Kris and I had never been to Lubbock TX, and one friend wrote to me that it resembles lunar landscape. We did see tumbleweed and we heard reports of a dust storm, but overall we thought Lubbock was a delightful place to be.

We had two long walks through some neighborhoods and the people at the Zoe Conference at Monterey Church of Christ were nothing short of extraordinary. Barry Stephens, the preacher at Monterey, and the ever-present Eric Noah-Wilson of Zoe (can’t find any pictures) were wonderful hosts. We have much in common with the Zoe folks and were glad to see Greg Taylor again. The folks at Monterey were so delightful and appreciative.

I spoke four times — from the book of James (including my plea to develop ministries for 20somethings) — about fearless faith. Highlights for us:

Meeting and hearing Randy Harris (of Abilene Christian University), who introduced us all to the word “bepissed,” and Mike Cope, both of whom are wonderful preachers with all kinds of wit and wisdom.

We got to spend time with Randy Gill (musician) and Ben Pickett and Brian Offutt and Aaron Dawson and Eric Opton. Great folks with real hearts for the church and mission. Got to meet Jim Martin’s friend Lynn Anderson, a pastor with two books about pastoral ministry (They Smell Like Sheep: Spiritual Leadership for the 21st Century
).

One more: Do you know Larry Mudd? Larry is a talented pastor-actor who creates one-act events that perform Biblical texts or characters. He (with Randy and Mike) did most of the Book of Revelation, and Larry’s acting out of John’s character was splendid. More about Larry soon on this blog.