM experts would say that last one does not define a Christian musician.) See my confusion/frustration. We (and I say this, because I support this industry by buying it's products) have successfully created a box in which we have placed the Gospel of Jesus and then have slapped a price tag on it. Has the marketing of Jesus truly spread the Gospel of Jesus? Has a t-shirt, claiming that "Jesus Is My Homeboy", led someone to the transforming Grace of God? Maybe? If none of these "products" were available, would the Gospel of Jesus still be heard and preached...Yes.

This is all something that is extremely confusing and also frustrating to me. I have bought into the Christian celebrity. If so-and-so has written it, it must be God breathed and valuable, especially cause it's the biggest and most expensive item here. I don't know how you guys feel about all this. Please hear me. There are amazing authors and songwriters and poets and teachers out there. we need to hear from these people. There is a ton of wisdom that can be gained by their experiences with God. In the same way, are we limited to this knowledge and wisdom by how much we can spend or what a publisher or record label or radio station thinks we should read, see or hear? It is a maddening circle.

I have been so encouraged lately to hear of churches like Life Church and New Spring and many others that have decided that there resources should be free and there should not be a price on getting the Gospel of Jesus into their community's hands. I respect this so much. I have been thinking about, what if, our church offered all the sermon CD's for free? Have we limited the spread of the Gospel by a price on a CD? I know the heart of our staff and they would be horrified if that were the case. I don't know if it is, but it is something that should be discussed.

So anyway, I don't know if I gotten anywhere with this besides taking on a good rant. I read this post today and it made me think more about what has been on my mind for the last week. I was referred to that post by this guy here. Take some time to read these articles and comments. I'd like to hear what you think.

Memorial Day...Thank You!

More on Alec

Continue to pray for Alec and his family. He took a major down turn today. I hope we all can find comfort in knowing that he will be with his Creator soon.

CaringBridge.org

There is a young kid at our church dealing with cancer. His family is a great group of people that really care for him and love the Lord. I just wanted to pass along the info they have given us. If you would like to know more about Alec, go to the CaringBridge website. You can visit his site using the name alecmccleary. Get to know Alec. He is a great kid. And if you get a chance, let him know you are praying for him and thinking of him.